"In God's Time"

A Sermon Preached at Christos Metropolitan Community Church, Toronto, ON

and Holy Fellowship Metropolitan Community Church, London, ON

Sunday, November 16, 2003

Resonating scriptures:  Mark 13:1-8, 23-30

In some ways, it seems odd to be reading this passage from Mark’s gospel right now. What Mark’s writing about here takes place during the Passion week, the last week of Jesus’ life – something we usually read about around Easter. Here in one of the last scene’s of Jesus public ministry among us, he stands at the entrance to the great Temple in Jerusalem and paints this picture of misery. So why are we reading it now, at this time of year?

It’s almost Advent, Christmas is coming – Anne and I saw Christmas lights on our way over here tonight – and here we are, reading about "wars and rumors of wars... nation rising up against nation... earthquakes and famines...." Whoooaa!... Shouldn’t we be getting ready to read pretty soon about "swaddling clothes" and "Peace on earth and mercy mild"???  These are some pretty conflicting and contradictory images, and the timing seems... off.

But in another way, it’s always appropriate to be reading these verses because we only have to look at the nightly news to see this rather harsh passage is right up to date. In fact, we don’t even have to look to the papers or the TV, do we? We can see uncertainty and grief and suffering right where we live. Most of us have suffered some great losses in our lives. Many suffer from serious diseases. Some are jobless, or homeless. And we’re all concerned about war and violence. We’re concerned for the future because it seems like everywhere we look, nations and institutions in society upon which we have depended – OUR temples, if you will – are threatened with destruction, and they coming crashing down around us, without one stone left standing upon another, and we’re left with all the rubble and trouble in our lives.

And what we see in this lesson that Judi read is that it was ever thus. Jesus is pointing that out. And what set Jesus off was some poor dumb disciple’s innocent remark about how beautiful the Temple was. "What noble stones!" And the disciple was right – it was VERY beautiful. It was one of the most famous and beautiful buildings of its time, one of the wonders of the ancient world. The contemporary Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that the inside walls of the Temple were polished green and white marble. Sounds like some gay man’s dream kitchen, doesn’t it?

It gets better. The eastern front of the Temple was faced with pure beaten gold, which was so bright when the sun rose on it in the morning that you could hardly stand to look at it.   (This is a picture of a model that's in Jerusalem.)  And its foundation stones were massive blocks of limestone, some more than 40 feet long and 16 feet wide and 10 feet high. To put that in perspective, this room’s about 40 feet long, right? Picture a single stone block that would fill it up to the ceiling.... And those blocks weighed in at about 400 tons. By comparison, the biggest stones in the great pyramids were only about 20 tons apiece. Just pebbles, compared to the Temple in Jerusalem. So in addition to being very beautiful, the Temple was very, very SOLID.

And it wasn’t just an architectural showplace and the focal point of the city, it was the spiritual center for the Jewish people. It represented God’s dwelling place on earth. So, when the disciples stood there and marveled "What a fabulous place!" it wasn’t just a commentary on the architecture -- it was also a confession of faith, about the very center of their universe. The one place of stability in a shifting and uncertain world. To the disciples, who’d never lived in a time when the Temple hadn’t stood on that mountain in Jerusalem, it was unthinkable that it could be destroyed. They thought it would last forever. If the Temple were shaken, their faith would shake with it. If it ever fell, their whole worldview would come crashing down, too. And Jesus said...... "not... one... stone... left... upon another...."

And he was right. In 70 C.E., the Jews rose up against their Roman oppressors, and Rome crushed them mercilessly. And the Temple was destroyed. What the disciples heard as prophecy, the people of 70 C.E. knew as reality. The Temple lay in ruins. It was gone. This is what it looks like today. Only a few of those noble stones are left standing. The foundation stones of the Temple form what’s called "The Western, or Wailing Wall" in present day Jerusalem. The rest of it’s just rubble, scattered down the hillside east of the Temple site, in the Kidron Valley.

Can you imagine what that must have felt like to those ancient people? I think you can....  September 11, 2001 may have been our 70 C.E. Jesus, with a worldview that encompasses all of history, all of eternity, looks beyond the appearance of things, to reality. And the reality of the matter is, no matter how secure buildings or institutions may appear, they can all be overthrown. Now, Jesus didn’t have to be a prophet to say this. I could have told Jesus. YOU could have told Jesus. We know that every temple built by human hands is a doomed structure.

Every structure, every system we devise -- all the plans we make, all the relationships we chase after, all the things we put our trust in -- eventually, they’re gonna wear out or be overthrown.  They’ll disappoint, and finally, they’ll die. What do you do when your worldview begins to come apart? When the noble stones of what we value most in life are reduced to rubble?

See.... Temples aren’t just buildings. They may be structures we erect in our minds, in our imaginations, in our hearts – the systems we think hold our lives together, that remind us of how it is with ourselves, with God, and with the world. Relationships... national pride... self-image... careers... political ideologies... theological foundations. We’ve got good reason to grieve when our temples are destroyed. But the message that Jesus gave the disciples, and us, is that there’s hope amidst the destruction and the loss. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that even in the midst of the ruins... of our temples or our lives... there’s a unique opportunity to see the glory of God. Even though there is famine and earthquake and uncertainty and confusion and war.... we’ve got good news to proclaim.

