Mark 13:1-13[1]
Whether we are aware
of it, I think the events of the past year and a half have triggered fear and
even panic in many of us. Much of what we knew as “normal life” before Covid
has changed. From school to work to shopping to entertainment to church to
family, the “foundation stones” of our lives have been shaken and, in some
cases, toppled over. All of this leaves us wondering if things will ever be the
same. Even those of us with the strongest faith can find ourselves dealing with
fear and even panic over what the future holds. And panic can make our commitment
to Christ, and with it our faith, hope, and love seem to evaporate into thin
air.
Sadly, times of great
change and the fear and panic they inspire have done just that to many good
people. Some have provoked panic with their cries that “the end is near!” Great
change, panic, and cries of “the end is near” seem to go together historically.
Many of us here remember the “Y2K” scare twenty years ago. Due to concerns of a
massive glitch in the system, the fear was that most of the world’s computers
would crash at 12:01am on January 1, 2000. This was supposed to have affected
everything from banking to power to our homes to the food supply. Of course,
that date came and went, just like all the other “end is near” moments
throughout history. All the fuss was for nothing.
Believe it or not, our Gospel lesson from Mark
relates to this. The reading for today is the introduction to a whole chapter
that addresses the fears that were going around Judea in those days. What we
need to understand is that the Jewish people had lived under the rule of
foreign powers for centuries. It shouldn’t surprise us to know that they
resented and resisted those powers. By the time the Romans came on the scene in
the century before Jesus was born Judea was like a powder keg. And there were
several who tried to “light the fuse” to overthrow the Romans through violent
revolt. Most of them claimed to be the “messiah,” which was the equivalent of
crying “the end is near” in that day.
That was the backdrop
of Jesus’ conversation with his disciples. In response to their admiration of
the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus made a prediction that probably would have
shocked them. He said, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be
left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mk 13:2). The Temple not only
represented the place where God was thought to dwell, it was the core of the
Jewish faith and the Jewish nation. For the temple with its massive buildings
to be “thrown down” would have been the equivalent of saying “the end is near!”
That was the only setting in which they could imagine such a catastrophe.
So they asked Jesus, “when
will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be
accomplished?” (Mk 13:4). They were asking him for “the inside track” so they
would know what was going to happen and when. But Jesus didn’t indulge them. Instead,
he simply told them that there would continue to be upheavals and crises that
would seem like everything was coming to an end, just as there had been all
along. Nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famines, and other
disruptions like them have been around throughout the history of the world. But
Jesus told them not to give way to panic because these things “do not mean that
the end has come” (Mk 13:7, TEV).
Instead, Jesus called
them to persevere in following him through all the hardships they would face.
And he didn’t hesitate to warn them that they would certainly face hardships if
they followed him. They would be “handed over” to the authorities and called on
the carpet for their faith. Even members of their own families would betray
them. Jesus warned them, “you will be hated by all because of my name” (Mk
13:13). A quick survey of the book of Acts confirms that these things actually
happened to the first Christians. But Jesus promised them, “the one who endures
to the end will be saved” (Mk 13:13). Rather than giving in to fear and panic,
Jesus called them to persevere in their faith and continue to follow him.
I think it’s easy to
understand why there are people who may look at what is happening in our world
and think that the “end is near.” Some have lost careers and homes and family
members to this pandemic. When it seems like all the foundations of our lives
are crumbling, it’s easy to panic. When we give in to fear it’s incredibly
difficult to practice the faith and hope and love that define what it means to
follow Jesus. Instead we withdraw, we disconnect from the community of
disciples, we lose faith, and along with our faith we lose hope. When we let
panic overwhelm us, it’s hard to live out our faith by loving God and loving
others.
But that’s why Jesus
calls us not to give into panic, especially in times of great change. In fact,
he said that if we respond to the upheavals of this life by holding fast and
staying the course, it will offer a “testimony” to those around us (Mk 13:9).
When it seems like the foundations of our world are crumbling, and we don’t
know what the future holds, we can trust in the one who holds the future firmly
in his loving hands. That faith can help us hold on as well to the hope that no
matter how hard things may get for us, God will turn it all to good one day.
And our faith and hope can give us the courage to put love into practice. Instead
of withdrawing into the fears and suspicions panic provokes, that’s how we
“endure to the end”: through faith, hope, and love.
[1] ©
2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 11/14/2021
for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
No comments:
Post a Comment