The End or a Beginning

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.

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[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).

Stand Firm

August 22, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Ephesians6:10-20[1]

Someone posted this message yesterday on the Crystal Lake community Facebook group:

I would like to share this story that my son told me when he came home from the Crystal Lake Jewels last nigh (sic):

My son was helping out a neighbor who is going thru a hard time, she received her SNAP money yesterday and was going to walk to Jewel, it is over an hour walk, so my son offered to drive her, well at the checkout she overspent and did not have enough money to pay for all the items so my son helped her put a few things aside(he had no money on him)and they left the store, a few seconds later a man walked out and called to them and said he saw what happened and purchased those items for her. My son said he literally cried because of this man's kindness and also knowing what this poor women had been thru.

That is a beautiful story of kindness and how even a small act can make a big impact, something any of us could do. It is good that we can, at times, look to our neighbors for help. The kindness of strangers can be a blessing. And yet, I wonder, wouldn’t it be great if we would create a society in which no one goes hungry, no one comes up short at the grocery store. Couldn’t we make a world in which no one has to choose between paying for medicine, the electric bill, or gas for the car?

We have been at war for twenty years. Al-Qaeda was broken up in Afghanistan, but that only took a couple of years. We did manage to find Bin Laden, but that was ten years ago. As the Afghan Army melts away, and the Taliban retake control, we’re left wondering, was it worth it? Are we safe from terrorism? Will the Afghan people be better off this time, especially the women and children?

I have great respect for those who have served, who have fought to protect us and have tried to make the world a safer place in which to live. But I wonder if a trillion dollars spent on the machinery of death in the graveyard of empires could have been spent to end hunger here at home. As our fear of foreign terrorists wanes, and our fear of home-grown violent extremism grows, could we take our energy that has been for so long focused on war and turn it toward building well-being?

We love to fight. Human history seems to be mostly a record of battles won or lost; the fate of nations decided on the battlefield. The imagery of war and warriors is infused into our cultures. Sports arenas resemble the Roman colosseum and athletes resemble gladiators. Politicians fight for their side and view the other party as enemies bent on destroying the republic. Even our effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus is a battle pitting healthcare workers like frontline soldiers against the scourge of COVID.

The Bible, too, is filled with violent imagery. Even when the stories are not about actual battles, violence and death permeate the text. A story about a vineyard turns on the violence of the workers who murder the son of the landowner in hopes of inheriting the vineyard for themselves. Yet the cry for peace and justice persists throughout the text as well. The ancient concept of shalom, the world as God intends, with justice, righteousness, peace, and harmony, green pastures, and a land flowing with milk and honey; that imagery is there as well.

The passage we read from Ephesians deliberately employs the language of the warrior with a fervent exhortation to be clothed and equipped with the tools and armor used to wage war. This text evokes an epic battle against spiritual forces bent on our destruction. Its purpose is to prepare us to become active participants in the struggle against the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of darkness. But, more importantly, it is not a sword and shield made of steel that we are to wield in this battle. This battle is not with flesh and blood, but with forces bigger than any human adversary.

We are living through and existential crisis, or really more than one. An existential crisis is a moment when what is at stake is existence itself. Will our republic survive the division between our political parties? Will our society make it through multiple waves of coronavirus variants? Will the planet warm and the climate change to the point that continued human survival is threatened?

Though the crisis faced by the early Christians is not the same that we face, we have some guidance from Paul and others that can help us navigate our own struggles. And we must remember that this guidance was not for personal spiritual growth. Some have interpreted Ephesians as an individual expression of faith. Instead, as the Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay writes, “this letter was not originally written for personal devotion but for community formation. This was a letter to a people not a person.”[2] The Christian life is life in community and we are meant to work together, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within all of us, to bring about shalom, the kin-dom of God.

We must fasten the belt of truth around our waist. Many of our political disagreements come from a small group of people spreading misinformation to a large audience. Entertainment and opinion packaged to look like news poisons our discourse and leads us to think that our political adversaries are not only wrong but evil. Yet the truth is out there to be found. It might take some work to find it, however. Check your sources. Look for more than one account of an event. Follow a story through to its conclusion, particularly when something sensational seems to have evaporated.

“Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Do what is right, not only what is expedient. Work for right relationships between people. Show kindness, in the grocery store and in the business negotiation. Even when others “get away with it,” don’t. Do what is right, even when it costs you. Even if no one is looking, God is watching, and “all that you have is your soul.”[3] Worry as much about protecting others as you do about protecting yourself. Put a mask on, even if you’re vaccinated, even if you don’t feel sick, because you care about others and don’t want them to catch a deadly disease.

Wear the shoes of peace. Wear shoes that will allow you to stand up for what is right without stomping on what is wrong. Walk away when you feel the anger rising within. Walk quietly in tender moments. Walk in the shoes of those who have to walk an hour to get to the store, and those who are going through a hard time. Wear the shoes that will give you compassion for those in need, and bring peace and the good news of forgiveness and love wherever you go.

