Country Mouse and City Mouse
This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, Nov. 17. The text was Mark 13:1-8.
They were overwhelmed by seeing the temple complex. The thoughts of people were that nothing could harm it. But the problem was that the Babylonians had destroyed it in the past. The temple in Jesus’ time was not the one built by Solomon, but was the second temple, later enhanced by Herod the Great. For this reason, it was referred to as Herod’s temple.
How did Jesus respond to the country boys’ excitement? As impressive as all this may be, it will be destroyed. That certainly took the wind out of their sails. As Pastor Rob Myallis says, “if you think these rocks are secure (and they’re not) think about our Rock, Jesus.” Jesus becomes our temple. Who else can we lean on when our world falls apart, literally?
When the second temple was destroyed in 70 AD, the need for the physical temple and the sacrifices had passed. Jesus had died and risen. He was and is the everlasting temple. The physical temple was transitory, but the spiritual one, Jesus, is everlasting. “Jesus tells the disciples a hard truth: nothing you see here is going to last” (T. Denise Anderson, christiancentury.org). That is a scary and disheartening proposition. Look at the Middle East today and Ukraine. There is so much destruction all around. Can people rely and lean on that which is seen?
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish people became those who were not only without a building, but who were persecuted as well. Some met in peoples’ homes for worship, while others could only meet in caves, called the catacombs.
Jesus has left the temple for the last time and has moved over to the Mount of Olives, directly opposite the city and the temple—in full view of it. Peter, James and John got Jesus off by himself to ask him two questions. “When is this going to happen?” And “What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?”
Jesus does not directly answer their questions, which is typical. Rather, he warns the disciples about false prophets. He tells them that there will be wars, so they should “keep [their] heads and don’t panic” (v. 7).
There are always people who wonder whether we could be in the last days, with all the wars and startling weather events. And yet, what’s Jesus’ response? “This is routine history, and no sign of the end” (v. 7). And it will get worse, but it’s nothing compared to what’s coming. What do we do in these tragic situations? Lean on Jesus and take care of each other.
The NRSV translates v. 8 as “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” Oh my, we think. But what follows the birth pangs? The joy of a newborn child!
God is birthing something new. Newness can scare us. Jesus wants his church, his newborn, to look like him. How will the church change? What will it look like? We don’t know for sure, but we hope we will become more Christlike as we rely on Jesus.
How shall we respond? Can we learn to nimbly pivot and adjust to the changes? If not, the church will die. We got some practice doing this during Covid.
What if it means that we could not gather in this building we love? What if it means we would worship more like the early church, in people’s homes? Several of my professors in seminary said that today’s church and society are much like that which the early church experienced.
Christian faith was not a part of society then and now is not expressed in our society. In the 1970s and ‘80s, I regularly participated in home meetings that were in addition to Sunday worship in a church building. These encouraged closeness among members as well as spiritual growth. They were enjoyable and accomplished the desired result. Will we see more of them as the years go by?
What can we rely on? Daily life is transitory. Buildings are transitory. The status quo isn’t even static.
There are interwoven themes in this chapter: the end of the temple, the end of all things and later in the chapter, the glorious coming of the Son of Man to gather his own (Fred B. Craddock, Preaching through the Christian Year B).
What is the foundation of our lives? For the first century Jews, the temple would have been a foundation piece of their life, a center of mystery and meaning (Myallis). Jesus says he is all that matters. Rather than criticize first century Jews, we need to ask what idols—even of our building spaces—have we built for ourselves? (Myallis).
I want to close with the words of the first verse of a hymn, Built on the Rock.
Built on the Rock the Church shall stand,
even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land;
bells still are chiming and calling;
calling the young and old to rest,
but above all the soul distrust,
Longing for rest everlasting.
Amen.
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