Gospel text for Sunday 14 November 2021

 Mark 13.1-8         As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

Reflection       “Not one stone will be left here upon another….” Immediately my mind leaps to images  seared to my heart twenty years ago of the one hundred and ten stories of the Twin Towers in New York City turning into dust and again January 2021 watching the U.S. Capitol building, battered, trashed and dishonored. Peeking through the eyes of the disciples at these icons of civilization we see a glorious way of life that is too big to fall. But Jesus’ vision penetrates external appearances. He sees beyond the impressive edifice and the elaborate rituals practiced therein. Jesus shines light on the shadow-side of our institutions. 

Just one day before we meet Jesus sitting opposite the temple on the Mount of Olives, we find him standing inside the temple quoting the prophet Jeremiah,  “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den for robbers.”  (Jer 11.17) Gasping we watch as Jesus chases the money changers away and curses the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew are with us so they should not be shocked when the very next day we hear Jesus say, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another…”  There is no reading  between the stones. Jesus sits in opposition to the religious and economic life of temple culture and predicts its demise.

Thirty years later Jesus’ prediction is fulfilled. The temple that has been the center of Jewish life for hundreds of years is destroyed by the Romans. But this is not the end of the story.  As Jesus insists, “It is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” In fact, it was after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem that Rabbinic Judaism arose with its emphasis on a disciplined life as practiced by reformed Jews to this day. New life.

Returning our attention to birth pangs, in most cases they are not impotent anguish and sterile suffering. Birth pangs are productive labor. Something new is being born. I believe this is what the German poet Marie Rainer Rilke meant when he wrote, “what batters you becomes your strength.” Birth pangs.

Considering the present moment I believe  birth pangs bear down on us from every corner. We hold our breaths as hurricanes swoop across the nation in the wake of rampant wildfires and melting glaciers. Images of war and rumors of war break into our living rooms and vibrating pockets. Birth pangs.

Mass marketing aims to delude, distract and tempt us. Social media blows wind on words meant to coax and craze us. Pundits of every persuasion smugly warn us, “If you listen to the other guy, you and the whole world are going straight to hell in a hand basket.” Is that what Jesus is talking about when he warns the disciples and us, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray?” Who are we to believe?

My vote is, Jesus whose words ring with the wisdom of the prophets. “Not one stone will be left here upon another”  because the way of life governed by gross abuses of power and failure to care for the human community must come to an end. Birth pangs. We are meant to live in humble relationship with the One sovereign and merciful God and extend that mercy to all people. Birth pangs. Thousands of years ago and today our religious and political institutions are intended to support and sustain the embodiment of the people in communion with God and each other.

But woe to us when our institutions aim is to sustain them selves and  serve those in power. Woe to us when we lose sight of right relationship with God and human community. “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom” until false gods are tumbled,  the arrogant humbled and the fear mongering are tamed. Birth pangs. 

Jesus continues, “Do not be alarmed; this must take place…” for in Rilke’s words, “What batters you becomes your strength.”

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Preamble to the US Constitution text for Sunday 10 January 2020

PREAMBLE

to the United States Constitution

Signed in convention September 17, 1787. 

Ratified June 21, 1788

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Reflection        Every week from the pulpit I issue a call to action aimed at what is right. Last week it was, “From time to time throughout each day pause and say, ‘How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,’ then experience how that feels in your body.” Ever since my early career days as a clinical researcher I have lived and worked according to the ethic, “Never ask people to do something that I have not done or am not willing to do.”

My daily practice declaring “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” proved rather satisfying until Wednesday around noon when I left my office to walk through the sanctuary heading to the kitchen to heat some wild mushroom soup for lunch. Rapt in a clamor of chaos and confusion I discover two of our Christ Ship Enterprise team members, Paul and Dale, with eyes glued to their new AV computer screen, ladders abandoned and wires for the cameras they were installing dangling from the ceiling. 

Like a moth drawn to a flame I move to see what is so captivating. The first image that assaults me is of someone with a long pole like object smashing a window and people pushing others through it, the image cuts to a man in black hanging by one hand from the side of a wall, then cut to an interior scene of men in suits crouching with guns aimed through a decorative window. “What is this?” I ask. Wide eyed and incredulous Paul replies, “It is the Capitol, the Capitol building. Rioters have invaded it. The Vice President and congress are being evacuated under armed guard.” Along with my eyes the camera lens widens to encompass a storming sea of people ramming their way into the building. Hot tears cut a river across my cheek. 

“How awesome is this place? How awesome this moment?” Looking toward the altar I shake my heart at God. “How can this be? How can this be happening? How can I say, “How awesome is this place? How awesome this moment?” Where are You God?” Heartsick and nauseated I retreat to my office. But work as usual eludes me. Even my trusted antidote to whatever ails me, walking four-legged Mojo along the Way of the Cross, fails me. 

Although I can mutter the words, “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” like stale bread I have been exposed to too much heat and have become hardened. Steeped in images of smashed windows, fear and furious faces, I have no feel for the awesome; beautiful, magnificent or grand. 

Hours later listening to the radio I hear someone say, “We are better than this.” But I say, “No. What we see are the consequences of our hardened hearts and brutish behaviors. We, the people of these relatively young United States have not yet grown into our dream of “establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” In our races to win, our grabs for power, our adulation of celebrity we have  forgotten our responsibility for the commonwealth and common good. We have lost sight of the audacious dream defined in the Preamble to our Constitution, a dream that we as Christians understand to be aligned in the will of God. 

It is time for every single one of us to look into the mirror and admit we are responsible for the anger, alienation and atrocities provoked by our actions and inaction. We, the people of God, are meant to live for something greater than our personal rights and well being. We are meant to live with and for each other in a just and orderly nation aligned in the will of God.

Now, looking at footage of the Wednesday siege of the United States Capitol building we can say, “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” because we remember that awesome also means alarming, dreadful and horrifying.  And we, the people of God, the people of this young country, must stand up and face the alarming, dreadful and horrifying consequences of forgetting to care for our commonwealth and common good.  Yes God, there you are clamoring up the steps of the US Capitol building, hiding behind a chair on the US Senate floor, shouting obscenities and whispering prayer. Yes God, there you are exposing all the peoples fear.

It is time to take responsibility for our missteps as well as the unintended consequences of our triumphs. It is time to move beyond blame and shame and aspire to our country’s audacious dream of “establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” 

Perhaps you will join me living according to the premise“Never ask people to do something that you have not done or are not willing to do. Never ask people to live in a way you have not lived or are not willing to live.”

      Be sure to listen to "The Prayer"  - a bit of medicine for our souls - click on upper right link. 

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