TOPIC: A SPIRITUALITY OF LIFE
TEXTS: IS 65:17-25; PS 98/IS12; 2 THESS 3:6-13; LK 21:5-19
DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 2007
OCCASION: HOPE
SEASON: THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL LESSON
This passage from Luke’s gospel is the beginning of a section of Jesus’ teaching that’s considered to be apocalyptic. Apocalyptic literature is a genre that introduces its hearers and readers to a strife-filled end of the current age, which then, with God’s intervention, becomes the beginning of a new age. It serves to provide encouragement for those in times of trouble, and Jesus’ teachings in the temple provided the early Christian community with hope in the knowledge that the persecutions and suffering of Jesus’ followers are known by God, who will support and protect them.
Apocalyptic ideas developed and prospered when Jews experienced the crises of the Roman imperial rule and religious oppression. Apocalypticism developed to assure the oppressed that the violence and persecution isn’t the end, but that God will bring about a reversal of fortunes. The early Christians, who were mostly Jews, could be assured of this as well. In reading and hearing Jesus’ words, they could have hope that their persecutions were meaningful opportunities to further the cause of Christ and not meaningless suffering outside the sovereignty of God.
At this point, Jesus has ended his public ministry and is now, having arrived in Jerusalem, moving toward his own death. Jesus’ life mirrors the structure of apocalyptic literature; for Jesus, the dreaded strife-filled, painful end is near, but God’s support of Jesus, as evidenced by his resurrection, leads to a new life and a new era.
I invite you to listen to the reading of our Gospel Lesson and consider with me how these words speak to us today.
5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, 6“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
9“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.
I. Just about a month ago, en route from Galilee to Jerusalem, I was standing on the archaeological site of Megiddo overlooking the Jezreel Valley from a 2600 panoramic view—a place that has been popularized by the name Armageddon.
A. Armageddon is a corruption of the Hebrew phrase Har Megiddo, and it means "Mount of Megiddo."
1. In a book review, the Biblical Archaeology Society writes: “More than thirty bloody conflicts have been fought at the ancient site of Megiddo and adjacent areas of the Jezreel Valley during the past four thousand years.
2. Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Muslims, Crusaders, Mongols, British, Germans, Arabs, and Israelis have all fought and died here.
3. The names of the warring leaders reverberate throughout history: Thutmose III, Deborah, Gideon, Saul and Jonathan, Jezebel, Saladin, Napoleon, and Allenby, to name but the most famous.
4. Throughout history Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley have been ground zero for battles that determined the very course of civilization.
5. No wonder that the author of Revelation believed Armageddon, the penultimate battle between good and evil, would also take place here!”
B. Unfortunately, a whole spirituality of violence and death has been contrived and purported by extreme fundamentalist Christians, who actively long for a violent Armageddon which they believe will hasten the return of Jesus.
1. I suspect it’s a combination of ignorance and arrogance to think that one has the power to bring about events that will hasten the coming of Christ.
2. While we were standing on Megiddo, I heard a man speaking to a group and I turned and saw a vaguely familiar face.
a. Being the curious person that I am, I stepped over close to a lady in his group and asked her his name, to which she told me—a name I recognized as a persuasive evangelist I had known of during my college days.
b. As we stood close by, David Freeman and I heard him say that he had received criticism for some of his interpretations of scripture, but that he was convinced that he was right — of course.
c. He then proceeded to tell his group that the scriptures predicted 9/11.
d. I punched David and said, “I’m sure he’s received some criticism!”
3. Those interpretations of today’s lesson from Luke and other apocalyptic texts such as the books of Revelation and Daniel, for example, the Left Behind series and The Late Great Planet Earth, Christian Zionists who promote national policies that would escalate violence and war in the Middle East, espouse a spirituality of violence and death akin to that we’ve seen by extreme fundamentalist forms of other religions that have been overtly violent.
C. For us in the 21st century, I would argue, the context of these verses is different and far removed from the earthly lifetime of Jesus and first and second century Christians.
1. Therefore, we cannot so easily lift these apocalyptic verses straight out of Scripture and plunk them unreflectively into our present historical setting.
2. Those who would look to the unrest in the Middle East, the war in Iraq, and recent natural disasters such as the tsunami in Asia and hurricane Katrina and predict the immanent return of Christ are guilty of a gross misread of this text and others like it.
3. The fact is, Jesus doesn’t give a timetable for the coming of his kingdom, and warns would-be prophets not to construct one themselves.
4. If we look at how Jesus does answer the question of “when,” we see that this text is less about prediction and more about prescription, that is, how to respond faithfully to a world in turmoil; less about observing the world and more about acting in it to demonstrate and witness to God’s kingdom.
5. Of course, we all know that it’s fictional, adrenalin-pumping sensationalism that sells to the masses much more effectively than inspiring, thought-provoking stories of human pathos and moral triumphs.
6. If you don’t believe me, check the box office sales.
II. As Jesus is preaching in the courts of the grandiose temple built by Herod the Great, he offers a vision of the future which is startling to his listeners.
A. In response to his awe-struck disciples, who were commenting on the beauty of the temple, he announces that the great temple will be destroyed, without a stone remaining in place.
1. His disciples were astonished by his words and wanted to know when this would happen.
a. The fact is, this did happen.
b. One thousand nine-hundred and thirty seven years ago, the year 70, Roman troops marched into Jerusalem and completely destroyed the temple, leaving not one stone upon another.
c. I looked across from the Mount of Olives to the old southern wall, and nothing remained of the temple but the ruins of some steps.
