These illustrations are based on Mark 13:1-8
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Sermon Opener – Bedrock Faith
Have you ever tried to make a prediction? Here are some predictions from the past. All from people who were trusted individuals:
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, in 1943 said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Popular Mechanics magazine in 1949 made this prediction: "Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons."
There was an inventor by the name of Lee DeForest. He claimed that "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility."
The Decca Recording Co. made a big mistake when they made this prediction: "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." That was their prediction in 1962 concerning a few lads form Liverpool. Their band was called the Beatles.
As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left on another." To the disciples this was bedrock. Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus.
The smallest stones in the structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons. The largest existing stone, part of the Wailing Wall, is 12 meters in length and 3 meters high, and it weighs hundreds of tons! The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, over 400 feet in one area. Inside the four walls was 45 acres of bedrock mountain shaved flat and during Jesus' day a quarter of a million people could fit comfortably within the structure. No sports structure in America today comes close.
You can then understand the disciples’ surprise...
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No, We're Not There Yet - Mark 13:1-8
Over the years, many people have speculated about the end of the world and the end of time. Will there be a great war? A great earthquake? Will there be a sudden rapture where the faithful suddenly vanish as Hal Lindsay once predicted in The Late Great Planet Earth? Will it be as Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye describe in their best-selling Left Behind series? Would the end come in 2011 as American broadcaster Harold Camping predicted? We know now that he was wrong. Would the end come in 2012 as some interpreted the Mayan calendar? Again, that prediction failed. Will the end come later this year, or perhaps in 22 billion years as some scientists predict?
Even Jesus' first disciples wanted to know. One day as they were leaving the temple, one of them remarked on the great stones of the temple buildings. The original temple built by King Solomon had been destroyed centuries ago. A second temple had been re-built. But for Herod that wasn't enough, so he began expanding and rebuilding the temple before Jesus was born, and the construction continued even during Jesus' adult ministry. It was a massive project, but Jesus replied, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." That was enough to arouse the curiosity of Peter, James, John, and Andrew, but they waited to ask Jesus privately. "When will this be?" they asked, "What will be the sign?"
Our text for today is just the first eight verses of Jesus' much longer answer. For the rest of Mark 13, he described various signs -- wars, rumors of war, earthquakes, religious persecution, the betrayal of family members, false prophets, false messiahs, and much suffering -- but he said that all these things are only the beginning of the end. Throughout the chapter, he also made it clear that no one knows when the end will be. He couldn't fully answer the disciples' questions because even he did not know. As he said in Mark 13:32: "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
On one level, Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem....
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Just Stay in the Race
Mary Hollingsworth tells a story about the noted director of biblical epics, Cecil B. DeMille. When they began working on the movie Ben Hur, DeMille talked to Charlton Heston--the star of the movie--about the all-important chariot race at the end. He decided Heston should actually learn to drive the chariot himself, rather than just using a stunt double. Heston agreed to take chariot-driving lessons to make the movie as authentic as possible.
Learning to drive a chariot with horses four abreast, however, was no small matter. After extensive work and days of practice, Heston returned to the movie set and reported to DeMille.
"I think I can drive the chariot all right, Cecil," said Heston, "but I'm not at all sure I can actually win the race."
Smiling slightly, DeMille said, "Heston, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win."
Those are the words of God to everyone through a time of tumultuous change: "John, Mary, Heather, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win." Look for God's hand. If you cannot see it in the event itself, look for it in the aftermath when you are putting your life back together. I promise you, God's hand will be there.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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The Disciples as Tourists
Tourists. As Mark 13 opens, the disciples are like tourists, gawking at the more striking features of “the big city” that they were visiting for the high and holy festival of Passover. If there had been cameras in those days, you can almost picture the disciples mugging for the camera in front of the magnificent opulence of the Temple. Little bands of tourists wearing bright orange hats would be milling through the plazas and colonnades of the Temple as tour guides with bullhorns shouted forth impressive statistics. “Some of these foundation stones weigh 5 tons and were brought into the city through the massive efforts of thousands of masons and slaves.”
