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Tom Lenhart Let us pray. Close your eyes. Imagine we are all sitting in a shop in an open-air market located off a dusty street in a town called Pella sixty miles northeast of Jerusalem. The date is 69 CE. The Romans control virtually all of Palestine. Pella is under the control of the Roman consulate of Syria located in Damascus. We are Jews who follow a man named Jesus; he lived and died nearly four decades ago. None among us ever knew him but several of our number have heard his disciples speak. Until a short time ago we lived in Jerusalem also controlled by Rome but we left Jerusalem as social unrest spiraled out of control. Indeed the brother of Jesus, James, was executed in Jerusalem just a few years ago. In recent years many of the Jews have revolted against the Romans. And in response the Romans under Vespasian and his son Titus have amassed a large army and slowly over the last several years have defeated the rebelling Jews throughout Palestine. Having encircled Jerusalem the Romans are now poised to attack and destroy it. The Jewish community is in turmoil. Cooler heads in the community, like Josephus, have long been superceded or, indeed, been captured by the Romans. A group called the Zealots is seemingly in control in Jerusalem. On every street corner and in every market there are prophets predicting the future of the Jews and there are those who claim to be the Messiah, here to lead the Jews to a great victory over the Romans. Though we are miles away and under somewhat different rule because Jerusalem is under a different Roman proconsul, what is going on in Jerusalem is of great concern. We are after all Jews and the Temple and Jerusalem are of central importance to us and to our faith. Remember that our fellow follower of Jesus, Paul, visited Jerusalem and spent many years of his ministry to our sister faith communities, raising money for the community in Jerusalem. Indeed it was at the Temple that Paul was arrested. Naturally our discussions here in Pella turn to the pressing issues of the hour: What is going to happen to us, the Jews? What are we to make of these people claiming to be the Messiah? Certainly Jesus did not bring the Jews a new political kingdom as our Hebrew scriptures had suggested was to come. No one could have been more different from David than was Jesus. Can you imagine David being crucified; there is no question that he would have gone down fighting. Maybe the present events are the beginning of a rebirth of the Israelite kingdom. Or perhaps this is the end time that Jesus hinted at. Are we to be judged? Is Jesus to return now? We have, of course, been waiting expectantly. It is to those of us assembled in that Pella market and to those in the other communities following Jesus to whom Mark was writing. Indeed, scholars date the gospel of Mark generally to the time of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Our text sometimes called “the little apocalypse” becomes more understandable, at least on one level, when we put it in this context. Apocalyptic writing is essentially writing about the future -- often a future defined by a major or, indeed, a cataclysmic event that will change the course of history. That is precisely what our text addresses. While it starts with a prediction about the destruction of the temple, it really addresses the concern of the community for the future. In this passage Mark has likely combined a number of stories and sayings attributed to Jesus into a narrative that, among other things, responds to the questions and fears of those in the market at Pella. Yes, the temple will be destroyed. Is this the beginning of the end? Should we be looking for a sign? What about John of Gishala and the Zealots are they the Messiah? The answers are in a sense clear “Beware no one leads you a stray. Many will come in my name and say ’I am he!’” The short answer is no; the Zealots are not the one to come. And though there are wars to come with the Romans and others and natural disasters will occur -- this is not the end or, indeed, the beginning of the end. Rather it is simply “the beginning of the birth pangs” that proceed a birth. And a long and as yet an indefinable future is to come. What is happening is, thus, no more than the beginning of the beginning. This passage is a masterful answer to those fears and concerns that must have racked the followers of Jesus in those early communities. I have no doubt that we would have felt much better, if not absolutely comforted sitting in Pella hearing Mark’s words. What pray tell does this wonderful narrative have to do with us? This is certainly not an age in which most of us spend time concerned about the end of time. When was the last time you looked for a sign that the Second Coming was here or the Day of Judgment was around the corner? With the exception of those like the followers of Jim Jones or David Karesh or those who are waiting for the moment of rapture -- people today simply do not think about these questions and even less shape their conduct to such concerns. Is there any relevance to this text? Is there any nugget to be panned? Haven’t we already understood the message that the Second Coming isn’t imminent? In a sense we have but like every text--at least in the eyes of the preacher who can’t end his or her sermon after five minutes--there always is more to be mined from it. The first thing is what this lesson tells about sacred space. Now as we know questions of space are always around us. The disciples were obviously taken with the size and grandeur of the Temple and its associated buildings. We have no direct depictions of the Temple; indeed, it is not clear that we even have any direct archaeological remains from the Temple. We do have biblical and other descriptions of a very grand building. The Temple was the central focus of the faith of Israel. It was the place where the faithful encountered God and here alone according to Deuteronomy could sacrificial worship -- the heart of the Jewish faith -- is celebrated. It is for this reason that the Temple’s final destruction in 70 CE was devastating for Judaism and lead to the redevelopment of that great faith into the Rabbinic Judaism we have today. Jesus in this Mark text is unequivocal in his statement to the disciples about the temple. It is to be destroyed. “Not one stone will be left here upon another: all will be thrown done.” Significantly, there is no prediction of its rebuilding. The faith of the Old Testament was in a sense embodied in the places where God was thought to be; for example, the tent where Moses went to talk with God during the Exodus, the tombs of David and others and, of course, first and foremost the Temple. For Jesus, however, it is quite clear that sacred space is not defined by physical surroundings but rather is defined by the presence of the community of faith. Remember the tomb on Easter is empty; we do not worship at that tomb. Jesus is not present there in that place rather he is present on the road to Emmaus when the disciples finally recognize him. He is present after Easter in the locked room when the disciples recognize him. And he is present in that same room a week later, when doubting Thomas, who refuses to