(2) And the Vietnam War did end - but with terrible, tragic consequences as Cambodia fell into the hands of the barbaric Khmer Rouge.

Transcription

1 The tragic death of Phillip Hughes, the Australian cricketer, has shocked us all. There has been an outpouring of grief from Macksville, Hughes hometown on the north coast of NSW, to Lords Cricket Ground in London. The sudden loss of such a fine young man who would have celebrated his 26 th birthday today touches us all. Phil Hughes was the quintessential Australian lad, the kind of guy we all seem to know and like. Jesus says none of us knows the day or hour. And here we are reminded that life is indeed fragile. Life is totally unpredictable. Life is random. We laugh at the thought of being hit by a bus when we walk out of this church. But it could happen. And, in a most difficult Bible reading this morning, Jesus reminds us about our fragility and our vulnerablity. Jesus touches on some disturbing issues that go to the very heart of who we are and why we are here. Our reading from Mark s Gospel refers to what appears to be a kind of cosmic catastrophe as the sun darkens and stars fall from heaven. Mark s account is most likely prompted by a turbulent, brutal time when the Jews revolted against their Roman overlords and were subsequently crushed by the imperial power. This happened about 70 years after the birth of Christ. And here Jerusalem was put under siege, the temple was ransacked and destroyed. The people were herded together and slaughtered. It was a ruthless, merciless time that literally shattered the people of Israel, sending them into exile for thousands of years. So our Bible reading this morning alludes to dark, terrifying times. And this reading represents a style of literature called apocalyptic. It is from this word that we get the term apocalypse. When referring to the apocalypse all sorts of mysterious haunting images come to mind and here our attention may quickly default to that stunning Vietnam War movie made back in 1979 starring Marlon Brando entitled Apocalypse Now.

2 (2) Drawing on Joseph Conrad s famous novel, The Heart of Darkness, Brando plays the rogue, somewhat feral, Special Forces Colonel, Walter E Kurtz, who has gone AWOL to command his own rebel forces in the deep, dark jungles of Cambodia. Without going into too many details, Apocalypse Now exudes a time of alienation, anarchy, barbarism and terror. It s quite confronting in parts as this particular exchange takes place: Smell that? You smell that?...what? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning..you know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one....the smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like..victory. Someday this war's gonna end... And the Vietnam War did end - but with terrible, tragic consequences as Cambodia fell into the hands of the barbaric Khmer Rouge. Apocalyptic is born in, and rises out, of difficult times. And it s traditionally associated with a devastating, catastrophic experience such as the Holocaust, the Rwanda Genocide, the Cambodian Killing Fields or the Boxing Day Tsunami. With this fear of devastation and with this confronting end of the world reality, the Christian response involves looking beyond this fragile, finite world to a heavenly being or a Saviour who will come in power and glory to deliver us. Enthusiasts and literal interpreters of the Bible embrace this response with gusto. Here they have been quick to both condemn and right-off the creation while heralding an imminent end to the world that will take place on a specific date and at a certain time when the Saviour or the Messiah will appear. Particular historical events are identified as pointers to the onset of such a cataclysmic event. These events include the restoration of the state of Israel and growing tensions with the Arab world, the emergence of China as a military power and its feared domination of the Asia-Pacific region, growing Islamic fundamentalism and the promotion of international terror, and even the development of the European Union as a so-called conspiracy to introduce a new form of world government. Now this is all quite interesting. But we actually need to read the text carefully and consider the issues wisely. For, you see, this text is not really about the end of the world in the way popular apocalyptic stories portray things. Rather, here Jesus is saying that - as we face our fears as we encounter disaster and desolation, we need to keep our eyes open, we need to be patient, remain committed and be prepared. Two critical things stand out in our Bible Reading today. Firstly, Jesus says it s not a matter of knowing when or where such cataclysmic events will take place. Rather, the important thing is to be constantly aware of who we are and what we are called to do. (3)

3 Jesus says the crucial thing is to be on our guard against those things that demean and undermine God s purposes. Our calling is to be faithful and committed to the things of God no matter what. In Mark 13:33 we hear Jesus saying emphatically: be aware, keep alert. This is an imperative that calls for continued, vigilant action. There is no permission here to give up and just wait things out. Indeed, it s not about withdrawing from the world to form a holy huddle. It s not about diving into our Bibles to calculate the date, the place and the time when the world will end. It s not about speculating or even fear-mongering about when Jesus will dramatically appear to save us. While Jesus refers to the Son of Man coming in clouds, the real point is that we need to be constantly engaged in the business of God s mission. We need to be always focussed on Christ s call to service, even in the worst of times! And secondly, all this is not a matter of simply waiting on Jesus to dramatically enter our lives at the end of time - before anything can change. Indeed, the vision of Jesus coming in blaze of glory is more about God s sovereignty than it is about the manner of his coming. What really matters is the call to be persistent and faithful. What s vitally important is the challenge to be there as God enables and equips each one of us for witness and service in the most unexpected of ways. There is a story about a man who scrambled onto the roof of his house as flood waters slowly rose. A life-jacket floated by within reach. But the man ignored it. I believe God will surely come to save me! A rescue launch appeared but the man waved it off. God will save me he shouted. Finally, a helicopter hovered above, lowering a safety harness. The man ignored it. God will save me! The waters continued to rise and the man drowned. Standing before God in heaven, the man was extremely angry. I m very disappointed in you, God he said. I had a firm and steady faith that you would rescue me - and you let me down! Give me a break said the Almighty. I sent you a life jacket. I sent you a rescue boat. And finally I sent you a helicopter, but ignored them all! We don t have to wait for some kind of dramatic divine intervention before things happen. God is already at work in the everyday, ordinary events of life even when the dark clouds form and things seem pretty hopeless. For you see, Mark 13 is not really about doom and gloom. Rather, it s a piece offered to us as a word of hope! This text exhorts us to be proactive, to intentionally engage with the creation and to be courageously involved in the world. And we are urged to do so because God has not, and never will, give up on us - or on God s creation. (4)