Appreciative “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” would follow each stunning stat.
It was, all in all, a heady atmosphere. You couldn’t help but look up to see the towering heights. When I’ve been in places like Chicago and New York City, I know full well that standing on a sidewalk and staring up at the towering heights of the Sears Tower or the Empire State Building is the surest way possible to have me be easily identified as a tourist. But I can’t help it! I don’t want to look like some hick from the outback who is bowled over by skyscrapers, but they are just so impressive. They simply dwarf you! And so I steal as many heavenward glances as I can.
The disciples were like that. They don’t want to look like simple fishermen from Galilee and the like, but let’s face it: you just don’t see stonework like this back on the farm. Their enthusiasm is so great that they cannot resist pulling Jesus into the action. Their master seems oddly unmoved by the ramparts and architectural heights of Jerusalem. He is the only one NOT craning his neck and mugging for the camera. So the disciples try to bring him around. “Teacher! Lookee here — isn’t this one massive hunk of limestone!? Isn’t the craftsmanship on these carvings impressive? Can you imagine what it must have taken to raise up such a high edifice!?”
But Jesus meets their breathless enthusiasm with a shrug of his shoulders. “Yes, I see them. But you know what? Even the biggest of these stones will soon fall and be thrown down. One day e’re long, there won’t be a single building to look at here.”
Scott Hoezee, comments and observations on Mark 13:1-8.
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Humor: False Prophets and Messiahs
Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the "2013 Year Old Man". In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, "Did you always believe in the Lord?"
Brooks replied: "No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him."
Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?
Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!
Reiner: Did you have prayers?
Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don't be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.
Reiner: So when did you start worshiping the Lord?
Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, "There's somthin' bigger than Phil!"
Tim Carpenter, Sermon Illustrations
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Is The Mule For Sale?
Once upon a time there was a woman married to an annoying man. He would complain about everything. One day he went to the creek with his mule. He complained so much that the mule got annoyed and kicked him to death. At the funeral, when all the men walked by the wife she shook her head yes and every time the women walked by she shook her head no.
The minister asked "Why are you shaking your head yes for men and no for women?" Her response was, "The men would say how sorry they felt for me and I was saying, "Yes, I'll be alright." When the women walked by, they were asking if the mule was for sale . . . "
Staff, www.Sermons.com.
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“I Would Plant an Apple Tree”
Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew that the world was coming to an end tomorrow, and he said: “I would plant an apple tree.” In other words, Luther, trusting in God’s gracious, unmerited mercy would live life just as he had been living it. When John Wesley was asked the same thing, being an obsessive-compulsive type, he said that he would arise at 4:00 AM, preach at 5:00 visit the sick at 7:00, go to communion at 8:00...etc., until the questioner realized that that was exactly what Wesley had planned to do tomorrow anyway! Because we believe that God is like Christ, we can dare to live in faith and hope and love now; trusting God for whatever the future holds, because we believe that God holds the future, and that God’s Name and God’s Nature are love.
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com
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Don't Panic
"Don’t panic!" Those are the words I frequently say when someone has come to see me and they are in the midst of a crisis. They may have lost their job, had a marital crisis, a problem with a child, or found themselves in serious financial trouble. They are anxious. It seems like the world is caving in on them. They feel lonely and afraid. They can’t see any way out of their predicament.
It has been my experience over the years as a pastor that when folks are desperate they tend to run, quit or act in haste. I am not discounting their pain or minimizing the crisis, rather I am merely helping them to see that their perceptions have exaggerated the crisis. Or, they have a distorted perception of reality.
This was the case with the disciples. They were being persecuted by an oppressive government. They were powerless and under immense pressure. All seemed dark and hopeless, so much so that they wondered if the "end" was near. They were desperate, blinded by their anxiety and totally unable to see into the future.
