This sermon was delivered at the gracious invitation of the East Goshen United Church of Christ on November 14, 2021. The scripture lessons for this sermon are:
– Daniel 12:1-3
– Mark 13:1-8

Walking with the disciples

Today’s Gospel begins innocently enough. Jesus and his disciples are visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. Keep in mind that Jesus’ followers came from the country, about 70 miles north of Jerusalem. They were poor, working-class people, and the odds are good that they had never even seen a two-story building. They had been raised on stories from the texts that we call the Old Testament, which details the glories of the Temple and the proud history of the Jewish people and their relationship with God. Imagine how their excitement would build, day after day, as they make that long journey on foot from the Galilee toward Jerusalem — and toward that Temple which had stood as the symbol and center of Jewish life for over 500 years.

When they finally saw that Temple, they must have been awestruck. Huge throngs of people would have been gathering there. Above the hubbub of the crowd, they would have heard the song of a choir with musical accompaniment; the smell of incense and sacrificial offerings; the commotion of ritual and prayer; and the magnificent sight of the Temple itself, a massive stone edifice among a compound that was at least as big as their villages back home. What a sight to see!

And then, as soon as one of the disciples cries out “What awesome stones and buildings!”, Jesus has a sharp retort: “Not even one stone will be left on another. All will be demolished.” And to make matters worse, Jesus doesn’t stop there! When his closest followers ask for more information, he starts talking about wars and earthquakes and famines. But amidst all of this disturbing imagery, Jesus offers just a little dose of reassurance: he says, “These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet.”

The end of the world?

Unfortunately, this world is no stranger to chaos and destruction. In addition to the natural destructive powers like earthquakes and hurricanes, there are also many destructive forces that we humans unleash on ourselves: war, violence, injustice, bigotry, greed, indifference … the list could go on and on.

You don’t need me to stand in the pulpit here and tell you these things. You can just turn on the TV news and get your daily dose of despair. Or you can turn to social media for a selection of carefully curated outrage: left-wing outrage, right-wing outrage, both-sides-are-wrong outrage, your choice. We can gorge ourselves on a daily diet of bad news and recreational outrage, and watch the hope slowly seep out of our lives — leaving room for nothing but anger and despair.

If we feed ourselves on this diet of bad news and outrage, it will not be long before we, too, start to think that the end is coming soon. This is the mindset that Jesus’ disciples have. In spite of their long, 70-mile journey with Jesus; in spite of the crowded jubilance of the Temple courts; in sprite of the magnificent sight of the Temple itself — they are eager for the end. They can’t wait. “Tell us,” they ask Jesus, “when will the end come?”

These things must happen

It is in this context that Jesus offers his somewhat reassuring words: “These things must happen, but it is not the end yet.” Jesus reminds his disciples — and each of us — that wars happen. Natural disasters happen. Oppression happens. Destruction happens. Chaos happens. Trouble happens. And he was right about that Temple — it was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.

Don’t get me wrong — Jesus does not condone these things. He is not indifferent to the awful suffering that this world can sometimes bring. He simply reminds us: these things must happen. And he also reminds us: this is not the end.

Jesus is warning his disciples — and each of us — to avoid hopelessness. To avoid resignation. To avoid throwing our hands up in the air and saying, “The end is near, it’s all in God’s hands now.” Because once we start thinking like that, we start to ask that most dangerous of all questions: “Why bother?”

Why bother voting? All politicians are bad.

Why bother fighting for a better environment? Climate change is inevitable.

Why bother fighting against racism and bigotry? It is far too ingrained in our culture.

Why bother feeding the hungry and clothing the naked? There will always be more poor people than we can help.

Jesus pushes back against all of these falsehoods, these weak resignations to the power evil. Jesus reminds us that there will always be trouble. There will always be problems. There will always be excuses to give up. These things must happen.

A Gospel for our own day

Without a doubt, the scripture that we read today is among the most challenging and disturbing messages in all of the gospels. This message came about as a result of the times that Jesus and his disciples were living in — it was a time of enormous upheaval, a time when political and social and cultural and religious divisions were incredibly sharp, a time when tensions were extremely high.

That sounds an awful lot like the times we all are living in right now. So, while these might not be the most comforting words of Jesus that we will ever hear, they just might be the words that we need to hear the most. Things seem bad right now. In a lot of ways, things are bad right now. There are days when we read the news and wonder if we might be living at the end — if not the end of the world, at least perhaps the end of the world as we know it. But we are not the first people to experience that feeling. That feeling was alive and well when Jesus walked the earth.

And Jesus had an answer for those troubled times — and for our troubled times. In an era of unceasing bad news, Jesus brought us some good news: there is hope for this world.

God has not given up on the world

If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will discover that God has a dream for this world. The prophets talk about a world where “justice rolls down like waters” (Amos 5:24), where “the wolf shall lie down with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6), where “men will study war no more.” (Isaiah 2:4) And Jesus re-ignited the movement to transform this world from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God has. “God so loved the world that he gave his only son…” (John 3:16), and not only did Jesus open for us the gate to eternal life, he also set us back on the path to pursuing God’s dream.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors.

Jesus taught us to care for the poor, the oppressed, the outsider, and those who suffer.

Jesus gave us the example of self-sacrificing love — love that places the needs of others over our own desires.

Jesus called us to engage in the work of ministry. And that work of ministry — in all of its many forms — really does change the world. When we follow Jesus, we build up the Kingdom of God and we help to make God’s dream manifest in this world — in spite of all of the problems this world faces.

God has not given up on the world. And if God has not given up on this world, we dare not give up either. There is work for us to do. [paraphrased from sermon of Bishop Michael Curry, 11/1/2016] And when we are overwhelmed by bad news, and are tempted to ask that question, “Why bother?” — we have an answer: God loves us, and we are called to love. Let us never fail to answer that call.