You know, when Jesus spoke of the Temple being destroyed, I’ll bet his words kind of stopped the disciples in their tracks. So now that he’s got their attention, Jesus gives them the REST of the bad news. He points to several signs. Oh, by the way, he says: there are going to be wars and rumors of wars.... and earthquakes and famines and plagues, and lions and tigers and bears.... no, wait, that’s not it... oh yeah, it’s "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." That’s it. But Jesus says, that’s not the end. That’s just the beginning of the birth pangs.

Now, maybe I should have some of the mothers up here to give us a little testimony on the subject of birthing pains. Fortunately, I understand they have good drugs for that now. But the thing about birth is, when the birth pains start, it means that something very new and exciting is about to happen. And not only that.... once those birthing pains start, there’s really no way to stop it. That baby’s just GOTTA come out. Something’s gotta give. In order for the new thing to come into the world, sometimes, a temple has to fall.

I think if I’d been a disciple, I might’ve been a little worried about this kind of talk from Jesus. I think the ones that were paying attention, and understood, WERE worried. But Jesus says – don’t worry. Don’t get bogged down in the theological details... the cosmic questions like "when’s the end coming?" There are no human answers to that question, and there are more important things to be doing. There are just more important things to be doing. Somewhere in a drawer at home, I have a t-shirt that says "Christ is coming. Look busy." Well, Christ IS coming, and we don’t just need to LOOK busy, we need to BE busy. There are just more important things to be doing.

We need to pay attention, not to the bad news, but to the good news in this. The hope that Jesus offers to us, to cope with the hardship and adversity of the times. To cope with things coming down around our ears. When we get all bogged down in the bad news, it saps us of the energy and will to do what Christ says needs to be done in the meantime – to be a witness for that hope within us. The point of this Gospel lesson is not just that we would lament the past or bemoan our future. The point of the Gospel is what?... Good news -- good news that we’re to share. The guts of this message isn’t that the end is near, but rather that, WHENEVER it is, we have hope. The promise to the disciples, and to us, is not that we’ll be spared suffering... but that our hope lies in endurance... in holding firm and refusing to give in to the evil around us.... So we can carry on.

But how? How are we supposed to keep on keeping on? Well... let’s look at what Jesus told the disciples to do when they saw troubled times coming. Three things.

First he says, don’t be led astray. Don’t get bogged down in trying to pinpoint the end of the world. Don’t focus on the bad news.

Second, he says, "don’t be terrified." Even when there is terror all around you, don’t be terrified. Remember who’s in charge here.

Because, Third, we can trust. We have a hope. Jesus says, "I will give you the words and wisdom." And what do we trust in? We’ll, it’s easier than you think. It’s what we say every Sunday – we’ll be saying it again, soon. Believe me, you’ve already got the main point of this sermon memorized – "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again."

I can kind of picture some of the disciples muttering, "Easier said than done!" But, there’s a little more to the story. Jesus tells of even more destruction coming. Yet, he also tells that these troubled times are to be the very times when we’re to do the work of building up the people of God, when the witness of hope we bear in enduring through troubled times will bear fruit in the lives of many who will come to know God’s grace.

When everything seems to be coming apart, that’s the time to roll up our sleeves and go about the work of love and mercy, the work of God’s reign "on earth as it is in heaven." When relationships are stressed to the breaking point, that’s the time to bear witness to trust, love, forgiveness, and ultimately to care, acceptance and support of those hurt by the circumstances. When the safety net of social responsibility fails and the hungry and homeless are cast into the streets, what better time to proclaim in word and in deed that the Reign of God belongs to the poor, and preach God’s justice. When nations rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, what better time to preach peace?

Our faith plunges us in to the reality and tragedy of everyday life, even as it insists that this life is not all there is. Not then, and not now. Not for Jesus, and not for us. Look at the timing of this message, WHEN Jesus was saying these things. He was speaking to his disciples in what he knew to be the last few days of his life. When he knew what was ahead for him.... and for them.... and it wasn’t pretty. But he tells them, that what looks to them like the end, isn’t.... because "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." He says "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away!"

I said at the beginning of this that it seemed like the timing of this message was all mixed up. But, really, aren’t all times God’s times? God is in charge of endings, as surely as beginnings, and our end is redemption. The message is the same in all ages and in all seasons, then and now, in Easter and in Advent, and in all the in-between times. And the healing word from Jesus to those first followers is still the healing word.

So, perhaps here, at last, we begin to make some sense of the weird timing that we noted at the beginning of all this. In this season, moving toward Christmas, we begin to raise our heads and turn our eyes toward the baby Jesus... and what do we see? Behold! The hope that we were promised back then, is still hope today. We still live in Jesus’ time.