“Faithfully Awake and Waiting”   2011

Lamentations 3:19-26                     Mark 13:24-37

 

Lamentations 3:19-26

19The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 20My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. 26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

 

Mark 13:24-37

24“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,

25and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.26Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

 

When I ran a business and hired a new employee,

            a part of their training and preparation included

                        warning them about some of the situations

                                    and problems that they would likely encounter.

My hope was to help them hang in there, persevere and not panic,

            and go ahead and do their job well.

 

Toward the end of his life and ministry,

            Jesus focused on preparing his disciples by warning them

                        about situations and problems they would encounter …

   … which is the point and message of the Mark passage we read.

 

It is not an easy text.

            In fact, I have always ducked and avoided preaching from it

                        because it is so easily misunderstood.

 

In the way that Mark tells his story about Jesus,

            he describes a series of conflicts in which

                        the religious authorities try to trip-up Jesus

                                    with trick-questions designed to make him look bad.

Jesus turns each question back on them,

            revealing that they have turned aside from the ways of God;

                                    -- and so they determine that Jesus must die,

                                                and immediately start plotting to murder him.

 

Shortly after that series of questions, the disciples comment

            on how majestic and impressive the Temple is,

                        noting the massive stones from which it was built;

     and Jesus tells them,

            that they will see it completely destroyed and demolished,

                        and that not one stone of it will be left standing.

 

In Scripture, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem

            is always a sign and symbol of God’s judgment against Israel

                        for turning aside from God and God’s will …

              … and in this case,

                        it will be for rejecting Jesus, the Messiah sent by God.

 

The Mark 13 passage we read earlier today begins with

            a series of OT phrases and images borrowed from the prophets,

                        written about God’s coming judgment against Israel …

  … proceeding the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple,

            and the exile when they were taken captive to Babylon.

 

Jesus was telling his disciples

            that God was going to judge Israel again,

                        and something like

                            the Babylonians destroying Jerusalem and the Temple,

                                                would be happening again,

                                                            within the lifetime of their generation.

 

Jesus was warning them

            that there would be some very difficult and uncertain times,

                        but that it was

                                    part of the process of God’s plan & saving purpose…

            … so don’t panic, but remain faithfully alert;

                        and wait faithfully by doing your job,

                                    by accomplishing your mission as Jesus commanded.

 

The gospel of Mark was probably written

            during or just after the Jewish rebellion against Rome

                        that ended with the destruction of Jerusalem

                               and the Temple being completely demolished in 70 AD…

     … just as the Babylonians had done, several centuries earlier.

 

Up until when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans,

            Jerusalem had been the center of Christianity,

                        and the place where Church-wide decisions were made.

 

Up until then,

            almost all Christians had been converts from Judaism,

                        and so almost everyone shared a common Jewish background

                                                … which kept things fairly simple, at first.

 

But now,

            the Church was being driven out into the gentile-pagan world

                        among people who did not know the Hebrew Scriptures,

                                traditions or share their understandings about God…

 

            … and who were mostly ignorant, hostile or indifferent

                        to the proclamation of the Good News about Jesus Christ.

 

Now they had to do church and evangelism,

            proclaim the gospel and serve God

                        in a whole new and uncertain environment and context.

 

            So how were they

                        to communicate the same unchanging truth about Jesus

                                    to people who did not share their background

                                                or their understandings about God,

                                                     and who had very little interest

                                                            in what the Church might have to say?

 

How would you    faithfully serve and proclaim Jesus Christ

            in such an environment

                        of indifference, ignorance and even innate hostility?

 

            That is not just an academic question, but a description

                        of the world and culture in which we find ourselves.

 

The percentage of Americans who are active in church-life

            and regularly attend worship services has never been lower.

Our popular culture of TV, movies and other media

            are mostly hostile against Christian influence and values,

                   or portray the Church as hopelessly corrupt & irrelevant…

   … yet this is also a time of intense spiritual hunger and need.

 

The question really is, how do we engage this changing culture

     so that we can communicate the unchanging truth of the Gospel?

 

The Apostle Paul did it by going into the marketplace,

            where by trade he was a tentmaker,

                        and there he was always ready to talk about Jesus.

            Paul’s focus was on spreading the Good News

                        that by faith in God’s gracious love alone we are saved,

                                and not by our own good works or rituals of religion.

