Apocalypse How

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.

Mark put this "little apocalypse" in his Gospel for a people who lived in a time where they felt that only God, physically breaking into their world, could put things right.  God breaking into the world… that, by the way, is the real meaning of an apocalypse and you know what?  I think I understand a bit of what they felt… only God breaking into our world could possibly make things right again.   

I wonder if the people Mark wrote to had a perpetual churning in their bellies.  I’ve still got one.  If you’ve still got one too, well, I can at least tell you you’re not alone.  I wonder if the people Mark wrote to felt profoundly disappointed with people they had counted as family and friends who had decided to abandon doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God in exchange for power, influence, or the promise of lower prices at the store, even when that meant endangering their friends and families' lives?  I still feel profoundly disappointed this Sunday in people I formerly counted as friends and family… so if you still feel that way too.  I get it!  If you are not yet to the point of hope, it’s okay.  The thing about this story though, is that Jesus told the disciples then and is telling us disciples now, “All of THIS is just the birth pangs!”  Which, frankly Jesus, I don’t find very helpful. 

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, and we won’t be getting one today either.  What Jesus gives, both to the disciples then and to us today, is an invitation to begin really living again… RIGHT NOW… right where we are… right in the middle of what feels like the end of the world… right in the midst of a time where we can’t imagine anything less than God breaking into the world could possibly make things right.  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 feelings of betrayal, worry, and fear.  Today, I’m not ready to do that yet myself, but I see what Jesus is doing here and I know I’ll be ready soon, so it would be good to know.  So, okay Jesus, how do we do that?

Because moving from being devastated to wanting to plant an apple tree isn’t that simple.  God created us to react automatically and unconsciously when we feel threatened!  We’re hard wired to react that way!  It’s a good thing too!  God made us so that our stomachs would automatically relocate into our throats when we get too close to the edge of a cliff!  God did that so we wouldn’t just walk off the edge in blissful ignorance!  Without that stomach churning gift from God, aliens would visit earth just to find a giant pile of caveman bones at the bottom of some chasm and humanity extinct!  It’s a really good gift!  So the real question is … HOW?  How are we to move through those God given, automatic reactions to the threats we now face and beyond our very real sense of profound disappointment and betrayal?

The answer however, does not begin with the “HOW” it begins with the “WHO” and it is that WHO that has shown us HOW.  Jesus’ whole life was a lived-out instruction manual for HOW to live this life into an abundant life, even when that path takes us through hell along the way.  The WHO and the HOW… they MUST be taken together.  To focus only on the WHO creates people who say the right words, create lovely worship, and loudly proclaim their faith but do not live out the HOW of loving God and neighbor that Jesus showed us with his life.  That’s why we have so many people who look and sound like Christians, but live and work and vote for things that are literally anti-Christ.  The WHO and the HOW must be bound together to be genuine Christianity. 

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 don’t put off living, waiting around for some distant apocalypse to fix it all!  Instead, the way through hell really is to keep going!  The HOW to walk though hell is by following the Jesus Way… walking through life, living, acting, voting, working, and doing everything else the Way Jesus showed us to do life… with generosity, compassion, grace, sacrificial love, justice, and peace.  Walk the Jesus Way through the fascist darkness.  Walk the Jesus Way through climate darkness.  Don’t just talk it.  Walk it!  Walk the Jesus Way through racist, homophobic, transphobic, and xenophobic darkness. Walk the Jesus Way all the way through hell and keep on walking until we find ourselves and all of creation finds itself bathed in the light.

The other HOW Jesus showed us with his life, is in the power of gathering and living and working in Christian community.  Jesus’ community wasn’t big.  Many of them, particularly the guys, weren’t especially quick on the uptake either.  But what they were… was PRESENT.  Yeah, there were a couple of hiccups there at the end, but by and large they were there, together, with Jesus and with each other.  So, find your community.  REALLY dedicate yourself to that community and then follow this mashup advice from St. Paul and Winston Churchill:  “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and when the world feels like hell, for God’s sake, keep walking!  Amen.

