Christ Cathedral

This gospel lesson sort of comes at us out of the blue. It is like walking into the middle of a movie. We don’t have a clue what Jesus is talking about. It is obviously some sort of end time. Maybe it would help if we had a little background information. Earlier in this chapter Mark writes, "And as they came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him; "look, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings." And Jesus said, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." You just wait and see."

Those darn disciples; they just had to open their mouths, didn’t they? They pepper Jesus with questions. "When will this happen? How will we know? What are the signs? Should we take out extra insurance?

That’s when Jesus starts to get weird. And we have the words from our gospel lesson. It sounds like the cover stories we see on the magazines as we go through the checkout line in the grocery store; something from national enquirer. "Woe to those who are pregnant or nursing infants - flee, don’t take anything with you - don’t turn back to get your coat. "

Oh, yeah, we love to take a peek at the future. "When will this happen?" We ask. "How will we know?" Life is precarious enough, so we cast about for some kind of comfort. Forget "show me the money" - show us the future!

We have the charting of wars and rumors of war, the earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes - who knows what else? Huddling behind triple-locked doors, looking at the world down the sights of a rifle; show us the future.

Let’s be honest - some secret part of us just can’t turn away. We are suckers for the latest false messiah to come down the road. That is weird news. Oh, yeah. Show us the future.

Nope, says Jesus. Do you want to know what is going to happen? Okay, here is the plain unvarnished truth: follow me and you will most likely get hurt. The gospel is bad news first. It’s uncomfortable. Discipleship is no piece of cake. Christianity is not for the faint of heart. I don’t want you to be misinformed, says Jesus. I want you to know exactly what to expect. Here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Because, you see, some will try sugarcoating it. "You want to be a Christian? Fine, come on in, it’s easy. We will have a joyous time. Just pray and grow rich. Jesus is nice. The Holy Spirit is fun. And God is just a great guy." Don’t be misled, says Jesus. Don’t be duped: discipleship has a cost. You will suffer for my sake. They will shoot fire hoses at you, send dogs after you, and herd you into jail. Faithfulness is costly; don’t think it isn’t. When you see hypocrisy and those playing game with the church and you stand up against it, some will think you are being prideful, but that is the integrity of the gospel.

That cute little baby whose birth we will celebrate in a month was dropped into a troubled part of the world, a land occupied by foreign troops. He was threatened with death almost as soon as he arrived. And anyone who decided to follow him can expect nothing less.

The old pastor said, "when I ascend to heaven, I will be asked one question: ’where are your wounds? If I say, ’I haven’t got any,’ I will be asked, ’was there nothing worth fighting for?’ and that is a question I don’t want to have to face." Whether it is defending the rights of a people to live free from fear, or standing up against prejudice, or watching the government like a hawk, then maybe we had better listen - Christians will earn their stripes. Sometimes literally! If "by his stripes we are healed," then by our stripes we are revealed. Yes, let’s be real, let’s be totally honest here; there is a cost to discipleship. Christianity is serious stuff. The gospel is bad news before it is good news.

And the news is good! What does Jesus say? "Don’t worry, don’t be misled, don’t fret, be alert; because something good is coming down the road. You can count on it. The good news is on the way. All this stuff going on in today’s scripture, the heavens shaking, and the sun and moon darkening, that is just the prelude. That is just god trying to get our attention for the main act: salvation. When you see all this stuff, look out, ’because here it comes! When? Who knows? How? Who cares?

The book of revelation brings it all together. The final word is "God is going to win." Be alert, Christians, scan the horizon: God’s going to win! Look out, Washington, God’s going to win! Look out, Wall Street, God’s going to win! Look out, Pentagon, God’s going to win! Yes, says Jesus, "don’t worry, look up and see the salvation of our God. Good news is on the way!

So can we keep our mouth shut? I don’t think so. It is our news to share. If we try to shut it out, the very stones will shout it out. It is our news to share. How? "Watch," says Jesus, "endure, keep on keeping on, hang in there, and don’t give up." Now I know that doesn’t sound exactly spectacular. How does plain ’keeping on" share our news? In god’s divine wisdom, the power of grace passes through our hands. So every moment of our lives we can witness to this confident faith of ours. By adding a voice of wisdom grounded in the gospel to the chaos of our world, we become the angels sent out by god, gathering folks from the four winds. It is our news, because it is given to us. It is our news because it is given through us. We are ordinary people with an extra-ordinary announcement.

The Weird news just won’t show us the future; it can’t. The Bad news looks us in the eyes and says, "Get serious if you want to be a Christian." But, oh, did you hear? Did you hear the Good News that God’s going to win?