Have you ever noticed that
sometimes when you have what appears to be a difficult task to do, a second,
wider look reveals the task to be simpler than you originally thought? Yeah, that happens to me from time to time,
too, and it happened in the preparation of today’s sermon. The gospel reading from Mark starts with the
admiration of several buildings by one of the Apostles, only to have Jesus
reply with some line about the buildings they are looking at being demolished. Boy, did I volunteer for the wrong day! I struggled with my task and finally picked a
direction, I wrote down a lot of notes, and crafted it into a message…a six and
a half minute message. This would not
do!
So I went to what has become
an old standby in my life, I looked for inspiration, and God provided it! Why was I limiting myself to only the Gospel
reading? There are no such rules for
writing a sermon! So I read the other
three readings, and a common theme emerged.
The same common theme I was already working on! I was relieved! I felt blessed! I did not need to start with another stack of
blank paper!!!
The first reading from the
first book of Samuel details a change in the life of Hannah, mother of
Samuel. She was taunted & teased
because she had no children, one of the major life accomplishments of women in
those days. The taunting led to her
depression, a common sequence of events even today. Even in her depression, Hannah found her
faith in God, prayed to the Father, and her prayers were answered! She had a son, Samuel. Faith can do that, if we only let it!
Psalm 113, like many of the
Psalms, is full of praise for the Lord, whose glory is higher than the
heavens. In this psalm, God lifts the
poor from the dust, and the needy from the garbage dump. In doing so, He elevates them to the status
of princes and princesses upon their arrival in Heaven! Faith can do that, if we only let it!
The writers of Hebrews then
remind us that, unlike the frequent animal sacrifices of the Old Testament,
Jesus’ sacrifice was good enough, or should I say great enough, to forgive all
sins, everywhere, for all time. We are
able to enter into Heaven and enjoy God’s house, if we are sincere in our faith
and fully trust Him. The authors then
ask us to motivate each other to acts of love, and to encourage one another,
two things that we enjoy doing here at Springville United Methodist Church. And faith can do all of this, too, if we only
let it!
Today’s Gospel passage from
Mark has Jesus talking to only 4 of the Apostles, who have asked him when the magnificent
buildings they are sitting in the shadow of will be reduced to the stones from
which they were built. Bible scholars
believe that Jesus, in response to their questions, foreshadows events that
would take place after his eminent death.
Indeed, there were a series of wars after His death, including the
Jewish War. It was during these
conflicts that Jerusalem was destroyed.
These scholars believe that Mark’s gospel was written after the Jewish
War, and was composed to set the stage for Jesus’ return to a world that
desperately needed Him.
Peter, James, John and
Andrew are told that they will be persecuted and challenged for believing in
and teaching about Jesus, just as the Son of Man and John the Baptist
were. This comes as no surprise to us
today, because we know that Jesus life and death and the birth of the church
shook the fabric of society for hundreds of years. Mark’s gospel speaks of wars and earthquakes
as the beginning of birth pangs, the world’s labor pains of Jesus’ return. Some of that chaos was generated by those who
held strongly to the teachings of the past several hundred years, as they did
not believe that Jesus was the Savior they had been waiting for.
The Old Testament, as many
of you know, is filled with stories of war and battle. God clears out many a land to make room for
his people. In the book of Joshua alone
the troops of Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, as well
as those of the Amorites, are defeated by Heaven’s Army, and those in only the
first 10 chapters! He also does a
do-over with His people a few times because they will not obey Him. God does all of this destruction and killing
for an important reason: He is clearing the way for something better! God does these things without warning, for
what He has planned is so much better than what already exists. We need to remember in times of war and
natural disasters that God’s worst plans are better than even the best plans of
we humans!
His swift, decisive actions
are also meant to serve as a warning to future generations…a warning to be
prepared! In the Old Testament, He used
the “fear of God” strategy to try to keep His people in line. But, still, His people sinned openly and
lusted after the things that other people had…and that lusting eventually led
to sin, which then led to war. For when
we lust, we lose sight of God and our individual goodness, and we begin to seek
greener grass. Alas, the grass is not
greener, and God is not happy with us.
I would like to read from
Jeremiah, Chapter 7, verses 20 through 26.
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: My anger and my wrath shall be poured
out on this place, on human beings and animals, on the trees of the field and
the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your
burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For on the day that I brought your
ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them
concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But
this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall
be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be
well with you.’ Yet they did not
obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they
walked in their own counsels, and looked backwards rather than forwards. From the day that your ancestors came
out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my
servants, the prophets, to them, day after day; yet they did not listen to me,
or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their ancestors did.”
We know that
God sent a long line of servants and prophets to lead His people to Him. This did not work well. God needed to reevaluate. Perhaps God decided that His
ways were too obscure, too divine to be understood by humans. Might that be why He sent His Son to live
among us and teach us a way of life centered around service, and forgiveness,
and love? Yet, even this kinder, gentler
approach does not appeal to many on planet Earth today. The golden rule proves an elusive life
objective for many!
