Forecast
Sermon
Sermons on the Gospel Readings
Series III, Cycle C
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."
-- Luke 21:5-19
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
It seems that the people on the radio and on television who tell you what the weather will be have been getting bolder. Their predictions are becoming more specific. "The storm will affect our viewers in about eight minutes." And more times than not, eight minutes later, things are soggier. The close up stuff; an hour into the future, or maybe just a few minutes ahead can be predicted with a fair degree of accuracy. The modern science of meteorology can pretty much call whether or not it will be raining in the minutes ahead. Making predictions for hours ahead is a little less sure. And predicting the weather a week ahead, or ten days ahead is more an educated guess than anything else. So why do we have these two-week forecasts? Because people want to know, that's why. We want to know the future so badly that we're willing to pretend that we actually can know the future. The sad truth is, the only way to tell what's going to happen in the future is to wait it out. I can tell you with utter certainty, with 100% accuracy, what is going to be in the news this coming Wednesday. The only thing is, I won't be able to tell you until Thursday.
When you're looking for a new job, or looking for a new house, or getting ready for a first date, or waiting to see the doctor because you have a new pain that worries you -- how great it would be if you could just cut to the end and know how everything is going to turn out. How useful it would be if you could come and visit yourself from five or ten years in the future. You would know what to look out for. You could brace yourself for disaster. You'd know what you had to worry about and what you didn't need to worry about.
Would we be safer if we knew ahead of time about floods and fires and earthquakes? Would our lives be better if we knew what would happen to our country, what would happen to our town, what would happen to our family and to our friends? Would it bring us peace if we knew how and when our lives would end? What if we knew when and how it all would end?
People have been looking to the Bible for that last answer for close to 2,000 years. Christians and non-Christians too have been searching the Bible for signs and dates and details about the ending of history. If you just read the Bible through, you're not going to find those dates and details, so over the years, people have dug deeper, beneath the words, for hidden clues and information. They've looked for words to mean something other than what they say: weeks to mean years for instance, or certain animals to stand for nations that didn't even exist when the Bible was written. They'd connect a few words here with half a verse from there, with a couple of sentences from somewhere else. Over the millennia, people have decoded the Bible many times and figured out the exact date of Jesus' return. They've counted down and waited, and some even sat on their rooftops or gathered together in prayer on the day they knew would be the last day. Obviously, they've been wrong so far.
The Bible says that Jesus will return. It says so plainly, with no reading between the lines. The Bible promises openly, and not in secret, that the faithful will be with God forever. But cryptic symbolic messages detailing exactly when and how these things will happen just aren't there. Sorry. The Bible is not a word puzzle, and hearing the word of God is not some game for amateur detectives.
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them. "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."
-- Luke 21:5-11
This is one of the classic "end of the world" lessons -- Jesus' doomsday forecast. What's going to happen and where and when. A plan. A map. The very last page torn out of God's own personal schedule. Except, of course, that it is nothing of the sort.
First off, we have Jesus' very blunt warning about people who claim to have hacked into God's day planner: "Many will come in my name," Jesus says, "Saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them" (v. 8).
Then there's the matter that the thing Jesus is predicting here, namely the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, has already happened -- a long time ago. Under order of the Roman general Titus, the temple was burned along with the rest of the city of Jerusalem on August 10, 70 AD. After that the Roman army, which really knew how to rub it in, dismantled the temple piece-by-piece until not one stone was left upon another.
The signs that Jesus gave to predict that long-ago event: nation rising against nation, earthquakes, famines, plagues, dread portents, are things that happen all the time. Pick a year, pick a week, somewhere in the world there were wars and earthquakes and plagues.
Jesus told his disciple that before all that; before the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in 70 AD, there would be trouble. "They will arrest you and persecute you, they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name" (v. 12). This, too, has already happened, nineteen centuries ago and more.
Clearly the gospel lesson before us now is not a doomsday forecast. It's really of no help when it comes to figuring out the exact date on which Jesus will return. But it's also not an idle history lesson, either. There are things here that speak to Christians of every time and place. No secrets. No codes. Just some things to remember in our everyday lives.
* The world is a dangerous place.
* All that stuff that fills the newspaper every day: disasters and wars and rumors of war, can become part of your own life before you know it, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
* Your faith in Jesus can get you into trouble.
* Your friends and even your family can line up against you.
Jesus doesn't guarantee us a charmed life. It could get rough. It certainly has before. Decades before the first large-scale persecution Jesus warned that it was coming.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
-- Luke 21:16-19
But ... even when things are the darkest; even when the world is falling apart around you; even when your allies start to look more like enemies -- even then there is mercy and forgiveness. Even then there is the love of God. Even then there is peace. The temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed a long time ago. But God did not go away. Christians have been betrayed and arrested and worse many times and in many places in the last 2,000 years, but Jesus never abandoned them. Don't be afraid. Don't give up. Jesus won't give up on you, no matter how things appear to be going. God will be with you to forgive you and to show mercy to you and to show forgiveness and mercy through you. Jesus will be with you to speak his love to you and to speak his love through you. The Holy Spirit will be with you to give peace to you and to give peace through you.
Jesus does not come to bring destruction and doom. He brings peace and hope and life. Jesus has come and Jesus is here now and Jesus will come again to bring all things to a new beginning. Amen.
