Sermons Archive

The End Gives Way to the Beginning
The Rev. Janice Robinson
November 19, 2006

The war in Iraq has not only cost incredible loss of human life, but it has also signaled a change politically in this country. The increasing loss of life on our streets, highways and in our homes is escalating daily, signaling a downward spiral in human relationships and the rending of the social fabric of our society. The pollution of our environment has threatened the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil in which we grow our food. The increasing violence of the storms here and abroad gives us pause. What does all of this bode for humanity?

What we are seeing now is not the first time in human history that such social, environmental and political upheaval has occurred. It was happening in Jesus’ time. Jesus, at the end of his earthly ministry is busy trying to share as much information and understanding as he can about the widening gap between what God intended and the actual reality. I suppose then as now, there was much blaming of something or someone for the state of the known world.

Then as now there is search for understanding. Jesus shares with his disciples not so much an explanation, nor a condemnation of the world, but a caution to focus on what was important, namely to spread the gospel of God’s love for the world. Peter, James, John, and Andrew, (the first four to be called into Jesus’ mission community), hear Jesus speak of the days to come when the Temple will be torn down, leaving not one stone upon another.

The thought of the Temple being destroyed was no small matter. Israel believed that as God’s people, surely God would not let the Temple be destroyed unless it signaled “the end.” We are no different. We also hear predictions of the coming apocalypse, with specific dates and events that will signal its approach. People have looked to the Book of Revelations and have seen in the prophecies there, predictions that they identify with the things that are happening in our time.

We continue to ignore Jesus’ warning that “no one knows the hour or the day, not even the Son, but only the Father knows.” I doubt whether casinos or betting parlors are taking book that the events of today is signaling the end of the known world. But if we read Jesus’ prophecy in Mark correctly, Jesus tells his friends that they need not worry about what is happening around them. Their job is to preach the gospel of God’s love as Jesus himself did, with their words and with their very lives.

Jesus was not placing the physical security of the disciples as a priority. H was not telling them about some weapon to develop in order that they might make a preemptive strike to “prevent” wars or terrorism. Jesus does not instruct his friends to build some type of structure that will protect them from death and injury. Jesus didn’t even talk with them about the need to change the type of governance they were experiencing in order to avert the coming chaos and tumult.

Jesus’ insistence that his disciples focus on spreading the gospel of the kingdom, maintaining hope, and being patient is the same message we have been given today. Why, we might ask, would Jesus keep his focus on those things, when all around them seemed to be going to hell in the proverbial “hand basket?” Jesus’ focus was on life and not death. The ways of this world seemed geared to stave off death in its physical forms, but we neglect the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual death that Jesus was concerned about. We work on building bigger and deadlier weapons and systems of destruction to kill so that one nation can “protect” itself from another nation.

Individually we participate in this destructive behavior when we try to exclude each other from participation (consciously or unconsciously); when we talk about what we perceive as another’s fault, but not to the person with whom we have a problem; when we seek to blame rather than to understand; when we choose division over the difficult work of unity without conformity. This behavior comes out of our fears, our hurts and our pain, not out of love. It is not enough to merely talk about the gospel of love, but it is necessary to live the gospel; so that the world can see that there is an alternative way to live.

Our penchant for multi-tasking, making time the task master of the god “more,” drives us away from mutual trust, from risking for others, and from making sacrifice for the good of the whole, the bases of community building. Our vision is narrower and our horizons are more limited. We can’t seem to tear ourselves away from building systems that will keep “me and mine” secure in the face of chaos and turmoil. We forget that if we look for the safety of the whole our safety is also guaranteed since we are a part of the whole. When we see to the health of all we see to our own health.

Perhaps we can begin to understand Jesus’ focus. It was on life and on preparing ourselves for the larger life not on death. Jesus was concerned that his disciples and we as well not become distracted by the difficulty of our times, but rather we should expect that pursuing selfish ends we set in motion the potential of mass destruction; seeing others who do not share our perspectives, and are “not like us” as enemies prevents the possibility of community; seeking to change others, but never ourselves prevents dialogue and understanding; seeing the world only as a dangerous place to live brings despair and takes away hope; and finally, being closed to God’s Word prevents love from being shared and multiplied.

Should our focus be on that which destroys rather than on what supports life, we will act out of fear believing that we must protect ourselves from one another rather than love one another. We will become so distracted from the work of reconciliation left for us by Jesus, that we make our world smaller in order to control it, rather than to live most fully with one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. No wonder Jesus says over and over again, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus invites us to see the possibility of “new life” coming from the pain of change and growth. Even as there is peril in this world that is not all, for there is also hope in seeking out the strengths of each other rather than our weaknesses; there is hope in my need creating an opportunity for you to share your gifts; there is hope in our talking again and again that understanding will come; there is hope in our greeting one another with a smile and our heartfelt prayer for peace in each others’ lives. There is strength in acknowledging that the very center of our lives is Christ who makes of our weakness strength and of our hopes and prayers a new reality.

Some might think that we are too far gone for there to be change, but we are reminded by Hannah’s story. Being barren for many, many years, Hannah suffered the socially enforced stigma attached to her condition, as well as being harassed by her husband’s other wife. Hannah endured it all, and went to the Lord and pleaded, only to have her condition reversed. Nothing is impossible with God. Even in the midst of the chaos God’s reign continues to grow, so that as this world moves inexorably towards its end, within it is the birthing of the full reign of God. Therein lies our promise and our hope.

Amen