Maybe there is something we can learn from Paul.

 

When some in the Christian community of Mark

            were caught up with the trauma and uncertainty of their times

                        and the upheaval of war and destruction of Jerusalem;

        it was incredibly upsetting and frightening,

               totally and hopelessly beyond their control,

                  and some became convinced that it was the end of the world.

 

So the gospel writer reminded them of what Jesus had said,

            and his warning that indeed they would live to see

                  God’s judgment against Israel for rejecting the Messiah…

 

            … but also    that it might not be the final judgment just yet,

                        for only God the Father actually knows when that will be.

 

The message was,

            don’t panic or stand there staring into the headlights.

                        Be alert, because faithful waiting is active,

                                    doing the tasks our Master has assigned…

… specifically in Matthew 28:19-20;

            Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

Historically,

            we know that when the Church was forced out of Jerusalem,

                        and driven out into the gentile world,

                                    it opened up Christianity to the gentiles,

                                                to those without a background in Judaism …

            … enabling the Gospel to spread throughout the Roman Empire.

 

Being forced to relate to the gentile world of pagans

            who knew nothing about Jewish Scripture and traditions

                        was very difficult and unsettling for early Christians.

 

Mark was written to help those troubled and displaced Christians

            faithfully trust, hope and serve

                        in a very different context than they had ever known…

 

… and the destruction of Jerusalem

            changed Christianity away from being a sect of Judaism

                        as it spread out into a spiritually hungry pagan world…

 

               … which as it turns out, was a very good thing.

… which was a part of the process of God’s plan and purpose

       of spreading the Gospel out to all of the world,  including us.

 

That’s a lot of things going on in this Mark 13 text,

            and all very appropriate for us as we begin Advent.

 

When I visited the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria,

            it was a very long and hot day of studying the desert ruins.

                        Late that afternoon when we were all tired and exhausted

                                    our guide pointed to a distant crusader castle

                                                and joked that if we started hiking right then,

                                                            we might just arrive there by sundown.

 

On my way over to the Middle East, a friend and I talked about

            what an incredible and unexpected opportunity

                        that seminary travel seminar would be for us.

 

            We were actually going to see and study

                        in places we had only read about in the Bible …

… and so we resolved

            to make the most of that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

 

He and I agreed that we would push each other,

            and that no matter how weary or tired we were,

               if something came along, we wouldn’t allow it to pass us by.

 

We would remind each other

            to take full advantage of every possible opportunity

                        to see, do and learn a little more, whenever we could.

Instead of resting or playing cards when we stopped somewhere

   he & I would stay   alert and ready if something else came along.

 

So from the castle turret we watched the most amazing sunset

            illuminating the ancient oasis-city ruins of Palmyra,

                        an inspiring sight spread out before us

                           that the other folks resting were sorry to have missed…

     … and throughout that travel seminar

                  we were blessed with experiences most didn’t get to share,

                                    and we experienced God in those sacred places

                                                in truly remarkable and unexpected ways.

 

That is the message about waiting that Jesus was teaching ---

            to be alert, pay attention, prepare and be ready;

                        and mostly don’t just let life pass you by unnoticed.

            Our call is to look for something more,

                        and connect with whatever God is doing in the world.

 

When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple,

            the Jewish religion shifted away from animal sacrifice,

                        to the study of Scripture, becoming “People of the Book”

- that was a huge step in God’s plan & purpose of saving the world.

 

When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple,

            the Christian Church was forced out into the gentile world

                        and had to proclaim the Gospel into that pagan context,

                                    and the Church spread throughout the Roman Empire.

- that was a huge step in God’s plan & purpose of saving the world.

 

As I consider Advent this year,

            it is far more than just getting ready for Christmas.

I sense that there is something going on,

            that God is up to something, and I want to get in on it!

 

I think our wait and preparations of Advent are really about hope;

            about trusting God, the ways, plans and purposes of God,

     and remembering how awesome and incredible our God really is…

 

… that the God who created and spins the whole universe,

            also cares about how each of us feels and lives our lives,

                        and is actively in the process of saving the world

                                    in ways far beyond anything we could comprehend.

 

I think Paul has it just right in   Romans 11:33-36

            O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!   How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever. Amen.