As we follow the news and look at events taking place in the world around us, I wonder how many of us have felt like things are worse now than they’ve ever been in history. In just the past few months, we’ve experienced increasingly stronger and more destructive natural disasters; seen war, violence, and threats erupt across the world; and have experienced a contentious election season, exacerbated by deep polarization in this country. Institutions, including the Church, which seemed to be permanent and immovable parts of society are weakening in influence and trustworthiness. In the face of all this, and more examples we could name, the prediction that Jesus makes to the disciples that “all will be thrown down,” seems to many of us not just possible, but probable.
Indeed, these readings seem to be fitting texts for the days we find ourselves in. Perhaps they give voice to our anxiety, and assure us that we are not alone in feeling this way. They remind us that people throughout history have also experienced times of anguish, uncertainty, and fear for what the future holds.
The community for whom Mark’s Gospel was written, for example, would have read Jesus’ words through the lens of their own experience. These early Christians had already watched, or at least heard about, the destruction of the Temple and siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70CE, just a few years before the Gospel was recorded. The Temple, which was the center of Jewish life and faith, a critical part of their heritage and identity, had indeed been torn down, large stones and all. And yet, this was far from the first time that war, destruction, and violence had taken place. It was not even the first time that the Temple had been destroyed. Five hundred years prior, it had been the Babylonians who had left not one stone upon another, driving the people from their home in Jerusalem into exile in Babylon.
Yes, at any given time in history, there have probably been people thinking that things were worse than they’d ever been before. At any given time in history, people could point to examples of all the signs that Jesus lists - leaders who claimed God’s blessing but only led people astray; wars and rumors of wars; conflict, earthquakes, and famines. Because while Jesus lists these signs to watch for, he doesn’t tell his disciples, or us, when the end will come, just that, at some point, it will.
Encouraging, right? But really, precisely because we don’t know the day or hour or even century that the end is coming, we have no reason to hide out or idly wait for that unknown, future day. Instead, we can do what people have always done in challenging and uncertain times - keep on living.
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| Photo by Rémi Walle on Unsplash |
In addition to giving us some perspective, today’s texts also offer us a response - some words of wisdom for the reality of living in challenging and uncertain times. Hear again these words from Hebrews 10:23-25: “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What do we do in the midst of challenging and uncertain times? We hold fast to hope. Not false hope, which tries to promise that resurrection can happen without death, or that our comfort is always assured. No, the hope we cling to is hope in God, the one who is faithful, the one who keeps promises, the one who holds us in the midst of uncertainty and fear.
We look to Scripture for stories of God’s faithful, enduring presence with God’s people in all kinds of circumstances. God was faithful to our ancestors through the years of brutal enslavement in Egypt; through decades of wilderness wandering; through regime after regime of oppressive rulers. God was faithful through famine, violence, and persecution. God was faithful even when, time and again, God’s people broke the covenant and turned away. God was faithful, even when it seemed from the outside like evil was winning the day. It is hope in this God, this faithful God, to which we hold fast in challenging and uncertain times.
We hold fast to hope, and we hold fast to one another. Facing the chaos and destruction of war, disaster, famine, and uncertainty at any time in history is not meant to be done alone. Instead, we rely on each other, the body of Christ, for support, strength, and encouragement. We do not neglect to meet together because it is when we gather that we are reminded of God’s faithful presence. We meet together so that we might hear God’s word - the stories of God’s faithfulness. We meet together so that we might splash in the baptismal waters and eat and drink at the Communion table, hearing the reassurance that we are forgiven and loved, that we belong to God, no matter what comes. We meet together so that we can pray with and for one another, supporting and caring for one another on difficult days and joyful ones.
Yes, we spend time in community so that when we are weary, we can pass the load to others while we rest for a time. When we are despairing, we look to our community for comfort and encouragement. When we are hungry, or sick, or struggling, we receive love and care. And, when we are bogged down in selfishness or self-pity, our community nudges us to turn our gaze outward, provoking us instead to love and good deeds for the sake of our neighbor.
These are challenging and uncertain times, and as Jesus says, the end is still to come. As we think of the end, though, it need not be with fear and trepidation. Consider that the word Jesus uses in this text from Mark is not “end” as the cessation of something, but rather “end” as the final goal or purpose. God’s end, God's purpose for all creation is coming - it is that day when, finally, all things will be reconciled to God; when all creation is renewed; when tears and pain and death are no more; when division and hatred are replaced with abundant life and everlasting peace, as all people are gathered with God around the great heavenly feast.
As has been true for people in every time and place, we need not look far to find examples of chaos and division, destruction and disaster. But in the midst of this upheaval, as we live through challenging and uncertain times, we hold fast to hope, trusting in God’s faithfulness, and hold fast to one another. God’s end, God’s purpose is still to come.
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