LENT 5: NOW - we prepare for the great reveal
Mark 13:1-8, 24-37
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Today, again, I have the joyful privilege of expounding on
one of my very favorite types of biblical literature—
apocalyptic—
the kind of Bible verses that
scare the you-know-what out of most people . . .
and that, when I was a kid, used to keep me up at night,
sweating bullets,
and having bad dreams . . .
and that describe in horrifying detail
the terrible things that will happen in the end times,
and why we all need to live our lives on edge,
ready for the disaster to come.
I would thank my lucky stars for the chance to preach from this text—
except, those stars fall from skies in this text,
and the sun and moon go dark.
You think I’m being facetious,
calling this kind of text one of my favorite to preach on?
Well . . . I’m not.
You want to know why it’s my favorite?
Well . . . I’ll tell you.
I just love helping us think differently about scripture.
I love taking texts that we (and I’m including myself here)
that we have long misinterpreted and therefore,
have been too afraid of, to take a second look,
and so we ignore them.
It’s our loss to ignore life-affirming scripture—
which is what this is—
just because we don’t understand it.
So let’s dig in.
And first, context reminder.
Mark is likely being written from Rome,
from the heart of the Roman Empire,
right from the belly of the beast,
written by a community of Jewish exiles,
who were followers of Jesus,
led by the likes of Peter and John Mark,
and it was 30-plus years after the time of Jesus,
while the Empire, in whose capital they resided,
was in the process of trying to destroy their people,
their Jewish religion, and all their sacred buildings.
When these apocalyptic words were put to paper,
Jerusalem was about to, or already had,
fallen into rubble at the hands of the Empire.
We should never read Mark without keeping that in mind.
We should give careful thought
to what motivated the writers and editors of these words,
and to whom they were first intended to be read.
That’s the first important step to keep us from
misreading what is meant to be good news,
and turning it into bad news.
So, if you lived in the heart of the militaristic Roman Empire,
and you were either a Roman citizen empathetic toward the Jews,
or you were a Jew yourself, and feeling threatened,
or you were already a follower of Jesus,
and trying to figure out what you had gotten yourself into,
then you, too, would have read these words of Jesus,
and been filled with hope and joy.
You would have spent zero time
worrying or sweating or having nightmares
about the terror that was going to befall you,
because you, as an individual, had sinned,
and were on the wrong side of God’s anger.
We should read it like the first readers read it.
So Mark has Jesus predicting the destruction of the Temple,
in vv. 1 and 2.
Now, the destruction of the Temple
would have thrown all Jews off-balance,
spiritually, socially, politically, emotionally.
In every way, it would have been devastating—
for mainstream Jews and Jewish leaders,
and for the sect within Judaism that saw Jesus as Messiah.
The Temple is where the Holy Presence lived,
and where Yahweh promised
that his Holy Presence would never leave.
We really don’t have any concept
for the impact of such a disaster.
If tomorrow our church building would be leveled to the ground,
by a bomb, or tornado, or asteroid,
that would be awful,
but from a religious and spiritual standpoint,
it’s a far cry from the Jews’ loss of the Temple.
Because our theology says this is just a building,
a physical place, an artifact.
It’s not equal to God’s presence.
But the Temple was imbued with Holiness, with Divine Presence,
with the eternal promise of God.
Its destruction would have forced serious doubt
about whether God could be trusted,
or whether God was even still with them.
And again, this was true for mainstream Judaism,
and for Jewish followers of Jesus.
Now . . . one more thing to remember.
We read in the Gospels that after Jesus’ resurrection,
as he ascended to heaven,
Jesus left his followers with a promise.
He said, “I’m coming back, to finish the work we began.
Live as though the Kingdom of God is right around the corner.”
To the ordinary Jewish follower of Jesus,
this meant Jesus would return
to restore the throne of David in Jerusalem.
That he would rule spiritually and politically,
and that the palace and temple would be brought back together,
under one unified Jewish rule,
like in the good old days of David.
So, naturally, seeing how Rome was in the process of destroying it all,
people would be doubting Jesus’ promise.
They might start forgetting Jesus’ life-giving ministry
of love and healing and reconciliation,
and start thinking he was a fraud.
It seems to me this Gospel of Mark
is making every effort to help people keep the faith in Jesus,
and in Jesus’ promise to return to restore life—
full and free and fruitful life.
