Isaiah 42:5-12
5Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and
what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those
who walk in it: 6I am the Lord, I have called
you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given
you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, 7to open
the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the
prison those who sit in darkness.
8I am the Lord, that is my
name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. 9See, the
former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they
spring forth, I tell you of them. 10Sing to the Lord
a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that
fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. 11Let the desert and
its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the
inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare
his praise in the coastlands.
Luke 21:5-36
5When
some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones
and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6“As for these things that you
see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will
be thrown down.” 7They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and
what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8And he
said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and
say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. 9“When
you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must
take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”
10Then he
said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there
will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there
will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. 12“But before
all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you
over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and
governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to
testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in
advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be
betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will
put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my
name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By
your endurance you will gain your souls.
20“When
you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come
near. 21Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those
inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; 22for
these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. 23Woe
to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days!
For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24they
will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all
nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25“There will be signs in the sun, the
moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the
roaring of the sea and the waves. 26People will faint from fear and
foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will
be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’
with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take
place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29Then he
told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as
soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is
already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you
know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this
generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 34“Be on
guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness
and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, 35like
a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be
alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these
things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
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It’s
hard for me to put together scene Jesus describes to his audience, but the
overall picture is dramatic and destructive change. Jesus is talking about the
end of the world as we know it. There are images of natural disasters and human
conflict. There are also images of God’s judgment.
This year we hear a lot more about
“end times” than usual. One long cycle of the Mayan calendar comes to an end on
December 21st of this year, which has led to speculation about the
end of the world. I’m not an expert, but from the little bit I’ve read about
this theory it seems pretty far off. The two references in Mayan texts to the
date don’t say anything about the world ending. Also, while the Mayans were an advanced
civilization, that doesn’t mean they could predict events 1400 years later.
Many people have tried to predict
the end of the world, but so far no one has succeeded. Jesus tells his
disciples that even he doesn’t know when the world would end, and it’s not for
them to know, so it’s not surprising that we can’t figure it out. I’m not
anxious about the world ending in three weeks, but all the talk about the end
is a good reminder that nothing lasts forever except God.
Jesus
didn’t know when exactly the end was coming, but he thought it was coming soon.
He tells the disciples that the current generation won’t pass away before all
the things he’s talking about come true. The early church believed the same
thing; they lived in eager expectation that Christ would return and God’s
judgment would come very soon.
Obviously,
they weren’t exactly right about the timing. Nearly two thousand years have
come and gone and we’re still here. So what are we supposed to do with an image
like this? And why am I talking about it this week anyway?
Thinking
about the end of the world puts our life in a wider context that helps us
remember what’s really important. Even if the world doesn’t end anytime soon,
you and I will die some day, maybe tomorrow, maybe 40 years from now. When the
world ends or you take your last breath it is not going to matter what you gave
or got for Christmas and it’s not going to matter who was right in the latest
argument. If we never think about death and we never think about the end of the
world, it’s easy for our days and weeks to disappear under piles of things that
ultimately have no meaning. Of course, we can also think too much about death
and destruction and forget about God’s calling here and now.
