As a kid my family took
several vacations to Virginia Beach Virginia.
As you can imagine it was a long ride coming all the way down the coast from
where I lived in Massachusetts to Virginia- but there were
two highlights of the road trip.
The first was crossing
the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel.
Has
anyone ever been across this bridge?
It is an amazing
engineering marvel it’s one of the largest bridges in this country –the bridge
tunnel spans 20 mile bridge/tunnel crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Bridge connects the Delmarva Peninsula and southeastern Virginia. As much as I remember marveling at this
engineering feat- I will always remember
my mother the nervous driver she is ---
grasping the steering wheel white knuckling and chain smoking her way across----
probably not getting the speedometer above forth-five.
The other highlight of
the road trip was when we would pass by New York City- I can remember rolling
up or down the New Jersey Turnpike and looking out across the Hudson River seeing the iconic skyline of Manhattan. Skyscraper upon skyscraper upon skyscraper-
almost endless. There is no skyline like Manhattan. Of course in those days,
the twin towers were still standing. Etched
into my memory banks- were how much those two tower rose above the city-- They
were like two giants looming above the city.
In Jesus day, the
temple would have very much like the towers looming Jerusalem. The Jewish
historian, Josephus who lived in those days described the temple rising above
the city like a snow capped mountain.
The temple was so large
that it could accommodate 1 million people- how big is Ralph Wilson Stadium
down the street? it has seating capacity
of about 75,000 people – the temple 11- 12 times larger than the Ralph. So for Jesus to say that one day it would
crumble --- that not one stone would be left upon another – that all would be
thrown down – that would have be outlandish and preposterous.
And yet it happens. In the
year 70 – the Romans sack pillage and destroy the temple and the city. It was such a huge win for the Romans that they
paint paintings depicting the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and parade
them through the streets of Rome on horse drawn cart in celebration- during the siege, Josephus claims that a
million people were killed. This event like
9/11 would have been devastating to the people of Jerusalem-some of them early
Christians.
As we move deeper into
today’s Gospel we find Jesus describing terrible things for the road ahead-
famines and plagues and portents and wars and insurrections- times when folks
will be persecuted- arrested- some Jesus claims will be betrayed by their own flesh and blood- some
will be put to death.
For the first people
reading Luke almost 2000 years ago - this may have been the world they knew-
persecution- death- torture- wars and insurrections. They might have watched in horror as the
temple was destroyed.
What we have today in
the Gospel lesson is what biblical scholars call apocalyptic literature. Matthew, Mark Luke and John every once and a
while reach into their literary toolbox and use this genre of writing.
Of course the Gospel
writers are not the only folks to use this genre – you all know the most famous
piece of apocalyptic literature -- that book found at the back end of the bible-
Revelation.
What often happens
often when we as modern people hear apocalyptic literature--- we begin to think
of it as road map of the future- we think some crystal ball that we look into to find out what the end will
look-- we try to us apocalyptic writing to
interpret signs of the time to see if we are entering this end time that Jesus
is talking about wars swirl about we wonder are the wars of our time the wars
that Jesus is predicting- are events like the Typhoon to hit the Philippines or 9/11 portents
of the end of time.
But haven’t terrible
things always happed across the arc of history- terrible things have always
happened—In the 14th century The black death killed between 75 and
200 million people-- 6 million Jews in
the holocaust. Are the signs of our
times any different?
Apocalyptic literature
isn’t meant to be a road map to predict the future- but rather it is meant to
inspire its readers to find hope in God- it’s meant to encourage faithfulness- it’s
to embolden folks to persevere through the difficult times they are facing—at
the end of the Gospel Jesus reminds the people listening--- that it is
perseverance in the face of destruction that will win their souls.
Apocalyptic literature is meant to remind the faithful that
even though the world is crumbling all around them-- God is still in control
and he has a plan for goodness and mercy and salvation for the faithful.
Right in the middle of
revelation is one of my most favorite passages- because it speaks so beautifully
about God’s plan for salvation. In chapter 7 just when you think the world
can’t get any darker- death is swirling about—
John of Patmos
describes a time when hunger and thirst will be no more-
He describes a time
when God will guide the faithful to drink from springs of living water-
He describes a time when
God will wipe away the tears that stain the eyes of the faithful.
A few days after the
towers came down in New York- after fires were put out at the Pentagon-
president George Bush gave a speech at a memorial service at the National
Cathedral. He closed his speech that day by—quoting St. Paul from his letter to
the Romans. He said-- For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As the faithful of
today- we are to carry with us the words that George Bush spoke that there is
nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
We carry with us the
words that Isaiah spoke to the exiles returning home- words we heard a few
moment ago reminding them that God was about to create new heaven and a new earth.
We carry the words of
revelation that I just spoke from –that there will be a day when God wipes away
the tears that stain our eyes.
We carry the words of
Christ that it is perseverance that will win souls.
As the faithful of today, we are challenged to
believe that when the apocalypses of our lives wash over- when the buildings of
our lives crumble when the carpet is ripped out from under us—we have these
words ---these are the words that we cling to- words that will inspire to put
our hope in Christ – when there is nothing
else to hope for
We carry these words out
those doors into the sad places of our lives-
We bring these words
with us when we embrace those who mourn-
We live these words
knowing that when the world knocks us down- God is still in control and God is always,
is always holding us in the palms of his hands.
AMEN
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