4 Apocalyptic, while often used to describe a great devastation or tragedy, actually means to unveil, to disclose or to reveal. This is why the last book of the Bible is called Revelation. And here we are called to look beyond the sorrow, the grief and the tragedy of our times to understand that, even in very worst of things, God is there. God is working for good. In Mark 13 the text serves to unveil such a truth. The story serves to disclose something crucial. For the text reveals Jesus as the Son of Man, the human one, the one who comes with mercy and compassion to restore and make things new. This revelation is grounded in the teachings of the Old Testament and particularly in the Book of Daniel. And, friends, this disclosure concerning the Son of Man does not speak about destruction. It does not speak about the end of the world. Rather it points to the re-creation of the world! It speaks about the healing of a broken world! It refers to the Son of Man coming to restore, to build up and to make new a world that has lost its way. This is the real message of the text! In July this year Islamic State took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul. The Christian population, whose history goes back 2,000 years, were given an ultimatum convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. Christians were forced to flee their homes with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They initially took refuge in local churches. Most Iraqi Christians will ultimately end up in squalid camps together with millions of other refugees who are on the run in the region. In Iraq and in neighbouring Syria Christians face a terrible plight. They face ongoing kidnapping and torture. Suicide bombers terrorise Christian communities and there are numerous accounts of children continuing to be slaughtered in the terrible violence. (5)

5 This is a picture of one of those Christians who are on the run. I do not know her name and I do not know how old she is. All I know is that she once lived with her family in Mosul. Now this little girl is on the run. This little girl was, and is, threatened with death. She has witnessed the slaughter of her family and her friends. She carries severe trauma. Later in life she risks being sexually exploited and abused as young Christian girls are kidnapped and incarcerated into a life absolute of hell as sex slaves. This little girl faces the kind of apocalypse that spells disaster and desolation. Her world has, or is, coming to an end. And one needs to ask how does this little girl and others like her (and dare I mention the 700 kids locked up in detention by Australian authorities) fit into the scheme of things? How does the disclosure of God s good news speak here? Where does the revelation of God s mercy and love act here? As Christmas approaches this is a poignant question for each one of us. On this First Sunday of Advent we proclaim the one who comes with mercy and compassion. We respond to the call to be persistent and aware. Moreover, we believe Jesus is our hope and our future. And in this we proclaim Jesus is our shalom. But what does this mean for others? What does this mean for this little Iraqi girl and those other kids like her whose world is coming to an end and who have very little to celebrate this Christmas? One evening a world-renown pianist was preparing to perform in local concert hall. In the audience there was a mother with her fidgety nine-year old son. The mother brought this boy to the concert in the hope he would be encouraged to practice the piano after listening to such a gifted concert player. As the mother looked away, the boy slipped from her side. He climbed onto the concert platform, and put his small fingers on the piano keyboard. The boy began to play "Chopsticks." The audience was outraged. (6)

6 In the dressing room the master concert player overheard the sounds and quickly understood what was happening. He grabbed his coat and rushed toward the stage. Without one word of announcement, he stooped over the boy, reached around both sides and began to improvise a counter melody to harmonize and enhance the tune. As the two of them played together, the great pianist kept whispering in the boy's ear: "Keep going son. Don't quit. Keep on playing. Don't quit. I'm right here...don't quit!" Friends, the message for us today says we need to be persistent, patient and alert. In the midst of this vulnerable, unpredictable world, in the course of our uncertain and often topsy-turvy lives, we are invited to play together with God. And God offers to constantly play in unison with us. So, when we speak about the apocalypse we can affirm the apocalypse IS now. Indeed, it s all around us. But it s not one of doom and gloom. The apocalypse is not one of condemnation or destruction. Rather, the apocalypse is an opportunity for restoration. The apocalypse is an opportunity for healing and for renewal for each one of us, for the people of Iraq and for all who experience grief, fear, threat, incarceration or terror. On this first Sunday in Advent, the message is clear. In the midst of all the strife - God is beside us - God is with us. God is showing us the way. And because of this there is much to look forward to. There much to hope for. In this there is opportunity. In this there is a future! Friends, each one of us has a place in this future as we watch, as we remain alert and as we continue to be faithful and committed. We indeed have a place here as we play the song of life together with God. We have a vital role here as we sing together with God the melody of mercy and compassion for the sake of others and to the glory of our Lord! Amen. John Barr 30 th November 2014 Mark 13:24-37