So this apocalyptic recitation of terrible destruction
on earth and in heaven,
is not meant to scare anyone.
It is meant to say,
these things you see happening all around you
should not undo your faith in God’s loving purposes.
These terrible things are bound to happen,
because the powers of the earth act this way,
with violent destruction and devastation.
I think we read way too much into these words,
if we think God’s intent is to destroy humanity again.
Like this phrase from Mark 13, verse 7—
“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed;
this must take place.”
I used to read the words “this must take place,” to mean,
“God will make sure this happens.”
As if Armageddon is God’s idea and God’s plan.
No. The most straightforward reading here,
is that war is the inevitable result of human rebellion and sin.
It’s where systemic violence leads us.
Wars will happen, because that’s the nature of things
when the powers rely on coercion and violence
to exert their will on others . . . which is always.
But—Mark says—but . . . do not give up on God’s promise.
Because God’s purposes are firm.
God’s passion for life is not impacted by human evil.
The God of love always has been, and always will be,
focused on creating life and fruitfulness and shalom.
I don’t know why that core life-giving characteristic of God
isn’t what strikes us first when we read an apocalyptic text like this.
Instead, what seems to loom large in Mark 13
is the picture of destruction, and international warfare,
and earthquake and famine.
That’s not God’s doing.
That’s what’s going on because of human rebellion.
The Gospel word is this,
Take a look around at all these things that are causing pain.
And then think about them as God’s birth pangs.
That’s what it says in v. 8,
“This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”
This is what it looks like when our mother God
is giving birth again.
Yes, this is all a great metaphor for the persistence of life.
In the beginning, God created life.
God made the earth and its creatures live.
And God’s ruach, God’s spirit-breath,
blew life into humanity.
And God has never stopped doing that.
And will not stop, until the end of all things.
God’s first word and last word is the same word: LIFE.
According to Mark, at the end times, Mother God will still be at it.
Still pushing out life.
Still in the birth pangs of creating life.
The metaphor is taken even further in Mark 13, verse 28.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson:
as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves,
you know that summer is near.
So also, when you see these things taking place,
you know that Jesus, the Son of Man, is near, at the very gates.”
And is bringing life.
That is why we are urged to keep awake—
not to keep us from inadvertently being struck down
by the sword of God’s wrath!
No, no, no!
We keep awake, so we can realize the truth of the matter,
that God is in labor,
and is about to give birth to the life we’ve been waiting for.
We keep awake, so we notice those tiny buds on the fig tree,
and are reassured that the time of life is near.
This is why I love preaching from the apocalyptic writings.
Yes, it’s a strange form of literature for our times.
We rarely read it, and never write that way.
So I get how we misunderstand it.
But I urge us to stop reading it in a way
that makes us worry about God striking us down.
Read it as reassurance of God’s unquenchable commitment to life.
and to the long arc of justice, of shalom,
of all creation being redeemed,
because that’s really the Great Reveal,
in Biblical apocalyptic writing.
God is for life and wholeness. Always.
And why does that make a difference in your life and mine . . . today?
Because living with hope will always get us farther ahead,
then living with fear and despair.
It’s not about turning our back on the terrible things going on.
It’s not about wearing blinders.
It’s about having enough hope still alive in us,
to make us walk toward it.
The March issue of our newsletter, From Across the Fence,
just came out on Thursday.
If you haven’t read it yet, do it soon.
And if you already read it, read it again,
especially the accounts of three households from Park View
who went to our nation’s capital in January
to join other Mennonites from around the country
to protest the war in Gaza, and call for ceasefire,
including, for some, being willing to be arrested
in order to let their voice be heard.
You will see, when you read their stories,
that they did not do that action because they were hopeless.
They did it out of hope in a God who is intent on bringing life,
a God who the Bible compares, in many places,
to a woman in labor.
May we also live our lives with such hope.
Today’s prayer of confession is also a prayer for courage.
Let’s read it together.
one God of all life, we humble ourselves before you
in worship, in gratitude, in repentance.
all As we go into a world filled with
death, destruction, and despair,
we ask for courage to tell a different story.
one Strengthen us for the task, we pray,
all in the name of the God who creates life,
in the name of the Savior who loves life,
in the name of the Spirit who is the fire of life.
first 5 lines by Phil Kniss
last 3 lines by Philip J. Newell (Scotland), © 2005
—Phil Kniss, March 17, 2024
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