They are no different than us. Whenever things are happening in the world of epic proportions, like hurricanes, wars, catastrophes or plagues there are those who believe that the world is coming to an end.
Keith Wagner, Are You Having an Anxiety Attack?
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History Is Going Somewhere
William Barclay wrote in his book The Mind of St. Paul, “The great value of the doctrine of the Second Coming is that it guarantees that history is going somewhere. We cannot tell how it will happen. We cannot take as literal truth the Jewish pictures of it which Paul used. We need not think of a physical coming of Christ in the clouds, or a physical trumpet blast. But what the doctrine of the Second Coming conserves is the tremendous fact that there is one divine, far-off event to which the whole creation is moving; there is a consummation; there is a final triumph of God.”
William Barclay, The Mind of St. Paul, New York: Harper and Bros. 1958, p.229
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On the Preparation Committee
It is understandable that some Christians have grown impatient over the centuries, and have tried to speed things up a bit. I love what someone once said about the return of the Lord. “God did not put me on the Time & Place Committee; He put me on the Preparation Committee.” Our job is not to speculate about times and seasons, but to make sure that we are living as God wants us to live - sisters and brothers to one another - here and now. Some folks are “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.”
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com
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Gollum's Riddle
In the Hobbit by JRR Tolkein Bilbo Baggins has met Gollum for the first time. Bilbo is lost and needs to find his way out of Gollum's cave. Gollum will show him the way out if he can answer a riddle.
This thing all things devours,
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stone to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
Bilbo is stumped. He doesn't know the answer to the riddle and after being pressured by Gollum says, "Give me time." Gollum hears the word "time" and mistakenly takes it as Bilbo’s answer, which of course is right. Time devours all things, even massive Temples.
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com
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ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS NOT IN OUR EMAIL
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The Temple of Doom and the Bridegroom - Mark 13:1-8
If you’ve ever had your wallet or purse stolen you know that the worst “loss” is not the cash (who has it!) or the credit cards (you just cancel them). The worst loss is all those personal, “heart” things you keep close to you.
*Your ancient Social Security card that you got at age 15.
*Photos of parents, kids, and siblings that are faded and creased from being carted about for years.
*Those little “oddments” that remind you of who you are and where you come from — a broken piece of jewelry, a note giving life-changing good or bad news, a “charmed” bill or check you never cashed.
All those things that are not worth anything to anyone else…but are priceless to you.
The only theft worse than that of your carry-about life space is that of your personal living place. Even if no one was home, the feeling of invasion and violation is huge. Our homes are divided up into bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens. But there is always some central gathering space. Whether you call it the “living room,” or the “family room,” the “recreation room” or the “great room,” – it is the space in your home where your family comes together, amidst all your favorite things and most family-connecting artifacts, to celebrate togetherness and unity.
Today’s reading is about Jesus’ relationship to the “Temple.”
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I Predict
Here are some predictions of the future. All from people who could be trusted:
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons." -- Popular Mechanics, 1949
"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." -- Lee DeForest, inventor.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
"Who the h*** wants to hear actors talk?" -- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."
"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax." -- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.
"It will be years -- not in my time -- before a woman will become Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." -- Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." -- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- Albert Einstein, 1932.
"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." -- Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project.
"There will never be a bigger plane built." -- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
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We Expect the Ground to Be Firm
Biblical writers were fascinated by earthquakes, and referred to them often to make their point. An earthquake is a good image for cataclysmic times when "everything nailed down is coming loose." Earthquakes threaten our assumptions about the stability of life. We like to think of earth as rock solid, but sometimes the earth moves. Sometimes when people fear flying on a plane, they resort to the ancient Latin by saying, "Just get me back to terra firma." We expect the ground to be firm. We want our buildings tied to the bedrock because our foundations need to tie to something that won't move.
We are easily lured into thinking the same about our lives. We expect stability. We expect our lives to be "rock solid," but then something traumatic happens and "everything nailed down is coming loose."
