Wow Jesus... Um, Thanks?

Mark 13: 1-8

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.

Sometimes life feels like the world is in such a state that only God breaking into it in person could put things right.  That’s the real meaning of an apocalypse… God breaking into the world.  Mark’s gospel was written to a people who felt that only God breaking into their world could put things… and you know what?  I sorta get it!  A never ending pandemic.  Only a miracle will do.  A climate crisis, way past being JUST a crisis.  Only a miracle will do.  The poor and hungry demonized.  Immigrants made to be scapegoats.  Only a miracle will do.  But Jesus told the disciples and is telling us, “All of this is just the birth pangs!”  Which makes me want to say, “Um, wow Jesus.  Thanks?”

The disciples wanted to know, how long, and to be honest I wouldn’t mind an answer to that one either!  But the disciples then didn’t get an answer to that one, and we don’t get one either.  What Jesus gives, both to them and us, is an invitation to begin living RIGHT NOW… right where we are… right in the middle of it… right in the midst of a time where it feels like only a Miracle will do.

A quote attributed to Martin Luther says, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”  And one attributed to Winston Churchill says, “If you are going through hell, keep going!”  Those too, are invitations to REALLY LIVE even in the midst of darkness… even in the depths of worry and fear. 

But HOW?  HOW do you do that!?  People always do that, don’t they?  They say “be happy now” or “start living now” but they never tell you HOW!  And it’s not just a matter of an attitude adjustment either.  God literally created us to react automatically and unconsciously in a certain way when we feel threatened!  We’re hard wired and it’s a really good thing!  God gave us that reaction so we didn’t just walk off the edge of a cliff in blissful ignorance!  God created our bodies so that they would tell us, by relocating our stomachs up into our throats as we got close to the edge, don't take another step!  It’s a beautiful gift!  Without it our ancestors' bones would be piled up at the bottom of some chasm and humanity would be extinct!  It’s a really good gift!  But still… HOW?  How are we to really live in times of fear and darkness when God has prewired us to unconsciously react to fear in this particular way?

The HOW is in realizing... THAT gift... is not the ONLY gift that God has given us!  God ALSO created us with the ability to regroup after we've back up a little, and imagine other ways to deal with a frightening cliff... to see other options beyond just running up to the edge and then running away.  To see the possibility of a life that is more than that sort of endless cycle, with the only option being to wait for an apocalypse to come.  God don't make us for that sort of senseless life!  God created us for an ABUNDANT life!  

But Pastor Erik, you say.  You still haven’t told us HOW we get from here to there?  HOW do we move beyond just lashing out or running away... Only a Miracle will do!  Yes, only a miracle will do, but the miracle we need isn’t a “HOW.”  The miracle we need is a “WHO” and the miracle we need is even now inviting us, poking us, prodding us, and provoking us to follow His Way toward abundant life!  The miracle we need... the miracle we HAVE is Jesus.  In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus literally lived out HOW to do it!  Jesus’ whole life was literally a lived-out instruction manual for HOW to keep going through hell and into abundant life! 

You want an example?  Alright.  One from then and one from now.  Both by being generous.  Back then at the Feeding of the 5000 Jesus told the disciples, “YOU give them something to eat.”  The disciples (eventually) just started doing it and then there was ABUNDANT fish, ABUNDANT bread and ABUNDANT life!  Right then!  Right there!  Even in the midst of the darkness.  And now, we dared to imagine beyond just hunkering down through a pandemic lockdown in fear?  We just started Feeding Sheffield, which grew into Feeding Friends, which now feeds folks all over South County with ABUNDANT Chicken Pot Pie, ABUNDANT Food Boxes, and ABUNDANT life!  It didn’t end the pandemic, but it did deliver ABUNDANT LIFE, right into the middle of pandemic darkness!  

Jesus didn’t lie to the disciples and I’m not going to lie to you either.  It’s dark out there and I’m as certain as Jesus was then, that it’s going to stay dark longer than any of us would like.  So the take home today… is to not put off living, waiting around for some distant apocalypse to fix it all!  Instead, LIVE RIGHT NOW!  Live the Way God showed us how to live during the last apocalypse when God broke into the world with Jesus, the Christ!  Live the Way Jesus showed us to live… through generosity, compassion, grace, love, justice, and peace.  Walk the Jesus Way through pandemic darkness, through climate darkness, through racial, xenophobic, and political darkness... walk until we’re all in the light… or as St. Paul and Winston Churchill might have said together; “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and when the world feels like hell, for God’s sake, keep walking!  Amen.

Photo:  This is "Two Crows" by Peter Ralston.  It sprang to mind when I thought about really living this life we've been given, even when we are not quite fully in the light.  Peter is one of the most incredible photographers of our time.  But more than that, Peter is a friend and one of the rare people you meet in life who really seems to "get it" in a way I long to "get it".  Visit his gallery, Ralson Gallery or visit in person in Rockport, ME.