As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"
"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"
Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
In Evangelical circles the rapture is a coming, cosmic event supported by the bible. Maybe you’ve been exposed to the rapture in the “Left Behind” series or a bumper sticker. Just before Armageddon, some churches believe that the faithful in Christ will be transported instantaneously to meet the Lord. If the rapture is real, believers will mercifully miss out on the events of the Great Tribulation. Eternal Earthbound Pets, USA is a group of dedicated, carefully-screened animal-loving atheists who offer rapture insurance for Christian pet lovers. For $110 fee, they guarantee in the event of the rapture, these pet-loving atheists will take good care of your animals. Being atheists they know they will be left behind and so will your pets. But, not to worry, your dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and small caged mammals will be under their watchful eye. That $110 upfront fee is good for ten years and is good for one pet per residence for their natural life. Their literature says, “A small price to pay for your peace of mind and the health and safety of your four-legged and feathered friends”. How safe and healthy will anyone or pet be during the Great Tribulation?
It is very human to want to cling tightly to what we know, what we have. Most of us see change as threatening; even positive change. This is especially true of those in power who have a stake in the current system. Even for believers, we see the coming of Jesus as good news/bad news. When our lives are full, family is well, and health is good, we are content. We are fooled into believing we are in control and safe and sheltered. “Come Lord Jesus” but not yet. We perpetuate our feeling of security with insurance to protect us from the unforeseen, to safeguard what is ours. The pets we treasure, possessions we’ve purchased, and homes we live in. Worldly precautions are wise. I never thought I would see the day when I would buy earthquake insurance. But, Eternal Earthbound Pets is extreme. To make sure Osama the cat, Barkley the dog, and Bugsy the rabbit will get the gold standard of care when the Anti-Christ is prowling the planet. Policy-holders know “it is a small price to pay for peace of mind”. The temple was the center of national life in Israel.
The Jews had lost so much during the Roman occupation but, they still had the temple. Foundation stones were 100 tons each and built by Herod’s slave power. For the Jewish people, this was the center of the world. They believed that this was the spot where God’s thumb held the earth in place. The temple was here to stay.
Walking in the midst of the massive columns, the disciples say, “Teacher, look at that stonework! What buildings!” Jesus doesn’t miss a beat, “Not one stone (100 tons and all) will be left on another. All will be thrown down into heap of rubble.”
This is startling. If the temple is due to collapse then the world’s end is imminent. Instead of giving the disciples a timeline and road map they ask for, Jesus basically says seismic change - political conflicts, empires crumbling, world wars, natural disasters must happen. Don’t panic. This is not the end, but the beginning of birth.
This past week there were lavish and loud celebrations around the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. It signaled the end of communism. I understand that they had 1000 foam dominos lined up on the foundation of the former wall. Politicians pushed the first domino starting a chain reaction symbolizing the fall of one communist nation after another. You would think that the Berlin Wall coming down would be the most ardent prayer, most zealous hope of Western leaders from Great Britain and the United States. This sure looked like a battle cry for freedom when President Reagan famously said, “Tear down that wall, Mr. Gorbachav!” Finally, the end of the Cold War. But, recently released documents and diaries indicate that, in fact, Prime Minister Thatcher and President George H. Bush and their governments were quite anxious, even fearful of the unknown. They were afraid of a reunified Germany, chaos might be unleashed. Powerbrokers were afraid things would spin out of their control. Was the wall coming down worth the instability?
We who are safe and secure, invested in the current system, have a stake in stability.
We who are comfortable and established, all desire to keep the status quo. People on top, people whose children are well-fed, well-housed, and well-futured don’t like the kind of drastic dismantling and recreation Jesus proposes. Change is threatening. This is very true in the church, too. Like the temple, we build our churches to last. We bolt down the pews and make everything look heavy, substantial, and enduring. There is so much in life that is unsubstantial and in flux. So much of your life and mine gets disrupted, confused, and dislodged. People and pets we love die. Our bodies wear out. The values we grew up with feel like they are under siege. Isn’t it nice to know that the church will always be here, just as it is, eternal and forever?
Not so fast. The gospel is lost and found, old and new, life, death and resurrection. God finds a way to tear down our personal forts to use the discarded for a new mission.
During the Revolutionary War, Colonel Henry Cox was instrumental in rallying General Washington and his men to victory at the Battle of Boston. Cox suggested that canons and mortars salvaged faraway Fort Ticonderoga would be the difference.
In early December, Cox led a small expedition to recover enormous weapons from a basically vacated fort up in Quebec. The Colonel had to recruit volunteers to help enroute to Fort Ticonderoga. Through blizzards and thaws, over frozen lakes and mountainous wilderness, by boat and by ox-drawn sled they traveled with sixty cannons. They covered 300 miles in 56 days hauling 120,000 lbs of weaponry. Cox was forced to deal with giant mishaps. Crossing one river, one of his barges sunk to the bottom and somehow they retrieved the cannons and kept going. Washington was never quite sure if Cox was coming. When his caravan arrived it was just in time. The men stealthily positioned them on the hills under cover of night. The British were shocked and awed by the unanticipated presence of the big guns.
What if church is not our fort where everything is tied down, eternal-looking, and fixed? But, what if it’s where we come to keep looking for God’s intended new heaven and new earth? Perhaps, this place is where we feel and receive the breath of God, the Holy Spirit fostering a holy discontent in us. In God’s mercy, when we settle in and settle down, Jesus has a way of disrupting our lives and dismantling our forts, temples, and comfort zones. Does someone here know what it is like to have your temple destroyed only to have it replaced by something much better? Like a job you lost, a marriage, a relationship that did not work, a friendship that ended, or a church you left? Then you know sometimes things can’t be made new until the old is destroyed. Sometimes there cannot be birth until there is death.
This is not to say that all change is from God’s hand, healthy, easy, or desirable. But, Jesus does make it clear that change is on God’s agenda for your life, this church, the ELCA, the planet and beyond. Our God means to take everything that happens, even bad things and turn them toward God’s intended good. Like the cross.
If the Day of the Lord is, indeed, inbound, then we would like to know when and what to look for. But, Jesus doesn’t give us or the disciples these details. Instead, Jesus says three things to his followers. First, “Watch out! Don’t be deceived”. Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. Be discerning. Keep worshiping. There will be temptations, pressures, and suffering. Second, “Do not be alarmed”. Keep your head and don’t panic in the age of 24-hour cable news, the Left Behind series, and the general public mood that Armageddon is almost here. Don’t be alarmed does not mean don’t prepare. Neibuhr said, “Live like Jesus is coming tomorrow and plan like Jesus is coming in 10,000 years.” Third, the end means the beginning. We are waiting for new life. We don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen. There are labor pains. I wish we had a spiritual epidural. Jesus’ Coming is Good News.
Mike Yaconelli, a favorite author- of Dangerous Wonder and Messy Spirituality, writes just prior to his death in an automobile accident. “Once you feel the breath of God on your skin, you can never turn back, you can never settle for what was, you can only move on recklessly, with abandon, your heart filled with fear, your ears ringing, “Fear not”. You are faced with the sobering truth- in order to go on you must let go of what you brought. You cannot go on without turning your back on what brought you to this place. It is like swinging on a trapeze. You have to release your grip. You have to reach out. You have to experience the glorious terror of inbetween-ness as you disconnect from one and reach for the other. This past year has been a time of letting go, one finger at a time, and these last few weeks have been a terrifying weightlessness, a waitlessness, a paralyzing stretch of the unknown, an anxious anticipation. I haven’t reached the other bar yet. I will
not grasp it, but I will instead be grasped by the hand of Jesus. I can hardly wait.”
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