The family heard the tornado warning on the radio. They turned on the television; the radar map showed the storm was headed for their town. The wind picked up and rattled the windows. The sky became dark.

They went out on the front porch and looked at the sky. And then they saw it: a funnel cloud swaying along the ground like a hungry elephant's trunk sucking up everything in its path.

They made a run for it -- the father, the mother and two small children. They lay flat in a nearby ditch. They heard the roar of a freight train, which is the characteristic sound of a tornado. The rain came down in torrents. Small tree limbs rained down upon them. Then they heard a loud crashing noise as if something big was being torn apart. The father dared to raise his head and look up. To his dismay, he saw the roof of their house fly over the ditch and plunge into a grove of trees nearby.

In what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few minutes, the storm passed, the wind died down, the rain stopped, the sky began to clear, and an eerie silence settled around the huddled family. Slowly they climbed out of the ditch. They were shaken and soaking wet but thankful none of them was hurt.

"Where is the house?" six-year-old Amy asked.

In place of the house there was a desolate empty space against the sky. All the family could see was a pile of bricks with not one brick left upon another. Wooden beams were piled helter-skelter like so many oversized matchsticks casually dropped by a giant. Pieces of clothing hung at half-mast from trees left standing but stripped bare of their smaller branches.

"It is nothing but a pile of rubble," mumbled the father.

The family huddled together, hugged each other and cried.

"Where are we going to live? Where is all our stuff? This makes no sense," shrieked ten-year-old Andy.

Nobody offered an answer. Slowly they moved toward the wreckage of their home. Despair and disbelief crept across their faces. For a while they simply stood there. They had no words.

Then Amy cried out, "Where is Kitty Cat? I've got to find Kitty Cat!" Amy began to pick up small pieces of debris. She turned over broken boards. All the while she called, "Kitty Cat! Kitty Cat! Come here, Kitty Cat." Her mother watched sadly and thought to herself, "She will never find that cat. It is either crushed under all this rubble, or it has been blown away over the fields. Amy loved that cat. She will be devastated."

Just then Amy heard the faintest little mewing sound coming from among the rubble. "Kitty Cat! Kitty Cat! Where are you? Where are you?" Kitty Cat, wet and bedraggled, came struggling from under a broken board which was resting on some bricks. The board and the bricks had formed a little shelter which protected the kitten from being crushed or blown away. Amy was ecstatic. She picked up the dripping kitten and cradled her in her arms. Amy's tears turned to joy. For her there was good news among the rubble. A living being which she prized had survived the destruction of a terrible disaster.

The entire family shared Amy's joy. In fact, the father suggested: "Why don't we give that cat a real name? Why don't we call her 'Hope'?"

Rubble in abundance comes to mind as we listen to the words of Jesus from Luke 21. Picture the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem lying in ruins, with not one stone left upon another. There are predictions of wars and insurrections, of nations struggling against each other, of natural disasters such as earthquakes, famines, and plagues. Can you imagine the rubble scattered over the landscapes by these catastrophes? There are predictions of emotional rubble produced by persecution from religious and political authorities, betrayal by family and friends, and an atmosphere of general hatred toward those loyal to Jesus Christ.

How do we react to these dire predictions of disaster? Do they frighten us and make us anxious? Do we echo the questions of the first hearers: "When? What are the signs?"

Or do we dismiss them as belonging to an ancient time? After all, the Temple was destroyed long ago. Wars, instability among nations, earthquakes, famines, and epidemics are characteristic of every age in history, including our own.

Persecutions because of one's religious faith stain the pages of the world's history through the ages. Although we in North America today do not face the severe persecution the early Church endured, anyone who exhibits a strong faith and seeks to live by the law of love may well face resistance, rejection, hostility, and ridicule from a complacent culture.

Whatever our personal reaction to these words of Jesus, we can be overwhelmed by the rubble and miss the good news. But if we look closely enough we can discover open places through which hope, like a surviving kitten, emerges into the sunshine. In the face of all the disasters in our world, we ourselves may feel like frightened kittens. But the good news tells us of One who is like a lion, majestic and triumphant over the rubble.

When Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple and his hearers anxiously asked when this would take place, he calmed their fears by telling them to beware of false Messiahs who would come and announce that the end was near. "Do not go after them," he warned. In the face of fanaticism he encouraged an attitude of calmness and trust in God. Among the rubble of wars and natural disasters, Jesus speaks these encouraging words: "Do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately."

How often in Scripture does God proclaim to a fearful people: "Do not be afraid"? When Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, the first obstacle they faced was the Red Sea. As the Israelites camped by the sea they heard the roar of chariot wheels and the pounding of horses' hooves. They looked back and saw Pharaoh's vast army bearing down upon them. "In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord" (Exodus 14:10).

Moses reassured them: "Do not be afraid, stand firm and see the deliverance which the Lord will accomplish for you today ... The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still" (Exodus 14:13, 14). The waters of the Red Sea parted at God's command and the people crossed over on dry land.

When the shepherds in the field near Bethlehem were confronted by an angel and the glory of the Lord shone around them, they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see -- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:10, 11).

Often the "Do not be afraid" comes when someone encounters the presence of God in an unusual way and when God is about to do some remarkable thing for the good of God's people. "These things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." These words surely calmed the fears of the first hearers, and they can be good news for us. They imply that there is an orderly progression in history, that contrary to all appearances things are not out of hand. God is in control. Trust God.

Sometimes when catastrophes occur in our world or in our personal lives, we feel there is no future for us. Have you ever heard someone after the death of a child or a spouse cry out in agony, "My life is over. I have nothing to live for now"? In the midst of the rubble of despair the message of the Lord is, "There is a future which is in God's hands; the end is not yet. You are deeply hurt, but stand firm and wait for God's deliverance."

The prediction about Jesus' disciples being arrested, persecuted, turned over to synagogues and prisons, and appearing before kings and governors was literally fulfilled as the book of Acts vividly records. Surely such a prospect was not something to which they looked forward with joyful anticipation.

But Jesus gave them some good news related to the difficult times ahead. Rather than facing such persecution with dread, they were to see their situation as an opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to people whom they may never have met if they had not been arrested and put in prison. "This will give you an opportunity to testify ... I will give you a word and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict."

What a challenge and what a promise! Look for opportunities to bear witness to the Christian faith in the worst of circumstances. Many of us find it difficult enough to speak a good word for Jesus Christ when we are in a sympathetic situation, much less when the atmosphere is hostile. We feel that we don't know what to say. We are uncomfortable and hesitant. We fear failure. Can we lay hold of the promise Jesus gave his first disciples? He told them not to worry about what they would say. He would give them the words. He would speak through them with such power that their opponents would be silenced.

It takes a great leap of faith to step out on these glimmers of good news among the rubble. But they can be gathered up in the faith that God never forsakes us and that nothing can "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

The tornado may destroy the house, but if a kitten survives and crawls alive from under the rubble, there is hope for the future."