The Little Apocalypse (of Mark)
The Little Apocalypse
A Sermon for Pleasant Street Church
November 15, 2009
Rev. Reebee Kavich Girash
Text: Mark 13: 1-13
1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” 3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!’ a and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. 9 “As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. 10 And the good news b must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 13 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Prayer
Sermon
“Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down…When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.”
Buildings falling down…
Nations at war…
Earthquakes…
Famine…
These were but some of the crises of Jesus’ day. They sounded to Jesus’ followers like the end of the world. But they remind us of our own day, don’t they? We, too, hear every day of little apocalypses. We turn on the news, and think, well, if it’s not the end of the world, it might at well be – if this is what we’ve come to. War, disease, drought, flooding, hurricanes, prejudice, violence, famine, poverty, global warming.
Last week was one of those weeks for me. I turned on the radio on November 5 and heard that someone had opened fire at Fort Hood, killing 13 fellow service members. As a country, we were shocked. People started asking who or what was to blame. We may never know what motivated this terrible act, but people were certainly willing to start speculating: terrorism; religious extremism; mental illness. No motivation would leave us any less shaken: thirteen people, members of our armed services, were killed on American soil, by one of their fellows.
Then I opened my mail and found this.
“November 4, 2009. Arlington Human Rights Commission. Dear Rev. Girash, We are contacting you as a member of our Rapid Response Network. Recently the Arlington Police Department has alerted us to an alarming number of racist and anti-semitic graffiti incidents around town.”
The letter goes on to describe in disturbing language which I will not share here, the nature of this graffiti.
What, in the name of our merciful and loving God, what are we to do in response to swastikas painted on skating rink doors? What, in the name of the God of peace, are we to do when an Army Major opens fire on his comrades?
Now, Jesus tells his followers, first the temple will fall, and then there will be wars, and earthquakes and famines. You need to know that ancient prophets weren’t fortune tellers – they were teachers. So Jesus hasn’t opened a portal to the future, he’s trying to prepare his people for all the terrible things they could imagine, that could come about. (And Mark, we think, was writing all this down after the Temple was destroyed.) So, Jesus is saying everything bad you can imagine, and everything bad you can’t imagine, may happen. And then, in the midst of it, something bad might happen to you: you might be arrested; beaten. And if that happens, here’s what I want you to do. When the world falls apart and your own life is in danger:
-Do not be alarmed. Remember that it’s not actually the end of the world. This upheaval is a birth pang, readying the world for transformation.
-Beware, stay awake, keep watch, pray. Don’t go into hiding. Don’t turn off the radio.
-And finally: with those who are bringing the walls down around you, and with those who are under the rubble along side you – preach. Tell the world, this is not the way God wants the world to be. Preach the Gospel. You can do it, you don’t need an M Div to speak of love and respect. Hold in front of the world a vision of peace and justice, and say to the world: the voices of bigotry and violence are not the only voices in this world.
As shocking as the graffiti of the last few weeks in Arlington is, this is what gives me hope.
It gives me hope that this kind of graffiti is indeed shocking. The language of racism and anti-semitism has been marginalized in favor of the language of equality and inclusion. This is no longer normal, this is no longer ok. Thank God.
Every time something like this happens, the refrain of equality must be sung with passion.
I have been fearful since 2001 that anti-Muslim prejudice would become mainstream, and the tragedy at Fort Hood renewed this worry. We must be alert to the false prophets who would condemn an entire religious group because of the acts of a small number of disturbed individuals. We must be alert, and continue the refrain of inclusion, understanding and respect.
“Things falling apart…worlds dying and being born. Is there ever a time when it doesn’t feel like this?” (Tony Robinson, Common Reading 2009) Friends, every day there are little apocalypses around us. The message of Jesus to his disciples and to us, is not to be afraid, but to stand watch, to hold strong in faith, to be ready, to respond to those little apocalypses with the gospel.
I say to you this day, every time you hear someone say, “It’s because he’s a Muslim,” you reply with the good news of God’s love for all God’s children. You respond with what we teach our children here: that we respect all faiths and people of all faiths. Denigrating our neighbors is not part of the gospel. Or maybe you reply with the words of President Obama: “no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor.” ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/us/11transcript.html )
I say to you this day, every time you hear about racist or anti-semitic vandalism or hate speech in our community, sit down with your children, and every youth you know, and tell them: Denigrating our neighbors is not part of the gospel. God wants us to love our neighbors. Let me quote again from the letter from the Human Rights Commission: “It is vital that our community speak out with a common voice against this kind of hatred, to show our citizens that everyone is welcome here, regardless of their racial or religious background. We want to demonstrate that the ugly intolerance of these few vandals is not the sentiment of the town. If we let these incidents go by without speaking out, then the only voices heard in town are the voices of bigots.”
I say to you this day, every time you hear bigoted language, every time you witness, prejudice, step up and speak out. Let the voice of justice, the voice of inclusion, the voice of equality be heard loudly. Proclaim the good news – loudly! You might even want to quote from our Open and Affirming Statement:
“…We affirm the God-given worth and dignity of every individual, and we support all loving relationships and families of all kinds. We believe that people of every age, physical or mental ability, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious background, and socio-economic or marital status are equal in the eyes of God…”
When the world is in crisis, it is even more important to preach the good news of God’s love. This is not the time to be silent. This is not the time to be polite. This is not the time to sit down. In fact, when you hear about these little apocalypses, don’t just tell someone God loves everyone. I say to you this day, show them. Go out of your way to show someone who needs to know it – either because they practice prejudice, or because they are the recipients of prejudice – go out of your way to show them God’s love. Do not let the bad news dominate. Do not believe the signals that the end of the world is coming. Do not be cowed by false prophets. Do not be afraid of the structures that seem ready to crumble. “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”
Keep alert and pray; and preach the good news of God’s love, the good news of God’s grace, the good news of the building up of God’s reign of peace and justice, the birth of God’s new world, the good news that one day, God’s gonna make it all alright, and the good news that today, God calls us to love, compassion, and justice.
The one who endures to the end will be saved.
Amen.