Based on Daniel 12:1-3, Psalm 16, and Mark 13:1-8; Preached at Tualatin Presbyterian Church on November 17, 2024
I am amazed at how often the Common Lectionary,
the calendar I generally use to focus my sermon and worship planning,
offers the most fitting scripture passages week after week,
and today we have no departure from that.
Maybe this is because the Bible is so rich,
so all-encompassing that it knows how to meet us wherever we are
… that no matter the week or the circumstances,
our Good Book will speak to us. Always.
It’s quite impressive, really.
I do wish on this particular occasion,
when some here are still reeling over our country’s election results
and others are personally grieving the loss of loved ones, or their health and wellbeing,
I do wish our scripture selections were a bit more comforting today.
Did you notice all the apocalyptic themes in what we just heard?
And, who needs anything to feel more ominous or heavy at the moment.
Now maybe this doesn’t resonate with you.
I hope you feel safe, secure and hopeful, … if not about worldly events,
then at least about your personal Thanksgiving plans.
Thanksgiving is one of the most beautiful holidays,
in my humble opinion …
I mean what’s not to like about a celebration
involving gratitude, friends, and food.
Beyond that, I love that I don’t have any particular
professional obligations on Thanksgiving … and furthermore,
our capitalistic society hasn’t co-opted the day too very much.
The exceptions are few …
I don’t know how many of you drove by it on your way here,
but there’s a huge balloon turkey in someone’s lawn a block or so away.
Have you seen it?
It’s one of the few tangible advertisements I’ve seen for Thanksgiving Day.
The only other reminders I notice are long grocery lists
and earmarked pages of cookbooks on everyone’s kitchen counters.
Anyway, back to scripture and
the dire messages at hand in today’s readings.
As is always the case, there IS Good News to be found here,
… we just might have to dig a little deeper to find it.
And, … as I did last week, we aren’t going to the Good News straight away.
First, I’m going to drag us through the mud …
well, … the gospel of Mark is going to …
we’re just going along for the ride.
Mark’s story today has Jesus hanging out with his disciples
who are impressed with the Temple,
the building in front of them, and how large it is.
The disciples in this chapter sound a bit (to me) like kids
who are enamored with a shiny toy on the shelf at a store.
“Look, Mom, look at how big this Lego set is
and look at how big the pieces are …
(not little so you’ll step on them when they get caught in the shag carpet)
… couldn’t we have this one?”
Jesus undercuts their perceptions straight away.
“You think that is going to fit the bill, huh?
You think this will make you happy for more than a rainy afternoon?
You think you can pin your happiness, safety or security
on this big Lego set (or this impressive Temple)?
I wouldn’t recommend that.”
Now, we don’t quite know whether Peter, James, John and Andrew
accepted Jesus’ pronouncement immediately.
It’s possible we’re missing some conversation they had
between verses two and three in Mark’s gospel.
It’s possible the disciples didn’t ascribe to Jesus’ lesson right off the bat.
I mean towering buildings are not supposed to crumble to the ground.
The biblical disciples didn’t live through 9/11
in the United States of America,
and maybe they’d never seen such a thing happen.
So, they might’ve resisted Jesus’ statement initially.
But what they say next, … what IS mentioned here in this gospel
seems to imply that they’ve embraced Jesus’ proclamation
… and, feeling the danger inherent therein …
have begun to ask for the particulars.
“Okay, Jesus … when is this going to happen exactly?
When are these big stones going to be thrown down?”
I love Jesus, and he’s rather cagey … have you ever noticed?
He doesn’t answer their question directly.
Now, … maybe he doesn’t know the answer.
Maybe when he agreed to come into the world as a human being
he had to relinquish his divine all-knowingness.
Maybe he really didn’t know how to answer them.
I’m not sure if other parents here can relate to this,
but when my son John was a boy, even when he was just a toddler,
he would stump me with his questions constantly.
So, I got very good at saying:
“I don’t know, John. We’ll have to look it up.”
I shouldn’t complement myself from the pulpit,
but in my way of thinking this was usually a truly brilliant answer,
because it taught him that
- his mother was not the fount of all wisdom and
- that he was going to have to work for an answer.
It also got me off the hook, because until he got significantly older,
he didn’t remember or didn’t care to do the research
… so I didn’t have to either.
Anyway, back to Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t answer his disciples’ question directly either.
Unlike the glib mom that I maybe was at times,
Jesus warns his littles to not be led astray by someone presenting
as though they have all the answers.
I don’t know if Jesus would want to be held up next to a mother,
and this one in particular,
but he certainly was a Teacher, which mothers are as well.
… and he wisely didn’t want to leave his students exposed and vulnerable,
so he told them to beware.
“Don’t be led astray.
And, this can happen very easily, my dear ones.
Use care not to be dupped.”
Now, as if this isn’t enough of a warning,
Jesus goes on to state clearly (and I quote)
“nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes and famines …
and this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”
Oh, dear Jesus! Where’s the Good News?
Can you relate?
Do any of you feel personally fearful hearing Jesus’ warning?
Maybe especially in light of world events?
The larger ones, or your personal circumstances?
Wouldn’t you prefer that your Lord and Savior offer some assurances
that IF in fact all this IS to happen,
that at least you personally and your nearest and dearest
will survive all the mayhem he predicts?
I know that’s what I want.
There’s a movie I can’t remember the title of,
but I do remember a line out of the main character’s mouth.
He says, “I have faith, I just want some proof to back it up!”
So, where can we go for help?
Especially if Jesus himself is delivering some frightening predictions?
Our OT reading from Daniel tells us that someone named Michael,
a great prince and protector of people shall arise.
Who’s he? Who’s this Michael?
You remember my pat response, right?
“I don’t know … we’ll have to look that up.”
Maybe you expect me to do that for you, huh?
Well, true to form, I didn’t do a whole lot of research about this,
but it appears he was some sort of a patron saint …
maybe an archangel the people could call on
when they needed other worldly help.
In the children’s message,
I called on them to remember some of their helpers,
just as I invited everyone gathered here to do a few weeks ago.
A few of my helpers’ names are radiating from this heart,
and if I had sat with the task longer,
which would have been easy to do,
there wouldn’t be enough space on this small banner to list them all.
Not even close.
And while I’ve made it known that I love a good many of you,
even as I’ve just started to get to know you,
not one of your names is on this masterpiece.
I did that intentionally,
because I won’t risk leaving anyone out and because
I don’t want you studying it for your placement on the heart.
You are there, trust me … even if your name isn’t yet.
Where do we find our hope?
When I read Psalm 16, the phrase “the path of life” stood out to me.
That’s what Jesus holds out to us, always …
even when he must warn us of the possible pitfalls on our way.
I would argue that we start where we are.
Maybe some of you recognize the path
on the front cover of today’s bulletin?
I took it while walking in Little Wood Rose park behind this church.
I don’t know how it is for each of you when you start a new job,
a new life, but generally one’s plate is pretty full.
How blessed am I that in 2 minutes flat I can be out the door
and walking amongst lush green trees
with solid brown dirt under my feet.
This grounds me.
And I can hear God speaking in these quiet moments.
Coaxing me to remember that I am not alone.
I have never been alone.
We are not forsaken.
We have a God whose name is Love …
and that God will see us through every tight turn,
every scary adventure, if we but listen and follow.
Take time to listen to whatever might center you on your journey …
maybe remember the saints who came before you,
and the ones who still walk with you.
And know that God shines through us all.
Amen.
