Gordon McPhee

                                            Mark 13: 1-8

ANOTHER FINE MESS

SCRIPTURE:   Mark 13:1-8

1 As he walked away from the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at that stonework! Those buildings!”

2 Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.”

3-4 Later, as he was sitting on Mount Olives in full view of the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got him off by himself and asked, “Tell us, when is this going to happen? What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?”

5-8 Jesus began, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When you hear of wars and rumoured wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history, and no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. But these things are nothing compared to what’s coming.

INTRODUCTION:

The expression apocalyptic is often thought to mean end times. It does not mean, as it always does in the movies, the end of the world. It, in fact, is a revelation. Hence, the prophetic “Book of Revelations” is called apocalyptic, which in turn, because of the subject matter, becomes a reference to end times or the end of the world.

There is, however, a word that does mean the end of something or judgment day, and it is eschatological. It’s the theological study of end times, the final destiny of humankind, and, more individually, death and our own personal end time.

The passage in Mark 13 we’ll read this morning is often spoken of as apocalyptic, but it is, in fact, eschatological. Jesus speaks to his disciples in response to their admiration of the temple in Jerusalem. He tells them that the entire Temple will end up, stone for stone, a heap of rubble.

Later, sitting on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, which even today is a magnificent vista, he relates some very sobering eschatological thoughts about what the future, theirs and ours, holds. I don’t think Jesus was trying to frighten his disciples, nor us. If we listen to what Jesus is really saying, there is certain hope and light no matter what darkness we think is before us. So, let's pray as we explore that hope this morning.

SERMON:

This story of Jesus and the disciples at the temple seems somewhat out of place. Not just here in Mark but as part of the Gospels at all. It’s not the Sermon on the Mount or a confrontation with the Pharisees. There is no parable, allegory, miracle or divine teaching we can commit to heart and mind. There is almost a cavalier atmosphere. We’re not garnering unwanted attention with a whip or turning over tables in the Portico of Solomon. It’s like the Galilean hillbilly disciples are on a Disney Vacation staring at “all them tall buildin’s.” And yet, most of us recognize the reference to the destruction of the Temple. But I dare say we wouldn’t label this our go-to passage to introduce someone to the gospel nor our favourite feel-good scripture for meditation and contemplation. As odd as it seems, it is important.

It appears in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with strikingly similar content. We usually see parallels in two synoptic Gospels and often all three. Still, they typically contain dissimilar details because the author of a particular text, although using the same story, had a unique purpose and perspective in presenting it. They were making a different point. But in this event, all three Gospel writers present the same story with the same purpose. That all three do this together should make our ears perk up and our minds and hearts pay close attention. As I hope we are.

First, this isn’t about Jesus accurately predicting the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD by the Romans, nor even the subsequent rebuilding of Jerusalem into the Roman pagan city of Aelia Capitolina later in 130 AD. Opponents have used this to suggest the inaccuracy of Scripture and the errancy of Jesus’ prophecy. But his point was to casually guide his starry-eyed disciples away from the temporal glories of this world to something much bigger. They were still holding on to the idea of Jesus overthrowing by some divine power the Roman authorities and reestablishing the Kingdom of Israel and the glory of the Temple.

We see this in the words of Peter, James, John, and Andrew saying, “Tell us, when is this going to happen? What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?” They’re anxious for things to begin, and they want to be ready. We remember that only a short time prior, in Mark 10, James and Andrew had asked to sit at Jesus' right and left hand when he came into his kingdom, one they assuredly assumed would be in this world and in their time.

Isn’t this so much our own persistent, daily question to God? If we’re honest, look in the mirror as the proverb says, aren’t most of our prayers, petitions, misgivings, uncertainties and faithlessness answered by this one question we are asking of God, “Tell us, when is this going to happen?” Don’t make me wait and guess and ruminate and imagine any longer; just tell me what and when so I can get out of bed in the morning with the certainty of what’s coming about, how things are going to play out, and so I can make my decisions knowing they are right.

In other words, we say, “Don’t make me have faith in you; show me what’s ahead, and I’ll take over from there.” Amazing, isn’t it? That after all these millennia and lessons in life and Scripture, we still embrace the same sin that caused Adam and Eve to lose the Garden of Eden and a face-to-face relationship with their creator.