believe the other disciples, finally sees and hears enough to believe. It is not about place but about the presence of faith that defines the sacred. Certainly, no one would argue that the grand European cathedrals or more simple, yet beautiful sanctuaries like this one are unimportant or should be shunted aside. But they are not to be worshiped. Too often churches are viewed as if they were sacred memorials and monuments. We develop a kind of edifice complex. Memorials and monuments are important for they serve to link us to the past in ways that keep us from forgetting the sacrifices and courage of those who have gone before us. But a church is not a memorial or a monument. It is not about remembering the past per se. It is not about memorializing the life and death of Jesus. It is a faith community. It is about the translation of the Good News about Jesus into action for this day by the members of such a community of faith. Thus, no space is by itself sacred. Space is sacred only in so far as it is a vehicle that enables the Good News to become today’s news, whether through worship, out reach or Christian education. It is the presence of the faith community that makes a space sacred not the space that makes the community faithful. Some of my most worshipful moments have come on the streets worshiping with homeless. At that moment that grim urban space was, indeed, sacred. My guess is that each of you has had an experience in which God was present and the space--though on one level was ordinary-- became sacred. The message about the Temple is, thus, a reminder that we cannot as Christians live in the past. We cannot take refuge in our sanctuaries or our seemingly sacred spaces. But the text is not simply concerned with how we relate to the past; it also addresses the question of the future. It reminds us that we must not take refuge in or be unduly preoccupied with the ultimate future. The disciples wanted to know when the Temple was going to be destroyed; what was the sign of the coming judgment; was it going to be for example – an earthquake, a flood, a plague, a famine, a new King, or victory over Israel’s enemies. And by the way could they also have the date when the sign was going to occur. Jesus’ answer to the disciples, to those in Pella, and to us is that all we can know is that there will be an end – it is “still to come”--but that much--wars, earthquakes and famines--remains to happen before that time. We are clearly to live in the present for we cannot know the details and the timing of the future. As Jesus reminds us beware of those who come claiming to know the future. Beware of those articulating easy and definitive answers about what is to come and how to get there. Preoccupation with an unknowable future deprives one of a meaningful present. Everyone who has ever played any game or sport has experienced the danger of thinking too much about the future and too little about the present. How many of us have celebrated wining prematurely, having lost focus on the game before us and ultimately lost. As the British poet and writer G.K. Chesterton perceptively suggested many years ago there are many people “who know the last word about everything and the first word about nothing.” Jesus counsels us to start with the first words --focus on the here and now -- and leave the last word to him. Our situation today is different and more complicated, however, than for those sitting in Pella. If anything people today are as often preoccupied with the present moment as with the future time. We have all heard it said, “focus on the present and the future will take care of itself.” Few of us are likely to be lead astray by street corner messiahs or cult figures from Waco, Jonestown or else where, telling us when the end is coming and how to get there. Few of us are paralyzed by anxiety over the timing of the Second Coming as some might have been in Pella. And, I think, the Jesus speaking in our Mark text would applaud that. It is important how we act now. Are we helping the homeless, the oppressed, and those in need? Our text warns us to be wary of being lead astray by false prophets. Yet it does not contain an explicit litmus test for sorting the true from the false. And yet there is guidance. Implicit in the text is that the standard is Jesus and his life and preaching. Are we living out today the Great Commandment? If the path being touted by the prophet of the moment does not comport with those standards then we are being lead astray. But it would be equally wrong to ignore entirely the future, as, I think, is sometimes the case in our day. We have a tendency to live for the moment. I certainly do at times and often am reminded of that when I look at my saving account balance. There is no doubt says Jesus to his disciples that the end is still to come. Why is it important to at least be cognizant of the future prophesized by Jesus? First, it does give us perspective. The choices we make cannot simply be gauged by a short term cost benefit equation. There is a more profound long-term measure of them. What we do must frankly stand the test of time. In thinking about global warming (and I confess that I have been persuaded that it exists and that human activity has contributed to it), it is not foolish to acknowledge that there will be serious short-term dislocations in seeking to reverse the trend. And any remedial programs must seek to minimize those negative impacts especially on those least able to absorb them. But in dealing with the issue we must also think of the long term about the world that our children and children’s children will live in. It is most assuredly a challenge that demands that we think about a future beyond the moment and us. Finally, Jesus’ assurance -- to those in Pella and to us -- is an assurance of hope. As we live life in the present with its conflicts and wars and earthquakes and famines and plagues, just as those in Pella lived with their trials and tribulations, we are all counseled by the Son of God to be hopeful about the future. In 1993 Madeleine Blais wrote a book entitled, In these Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. It chronicles the transformation of woman’s high school basketball team from unexceptional one year to the state champions the following year -- focusing on the development on the part of these roughly dozen young women of an inner confidence and tenacity and more importantly a sense of pride in being athletes and capable young women. It is a poignant and magnificent story of the transformative power of hope that they received about the possibilities in their lives. Jesus reminds us –as the past informs but does not define our actions so too must the future not restrict our actions but liberate them through the hope of what can and will be even when the present is in the shadows of darkness. Let us pray Eternal God who commits to us the swift and solemn trust and joy of life; since we do not know what a day may bring forth, but that the hour for serving you is always present, may we wake to the instant claims of your holy will not waiting for tomorrow but yielding today, ever buoyed by the hope for the future expressed though your Son Jesus Christ. Amen |
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