2. Jesus also tells his disciples that before the end of this era and the beginning of the new, there would be all sorts of natural disasters and false religious leaders and wars.
a. Such events have always been, before his time and after.
b. We still see them today.
3. He warns his disciples that his followers will be arrested and persecuted, betrayed by family, and killed.
a. We read the Book of Acts and those things happened to the faithful, and history shows that it continued to happen, and we know that it still happens, today.
b. Becky Adams’ book, Called to China, tells of how her great-aunt Attie Bostick, suffered persecution and internment while a missionary in China.
c. Christians still suffer and die for remaining faithful to Christ in China, Iraq, Iran, and places around the world.
d. Take a stand on issues in this or any country that go against the grain of accepted political policies and social norms because of your faith, and see how long it takes to be labeled a traitor or have your patriotism questioned and be cast out of popular circles.
4. Although Jesus describes a frightening world, which is more so for some than others, his intent isn’t to scare people.
a. On the contrary, he gives encouragement to his hearers by providing them with reasons of hope.
b. Jesus encourages his followers not to be terrified by the terrible upheavals because, in fact, they’re not the end.
c. Persecutions will actually provide opportunities to share their faith and witness to the presence of God’s kingdom, for Jesus promises to provide them with words to overcome those who persecute them.
d. For those who actually will give their lives for his sake, “not a hair on [their] head will perish” because they will have gained their souls by their endurance in these times.
5. Luke recorded the words of Jesus to encourage people who lived in an apocalyptic world that seemed to be spinning out of control.
B. We, too, live in a world that seems to be spinning out of control, a world in which simple things like being in large crowds, flying, or taking a family vacation suddenly feels kind of strange and even unsafe.
1. Since 9/11, we all, in a sense, are living in an apocalyptic world.
2. There is, in fact, an explicit spirituality of violence and death, and we have witnessed it, and we have felt its effects.
a. For many people around the world, this is nothing new.
b. But we have now joined them, and it’s an uneasy, even frightening feeling.
3. Jesus assures us that in the face of apocalyptic destruction, “not a hair on your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your soul.”
a. No matter what happens, have faith and endure because God will be with you.
b. As Martin Luther wrote in his famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: “The body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, His Kingdom is forever.”
4. There was a newspaper editorial about an Afghani Muslim woman who was accused of being an infidel because she promoted education for girls and human rights for women.
a. She stood up to the Taliban and showed them in the Koran all the verses which supported her stance, and told them that once they checked the authenticity of the verses and judgments she cited, they were free to kill her, for “if you deny the Quran and Muhammed’s religion, it is up to you.”
b. She didn’t become violent, she didn’t become hateful, she simply stood up for the truth of her own true religion and her own true heart.
c. There is a person who gained her own soul.
d. Whether they ended up killing her or not, she had gained her soul, and she knew it, for she also told the reporter, “If they abolish one, two, three or more of us, no problem; it will pave the way for the future generation.”
i. That is not just courage,
ii. that is the kingdom;
iii. that is salvation;
iv. that is the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in a Muslim woman.
5. Martin Luther King Jr. showed us exactly the same thing as he struggled for human rights in this country through the 60s.
a. Summarizing how his faith was reflected in his tactics, he once stated: “Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say ‘we shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we will still love you.’”
b. Listen to that and you will hear a man who, for all his human frailties, has gained his soul, exactly as Jesus promised he would.
III. The fact that Jesus assures his disciples that he himself will direct and protect them indicates that the kingdom is a present reality, but the final victory is still anticipated.
A. Therefore, the coming of Jesus Christ into the world is good news, and we are called, as the disciples were called, to spread and live the gospel—in spite of being ridiculed and in spite of being ignored.
1. It’s not our calling (and beware of anyone who says it’s theirs) to predict where and when Jesus will come again—that is for God to know and for God to bring about.
2. Instead, it’s our calling to bring the light of Christ into the darkness, into the places where a spirituality of violence and death still holds sway, trusting that Christ will be with us.
3. It’s our calling to speak a word of hope and healing to those who are fettered by hatred and despair, trusting that Christ will put the right words into our mouths.
4. Finally, it’s our calling to give our lives serving Christ, in whatever vocation we choose, trusting that in the end, the life of Christ will conquer the power of death once and for all, and we will live forever with God.
B. That assurance, given to us long ago by our Lord, is why we baptize.
1. It’s why again this day we bring forward another little child to be brought into Christ’s body, the Church.
2. We do it because we know that even if the world seems to be out of control, even if we can see the visible, flagrant results of the spirituality of death, we must not falter, and we must never fail to love as Christ loves both the best and the worst of humanity.
3. Richard Rohr wrote in his book Quest for the Grail that “the purpose of baptism is to wash away the illusion that we are merely [children] of this earth. We have a divine origin, we came from God. The spiritual journey is about discovering the beginning. Not earning or creating it—just discovering who we already are.”
a. Baptism points not only to the truth that we came from God,
b. but it also points to the character of our God as being one of compassion, love, and mercy.
4. Today we bring Jacob Hawk Patten—Jake—who has done nothing other than just be, to receive the promises of baptism.
a. We claim those promises for Jake, because we believe that through the waters of baptism God has claimed Jake and all of us for a spirituality of life that triumphs even over death.
b. Paul affirms this spirituality of life in Romans 8: 38-39:
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5. We endure because we have put our faith— we trust—in this spirituality of life that has been given us in Christ Jesus, and by our endurance we will gain our souls.
Thanks be to God. Amen.