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| Future Perfect.; (sermon 11/18/12) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 17 2012, 09:05 PM (128 Views) | |
| Dewey | Nov 17 2012, 09:05 PM Post #1 |
HOLY CARP!!!
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Mark 13:1-13 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs. “As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ===== When I was in high school, one of my favorite TV shows was “The Waltons.” In some ways, back then I was a little bit like the geeky, bookish, John Boy on the show – in fact, a couple of my college buddies from New York and New Jersey picked up on what they considered my backward, small-town ways that were so foreign to them, and sometimes they actually called me “John Boy” because of it. Well if you remember the show, you’ll remember the Baldwin sisters, Mamie and Emily. They were the elderly daughters of the late Judge Baldwin, who apparently had been a pretty successful bootlegger in addition to serving on the bench, and after the judge died, the sisters kept the family business going, selling jugs of “The Recipe” to their neighbors – for medicinal purposes, of course. Throughout the story line of the show, the one sister, Miss Emily, was continually pining away since she was a young lady, for Ashley Longworth, the one and only true love of her life. Apparently, Ashley Longworth had left abruptly one day and never came back. Over the course of the show, it eventually came out that the judge had run him off, thinking he was a good-for-nothing gold-digger who wasn’t good enough for his daughter, but none of that was part of Miss Emily’s fantasy world that she’d built up around him. She was always hopeful and convinced that, even at this late date, Ashley was gong to come back for her, and set everything right, and they’d both live happily ever after together. Since the earliest days of our faith, Christians have often been accused of living in that same kind of delusion as Miss Emily – waiting and waiting for Jesus to come back for us all and make everything right. In the days shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension, Christians expected Jesus to return very soon – surely within weeks, months at most. But as time dragged on, people started to make fun of these crazy Christians, waiting for their crucified leader to come back. And even the Christians themselves began to wonder, were they mistaken? Was Jesus really coming back? In this passage from Mark, Jesus seems to be talking about two things simultaneously – the destruction of the great Temple in Jerusalem – which the Romans did indeed destroy, in 70 AD, when they crushed a Jewish rebellion – while at the same time, he appears to also be talking about his return at some future time. Jesus had told the disciples that the whole Temple complex was going to be destroyed. This was a pretty bold claim. The Temple had only recently been completed. It took longer to build than Jesus had even been alive. It was massive; it took up more room than six football fields and was the largest religious complex in the ancient world. And it was impressive. It was sheathed in white marble, and the historian Josephus wrote that from a distance, it glistened in the sun like a white, snow-capped mountain. It drew people from all around the ancient world, not just Jews but sightseers, who just wanted to see this great wonder. It was the focal point of the Jewish religion and culture. And yet, Jesus said it was all going to be destroyed, laid flat right down to its foundations. It was outrageous. But he was right. When the early Christians, who had been passing on stories of Jesus mostly through oral tradition, finally got to the point of saying, “You know, we really ought to write some of this stuff down, so we don’t forget it,” this particular story was very important to them. It seems that Mark’s gospel was first written down just shortly after the Temple was destroyed. Jesus had been gone by that time for about 40 years, and believers were starting to wonder when he was coming back, if ever. But in this story, Christians could say “Look, Jesus made this claim that the Temple was going to be destroyed, and as unlikely as it sounded then, his words came true. So even if his promise to return is hard for us to grasp now, we have this event – and even more importantly, we have the reality of his resurrection – as evidence for us that his word is true, and that eventually, in the time known only to God, he will return, just as he promised.” This passage from Mark has had a big influence in certain parts of the Christian faith, especially in the United States. The disciples ask Jesus, “When will this be?” and Jesus gives them an answer, one that applied both to the shorter term scenario of the destruction of the Temple, but also to the larger issue of his return, when he would establish the kingdom of God here on earth, and establish the great eternal wedding banquet we talked about last week. Jesus’ answer has been analyzed, and studied, and shoehorned to fit any number of times throughout history, in the attempt by many people to try to determine just when Jesus is coming back – or if not to determine exactly when, at least to be able to say “It’s really getting pretty close; we’d all better get ready!” This line of thought has become an entire industry within the Christian faith, cranking out study Bibles that try to lay out the whole timeline of Jesus’ return. It’s led to countless books like the “Left Behind” series, and similar books. That whole line of trying to establish a specific timeline of Jesus’ return, and what has to happen and when, before it can happen, has become the theological backbone of a lot of churches. And if you’ll forgive me, I think it’s all a lot of hogwash. I think that whole line of thought, that way of reading Jesus’ words, completely misses the point Jesus is making. In fact, I think it’s the exact *opposite* of the point he’s making here. Jesus isn’t laying out a detailed script for his return, that this has to happen, and then this, and then this. If anything, he seems to be saying, “Yes, there will be wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes and famines – but there always have been, and always will – so don’t let anyone tell you that these are a sign of the end times; these will occur all throughout this age before I return.” If you really listen to his words, he’s saying that whatever comes our way between now and that time – trials, tribulations, persecutions, problems, fears and doubts – that we’re to continue to live our lives in faith, and in trust, and that God will provide us with what we need, and when we need it. What seems important to Jesus isn’t that we live our lives so that when he returns, we’re ready for him at *that* time, but rather, that we live our lives so that we’re ready for him at *any* time. Christmas day. Next week. Two o’clock this afternoon. And while we wait, even when we’re in our most extreme times of crisis, or fear, or doubt – we can hear this story from Mark and get the same message out of it as its original readers. We can rely on Jesus’ word. He was right about the Temple, he was right about his resurrection, and because of that, we can trust him to be right about his return. We can have faith and confidence that there will be an end to the brokenness, and pain, and suffering that we all have to endure in this world now. That he will eventually usher in that new, perfect future. In two weeks, we’ll start the season of Advent, when we think about Jesus’ first entry into our world, and the baby in Bethlehem; and at the same time, we think about the great hope of his return. As we do that, we should also think about the fact that Jesus doesn’t want us to just sit around on our hands in the shade of the maple trees, just waiting for him to come back like Miss Emily. We’re supposed to live in faith, and hope, and joy over the fact that, unlike Ashley Longworth, Jesus really is coming coming back to set everything right. Who knows - maybe even today. Thanks be to God. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| AndyD | Nov 17 2012, 10:36 PM Post #2 |
Senior Carp
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Do you believe His return will be in physical form? Or perhaps as a spiritual presence? |
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Every morning the soul is once again as good as new, and again one offers it to one's brothers & sisters in life. | |
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| Dewey | Nov 18 2012, 03:53 PM Post #3 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I believe that wherever he is right now, he has physical form - he is taking up physical time and space. I believe that in his resurrection, he was not merely a physical being who could take on the appearance of a physical being, but, while his physicality was enhanced or sin some ways different from our own, it was nonetheless truly physical, and an illustration/preview of the nature of our own ultimate resurrection. Because of that, and because I believe that he is already spiritually present within our broken world, yes, I believe that his return will not be merely spiritual but physical as well - and I believe that at that time, all of physical creation will be transformed physically, becoming something similar to, but even better than, our physical natures currently are. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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