Proper 28 :: Malachi 4: 1–2a; Psalm 98; II
Thessalonians 3: 6–13; Luke 21: 5–19
This is a
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, delivered at St. John's Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
on Sunday, November 13, 2016.
“God’s Enduring and Unchangeable Gift”
(Homily text: Luke 21: 5-19)
“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one
stone will be left upon another.”
Our gospel reading, appointed for this morning, outlines times of
tremendous change and upheaval. But our reading ends with the assurance that,
if God’s people are steadfast, they will endure during difficult times.
The tone of today’s gospel reading reminds us that we are getting to
the end of the Church Year. Next Sunday, we will celebrate Christ the King
Sunday, reminding ourselves that it is Jesus Christ, the One who is the same
yesterday, today and forever, who will reign as King of kings and Lord of
lords.
Then, in two weeks, the season of Advent begins. Advent is four Sundays
long, offering us a time to prepare to receive Jesus in His birth in Bethlehem,
and to prepare to His second coming in power and great glory. If the thought
has occurred to you that the current Church Year ends where Advent picks up,
you would be absolutely right in coming to that conclusion.
Today’s gospel takes us to the temple in Jerusalem. As Jesus and his
disciples walk through the temple, Jesus destroys any sense that this
magnificent structure is permanent. At the time Jesus made His way through the
temple, it had been under construction for about forty-five to fifty years.
King Herod the Great began the rebuilding of the temple in the year 20 BC. To
do so, a large, rectangular platform measuring about 1600 feet long by 900 feet
wide by 90 feet high was constructed. It is this part of the temple that
remains, and it is known today as the Temple Mount. You can still see this
structure in Jerusalem. Some of the stones were enormously large and,
therefore, very heavy (some are estimated to weigh over 500 tons!). On top of
this platform, Herod planned the construction of the temple buildings
themselves. It was these structures that were destroyed by the Romans.
The Lord’s prediction was fulfilled in the year 70 AD, when the Roman
army destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Evidence of the destruction of the
temple can be seen in Jerusalem today, for an ancient street was recently
excavated on the western side of the Temple Mount, showing breakage in the
paving stones from the stones that were thrown down by the Roman army when the
temple’s buildings were destroyed. History comes alive when one sees these
things.
Jesus’ prediction must have been very unsettling for those who heard
it. For the Lord not only says that the nature of the temple isn’t permanent,
but the lives of Jesus’ followers as time goes along won’t be permanent,
either…Jesus tells His listeners that the time will come when they will face
personal danger, even from family members. By the time Luke is writing his
gospel account, many early Christians had experienced these sorts of hardships.
Jesus’ message puts us face-to-face with the reality that change is all
around us. Sometimes, the changes we face are dramatic and violent. Sometimes,
the changes we encounter threaten us personally.
In the midst of such change, The Lord assures us that, if we remain
steadfast, if we endure, we will prevail against anything that can come our
way. There is the permanence we need, and for which we long.
Our relationship to God the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son, is
the one thing that no one and no event, no change can take away from us.
Our wonderful country has just come through a presidential election.
Without making partisan observations, I think it’s fair to conclude that this
recent election was the nastiest we’ve experienced in our country’s recent
history. It’s also fair to say that, no matter who had prevailed in this
election process, a large percentage of our citizens have emerged from the
election’s results with anger, bitterness and anxiety over our future. The
reality within our society today is that we are an angry people. We are also a
deeply polarized people. So deep are our divisions that, oftentimes, we cannot
see or really hear what someone else who holds a different conviction than we
do is saying or doing. (As a pastoral aside, during this past week I have had
quite a few conversations with persons who are experiencing a deep sense of
anxiety over the course of our future.)
As we said at the outset of this homily, Jesus described times of
tremendous change for His hearers and His early disciples. The reality for us,
as contemporary disciples of Jesus, is that change is all around us, and some
changes tend to threaten us personally.
In the midst of change, is there anything we can count on to be
permanent? The answer is, “Yes”, there is. As we said a moment ago, our
relationship with God is the one thing that cannot be taken away from us by
change, or by any other event or force.
In Baptism, an indelible mark is placed on the soul. In Baptism, we are
claimed as Christ’s own for ever. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism,
as our baptismal liturgy affirms.
This morning, young Colin will receive the gift of a permanent
relationship with God as he enters the waters of baptism.
As time goes along, it will be the responsibility of Colin’s parents,
grandparents, godparents, relatives and others to teach Colin just what this
permanent relationship means. The goal is for Colin to own this wonderful
relationship for himself, as he comes to a mature faith in Christ.
St. Paul offers us some wonderful words of comfort. They come to us
from his letter to the Romans, chapter eight, and they remind us that we cannot
be separated from God’s love. Here’s what Paul has to say:
What then are we to say
about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It
is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who
was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your
sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be
slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
who loved us. 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.
(Romans 8: 31–39, NRSV)
Thanks be to God for the enduring gift of His presence, through all the
changes and chances of life.
AMEN.
