The Big Picture

Scripture: Luke 21:5-19

Our gospel reading this morning is pretty dire. It starts out innocently enough. There are some people gathered around in the temple admiring it. “Look at all those beautiful, precious stones!” “Isn’t the architecture stunning!” “So many people donated wonderful gifts!” “This place is wonderful!” Have any of you been to the National Cathedral down in DC? Just think of the tourists there, wandering around to look at Woodrow Wilson’s tomb, or to ooh and ahh at the stained glass.

So Jesus’ response is a little bit of a downer, to say the least. “The temple might be impressive to you now,” he says, “but soon it’s going to be totally destroyed – not one stone is going to be left standing on another. This magnificent building is about to become rubble.” Not exactly the kind of thing you’d want to hear about your favorite house of worship, is it?

I think it will help us understand Jesus’ declarations for today if we take a look at what the original hearers of Luke would have heard. As you might or might not know, the book of Luke was not actually written down right at the time of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, although there was a strong oral tradition of Jesus’ saying and stories, many scholars believe Luke’s version of the gospel wasn’t written down until about 90 AD, sixty years after Jesus’ earthly ministry. Why is this important? Because in 70 AD, Jesus’ prediction about the temple came true. There was a rebellion in Jerusalem, and the Roman army swept down on the city, defeated the Jewish rebellion, razed the city, killed anyone who wasn’t able-bodied, and forced everyone else to leave. The temple, too, was destroyed, and all those stones and beautiful gifts were stolen or destroyed.

The people in Luke’s church were mostly Jewish. In the early church, many Christian went to synagogue on Saturday and celebrated the Lord’s day on Sunday. It wasn’t seen as a conflict. Jerusalem was home for many of these people, or the home of their ancestors, and the destruction of the Temple was a tremendous blow. Before it was destroyed, the Temple had been the center of worship life. Synagogues were helpful, but the Temple was the real deal, kind of like how Mecca is for Muslims – irreplaceable and unique. Now, without the Temple, it was as though Judaism’s heart had been cut out.

So imagine the people of Luke’s church, hearing this story read out loud. Teacher, they ask, won’t the world come to an end, now that the Temple has been destroyed? Isn’t it time for God to just bring everything to an end?

Jesus’ response, then, is: Don’t be led astray, don’t be afraid, don’t go after the ones who say, “the time is near!” There is still a lot to happen between now and the end of the world, so don’t be discouraged. God is looking out for you. Keep at it.

So, what does this mean for us? It has been a long time since most Christians waited anxiously for Jesus to return and for the world to end. Not that we don’t have folks today who say, “the time is near”, and others who go after them. But look at the descriptions Jesus gives of the signs that the end of the world is upon us. Nation will rise against nation. Check. Earthquakes, check. Famines and plagues, check. Wildfires in Southern California, check. Okay, that’s not really in there. But my point is, when in the history of the world have at least some of these things not been happening? Plagues, wars, earthquakes, catastrophes. It would probably be more of a sign of change if there weren’t any conflict going on.

The early Christians thought that Jesus was coming back right away, in a big cloud with lightning and plenty of judgment to hand out to everyone. Which doesn’t seem to be what ended up happening. At least so far.

So what are we supposed to make of this end of the world talk? For one thing, it helps us focus on the big picture – the scope of history, and our connection to Christians past, present and future. Along with that, I think the key to understanding the scripture for today is a question, more so than an answer. And that is: how does God really work in peoples’ lives? Is it catastrophic and sudden, with revenge on enemies and evildoers meted out? Or is God a beckoner, a seducer, a patient and confident pursuer?

My hunch is that the end of the world will come to us gradually, not suddenly. Not that we can’t have flashes of insight and sudden leaps forward, but that force and cataclysm will not ultimately be the source of God’s revelation.

In my work with Lutheran Volunteer Corps, the volunteers come to a city to spend a year in service working full-time at a social justice-oriented nonprofit organization. While they are learning about social justice work, the volunteers live in intentional community with each other and explore simple and sustainable living. For those of us with a heart and a calling for social justice work, it is often very difficult to deal with what often seems like the glacial pace of change. And in some cases it seems like we are moving backward, rather than forward, as political calculations strip away gains made in the past, and changes in the economy make life harder for those living at the bottom. “When will this be?” we wonder, “and what will be the sign that we will finally live in a just society?” Change comes slowly, with a letter written, a child encouraged, an addict staying clean one more day.

Simplicity is a way of caring for ourselves and the earth so that we can be about the business of God’s kingdom for the long haul. For many of our volunteers, I think they expect that living on a small stipend will be their greatest challenge. But truthfully, this is a temporary constraint. Learning how to simplify our time is a continuing struggle, one that doesn’t end after a year of service.

Intentional community is another source of strength in our journey to the end of the world. Through intentional community, volunteers seek to build relationships of trust, respect, and mutual support. This requires a set of skills that we don’t always learn in a larger culture of individualism and separation. Volunteers are challenged to learn how to deal with conflict constructively, to share decision-making among each other, and to respect difference without avoiding each other.

By following these three guiding principles, social justice, intentional community, and simplicity, many volunteers get to the end of the year realizing that their lives have changed. I know it can be a little bit of a cliché to say this is a life-changing experience, but it is. And it’s the whole experience, and the many small nudges and tugs, along with the sudden flashes of insight, that make it so.

God is out to get us all. There’s a reason why there hasn’t been a second coming yet. Because God wants all of us to experience love, to become everything we can be, and to learn to be the community of beloved followers that God knows we can become. My prayer for you today is that you will be blessed with wisdom to find the right path, endurance to follow it, and joy along the journey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.