+ 25th Sunday after Pentecost – November 14, 2021 +
Series B: Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-13
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.
Natural disasters. Wars and rumors of wars. False religions. False messiahs. Persecutions. Jesus’ words in Mark 13 sound like they could have just as easily been pulled from this morning’s headlines. I imagine that for all of us, in one way or another, Jesus’ words hit close to home. You turn on the news or the radio and you’re overwhelmed by one disaster after another. You talk with family or friends and your prayer list grows by the minute. It seems that everywhere we look, there is suffering.
As the disciples stood there, admiring the stones of Herod’s great building project, Jesus draws their attention to the future. And it’s no utopian paradise. It is full of suffering.
In forty years’ time, those beautiful temple stones the disciples were admiring that day would all come crashing down. It’ll all be destroyed.
The disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy at this point. Like the crowds watching Noah build an ark in the desert before the rain started. And yet, Jesus stands with his disciples, like a farmer on the plains watching the skies. Jesus warns his disciples, us his church, there’s a storm on the horizon. Take shelter. Head to the high ground of Jesus’ cross. Rest in the holy ark of his church. It’s a hard rain’s gonna fall.
Jesus gives his disciples, and us his church, a glimpse of the future. This destruction will not only take place in the world, but it will also affect the Church. Believers will be persecuted. Churches which are family friendly will fall apart as brother delivers brother to death. Fathers will turn-in their children. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
The vision is horrifying. For the disciples, it lies in the distance. Just Read the book of Acts. But, for us believer, I think it hits closer to home. Fires. Droughts. Flooding. Riots. Violence. Corruption on every level of society. Broken families. Broken bodies and minds, suffering the effects of physical and mental illnesses. Immorality is normalized and the list could go on. And that’s just the suffering of a fallen world. There’s plenty more when we look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Law as well. What we have done and left undone. What we experience as a result of living in a broken, fallen world.
It can all be rather exhausting. "How long, O Lord?" We hope to survive as the world falls apart. Everywhere we look, there is suffering.
But notice that in Mark 13, Jesus is not calling us to look. He’s calling us, rather, to listen. Do not be alarmed. Do not be anxious.
Notice how Jesus punctuates His horrifying vision with words of comfort. “Do not be alarmed” (verse 7). “Do not be anxious” (verse 11). He speaks words of promise to those who are running from destruction. Amid this suffering, the Gospel will be proclaimed. The Holy Spirit will speak and even give you words to say. There will be an end to destruction and those who endure to the end will be saved.
At this point in the gospel, the disciples do not yet know what it means for Jesus to be Lord. They have seen His miracles, they have heard His teachings, but they have not yet seen Him rise from the dead. In a few days, their entire world will have fallen around them. Jesus will be dead. Religion and its leaders will be thick with deceit. But then Jesus will appear, risen from the dead. He who took on the brutal forces of sin, died under the wrath of God, will rise to reveal the conquering power of God’s eternal love. He will be the source of life and everlasting salvation for all who believe and follow Him.
Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples, and us his church these things, so that we might despair or be afraid. Just the opposite. That we would find in him our hope. Comfort. And shelter. For in Jesus, the world has already come to a much greater end. On a good Friday, outside Jerusalem. In darkness at Noon. On a cross. When Jesus said, “It is finished.” That was the end of the world as we know it. Jesus embracing the world in His own body brings the world to its end in His death. He is the persecuted One. The Martyr of all martyrs. The Lord of lords. The King of kings. He endured to the end. And in the end, He saved the world, and you. Baptized into Him, you have died to this dead world, and now live to God in Christ. For you, the end came in the water of Baptism with the Name. You died. And your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
For that reason, the world will hate you. Don’t take it personally. It’s not you. It’s Jesus the world hates. But you can’t kill Jesus. Not forever. Three days later, He’s back. Alive and well. And the world can’t kill you either. Not forever. At the end, you’ll be back, alive and well in Jesus, as you are already alive and well in Jesus.
These are the but beginnings of the birth pangs, Jesus says. Though that may not sound comforting at first, it is meant to be. Birth pains give way to joy and a birth, new life. The end times pains give way to salvation and life. Present darkness gives way to future light. Your sorrow becomes joy. Your death becomes life. The one who endures to the end will be saved. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. That’s you.
Jesus reminds us that no earthquake, no fire, no famine, no hurricane can overcome the grace of God. Christ will rule this world in the end. And, until that time, He calls us to hear His voice, to listen to Him speak. He will preserve His people.
Christ will actually do more than that. He will preserve His people, but He will also pursue them. Remember Psalm 23. The vision of the Lord as our Shepherd, the green pastures, the cool waters, the presence of the One who walks with us through the valley of death. But then, when the psalm ends, you have one more glimpse of comfort. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The word for “follow” there, means “pursue.” Until the end of our life, Jesus will pursue us with His love.
Though we see the world changing, the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, though in fear we run through the streets to escape the suffering, there is one thing we will never escape: The love of God. Jesus has risen from the dead and reigns until the end. He will call to you with His voice and pursue you with His love. As the world falls apart, rest assured…fear not…you are in the hands of Christ.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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