"The beginning is near! Do not be alarmed" Sermon for 14 Nov 2021

Sermon for Sunday 14 November 2021

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem

The Rev. Carrie Ballenger

 "The beginning is near! Do not be alarmed."

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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

 

Some years ago I had an unusual visitor in the church office – a man who said he was a priest, but from a church whose name I didn’t at all recognize. He said he was from the “Ecumenical Order of Christ”, which sounded legitimate. This was early in my time in Jerusalem, and I was learning that there are many strands of Christianity in this place that I had never heard of before, so I said “welcome!” and invited him into my church office for a chat.

 It took all of two minutes for me to realize that this “priest” represented a group that Lutherans probably wouldn’t recognize as an ecumenical partner. My visitor excitedly told me that Jesus has already returned, and the purpose for this meeting was for him to share the Good News with me.

 He pulled out a giant laptop computer and set it on my desk. Then he opened it dramatically and showed me a video of lights hovering over the Dome of the Rock. Then he showed me another video, this one appearing to show a city floating on a cloud, somewhere in China. He read me headlines about impending wars with Russia and Syria (and a few other countries as well.) These, he told me, were undeniable signs that these are the last days, and Jesus has already returned. Furthermore, these were warnings that I must get prepared because the Messiah (whose new name is apparently “Ra-El”) is coming soon to Jerusalem. (Ra-el, it turns out, is short for Raymond Elwood.)

Now, what I wanted to do at this moment was to kindly show the man to the door and to get on with my day. But as I listened, I also became curious. I was curious not so much about this new Jesus, Ra-El, whom he was now describing in great detail, but about what this evangelist expected my response to be. 

So I asked him:

“So Joe, now that you’ve shared these signs and warnings with me, what should we be doing about it?”

 This question seemed to take him a bit by surprise, and he actually raised his voice a little to say, “Well, of course you need to accept this news and then prepare yourself and your congregation, because when he arrives here in Jerusalem, it will be with a sword! The end is very near!” 

We talked for just a few minutes more, until my visitor’s repeated advice to “Be afraid, for the end is near” started to make me a little afraid of him. I was happy to see him go.

This wasn’t the first strange person I’ve met in Jerusalem, and he certainly won’t be the last. But you can imagine that this conversation remained with me. I always think of it when I read the Gospel text for this Sunday, from the thirteenth chapter of Mark:  

“Beware that no one leads you astray” said Jesus to the disciples. “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.” 

These words were preached several thousand years ago, and yet they feel so relevant today, don’t they? Here in Jerusalem, we know what it’s like to live with wars and rumors of wars. We know what it looks like when nation rises up against nation. We have heard many times that this is the end…the end of the peace process, the end of the two-state solution, the end of Jerusalem itself.

And now, we add to that the rumors that the COVID-19 pandemic is a sign of the end.

With all of these “end times scenarios” in our midst, it is difficult not to be alarmed. It’s difficult not to worry when pilgrimage trips are cancelled and when colleagues have their visas revoked. It’s difficult not to be afraid when we hear of mass shootings, insurrections, and new strains oof the coronavirus.

Peter, James, John and Andrew were also worried about the end times as they sat with Jesus on the Mt of Olives. They were overlooking the Temple which Jesus had just prophesied would be destroyed, and they were afraid. It was surely a frightening thought! Nevertheless, Jesus said, “Do not be alarmed!”

Now I’ve never counted them myself, but I have heard it said that we can find “be not afraid” or “do not fear” 365 times in the Bible, once for each day of the year. I think that’s a lovely thought, even if it’s not true! To know that God assures us each and every day that we have no reason to be afraid is a great comfort.

 In our text today, Jesus tells the disciples then, and us as disciples now, that even when the pain of the world seems too much to bear, and when mighty stones are falling around us, and when we don’t know what to do next, we don’t have to be afraid. We shouldn’t become alarmed, or become extremists, or become hateful to our neighbors to protect our own interests…but instead we are to remain steadfast in faith, trusting that our loving God is birthing something new into the world. The world is in labor! “This is but the beginning of the birthpangs” says Jesus. Something new is about to be born. That new thing coming into the world is, of course, the kingdom of God.

I love that Jesus uses birth imagery when telling the disciples about the coming of the kingdom. As a person who has given birth – twice – I can say that labor was the hardest work I’ve ever done. It was also the closest to death I’ve ever felt. I don’t mean that I or my babies were close to death, thanks be to God! What I mean is that during labor, in becoming a parent, your whole being –mind, body, and soul—are involved in saying goodbye to one reality and saying hello to a new one. There is no going back to normal. There is only saying “hello” to a new normal.

In the same way, the kingdom of God which we await will not come into being without work, without suffering, without saying goodbye to one thing and hello to another. After all, God’s kingdom is not just a new and improved version of this one. It is completely opposite of this world of pain, suffering and sin. It is an entirely new creature! As Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) And, as we read in Isaiah: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)

There is struggle and very hard work involved in birthing this new thing because the kingdom of God is contrary to our human desires. God is doing something in and among us that pushes against our hunger for power, control, and victory. As much as we pray for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, at the same time our human nature resists it.

 God is birthing peace while the the world worships weapons.

God is birthing reconciliation while the world prefers revenge.

God is birthing a diverse creation while we shame those who are different from us.

God is birthing healing while some resist God-given science and reason.

These are the “birthpangs” we are feeling at this moment in history. The whole world is groaning in labor, from Jerusalem to Geneva to Kabul and Kenosha, as the kingdom of justice, of peace, of love and mercy and wholeness, is being born among us.

This is hard and holy work. And yet, even when things seem too much to bear, as followers of the crucified and risen Christ have heard that we have no reason to be afraid! And we will not give up hoping and praying and, yes, laboring for the kingdom to come—knowing that while we are co-creators of the kingdom, ultimately it is God who is birthing the new world, in God’s time.

Our brother Martin Luther is often quoted as having said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” In other words, Luther says the trials and tribulations of the world should never be an invitation to despair but are in fact an invitation to plant seeds of hope for the new life and new world to come.

 Dear people, as we look toward the end of the church year, and yet another pandemic Advent and Christmas season, let us be reminded that when we stand on the firm foundation of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we do not lose hope. We do not lost heart. We do not turn against our neighbors or fight amongst ourselves!

 Instead, we make music. We plant trees. We learn new languages. We build relationships with neighbors of different faiths. We teach our children to love those who are different from them. We continue to work for peace, justice, and equality for every human being—in Israel and Palestine and beyond. As we heard in our reading from Hebrews today, we “consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.”

 And we are not afraid! Instead, we are hopeful, and joyful, and a wee bit excited as we approach the Advent season, when we will be once again enfolded in the news that a baby is about to be born. Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Soon and very soon, the kingdom is coming. TBTG. Amen!