Mickey Anders, ‘Everything Nailed Down Is Coming Loose’
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The End Was So Near
One of my friends this week reported on a tv preacher recently talking for an hour about his new book that supposedly explained everything we needed to know about the coming of Jesus and the end of time. "You must have this book," he said over and over again, a telephone number (not even toll-free) constantly flashing at the bottom of the screen. Seems that he was the only one who had prophetic insight into world events, and for a mere $14.95 we could have the benefit of his wisdom. We would not survive the coming terrors unless we had this book. A pastor called the number and suggested to the poor operator that if this preacher really thought this was so vital to the survival of the planet, and that the end was so near, he would be giving the book away! I mean, he won't need the money, right? It's all coming to an end anyway. Who needs a bank account? True, it costs money to print, but he will not have to pay for it if it goes as he says. The woman on the other end of the line was not amused. "Sorry, sir," she said, "but I don't know much about theology," to which the pastor responded, "Neither does the writer of the book you're selling."
David E. Leininger, When Your Church Provokes You
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What Do You Do When the World Falls Apart
There is a funeral at the end of one of Frederick Buechner's novels. It may be the only way the story could come to a close. A lot of terrible things happen in the book. Theodore Nicolet, a Protestant minister, loses his wife in a car accident. He is left to raise two small girls with the help of a housekeeper, Irma Reinwasser, who is a Holocaust survivor. One day he goes to track down a wayward church member who left her husband. That piques the interest of the editor of the town newspaper. He doesn't have a lot of news that week. So he takes the opportunity to print a few rumors about Nicolet's pastoral care. None are true, but the damage is done. Nicolet returns home, reunites the woman with her husband, and does what he can to set the record straight. Irma speaks up for him. "He's a good man. Leave him alone."
Irma dies shortly thereafter. A few teenagers are caught up in the public spectacle, and decide to pull a prank on her. Her house catches fire and she dies. So, at the end of the book, the whole town gathers around the grave of Irma Reinwasser. Nicolet read the words from the book of Revelation: "And God shall wipe away all tears, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
He spoke for a few minutes, then concluded with words of committal and a benediction. The people began to shuffle away in the rain. One turned back. It was Will Poteat, the sleazy newspaper editor who caused the turmoil while Nicolet was out of town. "Good show," he said to the preacher. Then he pointed to the grave and sneered, "This supper of the great God ... no more death, no more pain. Ask her."
Nicolet stood silent, his two daughters by his side. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly his daughters did an unexpected thing.
They grabbed up some of the flowers that they had brought and started pelting him with them -- orange hawkweed, daisies, clover -- and stooping over like a great, pale bear in his baggy seersucker suit, he kept on lunging at them with his finger. Nicolet threw back his head and laughed as Poteat went lumbering off with the little girls after him. When he got as far as Nicolet's car, he turned around for a moment, and it was only then that they could see that he was more or less laughing himself.
What do you do when the world falls apart? "Preach the kingdom," says Jesus to all his followers. Even if life should turn deadly, we proclaim the power of God that is stronger than death. And preach and proclaim we shall, until the day when there are no more tears, when death has no more power, when grief is swallowed up in laughter.
William G. Carter, No Box Seats in the Kingdom, CSS Publishing Company.
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The Lord Will Renew Their Strength
Kristi Denton had always relied on her husband, David, to take care of her.
He was her source of strength, the one she relied on to keep their lives running smoothly. Then in December of 1995, David was in a horrible accident. He suffered massive brain damage. Kristi prayed for God to work a miracle and heal her husband instantly, but it didn't happen. How could Kristi find the strength to take care of David now? In desperation, Kristi turned to the only true Source of strength available, God. She took Isaiah 40:31 as her motto: "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles."
Over the next few years, David slowly recovered from his accident. Among the lessons Kristi learned from that time was that waiting on the Lord in itself is healing. You're not just marking time while God does God's thing. Each day you are making new discoveries about how much God loves you. Each day you are growing stronger in your confidence in God's promises.
