Rev. George Miller
March 29, 2020
Mark 13:1-23
Today’s reading features the words “beware” and “Be alert.” Timely phrases for a time like this.
Many of you are on alert, perhaps too high of an alert.
Many are on alert filled with adrenaline which has placed you into flight, fight or freeze mode.
As a result, it is burning you out and wearing you down.
Yes, there are those who are using this time to rest, sleep in, chill…but there are others who are completely “on”-
The tv is on
News is on
Facebook is on
Twitter is on
Cell phone is on
Your car may resting in the garage but your own inner engine is revving away.
Jesus says to “be alert” but how much more alert can a nation be???
…Unless if there is another kind of alert that Jesus is talking about…
Today’s reading comes from the Gospel of Mark, written during a dangerous time in history.
Back then the Temple was a glorious building to behold. It stood 9 stories tall, with stone 40 feet long, some weighing over 100 tons.
The Temple was covered in gold, so much gold that when the sun shone upon it, a person could be blinded.
The Temple was not perfect. Corrupt leaders had slithered their way into its rituals. False preachers used it for their fame and gain.
But, as a symbol, the Temple was there to represent the presence and love of God.
It was supposed to be the stable center of society, a place in which you could go to find calm even when the world seemed so chaotic.
If the Temple stood safe, Jerusalem was safe…
Here we have Jesus telling of a time in which the Temple will fall, when the 40-foot stones will topple over.
Jesus tells of a time in which there will be total chaos, fear and worry and unfortunately the Temple will not be there to calm their fears or provide assurance.
How many people are feeling this right now? That we are at a time in history in which we could use a sign of stability, but…
Where is the Church?
Where is the building?
Why aren’t we inside the sanctuary?
How many are wondering right now-
Where is the Pastor?
Why isn’t the Pastor in my home?
Why am I in the hospital, sick and scared and the Pastor is not beside me?
How many are wondering-
Where are my church friends?
Where is the food we use to share?
Where are my sisters and brothers in Christ?
Where are the hugs?
The kisses?
The handshakes?
The embrace?
The time we all need positive touch the most…we can’t.
The time we need to gather as one body inside the safety and sacredness of the church…we can’t.
The time we most need our Old Time Religion…we are being pushed into a new age that is online, livestreamed, click and play.
In today’s reading Jesus told us of worries and woes, but Jesus also spoke of something else…hope.
In vs. 13 he says, “the one who endures…will be saved.”
Hope. Endurance.
The ability to hold on, be strong. To get back up even when you fall down.
To finish the race even if your shirt is drenched with sweat, your heel has broken off, and your hair’s a hot mess.
Jesus encourages us to endure not because he thinks we will fail, but because he knows that we can succeed.
We can endure.
How? By being alert, but perhaps not the kind of high alert we’re already in.
I don’t think Jesus is encouraging us to continue in this unhealthy Facebook, news cast, fearful way that is filled with adrenaline and no sleep.
Perhaps the alert we can most benefit from right now is more akin to the kind that was in the Garden of Eden.
Maybe the kind of alert Jesus wants for us in the 10 Commandments, Sabbath kind-of-rest alert.
What do we mean by that?
Perhaps Jesus wants us to be alert to the ways in which God is present.
In nature- the sounds of the birds that seem to be singing more sweetly than before.
In sleep that is restorative in which it is the sun, not an alarm clock, that wakes us up.
To be alert to the ways Christ is present.
The unexpected kindness of strangers.
The giving to people in need.
The neighbor who comes by with an extra bar of soap or extra roll of paper.
The ways in which people are being the hands of Christ, like Bolton who challenged the community to give to The Shepherd’s Pantry, and as a result ensured 2 months-worth of food.
Be alert to the Holy Spirit and the ways it is working.
Presenting new ways to live. New ways to communicate.
New ways to share music, dance, song, stories, art.
New ways to connect that is beyond
Stone
Walls
Paper books
Fixed Time frames
And door handles.
We are living in an unsure time.
Jesus spoke of a scary time.
Mark was written for people living through the kind of things that Jesus spoke about.
So what do we do? How do we live?
What is the Good News?
For today, let us take this call to be alert and instead of filling it with adrenaline and high-octane worry, let us see this call as an invitation.
An invitation to be present.
To be aware.
To be here.
To be rooted to the earth.
To be connected to God.
To find Sabbath rest even when there is worry.
To look for the ways nature is making God known, the ways our neighbors are being the hands of Christ, and the revolutionary ways in which the Holy Spirit is acting.
For that, let us say “Amen.”
A UCC Pastor's walk through the spiritual waters of Scripture, pop culture and life.
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