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Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 28 November 13, 2016
Former Things Shall Fade Away

Introductory Teaching
Todays readings signal a shift in the Church (liturgical) Season hinting at the

start of Advent. We see a focus on the end times in Isaiah, Second Thessalonians, and

Lukes Gospel. We make this journey every year and our goal should be not to get

dragged into the madness of Black Friday and the rush to accumulate as many great

buys and things as we possibly can. Ironically, the rush to buy is to celebrate the birth of

a great teacher and savior who was born with nothing. Who was born into the life of a

homeless person and a refugee whose parents had to flee with him to escape political

persecution and death. Such familiar themes making the past and the present linked.

Isaiah ~ A New Heaven and New Earth

But the Prophet, speaking for YHWH, promises the creation of a new heaven and

a new earth. Jerusalem ~ the City of Peace will be filled with joy and its people will no

longer weep and worry. This represents a new hope and possibilities coming from their

connection to YHWH and identification as Children of Israel.

Luke ~ The Destruction of the Temple

Jesus sets his predictions within the framework of historical events, the

destruction of the Temple, so people will remember his words in his earthly ministry.

He is clear that false prophets and information will circulate about the final coming of

the Kingdom and his return but warns them not to be fooled. Even amid war, famine,
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earthquakes, and disease, it still may not be time. (Luke: 5:9-13). The fact is no one

knows the date but the Father, not even the angels or the Son. (Mt 24:36).

Eschatology and Apocalyptic Writing

Todays readings and the theme of Advent is the Eschaton or the End

Times. Eschatology is the study or contemplation of what will happen in the future.

The final future is concerned with how God will transform the entire universe. As

Christians, we must realize that the Eschaton or End Times is both now and future,

present but not yet.

The word apocalypse means to reveal. It refers to how information is revealed:

Style or type of writing

And come through a vision or angelic intervention (Byrne, B., 2000).

Quite typical of this style of writing is the use of images of natural disasters as found in

Jewish apocalyptic writing as in the book of Daniel. Such images include earthquakes,

disease, disasters, and a battle between the forces of good and evil. The purpose of this

type of writing is to encourage the faithful (reader), especially those under persecution.

The message: through Gods help, good triumphs over evil.

Thessalonians ~ If you do not work, you will not eat!

The problem for the community of Thessalonica was this very topic of the end

times. Paul or someone writing for him, seeks to correct the false view of the end times

that seems to be running rampant in Thessalonica. They have been listening to other

voices not carrying the message they originally received. While often cited as a verse to

criticize laziness and/or the poor, this is not at all what Paul was attempting to address.
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Some members of the community were abandoning their life obligations having decided

that Jesus was going to immediately return. They are being reminded that no one knows

and we must be diligent in living our lives as well as working as if the Lord were present.

The greatest work is to demonstrate love, mirroring the love of Jesus.

The Message

Blood Moons, Rapture, and Armageddon

Despite what Jesus and Paul keep telling us, just go to many Christian bookstores

and you will see countless books taking todays events and predicting the End Times.

For example, most of these concepts were never part of Christian Theology until the late

1800s. They are not part of Methodist and most mainstream Christian Theology;

however, I must wonder if these stories have developed as a form of our own

apocalyptic writing? While not good theology, maybe they do serve a purpose. We

have seen more change in the last 150 years than the previous 1,000 and the pace of

change is not slowing but accelerating.

Could it be that we are having trouble adjusting, are anxious, and

fearful? (Current social problems, such as addictions and political unrest would

certainly suggest it.) Could we be creating these stories to remind ourselves

that there is a force greater than ourselves and the craziness we are

surrounded by? Are these stories serving to encourage or escape? I do not

know; maybe it could be both.

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The Thessalonians and Us

Maybe we and the Thessalonians are a bit alike. Life was not easy for them and

in its own way not easy for us. When things get tough we sometimes rely on people and

things that do not help us. Some of the Thessalonians placed hope in false prophets.

Perhaps they became impatient in waiting for Jesus to return, making the messages they

heard from the others so inviting.

What are we drawn to in our lives that seem to calm our fears and

anxieties: voices, easy answers, or short cuts through our suffering. We may

not be idle as in forgetting our life obligations but what about our spiritual

idleness?

Focusing on the Signs ~ Escape & Stuckness

It is likely several factors going on all at once and we are not even aware of it:

fear, anxiety, escape, stuckness, and idleness. Staring at the signs, looking for the

end times and Jesus return can be hopeful but what if that is all we do? Wasnt that

what the some of the Thessalonians doing? It is important to act by embracing the fear,

anxiety, escape, idleness, and stuckness to hear what it is calling us to do.

Could the focus on the signs be an attempt to avoid the negativity of

our times? If we were to focus on these things, do we risk feelings of despair,

cynicism, and resentment? Have we in some ways just given up? These may be

feelings of stuckness. Sometimes when we feel stuck the result appears to be

idleness, but the reality is we are paralyzed. But it is in recognizing it for what it is that
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we can begin to rely on the grace of God who pulls us up. It is here that we

begin to recognize the Kingdom is upon and with us.

The Kingdom ~ Our Hope

The Kingdom has many characteristics and these are what we should be looking

for. Two of these are liberation to those who are imprisoned and sight to the blind. We

must not allow ourselves to be imprisoned by our fears and anxieties, for stuckness is

indeed a great prison.

It is our eyes that must be opened to see the Kingdom that is present

but not fully yet. Spiritual blindness brought on by fear prevents us from seeing, The

Kingdom that is spread across the earth and people do not see it. (Thomas, Saying

113). This can only happen when we experience our own personal apocalypse. Our

blindness is healed once the temples we have built for ourselves, where we worship

things that do not satisfy, are torn apart, forcing us to wake up. The great spiritual

battle is not out there but in each of us. Armageddon is not a plain in Israel

but within each person.

Each man has the ability to know himself, and once he is known unto

himself he shall know the kingdom of God.

Thomas, Saying 111

Conclusion

Paul and Jesus tell us that we have a path to walk and a journey to take before the

end times. We have work to do. He has given us his Good News that seems to be simple
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foolishness to the world with values directly conflicting those of the culture, politics, and

some business. Once we have experienced the apocalypse we must bring it to the world

by challenging the status quo of materialism, greed, and power. This tearing down,

uprooting, and turning upside down is what must happen for the Kingdom to

come in its fullness.

Idleness is a problem within a Church that has become too comfortable and the

greatest barrier to the Kingdom is in the pews and the pulpits. But may the Lord Jesus,

when he comes again, find us as signs of light, that is hope and the love of God for those

of the Beatitudes, Matthew 25, and for each other. One thing for sure, you will

never be accused of idleness, if you are light.