That is a lesson some of you have already learned. Periods of crisis have been times of growth because you've learned to fall back on your faith. You've had to wait on the Lord, because there was no other choice.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Setting the Date
For centuries there have been innumerable theories as to when and how the world might end. In 960 a German theologian calculated 992 as the most likely year. As the time approached, panic was widespread. In 1665 a man named Solomon Eccles was jailed in London's Bridewell Prison for striding through Smithfield Market stark naked, carrying a pan of blazing sulfur on his head, and prophesying doom and destruction. Although the end of the world did not follow, the Great Fire of London did, in 1666.
In 1874 Charles Taze Russell, founder of the sect that became Jehovah's Witnesses, concluded that the Second Coming had already taken place. He declared that people had 40 years, or until 1914, to enter his faith or be destroyed. Later he modified the date to "very soon after 1914."
In 1967 Anders Jensen, the Danish leader of a sect known as the Disciples of Orthon, convinced his followers that the world would end in a nuclear holocaust on Christmas Day. Jensen even appeared on the DAVID FROST SHOW to announce this fact to millions of television viewers. Since 1967 many other date setters have come along. Each one has been wrong.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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The Dice Are Loaded
In Richmond, Virginia sometime back a broad-minded judge let petty offenders roll a huge pair of dice to determine the number of days they would get in jail. After the judge's death, his secret came out: the dice were loaded. At first thought one might conclude that when God gave humanity freedom, God gave an astounding roll of the dice. How would humanity use its freedom - to build or to destroy? The answer is not yet clear, but let me give you a hint. The dice are loaded.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Apocalyptic Eschatology
I originally thought of titling this sermon “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Apocalyptic Eschatology,” but discarded that idea, for fear that there might be one or two who might not know what I was talking about. Actually, that is exactly what this sermon is about: “Apocalyptic Eschatology.” “Eschatology”-the study of the “last things,” and “Apocalyptic” - a revelation, unveiling, uncovering. The last book of the Bible, which we call “Revelation” is also titled “Apocalypse,” because that is its first word in Greek: “Apocalypse.”
You don’t hear much about these things in mainline churches these days. The reason, of course, is that the Book of Revelation has been the happy-hunting ground for all sorts of lunatic fringe movements from the first century until today. Forty-four years into the atomic age it isn’t difficult to make a case for the imminence of doomsday. “We’re on the eve of destruction,” headlines a national Roman Catholic weekly in an issue devoted to that theme. TV evangelist Jerry Falwell has said frequently that he doesn’t expect his children “to live out their full lives.” Former Interior Secretary James Watt said that he wasn’t too much worried about saving the environment for future generations because he wasn’t at all sure how many future generations there would be “before the Lord comes.”
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com
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Bumper Stickers for the Rapture
Have you noticed that a lot of people seem to have graduated from “Bumper Sticker Seminary?” They proclaim their theological position on their cars. One bumper sticker says: “Christ is coming again, and boy! Is He mad!” Then there is that other bumper sticker: “In case of the rapture, this car will be driverless.” To understand that you must understand “rapture” theology, which teaches that when Christ comes again he will gather up the saints - the real Christians - to meet Him in the sky...regardless of whether or not they have acrophobia! I read of a Lutheran pastor who saw the perfect rebuttal on another bumper sticker: “IN CASE OF RAPTURE I CLAIM YOUR CAR!”
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com
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A Friend Indeed
In Nevil Shute’s novel, A Town like Alice,” (which appeared on public television awhile back) there is the story of a young Australian who stole some chickens to feed a few hungry English women and children in Malaysia, as they were being taken to an internment camp. When the army officer discovered his theft, he nailed the Australian’s hands to a door and had him whipped until he fell unconscious and bleeding. Several years later, one of those young women who had returned to England inherited some money. She learned that the young man was still alive and she traveled to the outback of Australia to see if he was all right.
