Good Sunday morning friends!
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke. We are coming to an end of the Christian year and nearing Advent. Things get a bit apocalyptic in the New Testament readings in late November and early December. There will be lots of readings about the coming Kingdom of God, about endings and beginnings.
Be prepared for a river of hope in the coming weeks. Advent is my favorite season of the year. Lots of goodness ahead.
Luke 21:5-11
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."
This past week brought relief for many Americans. After months worrying about the fate of democracy, being deluged by scary headlines, and suffering incessant screeds from conspiracy-theorist candidates, millions of us went to the polls in the face of what seemed like the end of the world.
There was no major violence, many (if not most) of the worst candidates went down to defeat, and young voters turned out in droves to support important issues for the future — including voting rights, gun safety, and the climate crisis. It was a continued rebuke of Donald Trump. Even with gerrymandering, massive amounts of corporate money, and an avalanche of advertising lies, Americans pretty much voted for what some commentators call “normie” candidates, the kinder and sensible politicians, and folks who emphasized creating a better future for the nation.
Clearly, the United States hasn’t fully corrected course from Trumpism — and there’s much to do to turn back the currents of authoritarianism and Christian nationalism. We aren’t out of the forest yet. But nearly everyone — from my neighbors to professional media pundits — is breathing a sigh of relief. It could have been so much worse.
And these events made me think of this Sunday’s passage:
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified . . .”
All of this has me wondering. Are we human beings given to apocalypse? We’re like Armageddon rubberneckers — curious onlookers who can’t stop staring at every crash on the End-of-the-World highway.
Maybe Jesus knew this. The ancient world was as full of rumors, conspiracy theories, and rulers who manipulated by fear as is the case in our own. Certainly, Jerusalem would have been rife with political gossip — and worries among the Jews about violent clampdowns by their Roman overlords. Indeed, longing and looking for a savior, for the arrival of the promised Kingdom of God, must have filled the air with a sense of pregnant hope — and an equal measure of gullible possibilities.
Jesus is actually a pretty calm character when it comes to apocalypse. I don’t think the line — “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down” — should be read with the fear-filled intonation of a negative political ad. I suspect he was matter-of-fact: “Even this beautiful temple won’t ultimately survive. Human things, castles and fortresses and cathedrals of every sort may seem eternal. But no. Like us humans, like the seasons, they, too will have an end.”
Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.” This is the course of history, the way of this world. Things will be bad, and things will be very bad. But not everything is a portent of The End. Because, in effect, we’re surrounded by a world that is ending. All things end; and endings just are.
What Jesus preached in the midst of endings was that endings pointed toward new beginnings. His followers will make a new community — one that embodies peace, justice, and righteousness; that gives itself to hope, faith, and love. It is a people gathered in sharing and sabbath, in generosity and gratitude. That community will insist that new life comes of every death, that resurrection is a practice and not a miracle. In the midst of the world’s decay, the Kingdom is coming — not with a bang but with a whisper.
People who live in such a way — especially in a world whirling with wars and rumors and war, awash in conspiracies and insurrections — aren’t always loved by those whose power thrives on fear. Indeed, the powerful would keep us on an emotional razor’s edge of Armageddon all the time. Jesus insists, however, that his friends not get distracted. Pay attention to what is true. Know what signs are really important. This age is, indeed, ending and God’s reign is near. But don’t be surprised. Stay the course. Tell your story. Honor God’s name.
Jesus reminds his hearers: “by your endurance you will gain your souls.”
The call for patient perseverance in the face of apocalypse is echoed by the reading in 2 Thessalonians: “For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”
In other words, the most basic instruction of Kingdom-living is don’t panic. Keep going. Do the work. Live well here and now. Do not be weary in doing what is right.
And for goodness sakes, don’t rubberneck apocalypse. That only slows the journey down.
INSPIRATION
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
— Joy Harjo, “Perhaps the World Ends Here”
GEORGIA ON OUR MINDS
SOUTHERN LIGHTS 2023 is back! Y’all come!
This coming January on St. Simons Island in Georgia, Brian McLaren and I are hosting extraordinary guests including Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, theologian Reggie Williams, and Franciscan sister and scientist Ilia Delio in a weekend festival of reimagining faith in words, for the world, and in context of the cosmos — poetry, theology, and science!
We’re also going to do live, on-stage podcasts with guest pod hosts Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Tripp Fuller — and great music from the wonderful Ken Medema.
Please join us in Georgia or virtually online. CLICK HERE for info and registration!
SEATS ARE SELLING FAST!
On this Sunday a year ago, I preached on the parallel text to today’s Luke selection from Mark 13:1-8 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston. If you’d like to hear that sermon — The Rock That Births You — please CLICK HERE.
Thanks, Diana. Your readers may benefit from my explication of apocalyptic literature over at my Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/nickcoccoma/p/apocalypse-now?r=7ymja&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
related community building insights from Elinor Ostrom, Nobel in Economics 2009:
see her book Governing the Commons for her analysis of 6 communities each stable over 1000 yrs.
RES Paraphrase: THE community consensus commitments for the thousand-year community
1. terms of Accessing: who gets the good stuff?
2. terms of Provisioning: who pays?
3. process of Adapting: who changes the rules?
4. process for Monitoring: who judges? [if infractions, if depleting]
5. graduated Sanctioning: let penalty fit the failure.
6. process for Conflict Resolving: ways to work together
7. sufficient Autonomy: keep outsiders hands off implementing these commitments.
8. valuing the Future as much as the present.
this means the lender charges no interest. their only way to get loan back is if the lendee succeeds.