Our Last Two Cents

Mark 12:38-44

As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

The Gospel lesson for this week SEEMS to be all about money AND with today being our annual stewardship ingathering day AND having had speakers talk about their favorite hymns and how they inspire them to be generous to Christ Trinity… it might SEEM as if all of this was perfectly lined up months ago so that today I could hit you with the money sermon.  There are a few problems with that way of thinking.  First, I have never been good at being sneaky… even good-sneaky.  Isn’t that right Kelly?  Second, these days, although I LOVE planning things ahead, I have found planning ahead almost impossible to do these day for lots of different reasons.  And FINALLY, the reason this really isn’t a giant pre-planned conspiracy designed so that I could preach about money today is… This lesson isn’t about money.  It’s got a couple of pennies in it, but beyond that?  Not about money.

Jesus, watching from across the street, says to his disciples, “See, that widow?  She just gave WAY more than the rich folks, because for those rich folks, what they gave didn’t pinch at all!  They won’t ever feel it!  They’ll live just as well after they gave as before they gave.  But that widow… she’s finished!  Not just finished for this week mind you!  Remember, there’s no check in the mail.  She’s given EVERYTHING she had!  Forever!  She gave HER ALL.

Jesus points to that widow and tells the disciples they should pay attention to her, because what she did there… THAT is to be their model… and our model for how to live into the dark and terrifying times that lie ahead.  She wasn’t to be their model (or our model) for how to fill out your pledge card or put money in the plate on Sunday.  No.  When Jesus points at that widow, and says, “Do THAT!”  What he’s saying is do THAT with your WHOLE life!  THAT… giving all you got, after all, is what Jesus was in Jerusalem to do himself.  He was about to give everything he had on the cross.

That’s what this lesson’s really about today.  It’s about looking right into the darkness that lies ahead and giving our all into that darkness.  That poor widow doesn’t hedge her bet.  She hasn’t stashed some cash under the mattress for a rainy day.  She gives it all!  She gives the money that would have kept her alive, at least for a little bit longer.  She gives her life.  She puts her WHOLE life in God’s hands, trusting that in some unforeseeable way, the God who brought the people out of Egypt through the sea on dry land and brought to life an entire valley of dry bones will give her a light to walk into and through any darkness that she might face.

  

Today’s first lesson drives home that same point with another widow.  She was asked to give the last bit of bread she had to some stranger.  Her plan had been to bake the last, little, pitiful, loaf.  Eat it with her son, and then just wait for both of them to starve to death.  Into that situation a guy shows up with the chutzpah to say, “Why don’t you give ME your last bit of food?”  And for whatever reason… whether it was faith, shock, or she simply had no more… we’ll say “cares” to give… for whatever reason… she gave all she had. 

 

The idea that people might actually dare to give their all to something as insane as loving God and loving neighbor without condition… the majority of the country around us has voted this week to proclaim THAT idea… loving God and loving neighbor… to be JUST as foolish as putting your last two cents into the offering plate or baking your last bit of bread to feed some random foreigner off the street, or coming to Jerusalem when you know Jerusalem is actively working to kill you!  

 

But what the majority of our country has voted as foolish?  That is EXACTLY our call for this time of uncertainty and darkness that lies ahead.  THAT is our call… As individuals and as a church community.  To give God and our neighbor our all!  To give away our last two cents.  To give away our last piece of food to a stranger.  To come here each week… each of us bringing what we have… even if what we have feels as insignificant as a tiny ball of wax.  Because here, we'll gather and mold those insignificant, tiny balls of wax into a candle, and that candle will send a pin prick of light out into the darkness of this world.  AND when we inevitably find that giving it our all one week has not fully eliminated hatred, bigotry and violence in one fail swoop… when inevitably see that the light we crafted last week did not fully end racism, trans & homophobia, misogyny and all the rest.  We won’t throw up our hands and give into despair and hopelessness.  NO!  We'll look at where it fell short, come together and collectively indulge in a few moments of creative language practice, then we come to this altar and fed with the Bread of Life… and then, fueled up for the week to come… we'll figure out together the way we’re going to love God and neighbor in the week ahead and go at it one more time… giving it our all one more time… giving all the life we’ve first been given… giving all that we have.

That’s our call.  To give our all in love… to God through our neighbor.  We are called to give it our all… toward God’s vision of a world without war, a world without hate, a world without hunger, pain, or fear.  Our call is to give it our last little cake.  To give it our last two cents.  To give it our whole lives, trusting in God’s love and promise that God will always be with us… filling our empty jars with meal, our empty jugs with oil, our empty hearts with love, and our empty souls with hope.  Amen