If I had that kind of friend, I would want to see Him, too. I would look forward to seeing him. And do you know what? According to the Bible, that is exactly the kind of Friend that we have. The One who judges us is the same One who hung on a cross for us. He rose again on the third day, and now invites us to join Him at the heavenly banquet spread out before us by a Heavenly Parent who could not possibly love us more.
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com
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Disappointed in the First One
Jesus seems to talk about the kingdom in both present and future tense, and a quick look around is enough to convince anyone that the "human race experiment," as Mark Twain called it, is either unfinished or hopeless. If it’s unfinished, then what will it look like when it is? Or if it’s a cosmic "irregular," if we are destined for eternal brokenness, then perhaps the best we can hope for is a salvage operation. Jesus came once. He will come again.
But after 25 years in the ministry, I can honestly say that I don’t believe this. Fred Craddock once said, "Maybe people are obsessed with the second coming because, deep down, they were really disappointed in the first one."
What’s more, history itself teaches us that when times are bad, eschatology thrives. But when times are good, apocalyptic talk subsides. And this makes perfect sense. How quickly one wishes to "check out" depends a lot on how happily one is "checked in."
Robin R. Meyers, In Praise of the First Coming, article in The Christian Century, November 15, 2000, p. 1183.
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When and Not When
It has been said that the one thing none of us should ever know is the date of our death. If we did know this with precision, all manner of mischief could follow on our reception of this information. We would almost certainly make different choices—some of those differences might be good things but other items may well lead us to avoid doing certain good things that, all things being equal, we’d be happy to do were we not trying to cram in as much gusto and enjoyment before we die.
The disciples wanted to know “when” but Jesus instead told them “not when.” The disciples wanted to organize their lives around knowing when things would get rough, Jesus wanted them to organize their faithful lives around hanging tough even when the going got rough (as it surely would). The disciples were maybe hoping to AVOID bad times, Jesus was more interested in helping them to persevere through the bad times that the disciples could NOT, as a matter of fact, avoid.
In short, Jesus’ perspective on all this seemed markedly different from the disciples. Could it be because he was about two days away from the very cross toward which Mark’s gospel has been steering us all along? As we follow a crucified Jesus even yet to this day, how much does the cross influence our thinking and the shape of our lives of discipleship? Are we mostly interested in avoiding hardships or in displaying to the watching world what it means to follow a Savior who rescued us through sacrifice?
Scott Hoezee, comments and observations on Mark 13:1-8.
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What State of Things
Many commentators throughout history have observed the gloomy side of life without any reference to God. About 500 years before Christ the Chinese philosopher Confucius remarked, "There is in the world now really no moral social order at all." Elsewhere he deplored teenage behavior. A hundred years before Christ the Roman orator Cicero began an address with the words "O, what a time, what a state of things!" About seventeen centuries later we hear the cynical Shakespearean lines, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing."
Historians remind us that early 19th century England was a time of well-known disrespect for authority. The monarchs were laughingstocks, exposed by a sensational divorce that certified their uselessness. The political system was distrusted as corrupt, and the Church of England was widely regarded for its clergy abuses rather than religious devotion. Cultural heroes were artists famous for their rejection of customary standards of family life and morality. The country was in the midst of widespread opium addiction. No wonder that Dickens characterized those days with his words: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going to heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
Richard T. Nolan, The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
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Gathering Shadows
Disputed elections disrupt the latest attempt at democracy.
Riots disturb the tranquility of a major city and an innocent bystander is killed in the violence.
Another youth is murdered in a drive-by shooting.
A wife was battered and abused last night.
A husband came home from work on Friday to find his wife gone, and the prospect of how to raise his children alone staring him in the face.
Shadows, gathering shadows.
Then there are the multitudes caught up in a lifestyle of living in dependency upon the latest pill they can swallow, or the alcohol they can consume, or pictures they can lust over, or the pain they can cut into their dulled senses. Anything to create a buzz, to give relief, so they can make it through to the next day. Shadows, oppressive shadows.
