March 15, 2020 - When Everything Seems to Be Ending

Scripture: Psalm 46:1-7 and Mark 13:1-8, 24-37

If one thing’s for sure, people have been going through hard things for as long as there have been people. I’m going to talk about what’s going on today, but first I want to tell a story from long ago. I invite you, for just a moment, to go back to Jesus’ time with me.

Jesus was near the end of his life. He knew it. His disciples knew it, even if they pretended not to. He had spent a lot of time in the temple arguing with lots of powerful people. He had set people free from physical and mental illnesses, he had reminded them of their worth and dignity, and he boldly challenged the systems of religious and political power that were keeping people down. That’s the story Mark told up to this point, of chapter 13, when Jesus takes his closest followers outside the Temple and begins to talk to them about what’s next.

The story is set around the year 33 AD. But it was written around the year 70. So it’s like watching a movie that was made this year but tells a story of the 1970s. Does anyone remember what’s important about the year 70? [Wait]. Honestly if there’s one thing I want you to remember about the New Testament it is this: in the year 66, the Jewish people revolted against Rome, which was growing increasingly violent and oppressive. At first it worked. The Romans were expelled and a new government was set up. 

This would have been a profoundly hopeful time. But then the Roman emperor sent a general, Vespasian, to fight back. Most of the rebels got pushed into Jerusalem. Then in April of the year 70, around passover, the Roman military surrounded Jerusalem and let people in but wouldn’t let them out. Food and water ran out. Infighting in Jerusalem grew as different factions had different ideas for how to respond. This went on for months, as starvation and misery increased. By August -- I want you to just imagine what those months were like if you can, I’m not sure we can -- by August the Romans had breached Jerusalem’s final defenses and massacred most of who was left. [Image] They also destroyed the magnificent Temple -- which had been destroyed once before about 600 years before. They either took or destroyed everything in it [image], and then built the arch of Titus in Rome [image] in celebration, with panels depicting the siege of Jerusalem.

Don’t let anyone tell you -- that the Roman Empire was good. It was brutal and violent even beyond most so-called “laws of war” even today. There are many who wish to model our country off of Rome. In some ways they have succeeded. As Christians we must always remember that the Romans didn’t just kill Jesus, they brutally massacred our spiritual ancestors. By this time there weren’t Jews and Christians -- everyone was Jewish, and some Jews sought to follow Jesus.

The trauma of all this, the pain and misery, the mental and physical and spiritual illness that came as a result is impossible to capture in words. But here’s why this story is so important beyond just knowing how awful we humans can be: the gospel of Mark was most likely written right before or right after the Temple was destroyed. It was written in the middle of one of the absolute worst chapters in Jewish history. That is the backdrop for the words shared in today’s readings. 

• “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon
  another; all will be thrown down.”
• “When you hear of wars and rulers of wars, do not be alarmed....”
• “For mation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom….there will be famines.”
• “But in those those days, after that suffering…”
• “...when you see these things taking place, you know that I am near, at the very gates”

The first mistake that is so often made in interpreting these passage is ripping them out of their context, ripping them out of the story Mark has been telling, ripping them out of the pain and suffering and trauma of the people Mark is writing among and to, and applying them in some sort of really general way as if “it could happen anytime, anyplace.” That often leads to forms of faith that focus obsessively on just when Jesus will come back to set things right. 

But these words almost certainly reflect a particular historical event. That doesn’t mean they don’t mean anything for us today. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It means that we’re sorely missing the point if we focus all our efforts and energy on figuring out when exactly Jesus will come back and what exactly that will look like. You know, some people believe Jesus already came back in the form of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. 

However you understand that, the point is this: when it seems like everything is falling apart, when we face circumstances we never imagined and have no idea what to do - that is when God is closest at hands. That is when God is most near to us. Jesus’ promise is that when everything is falling apart is when we should be most attentive to the reality of divine presence all around us. And when we do, we see something else too -- that in the midst of all the pain and fear, God is moving the world towards wholeness. And somehow, someday, this world will fully reflect God’s goodness, and everyone and everything will be made well.

In 1527, the Protestant In 1527, the reformer Martin Luther faced an outbreak of the plague in his community. In response he wrote a letter called “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague,” in which he said these words:

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God. If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on him, very well, you have your sick neighbor close at hand. Go to him and serve him, and you will surely find Christ in him.”
Beloveds, there is so much we do not know. SO MUCH. There is so much fear and anxiety swirling around right now. I am not the keeper of answers any more than you are. I am grieving what is lost. I am angry at the state of our public health infrastructure. I am praying for families trying to keep their homes from being a pressure cooker. But I want to tell you what I do know:

First is that I love you. Each of you individually, and I love this church.

Being the church together has never been easy but it has always been good. We have been through a lot together. We haven’t always seen eye to eye. But we have held on to one another through the ups and downs of figuring out what it means to be faithful today. And we have grown together. You have taught me so much. I am fiercely committed to loving you as best as I can through this.

More importantly, God loves you and God loves us. And God is close at hand. God is in all those who are helping. God is in all those who are vulnerable. God is as close to us as our very breath. Just take a moment to breathe in - imagine the Spirit filling your lungs. Breathe out - imagine the fear and worry leaving your body, just for a moment.

This is a time for us to express love for one another as best we can. I’m still figuring out what that means, we’re still figuring out what that means. We do not need to have all the answers. Instead, as Jesus said, we must simply keep alert. Pay attention to where the Spirit is blowing, and go that way too. Not alone. Together. For nothing can take away our togetherness. Not a thing.

You are beloved children of God, each of you. And God is truly near. So do not be alarmed. Though the earth should shake, though the mountains tremble, God is near. We are not alone. We live in God’s world. And we have one another.

Thanks be to God. 

Amen.