|■■■□■■■■■■■■□■■| GOSPEL
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Mark 13:24-37
×÷《》÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷《》÷×
There's a certain strangeness to those moments where we enter into a conversation that has already begun. I think we all know that. I dare say we've all been in these moments. Try as hard as we may, there is a chance that we simply will not be able to understand what is happening before our very eyes.
The Gospel for this First Sunday of Advent is such a moment. Our reading begins well after this conversation between Jesus and his disciples began. Thankfully we can look back at previous verses to see the rest of the story.
This conversation starts with the focal point being the Temple in Jerusalem, from which Jesus and the disciples have just excited. There is nothing in our culture or nation that matches the Temple. This Sacred House was "Heaven on Earth," a dwelling place for the name and presence of God. It was the only place in which the sacrificial rites of worship could be offered. It's very existence was a sign of the nearness of God among the people.
It should not be shocking, then, that the disciples take a moment to pause and awe in the majesty of the Holy House from which they have just come. I imagine that many people in that day and generation had such a reaction outside the Temple.
It is in the midst of this awe that Jesus speaks a shocking word to his disciples. Jesus foretells the day when destruction would come even to the Temple, causing not one stone to be left untouched. So shocking was this that if it had not been Jesus who said this they would likely have been highly offended or quickly dimissive both of the message and the messanger. And if Jesus had said this to the religious leaders instead of his disciples, his death would likely have come much quicker.
The disciples are shocked. They want to know when this will happen. And what is truly interesting is that Jesus doesn't actually answer their question. And while he is not answering their question, Jesus speaks not merely of the destruction of the Temple but the end of the world, the Day of Judgment, and everything that shall lead up to that day. Jesus foretells how the disciples and those who believe in him because of their testimony will suffer persecution. He speaks of wars and rumors of wars, of earthquakes and famine, referring to these things as the birth pains that point to the coming Day of the Advent of God.
It's at this point where most in our generation suddenly enter into this conversation and become attentive to Jesus' words. And for most who become attentive at this point, the driving force is not faith but fear. The image that is in my mind is one I first encountered years ago: a man sitting in a recliner with Bible in one hand and remote in the other, watching the 24-hour news channel jump for one horror to another. And when we look through the eyes of such a person, we are very well aware of the fact that in the world today, the birth pains of which Jesus speaks are all around us. Do you realize that we have almost a full generation who has not lived in peacetime? What's more shocking is that it feels very much as if this has become the new normal that has arisen out of the inability to imagine the threat of terrorists going away any time soon. And now, since we last celebrated Advent, there have been days when it has felt as if the Korean War would resume at any moment. And then there are the famines in the world today, and massive earthquakes, and powerful hurricanes, something Jesus never mentioned but we think of anyway because we basicaslly clump all natural disasters together.
In the midst of this, our Gospel for today begins, and we hear Jesus telling us to be expectant of his Advent when these things are taking place. That message has been heard very clearly. In the last few years alone, how many times has someone predicted a specific day to be the Last Day, the End of the World. Those who make such predictions fail to realize that wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines are not unique to our generation. These were faced even by the generation in whose midst Jesus spoke this message about the Temple. They also fail to notice that Jesus makes it clear that no one knows when the day will come when he returns. He even admits that he does not know. How interesting it is to recall that and see then that there are persons who think they know better than Jesus.
In today's Gospel Jesus speaks to our fears in order to drive us to faith. Like every generation, we can find ourselves terrified by the destructive forces referenced by Jesus that we see all around us. And what we need to remember as persons living in the world by faith is that there are persons in the world and even in the Church who share the stories of these forces with the intention of increasing our fears. But as Christians we need to remember always that Jesus' presence is very different. When Jesus speaks of these things, he is doing so as the One who spoke to the storms and caused them to cease by the word spoken from his mouth. This he did because the truth of our faith is always this: Our God is always bigger and more powerful than our problems and the forces that bring fear and destruction in the world.
When Jesus tells us in this Gospel to keep awake, what we really need to hear is Jesus telling us to stay focused on him, to be listening to him. In the midst of the noise of world, of things things that increase fear, we who belong to Christ focus on the Prince of Peace who speaks hope in the midst of despair, life in the midst of death, light springing forth in darkness. Standing in faith rather than in fear, we cry out for Jesus to stand in the midst of the storms that cause such destruction and fear in our own day and generation with the cry of "Peace! Be still!" And as we look towards Christ, we bring the world to Christ, to him who takes away all fear and gives peace that this world cannot fathom or grant.
×÷《》÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷《》÷×
°°°°°°□■□■■■■■■□■□°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Father Timothy Alleman
Rector @ Holy Cross
|■■■□■■■■■■■■□■■|
No comments:
Post a Comment