Untitled Sermon (2)
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Well there’s no easy way to say this, but this weeks text sucks. I mean it makes sense chronologically. We are moving closer and closer to the end of the the Gospel of Mark and so this text was coming up but in the midst of everything happening, this text sucks. It would be nice to have a happier text that has words of hope in them instead of words of the end times as some people call it.
I suppose, however, that this once again shows how the words of the Bible continue to have meaning and context no matter what day, year or century we live in. In fact, some scholars believe that Mark’s gospel was written around the time that the temple was about to be, or had already been destroyed. Obviously there could be different meaning if it was before the fact or after the fact, but in the end, as we read the story we know that the temple fell in 70 AD. The temple fell. Just as Jesus said, and just as Jesus said there have been wars, and rumors of wars. There have been earthquakes and nations rising and falling and we have seen famines occur throughout history.
It’s easy to look at them and say that obviously that wasn’t the actual end times because we are still here. The Apostle Paul even had the thought that he wouldn’t die before Jesus came again. We’ve seen some awful things happen throughout history and yet we’re still here and still ‘waiting’. People have done their best predicting the end according to the Bible. Some people have even made a profitable living off predicting when it will happen. Yet, Jesus even tells us today that people wont’ know the day or hour, neither will the angels, and neither will Jesus himself. Part of me believes that Jesus says that to emphasize a point which is that we shouldn’t try to figure it out, and that it is on God’s timetable, but I also believe he may have said that to get the disciples off his back.
Let’s be honest. Have you ever told your child that you are going to do something fun with them and then are bombarded withe questions of when, when when. Is it now? Is it today? Is it in a few hours? How long do I have to wait? In our house, thanks to our kids grandparents, we mark things out in “wakeups”. Grandma and Papa will be at our house in 3 more wakeups. Or we’re going to Disneyland in 5 more wakeups. Every time you wake up there is one less of those to worry about. It’s a great tool and yet it still fails. Because wakeups can’t happen fast enough. Of course there are also the bad wakeups too. Like, you have to go to the dentist in 2 more wakeups. Then days happen way too fast.
Now, if we’re honest the disciples are not too different from children at times. They are constantly having a hard time understanding and asking silly questions because they don’t get things. So I have this feeling that Jesus says that not even he knows when this stuff is going to happen because he honestly just wants to get the disciples off his back. Can you imagine the nagging and wondering they might have from now until they desert him? So Jesus puts all their possible questions to rest by saying that only the Father knows. Let it go.
But not to just let it go, but to also shift the focus, as Jesus often does, from what the disciples want to focus on to what Jesus wants to focus on. Jesus tells them that the temple will fall and that all these other things are going to happen and that in the grand scheme of it all it’s just the beginning of everything that is going to happen in the history of the world.
The world had already experienced the flood. The Israelites had already endured exile and the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians. In the life of Jesus and in the writing of the gospel of Mark they were experiencing the Roman occupation. Since then we have seen the crusades, the plague, two world wars and so much more in between. Our history is full of events that have caused people to wonder if this is the end. Even today people are watching and wondering about COVID-19.
Through all of this, Jesus reminds us that all of these things might and will happen, but that through it all, through all the change and the loss and the uncertainty of it all there is one thing that will not change. The Word of God will never go away. There is no famine or persecution, there is no war or destruction of a building that will ever take away the Word of God as proclaimed through Christ Jesus.
Knowing that, we are invited to keep awake. Keep alert. While we are living in this time of uncertainty, while we re-evaluate what is important and what isn’t important. While we watch the news and wonder what each day is going to look like for us. Jesus reminds us to be alert. That doesn’t mean that we should just sit and look for the coming of Christ, but that we should live into the calling that has been given to us. We have been called to be his disciples. We have been called to love. Just as we heard last week that THE most important commandment in all this life we have is to love God and love our neighbor. We produce that love in the things that we say and in the things we do. Whether that means sewing masks for those who need them, or going grocery shopping for those who shouldn’t leave their homes, serving food to those who need it even more now than ever, praying for those essential workers in our country who are doing everything they can to bring peace and stability to the rest of us, or whatever else you can do to make sure that you love others and know that God loves each and every one of us.
Ultimately, even though these words in a way may ring a little close to home in a time of uncertainty I fully believe in my heart that there is a word of comfort and peace in all of it. People of God, no matter what happens in this life, no matter how long we have to stay home, no matter how this plays out we know that God’s love will be with us and this whole world no matter what. And we see that love played out in the ways that people are stepping in and doing everything possible to make sure that those from the greatest to the least are being cared for. God is at work in every good thing that we see on the news, that we read in the papers and that scroll across our Facebook and Twitter feeds. God is at work and the promises that God has made to us are living promises that go on from now until that day comes that either the world does finally end, or when we meet the God who gave us this world and this life that we have been blessed to live. Know, that no matter what you are going through God’s word of life and love will never pass away. Hold fast to that word and know that nothing, and I mean not one thing will ever take away that word of love from any of us. Live that love and hold that love close to your heart. God bless you each and every day that we have been blessed to live on this beautiful creation. Amen.