November 18, 2007
| Pentecost 25, 2007 | Malachi 4:1-2a | |
| 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 | ||
| Luke 21:5-19 |
On August First, 2007, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed and fell into the Mississippi River. A horrible event. In the first minutes and hours after the event I assumed the death toll would be much higher than it turned out to be. Of course this does not diminish the grief of those who lost someone.
It shocked us. It dominated local and state news, and even captured attention in international news. I know for a fact it was televised in Tokyo.
It brought back memories of 9 - 11. It was scary. It was surreal. Many of us wondered, "Can this REALLY be happening?"
I want to share a true story of something else that happened that day.
On the day this terrible thing happened, a woman was having her hair done in a salon in downtown Minneapolis. The hairdresser had a TV on in the shop and everyone was watching coverage of this tragedy. So please remember the images they were seeing- a fire, rescue workers, cars piled on top of other cars, and some cars visible under the water. This is what was going through their minds as they went through an ordinary hair appointment. People were on edge. Worried. Shocked.
The client was asked to get up from one chair, and step over to the chair by the sink- not at all unusual. The hairdresser turned her back to reach for something. The client used that moment to step in the opposite direction to grab her purse. The hairdresser turned, expecting to see her client seated by the sink. She saw an empty chair. She screamed.
She later admitted she thought her client had disappeared. With the bridge falling and the sirens passing by outside the shop, and then the empty chair.... She thought THAT DAY was the rapture- the end of time.
She saw an empty chair and became engulfed in the fear that the end had come. She soon learned otherwise, but for one awful moment she was terrified.
That is a true story.
That story was told to me as a piece of humor. I guess we could laugh, but I find it sad. In fact, I am outraged at the countless religious voices that speak loudly and often about the end times. I am convinced this brand of Christianity creates fear and paranoia. It promotes a kind of hopelessness that robs people of the will to DO something about problems in our world. Why should they take care of people or the ecology if the whole ship is sinking?
YES. Jesus predicted bad times. This text is just one example. But here he says- in the same breath- that bad times are not necessarily a sign of the end. "These things must happen, but the end will not follow immediately." (verse 9)
Jesus spoke of many terrible events. He said the Temple would be destroyed- the most sacred place in Jewish life. He said there would be wars and insurrections and earthquakes, and more. But before all this- a persecution of his followers. Not a pleasant picture.
From our vantage point, we can see those early persecutions did provide times for testimony, just as Jesus said.
The Book of Luke is closely connected with the Book of Acts. The two books claim the same author and few today would dispute it.
Everything Jesus predicted in Luke is something that came to pass in the Book of Acts. In the account of Acts, Christians are arrested, beaten, jailed, and yes, even killed. In spite of all these hardships those disciples always succeeded in announcing to the world the news of the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ. The Word spread in spite of the worst.
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There are some gloomy predictions here. And following Jesus can still have serious risks. When Christians are led by the Holy Spirit to speak out against corruption there can be terrible risks. We've seen this in our own era- Nuns in El Salvador, Pastors in Apartheid South Africa, Christians in India, and Iraq, and other places.
But the core of this message is hopeful. Yes, hopeful. Look back on the history of the church. Seeds are planted and they bear fruit. A small band of scared and hunted people proclaimed a message that is still growing, still strong, still bringing faith, hope and love to the world.
This may be crazy talk- because Jesus says some will be put to death, and in the same breath he says not a hair of your head will perish.
Not a hair of your head.
There are plenty of reasons to worry. I myself get lots of practice worrying, and I'm not being persecuted for proclaiming Christ.
But God has made a promise that the Living Word will bring reconciliation and healing to a broken world. There may be hard times and setbacks, but God is in the world! God's life-giving word is working.
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In Romans chapter 8, Paul says "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-"
(Verses 15-17)
All this discussion starts with Jesus saying even things like temples are not permanent. His hearers ask for a sign.
A sign is about knowing. Asking for a sign is saying we want to know. We want a map. We want a program with all the players and their numbers- a syllabus with all the tasks [planned out.
We are like those disciples- we want to know. And every purveyor of an end times scenario is at some level saying they know what to expect.
All this arises out of the need to be in control. Faith says God is in control.
Real trust is moving into the future- faithfully caring for God's creation and our neighbor- deeply trusting that in good times and in bad- God is speaking.
What God says is this: In the very end not a hair of your head will perish.