It’s almost Thanksgiving. The weather is changing, the leaves have dropped, and pumpkin spice is everywhere, letting us know that winter is on the horizon. We also seem to be living in a time of crisis. The United States government suffered its longest shutdown in the history of our country, which only ended late Wednesday evening. People who were working without pay, or trying to figure out how to put food on the table with the suspension of SNAP benefits, are thankful that the government has reopened. However, damage has been done. We can’t forget the war in Ukraine that continues unabated, while the ceasefire in Gaza remains tenuous, and trouble is again brewing in the West Bank. Then there are the political and cultural divisions here at home that continue to get worse, which can make for challenging times at many a family Thanksgiving table. Times like this can lead people to wonder if the end of the world might be at hand.
As we ponder the challenges that exist in our world today, we have this reading from the Gospel of Luke that is rather “apocalyptic.” That is, it seems as if we might be in store for some kind of catastrophic event that reveals how God views things. As we read this passage, we hear Jesus ask an important question: Will you stay faithful when things get tough? Will you endure whatever comes your way?
As we consider this week’s reading from Luke 21, it’s worth noting the larger context. While we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, this reading takes place during Holy Week. Jesus has already entered Jerusalem in triumph, so Palm Sunday is in the past. He has cleansed the Temple, which means he has upset the religious leaders and the merchants who set up shop in the Temple precincts. He had also denounced many of the religious leaders who questioned his authority to heal and to teach. But, at this moment in the story, his disciples are taking a tour of the Temple and are expressing their awe at the Temple’s beauty and glory. This shouldn’t surprise us because this might be their first visit to Jerusalem and its Temple, which Herod the Great had expanded and refurbished, making it one of the great wonders of the ancient world. If we had been in their place, we might feel the same way. I know I felt that way during my visits to some of the great cathedrals in Europe and England. I remember going to London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2013 for Sunday worship. While that church only dates back to the late seventeenth century, it is quite grand. Even though picture-taking is against the rules, everyone seemed to be ignoring the rules as they took pictures so they had a visual record of their experience. So, I understand a little bit how Jesus’ Galilean disciples felt when they entered this magnificent Temple.
While the disciples were impressed with the Temple’s grandeur, with its beautiful stones and adornments, Jesus wasn’t at all impressed by what he saw. In fact, according to Luke, Jesus warned his companions that before too long, Herod’s grand Temple would be nothing more than a pile of rubble.
Although Luke wrote his Gospel after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, which included the destruction of the Temple, Jesus could easily have foreseen that something like this might take place before too long. Even then, Jerusalem was a powder keg waiting to be lit. The people hated the Romans and were waiting for someone to rise up and lead the revolt against their oppressors. There were plenty of rebels running around the area, so you can understand why many of the people who welcomed Jesus, as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, by hailing him the Son of David, were hoping he would be the one to lead the revolution. Of course, not everyone shared this hope. One group in particular was worried about Jesus. That group included the Temple authorities who partnered with Rome, hoping to protect their interests. For their part, Rome expected the Temple authorities to keep a lid on the powder keg. They did this for a while, but by the year 66, things got so out of hand that the rebels finally lit that powder keg. Unfortunately for the people of Jerusalem, Rome won the war, and just like what happened six hundred years earlier, the oppressors destroyed the Temple. If you visit the Temple Mount today, you will find two Islamic shrines, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. What you won’t find is the Temple, which is why Jews gather to pray at the base of the Temple Mount’s western retaining wall.
Our reading this morning is the opening portion of Luke’s “Little Apocalypse.” The reason is called the “Little Apocalypse” is that it covers similar territory as the Book of Revelation. Only, this apocalypse is much shorter!
Luke’s “Little Apocalypse” actually ends in verse 28 with these words: “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” In other words, it won’t be long until you can sing with Andrae Crouch, “Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king!”
In this passage, Jesus lists some of the possible signs that might take place before the day of redemption arrives. But he warns us not to get too excited when we see wars and insurrections take place. Don’t worry if earthquakes, famines, or plagues occur. The same is true of persecutions and martyrdoms. These things will take place, but that doesn’t mean the end is near. Although the Temple in Jerusalem fell in 70 CE, life continues to go on.
According to Jesus, crises will come and go, but the important thing is to be ready to testify to the things of God. However, you don’t need to prepare your defense because Jesus will provide the words you will need to share when the time comes.
While Jesus will face death on a cross in just a few days, he tells his disciples that “not a hair on your heads will be lost.” He tells them this right after warning that they might face persecution and even death. So, how can he reconcile these two statements? Perhaps the answer lies in Jesus’ promise that “by your endurance you will gain your souls.” We will face crises in our lives; the question is, will we stay faithful to our confession of faith in Jesus until the day of our redemption?
When Jesus tells us to remain faithful to our confession of faith, he doesn’t mean we should do this on our own. I believe he wants us to take this journey in the company of others who are empowered by the Holy Spirit, who sustains us while we testify to the things of God in words and in our deeds, as we partner with God in God’s work of reconciling the world in Christ to Godself (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
Passages like this invite us to consider what we value. What are we willing to invest our lives in? Hopefully, that includes the work of God in the world. Of course, this involves money. The problem is that money and wealth can be rather seductive and even destructive. Just ask King Midas of legend. He asked for and was granted the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold. Unfortunately, this “gift” backfired when he touched his beloved daughter and turned her into gold.
Then there is Mark Twain’s effort to rework the opening lines of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which I’m told many Presbyterians hold dear, to serve as a description of what is known as the “Gilded Age” of the late nineteenth century. This age might have been golden for the wealthiest Americans, but the majority of the people suffered. Twain’s version of the confession goes like this:
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. To get rich.
Q. In what way?
A. Dishonestly if we can; honestly, if we must.
Q. Who is God, the one only and true?
A. Money is God, Gold and greenbacks and stocks. [Ronald White, American Ulysses, p. 538].
As followers of Jesus, I hope we would answer the question as to “What is the chief end of man” quite differently.
So, even as we endure the crises of our age, how might we answer the question: Will you remain faithful to your confession of faith in Jesus and invest yourselves in the establishment of God’s realm? As we ponder Luke’s “Little Apocalypse” that presages Jesus’ death on the cross, let us remember that Jesus remained faithful to the end. He might ask God to remove the cup of suffering from him during his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, but he stayed the course, enduring suffering and death on the cross (Luke 22:39-46). The good news is that in the resurrection, Jesus overcame the power of death, which marked the old age, ushering in the new age of God’s reign on earth as in heaven.
We will face crises and moments of doubt that challenge our faith in God. We may wonder why bad things happen, especially to good people. That’s only natural. Jesus had his own moment of doubt in the Garden, and yet he stayed true to his sense of calling that led to the cross. Might we also stay true to our calling, enduring to the end, so we might gain our souls, even as we participate in God’s work of redemption?
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