Jesus prepares His disciples for such shadows. As you read the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, it begins with the disciples and Jesus walking out of the temple. The disciples comment on the magnificence of the temple. Jesus turns to them and says there is coming a day when "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
Darrick Acre, Prepare the Way
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End Times
While the end of the world could be millennia away for all we know, and while we expect our congregations to continue their ministries well into this new century, end times are around us. Church historians and culture-watchers tell us that we’re on the edge of an end time for the church’s traditional role in society. But this doesn’t mean things are over. As Jesus said, you will hear of wars and earthquakes and famines, but it doesn’t mean the end is near. You will hear of the comings and goings of institutions and cultures, but it doesn’t mean the end is near. It may only be, Jesus says, the beginning of what God has planned. End times are powerful times pregnant with purpose for those with ears to hear and eyes to see the advent of our God.
Mary W. Anderson, ‘Time’s Up,’ The Christian Century, November 1, 2003.
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Natural Disasters and The Second Coming
Some folk in Seattle are sure the end of the earth will come in the year 2000. Earthquakes. Floods, wars, and tornadoes will devastate the earth, they say, by the year 2001. They plan to build an airship so that they can escape. Whatever of good or ill lies ahead, we need not worry about some human device to reassure us. In His own good time "the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout" and "we which are alive shall he caught up to meet him in the air." We have nothing to fear, and the only preparation we need to make is to stay close to the Lord Jesus and keep our lives pure.
James Cox, The Minister's Manuel, 1993, p. 326.
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Something Even Worse
Perhaps some of you remember General Alexander Haig, a military leader in the war in Vietnam and political leader in the Reagan administration. Now, General Haig was not exactly what you would call a great theologian. He once said something which on the surface sounded utterly stupid, and he was roundly criticized by the media for saying it. He said, "There are worse things than a nuclear war." That sounds like he stuck his foot in his mouth, but that is exactly what we Christians believe. What is far worse than a nuclear war? Not having faith and trust in God. Not to trust God and his promises means that we are headed for a destiny even worse than a nuclear holocaust. But to trust and believe the promises of God means that nothing in this world, not even the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb or the ecological disaster of global warming or the insidious attack of terminal cancer or the suffering and humiliation of an economic recession can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. We can believe that because our Judgment Day has already happened.
Steven E. Albertin, Against the Grain, CSS Publishing
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The Impossible Takes A Little Longer
At the age of 20, Art Berg was a very happy man. Everything was going right. He was a gifted athlete and had started his own tennis court construction company. And he was engaged to a beautiful woman. Leaving California one Christmas eve, he was headed to Utah with a friend. He was going to meet his fiancée and complete their wedding plans.
During the long drive, he fell asleep while at the wheel. His car hit an abutment and rolled down a hill. He was ejected from the car and found himself laying on the desert with a broken neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down. He completely lost the use of his legs and arms. The doctors told him he would never work again. They concluded that he could never play sports again and would be dependent on others the rest of his life. One even suggested he forget getting married.
Art Berg was really afraid. It was the darkest moment in his life. The "end times" were upon him. In the midst of his peril his mother came and whispered a few words in his ear. "Art, while the difficult takes time, the impossible takes a little longer." In other words, "don’t panic!" Suddenly, Art’s darkness was filled with a light of hope. That was eleven years ago. Today Art Berg is president of his own company, a professional speaker and author. He has gained back some of the use of his arms and legs and can now drive. He travels across the country sharing his message, "that the impossible just takes a little longer." Art married his fiancée and they have two children. He has even returned to the world of sports, swimming and scuba diving. In l993 Art was the first quadriplegic to race 32 miles in a marathon, all because he didn’t panic.
Don’t panic, is the message of the day.
Keith Wagner, Are You Having an Anxiety Attack?