November 17, 2024, The Birth of the Unshakeable, Mark 13:1-13 – Mtr. Kathryn Boswell

saintphilipsnorwood ♦ November 17, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment

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The disciples were gazing in wonder at the glory of the Temple. We shouldn’t think they were just awestruck because they were country bumpkins who didn’t know any better. There was good reason for anyone to be amazed. The dimensions for the Temple of Jerusalem were staggering: it was larger in square feet than any of the great cathedrals in the world today. The walls rose ten stories above ground, and the foundations went down as much as 20 meters in some places to reach the bedrock. Some of the quarried stones used in the Western Wall are so large that, to this day, archaeologists have trouble understanding how they could possibly have been transported. The smallest stones weigh between 2 and 5 tons, and the largest stone of them all – possibly the largest building stone in antiquity – is estimated to have weighed over 400 tons. The builders used dry construction – there is no cement between the stones, but they were cut and perfectly fitted so that they were held together by their own weight. When Jesus and the disciples visited the Temple it had been standing for 500 years, since the exiles returned from Babylon, though Herod had recently made some additions and renovations of his own. It’s no wonder they were amazed by it all. And it’s no wonder they had a lot of questions when Jesus told them it was all going to come crashing down.

They asked Jesus exactly what you or I might have asked. When is all this going to happen???? And how will we know???? And we should pay close attention to the answers Jesus gave. Because he didn’t. He didn’t give them answers to any of those questions. Instead he told them two things. First of all, he warned them, there are going to be a lot of people out there who claim to have the answers. When somebody rises up and says they’re the one, watch out. Don’t listen to them. Don’t let them lead you down the garden path, because you’ll end up lost. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Stay awake. Watch. Be ready. You won’t know when it’s coming. But anyone who claims to have the answers is just trying to sell you a bill of goods.

The other thing Jesus told them is: there’s going to be a lot of bad news out there, wars and rumors of wars, civil unrest, global unrest, earthquakes, famines. But don’t be alarmed. “Don’t be afraid.” That’s almost certainly the most repeated command in the entire Bible. Don’t be afraid. Fear not. Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be terrified. Some people claim that it’s in there 365 times, one for every day in the year. That’s actually not literally true, but it’s in there, over and over and over again. Jesus doesn’t sugar-coat things. Things are going to be rough. Things are rough. But take heart: this is not how it ends.

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There are a lot of structures in the world that are big and impressive, that seem unshakeable. Nations, institutions, powers and authorities. Great men and women. The Church. We’ve never known the world without them. Like the disciples looking up at the stones of the Temple, there are things we can’t imagine ever failing or crumbling or coming to an end. But the truth is, every structure and every authority in this world will eventually be shaken and come crashing down in ruins. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews says, “God has promised, ‘I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven as well.’ The words ‘once more’ plainly show that the created things – the man-made things – will be shaken and removed, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain.” As for all the great structures of this world, not one stone will be left upon another. We don’t know when. But we know.

Meanwhile there are any number of voices out there ready to give you all the answers and tell you how to navigate the world these days. We’ve just been through a national election; so we’ve all been bombarded with voices from every side day in and day out, on our phones, on our TV screens, on our Facebook feed, so many political Messiahs crying out to lead us one way or another, promising to give us all the answers. But there’s always more – there’s the self-care Messiahs and the spiritual Messiahs and the financial Messiahs, there are the voices that will tell you how to raise your children and how to stay young and how to find inner peace and how to prepare yourself for a comfortable retirement. Beware, Jesus says. Don’t let those voices lead you astray.

Eyes on Jesus.

Living in the information age as we do, we are so much more aware of the troubles in the world than the disciples could possibly have been. Wars and rumors of wars; that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Starvation, drought, genocide, pandemic, ecological disaster, homelessness on an unimaginable scale. The disciples, two thousand years ago, asked Jesus when this was all going to happen. They wanted him to give them a warning sign so they’d be forewarned. It’s different for us, I think. If we’re honest, we can already see the cracks in the foundations. We can already hear the rumble of the stones beginning to fall. We have a different question in our time: not when will it happen? But rather, when will it all be over? Isn’t that the cry of your heart?

And Jesus’ answer is the same. Love God. Take good care of your neighbor. Those commands will never pass away. Don’t listen to all those other voices; don’t get led astray. And don’t panic. Don’t lose heart.

Eyes on Jesus.

There’s an old Indian proverb that was made popular by John Lennon, of all people. It goes like this: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” And there is truth in that. Julian of Norwich said the same thing another way: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” And for now, get ready for things to come crashing down. All this scary stuff, these are the labor pains. Stand firm. Be kind. Cry out for justice. And always, always, eyes on Jesus.

But don’t be alarmed. Let not your hearts be troubled. Fear not!

Because this is our sure and certain hope: God is bringing something unshakeable to birth. +