Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC The When and What Dilemma Prelude when will this be and what will be the sign Mark 13:4 From a preaching perspective the middle of November poses a bit of a dilemma. The end of the calendar year is in sight, six weeks or so remain. Holidays and holy days beg for attention; a lot of life gets crammed between now and year end. The church calendar, though, with its liturgical seasons, is not so structured. The last Sunday in November is the first Sunday in Advent, which marks the beginning of a new year. Next week we will focus upon Thanksgiving. Which leaves us this week to speak of great things coming to an end. The dilemma dare we speak of such things, or would we better serve to fish elsewhere for an encouraging word of faith? I was tempted to work with another passage of scripture, but then thought better of it. The lesson from Mark, composed sometime in the last quarter of the first century, has a remarkable relevancy for our lives today. The question that comes to the front is this: How do we live when life, as we know it, is coming to an end?
Page 2 How do we manage ourselves with knowledge that we are living at the end of an age? Is there any recourse to be had when life is threatened, when we experience in ourselves and in our institutions what Tillich called some 60 years ago, the shaking of foundations? The terrorist attacks this past Friday in Paris all so horrible. The attackers targeting cafes, cultural venues, a concert hall, a stadium for sport. So many lives lost. And so much sorrow. And anger. Such intensities shake the foundations of our faith, hope, and trust. And the pain in France is linked to the ongoing wars in Iraq, Syria and the millions who have been displaced by discord and violence. The shaking of foundations. When will it all end? What will end it? And what is our role as we find ourselves in the thick of it? These were some of the questions that emerge in my mind given the events of the week, with the scripture lesson in the background. Let s quickly revisit. Jesus had been working overtime in the temple, fielding various queries (his credentials were questioned; some wanted to know about paying taxes; others about marriage/resurrection;
still another asked which commandment was first and foremost of all). The scheduled debates in Mark are over, and Jesus is checking out, taking leave of the temple. Page 3 An anonymous disciple is enthralled with the trappings of the temple. The disciple enthuses: Rabbi, what large stones and what large buildings! Beautiful stones wonderful buildings (Cont. Eng. V.). What a size these building (JB Phillips). You see these great things, Jesus asks, this huge complex? Well get this every stone will lose its place; all will come tumbling down. It is a riveting moment in our gospel story, one that demands our understanding. Jesus the Jew frequented the temple; worshipped and prayed at the temple. But Jesus was no Temple apologist. His vision for a life of fidelity to God was in some way obstructed by the Temple and its administration. The temple was the principle fixture of faith for the Jewish people. Solomon s temple had soared over atop Mt. Zion; and it was there that Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt what Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed. The temple in view of Jesus and his disciples was that of Herod, forty years in the making.
Page 4 It is said to have been one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, on a scale hard for us to comprehend twice as large as the Roman Forum with its various temples, and four times the size of the Athenian Acropolis with its famed Parthenon, the storied shrine of Athena. The historian, Josephus (circa 37-100), who lived and wrote in the age of Herod s temple, reported that so much gold was used to embellish the exterior walls of the temple, that on a sunny day it was a blinding spectacle (see Christian Century, Nov. 11, 2015, p. 20). And it soared from atop the mount, such that it could be seen from miles away by pilgrims making way there to worship. So it was built to project power. It was built to project permanence. It was a religious Pentagon, so massive in scale that to behold was to believe in forever; it was the center of the world, home to the Holy of Holies; it dominated the eye, and it dominated the imagination; everyone was impacted, tout le monde as the French would say. so great was the temple, any fool could see, it was too big to fail. Jesus, though, was not so charmed; where others saw incomparable brilliance, Jesus saw an institution passing away. ***** ***** ***** Four of the disciples speak privately to Jesus during an executive council session.
Peter, James, John, and Andrew reveal what is on their minds: Page 5 when is all this gonna come down, and what signs will disclose the last things are near? Jesus responds with cryptic language, warning of demagogues to come promising to save and deliver; there are references of war and rumors of war; and natural calamity, political upheaval, with humanity suffering famines. Jesus wasn t forecasting such things; Mark has given us Jesus reporting the evening news, summarizing not a future to be anticipated, but the life being experienced, the faith being stretched by horrible episodes afflicting God s people. So take note for Jesus does provide an assessment. These are signs, he says, not of the end, but of the beginning of sorrows (KJV); with these things, the NEB translates, the birth pangs of the new age begin. ***** ***** ***** FAITH AND ITS RUINS Far and wide we can venture, and always there is a residue of faith, temple ruins to explore; skeletons of a structured life that proved unable (for whatever reason) to sustain life. It was a couple of years ago that I heard a talk that made reference to Jonathan Lear and his book, Radical Hope Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation.
Page 6 Lear begins his study with the story of a native American tribal chief (Crow), who tried to interpret and understand what events had befallen his people. Plenty Coups, the last Chief of the Crow Nation, was reported to have said. When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. When life is undone, when cultures collapse when the heart falls and we can t lift them up, what is to be done? Jesus looked upon the Temple in his time and saw what came to pass. The dwelling place of God destroyed; Divinity displaced; a people left with no fixed placed for worship. Some people sing the song: our God is an awesome God; we might better sing, our God is a wandering God; dislodged, no permanent address. Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of Man has no place to lay his head (Luke 9:58) Jesus who has nowhere and no place to lodge in this impermanent world save our hearts. And there in the residence of our heart, the end is not the end yet; the beginning of sorrows are birth pangs for the new age to begin. We live in the better hope of our strivings. It is not to be understood as optimism, rather it is an act of defiance, it is a faith construct to help us face extreme circumstances in life. It is our prayer our refusal to live in ruins where faith does not breathe life.
Page 7 ***** ***** ***** DON T FORFEIT YOUR HOPE William Sloan Coffin is reputed to have said You cannot have a revolution without revolting circumstances (via the Rev. David W. Good, First Congregational Church, Old Lyme, Connecticut). Our world has no lack of revolting circumstances. Jesus, the Revolutionary Lover that fuels our following, counsels: as revolting as your condition(s) may be, the end is not yet near. Jesus never concedes the end as final. Always there is recourse to hope derived from the Holy Spirit, not misplaced in Temples made by hands, but kindled within the heart. Emily Dickinson (Poem No 254) Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. It is tempting to think - it s all over for me and all over for us. But that is not the time Jesus, though, concedes nothing to sorrow. He transforms sorrow into the birth pain. So don t give up. And don t be fooled. Do the best you can. (Sermons are typically composed in haste, for the demands of the day are many; so be charitable as you read; and remember: the contents of this sermon have not been edited and may or may not have been a part of its public presentation)