On Message

Lectionary Scripture: Mark 13:1-8

Christians spend a lot of time pouring over everything Jesus is recorded to have said. We would be better off if we paid attention to the things he didn’t say. Things like:

“Oh, Peter, I just said that to make her feel better. I don’t REALLY think she has a great faith.”

Or

“Blood is thicker than water, help yourself first.”

Or

“The Kingdom of God thrives on competition. Only the best get in.”

Most importantly, a phrase I notice Jesus never said was:

“Everybody Panic!”

In fact, he frequently said the opposite – “Do not be afraid”. However, in our modern age, fear and panic are quite popular. The news is full of H1N1 statistics, unemployment numbers, and nuclear missile tests. Popular television shows deal with biological warfare, government conspiracies, and alien oppression. At the movies this week, we get to see the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012 (End of the world complete with storms, earthquakes, fire and ice). In short whether we turn to news, entertainment or fantasy – the message is the same:

“Everybody Panic!”

Of course, before we all started focusing on 2012, there was a great deal of speculation (due largely to a miscalculation of the word “thousand”) that the world would end in 2000 but it didn't. (Even Y2K computer prophecies fizzled out by half past midnight). During the cold war, Russia was supposed to trigger the end of the world. Prior to that, World War II was seen by many to be the “wars and rumors of wars” and on and on throughout history. Some folks don’t even bother naming a date. The popular “Left Behind” series of books about the rapture and events of Revelation try to tell us what will happen (in the writer’s minds), but don’t bother to tell us WHEN it might happen. The message is still clear: Everybody Panic!

Our lectionary passage from Mark today shows Jesus trying to undo the fear and beef up the faith and it points us to a more powerful message.

Keep Perspective

Walking around Jerusalem the people with Jesus are very impressed by the large stone buildings. In some ways it would be like a person from the country walking through the National Mall in Washington DC – big impressive stone buildings everywhere you turn. But Jesus is not impressed. He knows that inside some of the stone buildings of Jerusalem are greed, corruption, judgment, self-serving leaders and things that won’t stand the test of time. (again, maybe like some certain buildings in Washington DC…).

Jesus points out to them that a day will come when not one stone will be left. Jesus is reminding them, and us, to keep perspective. Buildings don’t have glory; God does. Pageantry doesn’t last forever, love does. The work of God isn’t to be set into stone, but carried from person to person to person. Let’s never get so caught up in the big and impressive that we forget the real mission and focus of Christ is to meet each person on the road where they are, let them know he loves them, and save them. The message Jesus is giving the disciples is:

“Focus, people, FOCUS!”

Discern Reality

I remember being about 13 years old and seeing a commercial on a local station about a show called “The World Tomorrow” in which the pastor was going to talk about the world ending and when that would happen. Although our family didn’t go to church, my mother confidently told me that the world would end in 2000. I sat for a minute counting up my future years and said with some measure of fear, “But I’ll only be 35 when the world ends.” Noticing my obvious distress she replied, “If you don’t finish your homework and clean your room – your world is going to end a lot sooner than that!” My mom had a grip on what was real.

Not only do we need to keep a good grip on what is important and what isn’t, we also need to keep a good eye on what is real and what isn’t. Jesus warns his disciples privately that in the time to come many will come claiming to be Christ (or at least claiming to speak for him) and they will be false prophets. How do we know the real Jesus from the “claims” that aren’t right?

The best way to discern if someone is truly following Christ is to know Christ well. Invest in your day-to-day relationship of prayer, bible reading, and reflection. When someone claims to be acting on the authority of Jesus – look for the things you know are attributes of him – is that person wise, devoted, in touch with God, in touch with humans, forgiving, sacrificing, and loving? Before we can know who is NOT Jesus – we must learn who Jesus is.

We should also avoid fear. Fear is not based in reality but frequently is a prediction, perception, or expectation with no basis in fact. Fear tells us what “might” happen, but makes it seem to us that it IS happening. Fear is what keeps us awake half the night when the bump we heard was just the cat. Fear is what makes us clutch our abundance and avoid sharing our gifts because of the scary tapes of rejection playing only in our head.

Jesus warns the disciples that scary things are going to happen. There will be wars and rumors of wars. That is a usual state of being with our human species. “These things happen,” Jesus tells the disciples. Do not be alarmed. He wants us to keep a grip on what’s real (wars are real, and they happen) and not get lost in the forest of fears, sign reading, and panic driven faith.

An End is Really a Beginning

Finally, to teach and prepare his disciples for whatever the future may hold he puts forward a simple, beautiful truth: “There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.”

We are not being told to prepare for the end. We are being told to prepare for a beginning. Jesus didn’t say “This is the death rattle.” He said “These are the birth pains.” He is already paving the way for our understanding: Change is not a form of death, but birth. Death is not the end but the beginning. Pain is not the result, but the path through which new things, new life, new hope comes to us.

So in a world where even Christians are prone to say, “Everybody Panic” we need not heed that call. That’s not the message. The message is “Look and see, watch and work, but do not be alarmed, new life is coming.” Now that’s a message I can live with!