The date was June 6, 2006….or 6/6/6….and there was all kinds of anticipation. Not as big as the turn of 2000 and Y2K, but given the times, it couldn't pass without notice. The internet was awash with frenzied doomsday predictions. Heavy metal rock bands and right-wing religious publishers used it for self-serving marketing. One website, with what it calls a "rapture index" which calculates the likelihood of Christ's return, said it was time to "fasten your seatbelts." Some pregnant mothers tried to speed up their delivery dates to avoid June 6, while others chose the name "Damian" in recognition of it.
Of course, the day passed with little fanfare and no rapture. In fact, quite to the contrary, for us it will go down as a day of great celebration in the gift of new life to our congregation—the birth of Casey John Nelson.
All of this was built around one cryptic symbol in John's vision, the often abused and exploited story of the fabled "666, the mark of the beast." It is one of many symbols in the Revelation Code where the biblical literalists, fear-mongering booksellers and ranting revival preachers have had a heyday of speculation, trying to figure out the meaning of the mark and the naming of the beast. At the time of the Reformation, some believed it was the Pope and others believed it was Martin Luther, depending which side of the debate you were on. During World War I it was thought to be Kaiser Wilhelm and, of course, during World War II it was Adolf Hitler. In the days of the Cold War, some guessed Henry Kissinger or Khrushchev, and more recently it has been equated with Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Saddam Hussein or George Bush…again, I suppose, shaped more by your politics than your theology.
In four tenths of a second, a Google search for "666" turned up about 85,400 sites, most of them attempting to figure out "Who is the beast, whose number is 666?", trying to predict the "Antichrist" even though that term never appears in the book of Revelation.
They list everything from barcodes to credit cards, the United Nations to the European Union, Al Gore, Bill Gates or, even still today, the Pope. One site equated 666 to the WWW of website addresses, and another to biochip implants. I even found one TV preacher still saying it represents the Soviet Union, even though the Soviet Union no longer exists.
Given that we are talking about timeless symbolism, I suppose they might all be right. But James Efrid says:
One thing they all have in common—each has turned out to be wrong. The reason is simple. The passage is not predicting someone to come in the future, but rather is describing something that John's readers would have immediately identified. [1]
1. For John's day, the message was simple.
Written to an underground church in a secret Revelation Code, this subversive letter is directed at the oppressive Roman authorities. John gets as close as he can to naming the beast, but instead he uses a familiar numerical code. For his readers it was about as subtle as JFK or FDR. John says:
Let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is 666. (Rev. 13:18)
He is naming the Roman emperor—the source of the church's persecution, the one who controls commerce (you couldn't buy or sell without acknowledging the emperor in coins and commerce). He is addressing the state religion of enforced emperor-worship which claimed that "Caesar is Lord" while the church proclaimed that "Jesus is Lord." In the midst of severe persecution which threatened to stamp out their identity, John names the enemy..."It's a human name," he says.
For John and his readers, the beast is the emperor whose mark branded everyone with the mark of Rome.
John wasn't looking ahead to some far distant event and he certainly wasn't thinking about computer chips, barcodes, or microchips. He was describing the ongoing struggle between good and evil, calling the church to be faithful to its Lord and its identity. His message is simple: "Never forget who you are. Don't let the mark of Rome brand you as anything other than a child of God."
2. The message was clear for John's readers and the message is true for every time and place.
The church must always be aware of the powers and pressures in culture and society which would stamp us, mark us with any name other than the name and mark of Christ. It's the same message St. Paul sends to the Christians in Rome struggling with the same issues:
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God... Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is good and perfect and acceptable as the will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)
Or my favorite translation of this verse is from J.B. Phillips: "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold."
Don't allow the world to determine your values and priorities. Don't allow the culture to call the shots. It's the message we give our children and youth—don't just follow the crowd; don't allow your morals to be shaped at McDonalds. You belong to Jesus Christ, so live as citizens of the Kingdom of God, live as a child of God.
Let me give you an example of a more recent "mark of the beast." Remember K-Mart and the blue light special? Sometime back I was shopping at K-Mart (you can tell it's an old story). A voice over the PA system announced: "Welcome, K-Mart shoppers. Today's blue light special is..." And I wanted to shout back at the disembodied voice, "I am not a K-Mart shopper! That is not my true identity. That is not who I really am."
When forces of society see us as nothing more than a consumer, when greed tempts us to think only of our own concerns, when self-centered materialism shapes and molds our values, "Remember who you are!" You are more than your plastic, more than money. As Jesus said, your life is more than food, and your body is more than raiment. The brand you wear is not just Abercrombie and Fitch or Tommy Hilfiger. You are branded as the disciples of Jesus Christ.
