As we continue our series in Revelation, this Sunday we will look at chapter 18. In this passage, we see the fate of Babylon: Destruction. In another sermon, we will see the fate of the New Jerusalem: Triumph. As +Philip has repeatedly pointed out, "Babylon" and "New Jerusalem" aren't meant to be understood as geographic places, but represent spiritual realms in which each of us reside. The question for each of us is this: How do we move from the city headed for destruction and the city headed for triumph?

In answering that question, the theology of  a 4th century bishop is helpful. As you may know, St. Augustine of Hippo wrote a sweeping analysis of Rome’s fall called the City of God. His thesis was simple, if not often misunderstood: The “city of man” is organized around a love of self while the “city of God” is organized around a love of God.

In her fascinating book Secular Powers: Humility in Modern Political Thought, political scientist Julie Cooper sees the contrast between Augustine’s categories of the love of self and the love of God as being fundamentally a contrast between pride and humility. And this emphasis on humility, argues Cooper, is Augustine’s most lasting contribution to political thought. Says Cooper:

"The humility/pride antithesis tracks a series of oppositions proposed in The City of God. Making subjection to God and self-direction mutually exclusive, these oppositions deny human sufficiency and to a degree discredit human initiative."

Augustine presents his readers with a choice between two paths to walk: in dependence upon God, or one’s own self. This is the choice before each of us, and it was the choice before our first parents. “Pride is the beginning of sin,”wrote Augustine—and that’s not just true experientially, but historically.

Our first parents wanted to be “like God.” They rebuffed their dependence and situatedness in a foolhardy pursuit of independence and transcendence. To be like God didn’t mean they wanted to be invisible or omnipotent, it meant they wanted to decide for themselves right and wrong. They thought they, rather than God, knew best.

All through scripture, we see that this stiffness of neck, this hardness of heart, this pride, animates the heart of the world, and the heart of each of Eve’s children. How do we become citizens of the City of God? How do  we escape the destruction of Babylon?

The answer is clear, and we announce it every Sunday before communion: we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6) and offer our bodies to him as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1).

That's precisely what we will do on Sunday. In humility, as citizens of that city which is both here and coming, we will have an encounter with the true King of the cosmos!