Take the shield of faith, the faith that we are not alone, that Emmanuel is God-with-us. Trust in God to enter the struggle with you, and to keep the mission going even when you cannot. Do what you can to make the world better, and trust that we are with you, working alongside you. Have faith that we can survive the crises we face if we work together to overcome the cosmic forces of doom.

The helmet of salvation gives us the confidence that even if we don’t get there, even if the vision of a better, safer, healthier world is not achieved when we come to our end, all is not lost. We will never be given over to the powers of evil, but will always be held close to the one who so loves the world.

Finally, take the sword, the word of God, which is love, grace, and hope. Use the sword of God’s shalom to cut down the barricades of fear, bitterness, and resignation. Lay that sword across the chasm of division so that we may join as one community, one family with others and together triumph over the “the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.” Stand firm in prayer, in common cause, and in faith.  Amen.

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[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] The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, “Sermon Seeds: Prayer and Protection” online at: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-prayer-and-protection/.

[3] Tracy Chapman, 1988.

Prepare the Way of Peace

December 8, 2019

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12

Most of us here have known peace for most of our lives. There have been periods of war, to be sure, and some here have served in combat. Children born after 2001, however, have grown up in a time of war. Children born when we entered Afghanistan and Iraq are graduating from high school. For some of us it is very close to home. We know someone who is serving over-seas. We know someone who has given their life in the line of duty.

And, yet, for others this war has been distant. The war on terror, the endless battle focused mainly in the middle east, is no longer constantly in the news, on the radio, on the internet, and in our minds. But it continues. Many of us have been largely unaffected by the war, except for fluctuations in gas prices, and perhaps the psychological anguish of knowing that terrible things are happening over there and no end is in sight.

For young people today, the war has been something distant – “above their pay grade” so to speak. Adults, parents, or older relatives might talk about war, but children should be protected. They should be playing, learning grammar, algebra, and history. Children should know peace, not war.

Children should know peace, but the unfortunate reality is that they are often faced with the absence of peace. There is always a bully on the playground, it seems, or some disagreement that seems easier to solve with fists than with words. There are drugs and guns in the schools, despite our best efforts to keep them out, and children who see no alternative but to use them. There are bad influences, and bad neighborhoods. There is music that glorifies violence, first-person-shooter video games, and active-shooter drills in elementary schools. And when there is war, there are always children who lose a parent, or a home, or a life. For children, for our children, the lack of peace is too often what they know.

Lack of peace is the reality that we face. We live in troubled times, and our children are growing up in troubled times. We can’t always protect them from the troubles of the world. All we can do is try to prepare them to face those troubles when they come, and teach them that there is hope, there is peace to be found.

Israel was a land and a people that knew war. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, and, most recently, the Romans had waged war in that region. The land of the Jews was occupied by enemies, and peace was maintained with the sword. The people of God yearned for a time so well described by Isaiah: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them” (Is. 11:6). One day, peace would reign. “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Is. 11:9).

As Matthew’s Gospel tells us, it was in these circumstances that hope appeared in the wilderness. John the Baptist, the one of whom Isaiah spoke, had come preparing the way of the Lord. “In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Mt. 3:1).

The sign of the coming of God into the world, the herald announcing the coming of the Christ was this wild man who wore clothing made of camel’s hair, and whose food was locusts and wild honey. The promise of God, that “a shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse” (Is. 11:1), was being fulfilled. The baptism by John, a sign of repentance, would become the blessing of water and the Holy Spirit that we know, symbolizing the grace of God, the new life that we have in Christ.

In the ceremony of baptism, we remember the covenant of God’s grace and we promise to help our children to be faithful members of the church of Jesus Christ, by celebrating Christ’s presence and by furthering Christ’s mission in all the world. We promise on behalf of our children until they are ready, in the act of confirmation, to affirm their baptism and take on that responsibility for themselves.

If you think about it, it sounds a little crazy. We bring our infants to the church and in front of everyone we promise that they will continue Christ’s mission! We then have this ceremony symbolizing death and resurrection. Why do we do that? Could it be that children are an embodiment of hope? Perhaps when we invite our children to join us on our mission, we are showing our faith that the mission has hope of success, that there just may be peace on the horizon.

Now, to hear John tell it, Jesus came to do battle, with his winnowing fork in his hand, burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. Yet we also know that Christ came to guide our feet into the way of peace. In a troubled time, what a powerful message of hope, to know that there one who is more powerful than the wicked, who comes to seek out and save the lost! God has shown us mercy and will guide us to peace. It might not be easy, but we will get there.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” We ask that question of all children, many times, and we laugh and we marvel at their plans and their dreams. But what is it that we are really doing? We are asking them to envision the future. We are asking them to tell us about hope. Having a vision is crucial for the vitality of a church or any organization. As adults, we don’t ask each other about our visions for the future very often. We hardly allow ourselves to dream of something better. But we ask our children about their vision all the time.

I think we could take time this Advent to prepare for the future. I believe that we have it in us to envision a better future for all, where there is peace and hope and joy. I am sure that one day they will not hurt or destroy on all God’s holy mountain. I know that with Emmanuel, God with us, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Let us prepare the way of peace, and cry out that the kingdom of God has come.  Amen.