Rev. Cari Pattison

Sermon for Sunday November 14, 2021

Woodstock Reformed Church

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It”

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 birthpangs.”

****

When I was in elementary school, the band R.E.M. had a hit song called, “It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

At breakneck speed, lead singer Michael Stipe sang about earthquakes and hurricanes, fires, government, combat, renegades and images of what he saw on the nightly news. It all led up to the refrain:

“It’s the end of the world as we know it… and I feel fine.”

One verse says, “It'll do, save yourself, serve yourself / World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed / Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent and the right...”

I remember singing along with these lyrics, in fascination and fear. Was the world as we know it really coming to an end? 5th grade was hard enough- maybe the world ending wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

I was only barely familiar with the Bible’s words about the end-times, but I do remember the horror and helplessness I felt, when my dad explained to me in that end-of-the-Cold-War-era, what nuclear warfare meant.

Michael Stipe is not the first poet to write about the end of the world.

In William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming,” he writes:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

When we think about the Holocaust, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Vietnam, 9-11, increasing natural disasters, and even the global pandemic, there are countless events within the lifetimes of those in our church- that seem to confirm Yeats’ words- “the ceremony of innocence is drowned.”

Events that might make us ask, “Is this the end of the world as we know it?”

****

Much as I’d like to avoid them, today’s the day we arrive at one of the Bible passages known as “apocalyptic.”

Apocalyptic verses appear elsewhere in scripture, of course- in Daniel and Revelation, and in the other Gospels as well. Verses that talk about the frightening realities of life, and what these mean for the present and future.

But what do we do with such “end-times” verses? Hasn’t every generation had its doomsday predictions? The wars and rumors of wars?

Writing in the 5th century AD, Saint Augustine observed that 3 centuries before his own time, the earliest followers of Jesus, consumed with apocalyptic fervor, believed themselves to be living in the “last days” of creation. “And if there were ‘last days’ then,” he wrote, “how much more so now!”

How do we live in the tension between “Oh my gosh, the world is going up in flames!” and “Come Lord Jesus; show us how to live in these remaining days”?

****

Mark’s Gospel is written right around the time of the Jewish-Roman wars, and his readers and hearers would’ve been well acquainted with chaos, destruction, violence, and persecution.

In fact, apocalyptic literature in the Bible- and elsewhere- is usually written to an audience of people under fire. Believers who not just fear the terror, but are living through it.

Our text today begins with Jesus leaving the temple, and his disciples praising its beauty and grandeur.

First-century historical texts describe Herod’s temple in great detail, a temple he had built to “assure his eternal remembrance” as a king.

Scholar Clifton Black notes that it was finished around 61 AD, and the platform on which the temple sat exceeded every other complex at that time in Western antiquity. Its edifice was built of hard white stones, soaring some 164 feet into heaven and covered on all sides with massive golden plates. Contemporaries noted “The outside of the building lacked nothing to astonish the mind or eye.” Today’s visitors to the temple’s Western Wall in Jerusalem can observe building blocks whose weight ranges from 2 to nearly 400 tons.

The Roman historian Taciturn described the temple complex as a mountain of white marble adorned with gold, and the surrounding complex included sprawling courtyards, colonnaded courts, grand porches and balconies, covered walkways, and monumental stairs.

So you can see why the disciples were so impressed! No one had ever seen such a magnificent structure, and it was the temple of God, no less. Sure, King Herod had it constructed for his own ego, but it was still a place of worship. Surely nothing could ever bring it down.

****

And yet remember last week’s passage on the widow entering the temple, putting in her last 2 coins? This very temple that Herod built, had in part been funded by extorting money from the poor and vulnerable.

Jesus hears the disciples marveling at this magnificent display of wealth and says, “Yeah, this temple? It’s all going to be destroyed. Every last stone.”

And sure enough, a mere ten years later, in the Jewish-Roman war, the temple was completely decimated. Never to be rebuilt. Even today, the only remaining part of the structure is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, where Jews and others tuck papers with their prayers.

How often we put our trust in structures. The glory of this church building, here for over a century. The property of the Village Green, which we proudly say “the church owns.”

But what is a building? Jesus seems to say. What is owning land? It could all be gone in a flash. It may be destroyed tomorrow, and we never really owned it in the first place- it’s a space- albeit a beautiful space- that we are temporarily stewards of.

****

Next Jesus takes his friends up the mountain, opposite this temple. It won’t surprise you all to know, that mountains- more than temples- are the places in the Bible where people go to be close to God.

Moses met God on the mountain. Jesus prayed and was transfigured on a mountain. Even his crucifixion, was on a small mountain.

You know this, because you are mountain people- and yes, I include even those of you who moved here from elsewhere. There is something about a mountain- the altitude, the view, the clear air, that shifts your perspective.

Even now, my friend is walking Ollie up Mount Overlook while I’m at church. So I’m hoping my dog comes back with later with spiritual insight.

Jesus takes the disciples up the mountain and they want to know- “Jesus, when is all this going to happen? This dire prediction about the temple. Are you serious?”

But Jesus- in typical Jesus fashion- doesn’t really answer.

He says, “Listen. You think things are hard now? They’re about to get harder. You’re going to hear of wars and rumors of wars and famines and natural disasters. You’re going to be tempted to follow whatever powerful and charismatic leader rises up, promising to fix it.”

****

When we look at human history, we know this is true.

The more chaotic and scary things get, the more susceptible we are to following the first person who comes along with a loud voice, claiming they can make it all better.

When we look at human history, we see another truth:

That when faced with end-times calamity, people tend to respond in one of two ways-

They either hunker down and protect their own, defending their turf at any cost.

Or they choose the path of love. The way that says, “It’s not all about me. I’m called to join with others even in the midst of the horror, and care for the common good.”

The first path is easy enough to spot – refer to O’Connell’s book.

****

The word “apocalypse” literally means “to reveal” or “expose.”

Apocalyptic times, and apocalyptic thinking, simply reveal what’s really there. And it can reveal the worst of humanity- selfishness and destruction, violence and exploitation. It can bring to the forefront corrupt leaders whom Jesus warns, can lead us astray.

But the other thing it can reveal is this-

A truth that Jesus shares at the end of this passage-

We don’t have to fear.

These scary events are but the birth pangs of something new.

Jesus points to a brand-new day that has already begun with his entrance into humankind, a new day that we are called to live for and exemplify. A new day that only God knows the timing of, but that we are called to point to and pray for.

It’s not a new day that happens “someday when,” but a new day that is taking shape here and now.

****

Friends, yes, it’s the end times.

And so many signs around us remind us that in more ways than one, it’s the end of the world as we know it.

This is not something to be taken lightly.

But in some sense, it has always been the end times.

And so Jesus asks us this question in the midst of it all- in the midst of climate catastrophe and species extinction and the increasing gap between the rich and the poor-

In the midst of these end-times, who will you be?

Who will we be as the church?

If the apocalypse reveals and exposes what is there, what will it show about us?

How are we called- not just someday, but now-

To use our resources and buildings and energies and prayers- to be Good News to a world that feels like it’s ending? To be those who live not in fear, but in anticipation of a new birth?

I am reminded of Kenya…