Reflection: "Are You Ready?"Found at the beginning of today’s reading from Mark, the words of Jesus must have been difficult to hear, and hard to understand, for the disciples who sat with him so long ago.
Jesus is describing the life that’s yet to come for the disciples, but also for those who will follow in later years (ie. us). His intention is not to scare the followers, but to prepare them and help them understand that there are certain things that are important, as he prepares to leave them. Jesus has many such discussions with his disciples and friends recorded in the bible. Many of these are about things that will occur in the future, but Mark 13 is unique in that it talks of the destruction of the temple and of the end times. The destruction of the temple is often seen as an allusion to the death of Christ that’s about to come. In this story, Jesus is telling them about things that won’t be seen in their lifetime, but rather things that are to come - in the fullness of time. The temple to which Jesus was referring was, of course, the greatest building project of his day and time – Herod’s temple in Jerusalem. This massive renovation began around 20 BC and expanded the temple mount complex far beyond what King Solomon had envisioned. It’s said to have been bigger than anything the Romans had built at that time and whilst the temple itself was completed in less than two years, the outer structures and courtyards took about 80 years to complete – only to be destroyed by the Roman soldiers in 70 A.D. It would have been hard, if not impossible, for the disciples to imagine the complete destruction of such a massive building – the most holy place of the Jewish faith. We, too, can scarcely imagine a time when the important places and structures we know and love will be “thrown down;” however, we have witnessed a glimpse of such destruction in our own time with the attacks by Muslim extremists on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and terrorist attacks on churches in recent years. This teaching of Jesus reminds us of the impermanence of all the structures of this world when he says: “All will be thrown down”, cutting straight to our desire for immortality with these disquieting words – words that echo the great prophetic tradition of the Jewish people. No doubt this raised the anxiety levels of the disciples and they press him by asking “when will this be?”Jesus was telling them to be ready, but not to worry about when it would occur. A while ago, our government was telling us to “Be alert, but not alarmed” and maybe that’s a good summation of what Jesus is telling us. Jesus doesn’t give specifics as to when the end will come, nor does he tell the disciples exactly what will happen. He tells them there will be upheavals of many kinds, but he clearly says that these are the beginnings of the birth pains – not the signs of the end of all things. What Jesus describes – war, famine, earthquakes – were all occurring in his day and still occur today. Certainly, as Mark wrote this gospel in the shadow of the temple’s destruction and amidst severe persecution of the Christian community, this disquieting apocalyptic narrative seems to fit with the unrest of his time. But what about us, living in the relative comfort of the western world in the 21st century? While we have relative comfort compared to Mark’s community, we do live in a highly anxious society, where the messages being broadcast all around us focus on us being afraid. We can be afraid of the economy collapsing, the COVID 19 virus and ensuing lockdowns, of losing our jobs, our health, economic security, for our children’s future, of global warming, etc. The list is endless and we’re afraid that our neatly constructed lives will “all be thrown down” so we live in captivity to that fear, and when we live in captivity to fear, we never really live! In the larger context of Mark’s gospel, these words from Jesus come just before he enters Jerusalem to be crucified. These words about the destruction of the temple and upheavals to come are a prediction of his own death – the very destruction of his own body. “All will be thrown down” is a promise that all things of this world will fall apart, disintegrate and die. However, within the broader context of this chapter, Jesus reminds us that our job isn’t to know exactly what will happen, how it will happen, or when it will happen; rather our job is to be faithful, patient and keep awake, because God is working out the plan of salvation and has not abandoned us. It will be alright because God is in charge. This isn’t to say things will be easy and that hardships and suffering won’t befall us. It isn’t an empty optimism, promising things will get better for our lives; they may or may not. Instead, it’s a promise that God is in charge regardless. Christ promises us that it will be all right in the end because God has the last word. When death on the cross appeared to be the end, God had the last word at an empty tomb. Throughout our lives, we will experience our own ups and downs many times over, as the neatly arranged structures of our lives don’t go the way we want. These apocalyptic words of Jesus remind us to hang on and to place our trust in something more than ourselves, our possessions, our relationships, our health, our capacities or our intellect. It is to place our ultimate trust in the One from whom all of these things come. It is to accept our finiteness and mortality in a radical trust of God’s unchangeable grace and goodness, so that we might be freed from the captivity of anxious fear and finally live fully and freely as God’s beloved children. These accounts reflect Israelite understanding of the end time (which is not to be confused with the end of time). Israel believed that the sinful age within which it was living would come to an end and an age of holiness would follow, but also that the period of transition from one age to the other would be a time of purification. Initially Israel expected this to transpire in living history, so, the end time was different from the end of time. On one level, the readings for today may indeed speak of the actual end of the world, when Christ will come “in the clouds with great power and glory”, but it is not only then that we will move from one age to another. Christians believe that the new age, or the Kingdom of God, has already been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus and that’s why the scholars have listed these readings at the end of the liturgical year - as we turn our gaze toward the celebration of the coming of the Son of God/Man. Our understanding of the end time has yet another level. Though the new age dawned with Jesus’ coming, it takes root in us only when we open ourselves to its power. Each time we’re willing to move beyond our own sinfulness, despite the distress or the tribulation this may cause, we step over the threshold into the new age. These transitions from old to new are beyond our control, but the decision to move is ours to make. Our decision to bring the new age to light puts an end in a way to part of the world of sin. To use another image, the struggle to bring the reign of God to birth has been called the “birth pangs of the Messiah” (see Mt 24:8; Rm 8:22) and I believe that such pain can be seen as being life-giving. In our reading from Hebrews, we’re told to “continue to meet together”, giving comfort to each other and constantly refreshing our knowledge from the bible and those who help us understand what it is saying.We know that the second appearance of Jesus on earth is coming. Whether that leads to the destruction of the world, or is, in fact, the beginning of a new kingdom here on earth, we’re yet to discover. Jesus says that only God knows when this will occur and, I guess, it is only God who knows what the new kingdom will look like. So, it’s not our job to worry about what and when, but to be ready for the event. Like the 5 wise virgins, we want oil in our lamps and our wicks trimmed when the bridegroom (ie. Jesus) comes back. Are you ready? I pray so. Pastor Rick
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Lena Beryl Blok
13/11/2021 03:11:50 pm
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