We would expect that Jesus would say something like we share before the Eucharist in The Comfortable Words when we remember how much he loves us.

     Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him.

     COME unto me all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. St Matthew 11. 28.

     God so loved the world, that he gave his only- begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. St John 3. 16.

Instead, after delivering a list of warnings of deception, disasters, and wars, Jesus comforts his disciples, saying, “These things are nothing compared to what’s coming.”

You might be inclined to say with Stan Laurel, “That’s another nice mess you’ve gotten us into.” What Jesus proposes for our future in this dialogue with his disciples is not what we want to contemplate as we wake up in the morning. We don’t want wars and rumours of wars, pestilence and famine, injustice and hatred. It’s not what we signed up for when we joined the Lord's army. We became or stayed churchgoers, Anglicans, and Believers because we thought that if we were faithful and did what we were told was right, things would be OK. And even when things didn’t always work out as we hoped or imagined. Little disasters happened, things we were sure would not come about occurred, friends and loved ones were taken too early, we remained faithful, we kept our hope in Jesus. Our hope that it’s going to get better, not worse.

Where then is the hope I spoke of, where the comfortable words? Well, they are here if you look for them and don’t disparage the power of faith. Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples, and he’s not telling us, to throw in the towel and give up because things are going to get really, really bad. His words are of hope and encouragement: how to endure tough times without losing your way.

Think of it like this. As hopeless as a situation may appear to you, there is no point in me instructing you how to accomplish what seems to you impossible if I did not see how you could clearly succeed. I tell you what you must do to be victorious because you will be. If there were no hope of success, I’d tell you how to hunker down, hide and just maybe survive. So what is Jesus' prescription to prosper despite all that is going on now and the sobering reality that things are going to get a whole lot worse?

First, don’t be deceived. “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One.’ They will deceive a lot of people.” Even in the first years of Christianity, Paul encountered this and warned followers and us about it. In Galatians 1:6-8, “I can’t believe how you waver—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing an alternative message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed.” And 2 Corinthians 11:4 says, “It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely.”

So the first thing is to know what the Gospel is, which means reading and studying the Scriptures, cover to cover, and this, not by yourself alone, but reflecting on the Word of God in communion and fellowship with others so that you are not deceived.

Second, don’t panic; keep your head. “This is routine history, and no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines.” Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I’m sure you recognize the words of the song by Edward Mote he penned in 1834, but take them to heart; they are true words for on Christ, the solid rock we stand. The world around us, those who don’t have Jesus as their hope, must believe, in the face of everything to the contrary, that things are getting better. That all their so-called progress in philosophy, education, morality, science, and technology is making life better. They must believe this inexorably because they have nothing else. There is either evolution and progress or the dark existential pit of despair in the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard.

Jesus is telling us the truth. That the world’s hope, the gospel that the deceivers will and are telling us, is untrue. None of this will save the world, nor can it save us. The only hope for his disciples and us is to put our faith in the one who tells us the truth, as he said in the Comfortable Words, “… that all that believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (Jn 3;16)”

Lastly, remember, the end is a lot worse. Now you’ll say to me, “Ok, Gord, let’s see how you’re going to draw hope from this one,” but I reply that Jesus is being positive. As I look around at the mess the world is in, I know the end is not yet because the end is going to be a lot worse. The disciples asked Jesus, “What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?” Well, take heart; the sign is that things have to get a whole lot worse than this. Jeremiah 29:5-7 tells us we are, like the children of Israel in Babylon, sojourners in this world:

            Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you.

In like fashion, Paul in 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 13 encourages us to pray for the authorities and the world so that we might be able to worship God in peace and dignity.

Our hope is, as we look at all that is going on in the world around us, both on the world stage of wars and famine and in our country of liberalism and hopelessness, and our own lives and families that often seem to be outside of our aspirations, hopes and dreams, based on the promised hope of Jesus Christ. So, as we read in Hebrews 10 this morning, “Let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.”

And let me leave you, as we began this morning, with the Opening Sentence from Luke 21:36, “So, whatever you do, don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.”

Amen