November 14, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Mark 13:1-8[1]
What they once knew to be permanent, sure to stand forever,
is gone. I’m talking about the Second Temple in Jerusalem, but I could just as
easily be talking about the Twin Towers of New York, the Library of Alexandria,
the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, or the statue of Zeus at Olympia. When I
read this text, Jesus predicting that not one stone will be left of the great
buildings, I am reminded of the poem, Ozymandias, by Shelly:[2]
I met a traveler from an antique
land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
It seems that there have always been wars and rumors of
wars, nations rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms. We
frequently hear reports of earthquakes, and hurricanes rain down destruction along
the Gulf of Mexico and the East coast each year. And, yes, there is famine, the
kind which sends refugees in search of a new land, and the kind where the
poorest among us are forced to choose between paying the rent and putting a
meal on the table right here in our community. Yet, even with all this turmoil,
the end has not come.
By the time Mark wrote this Gospel, the destruction of the
Temple may already have happened. It was destroyed during the Jewish-Roman war
of 66-70 CE. There were resistance fighters calling on all the Jews to join in
a final battle that would bring about the end of the age. Mark’s community of Christians
would have felt drawn to join the cause. The triumphal restoration of the Davidic
kingdom beckoned to them, and not joining in the war may have branded them
traitors. Yet, this was not their true cause.
These verses, a warning to the disciples not to be taken in
by those who would lead them astray, gave the early Christians hope during their
own time of persecution and tribulation. This is not the end of the world, Jesus
tells them. It is the rejection of it. It is the birth pangs of something new,
the Kingdom of God, which knows no end.
Now, we see cosmic struggles all around us. There are some
who say the end is near, pointing to texts like this one, or Revelation, saying
that the wars and earthquakes and natural disasters are signs of the end. There
are numerous publications and websites which interpret every tragedy, every
natural disaster, every famine as a sign of the second coming of Christ. Some
claim to have secret knowledge of the coming rapture. It is attractive, and
treacherous.
At the same time, we may feel like there are wars and earthquakes
erupting in our own hearts, our families, our communities. And yes, for some
the world has ended, as their lives have come to an end. Yet life persists, the
world lives on. A new day dawned today.
In the middle of these dire predictions, that all will be
thrown down, Jesus gives this amazing promise: these are just the beginnings of
the birth pangs; this is first inkling of new life. The key is not to focus on
the devastation, the ruin that might consume us. Rather, it is to focus on the
signs of life that are also there to be seen. The key is to have hope in the on
the one who is to come, the one who calls us to new life.
We are not to look toward the end times, hoping for the end
of the world. We are to look toward the Kingdom of God, not to turmoil and
destruction but to a new world, not to the punishment of our enemies but to
justice and redemption. This message to the early Christians is one of hope for
a better and more just world, a world that we build up rather than tear down.
Terrible things will happen, we can be sure of that. There
will be wars and famine, earthquakes and storms. Yet in the midst of all of
that, we have the opportunity to serve. In times of peril, people rally around
one another and support each other. We put aside differences and work to
alleviate the suffering of our neighbors. Coming together to help one another,
to alleviate suffering, to love and care for each other is what the Kingdom of
God looks like.
In 1980, Mount Saint Helens in Washington State erupted.
What began with a series of small earthquakes in mid-March peaked with a
cataclysmic collapse, avalanche, and explosion on May 18. The northern flank of
the mountain collapsed, producing the largest landslide in recorded history.
The avalanche buried 14 miles of the North Fork Toutle River with up to 600
feet of rocks, dirt, and trees. The outward blast spread volcanic debris over
230 square miles.
Countless animals and large swaths of forest were devastated,
but life did not entirely end then and there. Some species managed to survive,
protected by ridges and snowdrifts. Others scraped by at the edges of the
devastation and literally crawled back. Plants and insects returned, providing
food for small animals that, in turn, were a food source for larger animals. Together
they sowed the seeds of a comeback that progressed in fits and starts and
continues today. Most species that were wiped out by the eruption have returned
to the Mount St. Helens area.
The time of destruction may be an ending. It can also be a
beginning. We may be facing an apocalypse, through the pandemic, climate
change, or political unrest. But for those who live with faith, who trust in a
deep relationship with God, there is a way through devastation and suffering.
God’s grace is salvation for people of deep faith. The new life is growing
around us, reminding us that while all things grow and change, life continues,
love is endless, and God’s relationship with us is timeless. Take heart, do not
be alarmed. After the birth pangs will come a new birth. Let us give thanks for
what is to come. Amen.
Rich Procida, “THE LITTLE
APOCALYPSE: Hope or Tribulation?” (2012). https://modernlectionaries.blogspot.com/.
Janet H. Hunt, “The Beginning of
the Birth Pangs” (2015). http://words.dancingwiththeword.com/.
Emilie M. Townes, Rodger Y. Nishioka,
Robert A. Bryant, and Pete Peery, Perspectives on Mark 13:1-8 in Feasting on
the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, Vol. 4, David L.
Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors (Louisville: Westminster
John Knox Press, 2009), pp. 308-313.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Percy
Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” in Shelley’s Poetry and Prose (1977).
No comments:
Post a Comment