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them.
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."
-- Luke 21:5-19
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
It seems that the people on the radio and on television who tell you what the weather will be have been getting bolder. Their predictions are becoming more specific. "The storm will affect our viewers in about eight minutes." And more times than not, eight minutes later, things are soggier. The close up stuff; an hour into the future, or maybe just a few minutes ahead can be predicted with a fair degree of accuracy. The modern science of meteorology can pretty much call whether or not it will be raining in the minutes ahead. Making predictions for hours ahead is a little less sure. And predicting the weather a week ahead, or ten days ahead is more an educated guess than anything else. So why do we have these two-week forecasts? Because people want to know, that's why. We want to know the future so badly that we're willing to pretend that we actually can know the future. The sad truth is, the only way to tell what's going to happen in the future is to wait it out. I can tell you with utter certainty, with 100% accuracy, what is going to be in the news this coming Wednesday. The only thing is, I won't be able to tell you until Thursday.
When you're looking for a new job, or looking for a new house, or getting ready for a first date, or waiting to see the doctor because you have a new pain that worries you -- how great it would be if you could just cut to the end and know how everything is going to turn out. How useful it would be if you could come and visit yourself from five or ten years in the future. You would know what to look out for. You could brace yourself for disaster. You'd know what you had to worry about and what you didn't need to worry about.
Would we be safer if we knew ahead of time about floods and fires and earthquakes? Would our lives be better if we knew what would happen to our country, what would happen to our town, what would happen to our family and to our friends? Would it bring us peace if we knew how and when our lives would end? What if we knew when and how it all would end?
People have been looking to the Bible for that last answer for close to 2,000 years. Christians and non-Christians too have been searching the Bible for signs and dates and details about the ending of history. If you just read the Bible through, you're not going to find those dates and details, so over the years, people have dug deeper, beneath the words, for hidden clues and information. They've looked for words to mean something other than what they say: weeks to mean years for instance, or certain animals to stand for nations that didn't even exist when the Bible was written. They'd connect a few words here with half a verse from there, with a couple of sentences from somewhere else. Over the millennia, people have decoded the Bible many times and figured out the exact date of Jesus' return. They've counted down and waited, and some even sat on their rooftops or gathered together in prayer on the day they knew would be the last day. Obviously, they've been wrong so far.
The Bible says that Jesus will return. It says so plainly, with no reading between the lines. The Bible promises openly, and not in secret, that the faithful will be with God forever. But cryptic symbolic messages detailing exactly when and how these things will happen just aren't there. Sorry. The Bible is not a word puzzle, and hearing the word of God is not some game for amateur detectives.
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them. "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."
-- Luke 21:5-11
This is one of the classic "end of the world" lessons -- Jesus' doomsday forecast. What's going to happen and where and when. A plan. A map. The very last page torn out of God's own personal schedule. Except, of course, that it is nothing of the sort.
First off, we have Jesus' very blunt warning about people who claim to have hacked into God's day planner: "Many will come in my name," Jesus says, "Saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them" (v. 8).
Then there's the matter that the thing Jesus is predicting here, namely the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, has already happened -- a long time ago. Under order of the Roman general Titus, the temple was burned along with the rest of the city of Jerusalem on August 10, 70 AD. After that the Roman army, which really knew how to rub it in, dismantled the temple piece-by-piece until not one stone was left upon another.
The signs that Jesus gave to predict that long-ago event: nation rising against nation, earthquakes, famines, plagues, dread portents, are things that happen all the time. Pick a year, pick a week, somewhere in the world there were wars and earthquakes and plagues.
Jesus told his disciple that before all that; before the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in 70 AD, there would be trouble. "They will arrest you and persecute you, they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name" (v. 12). This, too, has already happened, nineteen centuries ago and more.
Clearly the gospel lesson before us now is not a doomsday forecast. It's really of no help when it comes to figuring out the exact date on which Jesus will return. But it's also not an idle history lesson, either. There are things here that speak to Christians of every time and place. No secrets. No codes. Just some things to remember in our everyday lives.
* The world is a dangerous place.
* All that stuff that fills the newspaper every day: disasters and wars and rumors of war, can become part of your own life before you know it, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
* Your faith in Jesus can get you into trouble.
* Your friends and even your family can line up against you.
Jesus doesn't guarantee us a charmed life. It could get rough. It certainly has before. Decades before the first large-scale persecution Jesus warned that it was coming.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
-- Luke 21:16-19
But ... even when things are the darkest; even when the world is falling apart around you; even when your allies start to look more like enemies -- even then there is mercy and forgiveness. Even then there is the love of God. Even then there is peace. The temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed a long time ago. But God did not go away. Christians have been betrayed and arrested and worse many times and in many places in the last 2,000 years, but Jesus never abandoned them. Don't be afraid. Don't give up. Jesus won't give up on you, no matter how things appear to be going. God will be with you to forgive you and to show mercy to you and to show forgiveness and mercy through you. Jesus will be with you to speak his love to you and to speak his love through you. The Holy Spirit will be with you to give peace to you and to give peace through you.
Jesus does not come to bring destruction and doom. He brings peace and hope and life. Jesus has come and Jesus is here now and Jesus will come again to bring all things to a new beginning. Amen.