Maybe the folks who think barcodes and credit cards are the mark of the beast aren't so far off… if we see them as symbols of the rampant materialism of our day, undermining the values of mercy and love, compassion and caring, generosity and hospitality—those things which are meant to be the identifying marks of the disciples of Christ.
If you want to find the "mark of the beast," don't look for some fantastic, futuristic Antichrist to come into the world. Look for those pressures in our everyday life which would shape and mold us in anything other than the pattern of Christ.
3. But...there is good news in the Revelation, as well.
There is another mark in John's Revelation Code. In contrast to the mark of the beast, John sees another throng bearing another mark…
Then I looked and lo, on MountZion stood the Lamb and with him 144,000 who had his name written on their foreheads. (Rev. 14:1)
Now obviously, the number 144,000, like all the numbers in the book, is not a literal number. It's a multiple of 12 (12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples) and represents the vast multitude of the people of God.
It's an incredible crowd, the immeasurable, infinite, all-inclusive number; all the people of God. They have been branded with the alpha and omega, the name and the mark of Christ. They have been sealed by the blood of the Lamb. They've been through the battle between good and evil and bear the mark of the great sacrifice. They carry the watermark of baptism, like a dagger of lightning on the forehead, the sign of God's love and grace.
Which brings us to the mark on Harry's forehead.
Even if you haven't seen the movies, you've seen the posters: Harry Potter, with the dagger-dash of what looks like a birthmark on his forehead. Growing up, he has no idea where it came from or what it means. Finally, he meets Hagrid who helps him understand who he really is. "It's a scandal! It's an outrage!" roared Hagrid, "Harry Potter not knowin' his own story."
Then he relates to Harry the story of the death of his parents at the hands of the dreaded Voldemort, the name so fearsome Hagrid can't even say it, so he refers to him in code language—a kind of a 666 "you-know-who." He says:
"You-know-who" killed your parents, and then came after you. But he couldn't do it. Ever wonder how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh—but it didn't work on you, and that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after "you-know-who" decided to kill 'em except you. You were only a baby, and you lived. [2]
It's all about the mark on Harry's forehead, the sign of Harry's true identity. Buried under the oppression of his "muggle" relatives forcing him to be something other than what he was born to be, all but lost from his childhood memory, but the mark was still there, and when he heard the story…
- the story of a battle between good and evil
- the story of a sacrifice for his salvation
- the story of the sign of his redemption
Harry remembered who he was and claimed his identity.
So we carry on our foreheads the mark of Christ, the waters of baptism, the sign of the Savior, our true identity as children of God. Sometimes we forget it's there. Sometimes we live as if it doesn't matter. Sometimes we even feel like we have been marked by some other mark erasing the sign of the cross. But when we hear once again the story of our salvation, we remember who we are and reclaim our identity…Children of God. Marked in the water of baptism. Sealed by the grace of God. Signed by the blood of Christ.
When my brother and I were young, it was more than obvious that we were twins. As a child, I can vividly remember being asked, "How do people tell you two apart?" And I remember answering, "Well, Jim has a mole on the back of his neck and I have a birthmark on the sole of my foot." (I will spare you a display of the evidence.) It was the mark that set me apart as a unique individual.
But more important, I remember the day Rev. Ralph Richardson placed his hands on my head and confirmed me as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I remember the night at Cherry Run Camp when I responded to an altar call and the invitation to give my life to Christ, and Daddy Ross put his hands on my shoulders and prayed over me. I remember the weight of their hands and I remember the mark, the seal, the sign of God's grace and love. And even though there have been plenty of times when I have forgotten the sign, acted like it wasn't there, when I remember, it draws me back to my true identity as a Child of God.
It's the only mark that ultimately matters. It's the sign which outweighs the tattoos of society, the brand name more important than all the brand names of the marketplace.
Don't waste your time looking for some great Antichrist to come. The mark that matters is the mark of Christ, the seal of baptism, the sign of grace, naming us as children of God.
John's message is simple: Remember who you are.
- Young adults on your way to college and all the pressures to conform…remember who you are.
- In a society which would measure us by what we buy and sell, the branding of the marketplace…remember who you are.
- In a world which would try to obliterate the mark of your baptism and turn the witness of the church into something other than the witness to Jesus Christ… remember who you are.
- When the identifying marks of the Christian life—love, patience, mercy, kindness, compassion, caring, hospitality—are traded for prejudice and hatred and vengeance and pride…remember who you are.
"It's a scandal. It's an outrage," says Hagrid, "Harry Potter, not knowing his own story, not knowing who is really is." It's a scandal. It's an outrage...the People of God, not knowing their own story, not knowing who they really are. Like Harry Potter, you have been redeemed in the great struggle between good and evil. Your life has been saved through great sacrifice—the sacrifice of the cross—and you are marked on the forehead with the waters of baptism.
Remember who you are.
1. James Efrid, Revelation for Today, page 91
2. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 55