Christ Episcopal Church
November 15, 2015
28 Proper B
Our young Pub Theologians had quite a conversation about thankfulness last Sunday. In my November Clarion article, I wrote about the apostle Paul's call in 1 Thessalonians to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in allcircumstances, not just the circumstances we find favorable. So, I asked our 4th- 12 graders what they are thankful for, and they came up with a nice list. Then I asked them to create a story about someone who finds him or herself in a dreadful circumstance. Any one who thinks youth lack in imagination have not met our young Pub Theologians. Think Job meets the Zombie Apocalypse. They came up with some wildly awful, and fortunately highly unlikely scenarios and we brainstormed what a person could possibly be thankful for if he or she found themselves in such a circumstance. Then we backed up and talked about some challenges in our own lives and what we can find to be thankful for even when we are struggling.
While we don't hear about the zombie apocalypse this morning, we do hear from what is called the "little apocalypse" in Mark's gospel. The 13th chapter of this gospel speaks about the end times, the times just before Jesus returns. This morning Jesus tells the disciples and us not to be alarmed by wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, because these are the beginnings of the birthpangs. Our gospel reading ends there, but Jesus does not. Jesus goes on to describe persecutions, divisions in families over the gospel, suffering such as has not been seen since the beginning of creation, and false messiahs. Even the heavens will experience trauma as the sun and moon are darkened, the stars will fall from the heavens, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. After Jesus has described in detail just how awful life will be, he says "But then, they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." But then, the birthpangs will bear fruit and we will find Jesus in our midst. But we need to watch and be ready.
The truth is, apocalyptic writings in scripture usually describe what is actually happening in the lives of the original readers, while also describing a future salvation. The original readers of Mark's gospel were being persecuted. They were experiencing many of the kinds of things Jesus describes in this section of Mark's gospel. And they heard Jesus promise that this is not the end. Jesus is coming and may even be here now, and they must watch. Passages such as this give the people hope that the challenges they endure do not have the final word, and the challenges do not mean that Jesus is absent.
When times are difficult, we can easily wonder where Jesus is. On a global level, the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris and in other parts of the world last week sound a lot like wars and rumors of wars, and the people of France feel under siege in a way not unlike the situation described in Mark's gospel. On a local level, Springfield is certainly facing serious challenges, and while our challenges may not be apocalyptic, they are certainly life altering for those most directly affected. The gun violence this fall has been devastating and can certainly make one wonder about Jesus' presence in our city. The seemingly constant news about the challenges Wittenberg faces along with businesses shutting down, leaving, or being sold is disheartening and a real challenge to our economy here. Many of our own parishioners are deeply affected by these situations. And then there are those who are suffering from frightful diagnoses or the lack of a diagnosis for difficult symptoms. These local challenges may not add up to famine, war, and earthquake, but they are enough to make us wonder if Jesus has disappeared or God is asleep.
In the reading from 1 Samuel, Hannah is crushed by her lack of a child. She is experiencing bullying by her peers and the heartbreak of infertility. At the time when God seems most absent to her, what does Hannah do? 1 Samuel says she presents herself at the temple, but from the way the passage reads, I think she throws herself down at the temple, is deeply distressed, weeps bitterly, and pours out her soul to God. She is reassured by Eli, the priest, that God has heard her. God has not abandoned her, and eventually she does conceive and bear a son. Yes she does get her hearts desire, which does not always happen, not even in Scripture, but the point is that, rather than run from the God who seems so absent, she drew near to God.
Scholars do not know who wrote the letter to the Hebrews or the circumstances around that writing, but the words at the end of our reading this morning are among my favorites. The vestry actually wrestled with these words in our Bible study a few months ago as we read "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Provoke one another to good deeds. The word "provoke" actually means "to call forth" but I find myself provoked more often to anger or impatience as Hannah was by her rivals rather than being provoked to good deeds. When the writer says "and all the more as you see the Day approaching," the writer is telling us that the need to provoke one another to love and good deeds, and not neglect to meet together only increases as challenges increase. The early church did not gather to sing hymns, share scripture, and break bread together because life was easy. They gathered because life was hard and they needed each other in order to be able to find Christ in their midst. They needed each other in order to be able to make Eucharist, which is the Greek word for thanksgiving, when being thankful was too hard to do alone.
We can hear scripture that describes the end time as hopelessly outdated and irrelevant, or we can hear the call of such passages to watch for Jesus to be among us in challenging time. We can hear the story of Hannah as a miraculous healing unlikely to really happen, or we can admire her honesty in baring her pain before God. And we can get bogged down in the talk of sacrifice and offering in the book of Hebrews and give up, or we can hear the call to hold together and encourage one another in good times and bad and make a difference in the world. Scripture reminds us this morning that God is closest when God seems most absent, and that the way to know God's closeness and find Jesus in our midst is to come together and encourage one another, to provoke one another to love and good deeds so we make a difference, and to stick together.
Amen.
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