When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful and gifts and dedicated to God, he said, "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."
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 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.
"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." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
But before all of 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. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare a defence in advance; for I will give you words and wisdom that none of you opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will even put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Luke 21
The lectionary texts from the gospel are increasingly foreboding as Jesus moves towards Calvary. There is a heaviness to these stories - even the ones that contain a measure of happiness such as Jesus entrance into Jerusalem do not escape the pervasive darkness; the clashing of kingdoms and powers remain. God's entrance and presence in this world in Jesus has never been a classic feel good story, though we do like to tell it this way, don't we? A wee babe born amongst animals visited by angels and shepherds and wise men. Yes, it is a profoundly beautiful, full of grace enough to makes your heart ache with love. But there are valleys traversed that are treacherous and steep; there are points so low, nights so long, that one wonders what will come of it all and just costly it will be.
Judgement and mercy are threads that run all throughout the story of God - and mercy prevails. After flood waters have rescinded, "there in the clouds - just where the storm meets the sun - was a beautiful bow made of light. It was a new beginning in God's world. It wasn't long before everything went wrong again but God wasn't surprised, hew knew this would happen. That's why, before the beginning of time, he had another plan - a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world, but to rescue it - a plan to send his own Son, the Rescuer. God's strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more - but not on his people or his world. No, God's war bow was not pointing down at his people. It was pointing up into the heart of heaven."
Judgement. Mercy. Love. The Salvation of God.
This year - nearly two thousand years since Jesus spoke these words, the sense that things have gone terribly wrong in our world remains - wars, tsunami's, terrorism, environmental disasters, humanitarian crises. And even in our relatively comfortable part of the world we know the effects of fire, of homelessness and poverty, of human suffering. Lord, have mercy.
And how do we respond to this as followers of Christ? It seems that neither futility nor hedonism is the answer. Jesus puts forward another way: endurance. Think of the long distance runner who must train in all conditions; persist in the face of discouragement, discomfort and pain in order to be physically and mentally disciplined to run the race. Endurance. Think of those who have demonstrated outstanding moral courage in a time that required leadership; they have suffered defeat, rejection and loss. They did not give up: Endurance. Think of those who spent their lives working on behalf of people oppressed and forgotten about by the world; they have battled hard against despair and pervasive loneliness. Endurance. Think of those who have left their homes and their families because of economic or political disaster; they have become refugees - endured homelessness, homesickness, displacement, fear, worry, unemployment, despair, and illness. Endurance: it is not for the faint of heart; it is was we are called to as Christians.
"And before this terrible time followers of Jesus will be arrested, persecuted, betrayed and hated."
Did the disciples wonder as they heard Jesus speak if it was their very lives he was talking about? Would they remember those words he spoke to them: "make up your minds not to prepare a defence in my name; for I will give you words of wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict... not a hair of your head will perish, by your endurance you will gain your souls." I think they held on to these words, this promise - though they experienced failure along the way they endured; they gave passionate and bold witness for Christ. And they gained their souls; their forever life with Jesus. And the same is true for us, not a hair on our heads will perish, in our endurance we will gain our souls.
In this text that there is a collapsing of time - the time which Jesus was describing was not unlike the world he entered, the world in which the church would establish itself under the crushing powers of Rome; and the world we now live and struggle in. So the text works on us in three ways - in the past, present and future. Just as our salvation has been accomplished, is being worked out and is yet to be fully realized; this is the 'already - not yet' tension we find ourselves in. We have been given salvation and yet we struggle in our flesh. However, we do not struggle in futility, "we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."(Romans 5:3-5)
During advent we enter the mystery of the collapsing of time in the incarnation of Christ. We are reminded that Christ came into a world that was dark and dangerous; he entered into the misery and the beauty, the strength and vulnerability of human life and defeated sin and death forever. And we are waiting with expectancy, full of hope for the full reign of the kingdom of God on earth - for all things to be made new.
"I am the Beginning," Jesus said, "and the Ending!"
One day, John knew, Heaven would come down and mend God's broken world and make it our true, perfect home once again.
And he knew, in some mysterious way that would be hard to explain, that everything was going to be more wonderful for once having been so sad.
And he knew that the ending of The Story was going to be so great, it would make all the sadness and tears and everything seem like just a shadow that is chased away by the morning sun.
"I'm on my way," said Jesus, "I'll be there soon!"
Heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away... (Matthew 24:35)
God's love lasts forever.
Amen.
*** A New Beginning - Noah's Ark from Genesis 6-9 & A dream of heaven - John sees into the future, from Revelation 1, 5, 21, 22 taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
Thanks to the Rev's William, Don, David, Amber, the always thoughtful Sandy and the Thursday morning Mums' Group for enriching the conversation around the text today.
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