Sermon for Proper 28 C RCL (11/14/2010), offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry
Texts: Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19
We all know that change is difficult. Changes in our world, and particularly those changes that affect us personally, always seem uncomfortable and we often do not think clearly when confronting change. I think that many of us are like an elderly woman who recently attended a church meeting where the guest speaker was explaining all of the ways that our society has recently changed in regards to faith and the church. After this speaker then discussed all of the new things that churches need to do to stay relevant for people today, he opened the floor for questions. This elderly woman raised her hand. She was obviously nonplussed by these new ideas, so she asked, “Can’t we all just stay home and watch TV like the good Lord intended?”
Today, at the end of our annual cycle through the Christian year, we are given texts that speak to God’s vision for the end of time. We call this apocalypse, and it is always given to be a source of hope and encouragement for those who are oppressed, worried, stressed and anxious.
This text from Isaiah is written to those living in exile, those who are anxious and worried. This apocalyptic vision of Isaiah is meant to give courage and hope to those who cannot see any hope for their future. Into that darkness, that bleakness, Isaiah speaks a word of light, of hope, of truth.
No more shall they build houses, and create fruitful vineyards, and lose it all to those who are stronger than they. No more shall they be overcome by conquering armies who oppress them and force them to leave their homeland. No more, says the LORD. Because I am creating a new heavens and a new earth where illness and death and violence will not be the dominant power any longer. “They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD” (Isaiah 65:25c). This is a vision of a different kind of future!
There’s an old story of from the days of slavery that speak to the kind of vision that Isaiah had here, the vision that is at the core of all apocalyptic talk.
Once, a young slave woman was out in the fields, toiling and laboring under the hot sun, when she broke. She lost her stamina. She decided to quit. So she put down her hoe and she started to cry and she said, “I can’t take it anymore! I can’t take it anymore! I wanna die!” But an old man was there with her in the field. He heard her cry and called out to her. “Don’t die, baby,” he said. “Don’t die. Get dressed up and come with me!”
“So I got dressed up,” as she tells her story. “I got dressed so fine, in the finest clothes you ever saw. You should’ve seen me! We went walking together, and we walked around through heaven. Everyone was there. It was beautiful! And then we walked straight down into hell and there I spit on the devil. And we came back to heaven, and I walked right up to the throne of God, and I was just about to talk with the Father, when – SLAP! – the whip hit my back! It brought me back to the field and knocked me to the ground. And there was the Master standing over me with the whip in his hand. I looked up at him, and I laughed with secret laughter. Because he had the whip, but I had all the advantage!”
He had the whip, but I had all the advantage. The apocalyptic vision allows us to look beyond the evident, to see the shape of a new, God-given future even in the midst of the chaos of our human society. But, a word of warning! Much care is needed when we walk into the arena of the apocalypse. This kind of language, this kind of vision is very powerful, and many people misunderstand it and many misuse it for their own advantage.
Have any of you seen the signs posted around these parts about the end of the world? The signs read: “Judgment Day is coming, May 21, 2011.” And at the bottom of the sign there is the link to a website: www.wecanknow.com.
The people behind this advertising campaign (and it is an advertising campaign, after all!) are convinced that through the correct interpretation of the Bible we can know the exact date on which God will supernaturally destroy the world and end human history. And, of course, they alone are the ones who have this correct interpretation. No one else has it! But they have it!
But did you hear what Jesus said? “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them” (Luke 21:8). When folks are fearful and confused, when people are anxious and worried about what is happening around them, then they become more vulnerable to these kind of shrill voices who falsely claim to have the secret knowledge which alone can deliver them from their distress.
Our Lord knows this about us human beings. This is why he gives us such common sense advice. Don’t listen to those voices; don’t be so foolish as to believe such lies.
Many of you will know that President Obama was on a tour of Asia last week. Perhaps many of you will also know that his trip to Indonesia was cut short by the eruption of Mount Merapi on the island of Java. Did you also hear about the appointed spiritual guardian of the mountain, Mr. Mbah Maridjan, the juru kunci, the servant of the Island’s Sultan, who died in the resulting lava flows?
The volcanologists, the scientists, warned everyone that the eruption was imminent. They could see it coming. But Mr. Maridjan was convinced by his secret spiritual sources that no eruption would take place. So the locals, who know him and trusted him as a local leader, were confused, and a number of people did not evacuate. And a number of people perished with him.
When crisis confronts you, when your world seems like it is changing for the worse, where do you turn for hope and guidance? To whose voice will you listen? I know that most of you are not anxious about the coming rapture and the end of the world, and thankfully, most of us are not facing such life and death kind of choices. But many of you are anxious about your test results, or anxious about what kind of people your children will end up being, or about whether or not you will have a job and money to pay the bills in the months to come. Some of you are anxious because your town is changing and becoming very different than it used to be, or perhaps even because your church is changing and becoming very different than it used to be.
Whatever it is that is the source of your anxiety and fear about the future, let those with ears to hear listen and heed the truth: there is no place where you will find comfort and security outside of the unfailing love and mercy of God. There is no secret source of hidden knowledge, no easy fix. Be wary of those who speak in that way. You already know where to turn. You must trust and rest in this Love of God that will never leave you or forsake you.
At the end of our apocalyptic Gospel reading today, Jesus offers words of promise and hope: “They will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls” (Luke 21:16-19).
I confess that this text confuses me a bit. Obviously, if those disciples are to be put to death, I would imagine that this would include damaging their hair in the process! And this is indeed what happened to them on this earth. But, by their endurance, they gained their souls.
And by your enduring trust and love and commitment as disciples of this wise and loving Master, even in the face of impending trouble and change, you will gain your souls. By seeing with the eyes of faith, you can laugh at those things in your world that seem to threaten you. By steadfast endurance, faithfulness and fidelity, you will find a life, secure in Christ, beyond the reach of any worry or anxiety. Because in Christ, no matter what the outward circumstances might suggest, we have all the advantage. Thanks be to God. Amen.
