Weep No More

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:1-5 ESV). James Lee, a young father, phoned a large city newspaper from a hotel telephone to give a reporter a heart-rending story. The reporter frantically tried to have the call traced but was too late. By the time the police arrived, Lee had ended his life. In Lee’s coat pocket the police found a tattered crayon drawing signed in childish print by his daughter, Shirley, who had been incinerated in a fire five months earlier. On the drawing Lee had written, "Please leave in my coat pocket. I want to have it buried with me." At the time of Shirley’s funeral Lee was so grief-stricken he had asked strangers to attend the funeral. Shirley’s mother had passed away when Shirley was only two years old. There were no other family members to attend. Immediately before his death, Lee told the reporter that he had nothing left to live for and felt all alone in the world. He gave his few possessions to the church that Shirley attended and said, "Maybe in ten or twenty years someone will see her memorial plaque and wonder who Shirley Ellen Lee was and say, ‘Someone must have loved her very much.’" James Lee lost all hope and ended his life in a lonely telephone booth. Tragically, his story is not an isolated case. Our world is filled with people who feel overcome with a sense of hopelessness. John, weeping in heaven, shows us this depth of hopelessness. In the midst of the throne of God, he still is overcome by despair. He hasn’t seen Jesus yet. He sees the need for someone to open the scroll. He knows that will begin the deliverance of all men, but there seems to be no one worthy to open it. Then, in a moment of understanding and recognition, he sees Jesus! He then knows hope. That’s the key for all of us. We must see the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, who has conquered all for us! Then we have hope! Hope, like love, is an indispensable quality of life. Many people, when they lose it, curse the day they were born. Nothing in our contemporary society, with its slick promotion, promising hope in some very appealing packages, can ever really deliver hope. Look at Jesus, the Lamb of God in the midst of the thrones. He is worthy! Weep no more!