Returning to our scene
across from Mount Olive, Jesus talks of the destruction of the buildings. WE know that Jesus had little use for the
majestic, the shiny, the refined. His
people were simple and humble, with a deep faith in Him and the Father, a faith
that could save them. Faith is all that
is required to receive His gifts, not fancy buildings or vestments. Faith can do this, if we only let it!
Jesus tells the four to
beware of those who claim “I am He.”
There were many deceivers, seducers and impostors back in the day, and
there are even more among us today. Who
or what are these deceivers? Then, as
now, they are the people we choose to idolize.
They are the earthly things that
we long for, and lust for, that are supposed to bring us happiness. They may different from the golden idols and
the carvings of the Old Testament, but, yet, they are quite the same. You know them as Hollywood stars, cars,
houses, clothes, professional athletes, vacations, food, Internet sensations, big
screen TV’s, sexual partners, and so on.
And they all have the power to make us happy…for a little while…and none
will last forever! We use our God-given free
will to choose these things, showing our humanity, our weakness. We believe that these things are “the one
thing”…the Holy Grail! Then we learn
again and again that “things” are never forever. Only God is forever!
Knowing that everything comes
to an end, many of us wish to know God’s timeline, as the four inquire of
Jesus. “When will it all happen?” they
wanted to know. We want to know! They wanted to be ready. We want to be ready! God, however, has a different plan. He would prefer we live the kind of life
where we are always prepared for what comes next, be it a good step or our
demise.
Jesus tells us several times
in the Gospels that the end is near, but what is this end of which He speaks? A few years ago, the song “Closing Time” had
gained some popularity, and its lyrics tell us that every new beginning comes
from some other new beginnings’ end.
Again, every new beginning comes from some other new beginnings’
end. This is very true! These beginnings often come from the birth
pains of a new you! But only God knows
when it is going to happen, how it is going to happen, and how it is going to
end. We live a life where new rules are
made occasionally, and God had made us flexible and adaptable and resilient
enough that we thrive in new beginnings.
That is His way to help us to grow closer to Him, and closer to always
being prepared!
I can tell you from personal
experience that life is a never-ending series of renewals. I saw new things when I went to high school,
and I grew because of those experiences.
I went to college away from home, and saw first-hand how the families of
my friends were different than my family, and different in a good way. I had opportunities I never expected to have,
and took advantage of them to gain useful experience. My professors encouraged me to go straight onto
graduate school, and it is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received. Little did I know it, but I was evolving
under the guiding hand of the Maker. My
work life provided more experience, and I was still changing.
I got married. And I changed, but this change was less than
good. Looking back, it was one long
period of my life when I did not think of or thank God very much. And the financial problems grew. And the stress grew. And my depression grew. And my waistline grew and my health got
worse. And at the height of all of this
bowing to these earthly pressures while ignoring God, about 5 years ago, I
looked like this on the left…and as I look today on the right.
Almost 4 years ago, a series
of unrelated events put me on the path back to the me I used to be, and back to
God. I found a counselor who I could
relate to, who brought me back from the floor of Hell. I found a website that showed me how to
release the fears and limitations that I had placed on myself. I had a friend tell me that my comfort zone
had disappeared along with my family, and my job, and my home. Good riddance! It had long grown uncomfortable, anyway. I had the support of friends and family to
build a new comfort zone. I found a new
career in teaching when my research career had seemingly reached a dead
end. I had an old friend invite me to a
Via Di Christo weekend, think Walk to Emmaus, and my faith in God was fed by
the grace He offers to all of us, yet too few of us readily accept it. And I was blessed to meet a woman who
challenged me to find God in my life, and to let God do His work for me by
lifting my needs up to Him and thanking Him for all that He provides.
Mikeschair, “Someone Worth
Dying For” video
We are God’s creations, and YOU,
every one of YOU, are as magnificent as the most beautiful structure you can
imagine…no, actually, we are more beautiful!
You are someone worth dying for! We
are made not in the image of some architect, but in the image of God. As we grow up, we are exposed to the ways of
the world, the temptations and all that.
We sometimes lose our focus and succumb to the deceptions of our world,
falling into an abyss, and sometimes we even fall to the floor of Hell. We feel alone and ashamed. We are challenged and we crumble. Yet we are built on solid rock…the love of
the Redeemer and His Father! They gave
us birth pains and many warnings of a new life in Christ. It is His way…to break us down…to make us the
most vulnerable we have ever been…the most weak…the most unworthy…and give us
not that which we want, nor deserve, but what we NEED…and what we need is His
love and the chance to go out among His children to teach, to evangelize, to
serve, to forgive, to love, to spread His Good News. Yes, faith can do this, too, if we only let
it!
He makes us better than we
were yesterday, more beautiful, more able to resist the deceivers, with Him as
our foundation! And we are better
prepared for His return, whenever it may be.
For we love Him and He loves us, each and every day!
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