KNOWING
THE SIGNS
LUKE
21.20-33
DECEMBER
7, 2008
WESLEY
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Douglas
Norris
Tom
Sine in his book, The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, tells of a true
incident that happened in Burlingame. Two emigrants from Scandinavia
brought with them from the old country a love of gathering wild
mushrooms. One weekend they went mushroom gathering in the foothills
and came home carrying baskets overflowing with delectables.
Realizing they couldn't possibly consume all their bounty, they
decided to have a dinner party and invite a houseful of friends to
help them devour the harvest. They fixed mushroom crepes, mushroom
soufflés mushroom omelets, and they ate until they couldn't
possibly consume another mushroom. They scraped the leftovers into
the cat's dish. Near midnight the guests began to get their coats to
go home. Suddenly there came a scream from the kitchen. “The
cat!” They went running into the kitchen. There on the floor was
the cat—thrashing, kicking, crying, her sides heaving. Someone
exclaimed, “Oh, no it's the mushrooms!” The doctor was called
and told them, “It is nothing to mess around with.” So they all
rushed to the Emergency Room, and there the lovely dinner party ended
with the guests stretched out having their stomachs pumped. What a
way to end a party! They straggled to their cars and drove back to
the house to gather their belongings. By now it was 1:30. As they
began to leave the second time, someone remembered the cat. What had
happened to the poor cat? They went to the kitchen, looked in, and
there on the floor was the poor cat, lying silently...with eight new
kittens!
They
misread the signs! They saw turmoil, discomfort and pain, but they
misread. They missed the signs of new life, of hope and joy. They
couldn’t tell the difference between mushroom poisoning and a cat
in labor!
Were
you disturbed by the Scripture lesson this morning? Luke painted a
dismal picture. 21.21-23, “Then those in Judea must flee to the
mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in
the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance...
Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in
those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath
against this people.” Disturbing events that are signs. Knowing
the signs, knowing what the signs mean is the challenge. These signs
are often misread, as the guests misread the turmoil of the cat.
Let's
look at this passage from three perspectives: historical, future,
and contemporary. First, the historical. There is much confusion
understanding this passage. Many today are writing books, speaking
on television, frightening the youth with talk of the end of the
world, as if there are not enough things happening to frighten
people. What is often misread about these “end of the world”
passages is that most of the events have already been fulfilled. The
Bible is an ancient book. Jesus spoke these words some 2000 years
ago, and he was quoting even more ancient sources when he used this
kind of language. Jesus was speaking to folks in that time. How
arrogant of us to think Jesus was speaking about events in our time.
Look at verse 32. Jesus clearly said, “This generation will not
pass away until all these things have taken place.” The Good News
version makes it even clearer, “Remember that all these things will
take place before the people now living have all died.” These
words were spoken to that generation, not ours.
So,
what happened to fulfill these predictions? In 70 AD the Romans,
tired of the constant skirmishes and uprisings in Judea, marched on
Jerusalem. Under Titus they converged, slaughtered the innocent, the
pregnant women, the mothers with little babies, causing people to
flee to the hills as Jesus predicted. They destroyed the temple,
fulfilling another prophecy of Jesus. The devastation of Jerusalem
was so complete that even General Titus was moved. The historian
Josephus wrote, “Titus visited Jerusalem, and contrasting the sorry
scene of desolation before his eyes with the former splendor of the
city, and calling to mind the grandeur of its ruined buildings and
their pristine beauty, he commiserated its destruction.”
Historically,
many of the so called end-of-the-world events have already taken
place. Don’t misread the signs and apply them to today.
The
second perspective from which to understand Jesus’ words is the
future. There is a future dimension as well as the historical.
21.27, “They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power
and great glory.” This is figurative, poetic language proclaiming
hope in the future victory of God over the forces of destruction and
evil. Beyond the end of time stands the Lord, who has come among us
in the person of Jesus. According to the church calendar, we are
currently in the season of Advent—waiting, anticipating the coming
of the Son of Man. There are two dimensions: the advent of Jesus,
born as a baby in Bethlehem; and the second advent, the second coming
of Jesus in victory. How and when we don’t know, but we
anticipate, we hope, we pray for the coming of the kingdom of God to
this war-torn, destructive, violent age in which people are
victimized, brutalized, mistreated and slaughtered.
The
third perspective from which to understand Jesus’ words is to
consider what it means to us today that the Son of Man will come in
power and glory. Yes, look at the signs of devastation, look at the
terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Mumbai, look at the horrors of war, but
don’t misread. Know the signs. Know the difference between
mushroom poisoning and a cat in labor.
Today
is December 7, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing.
President Roosevelt addressed the nation and said, “December 7,
1941—a date which will live in infamy.” Then he proceeded to
extend and amplify the infamy with his shameful Executive Order 9066
on February 19, 1942, authorizing the forced evacuation of 120,000
Japanese Americans.
Michi
Nishiura Weglyn, in her book, Years of Infamy, wrote (p.21),
“As a teen-age participant in this mass exodus I, like others, went
along into confinement, trusting that our revered President in his
great wisdom and discernment had found that the measure was in the
best interest of our country. With profound remorse, I believed, as
did numerous Japanese Americans, that somehow the stain of dishonor
we collectively felt for the treachery of Pearl Harbor must be
eradicated, however great the sacrifice, however little we were
responsible for it. In our immaturity and naiveté, many of us
who were American citizens...believed that this, under the
circumstances, was the only way to prove our loyalty to a country
which we loved with the same depth of feeling that children in Japan
were then being brought up to love their proud island nation. In an
inexplicable spirit of atonement and with great sadness, we went with
our parents to concentration camps.”
A
terrible time in our history. Can we look beyond the tragedy and see
signs of new life? Michi Weglyn did. P. 22, “I hope this uniquely
American story will serve as a reminder to all those who cherish
their liberties of the very fragility of their rights against the
exploding passions of their more numerous fellow citizens, and as a
warning that they who say that it can never happen again are probably
wrong.” She finds meaning and purpose in the evacuation. Let us
read the signs, understand the signs, and take action against the
forces today that undermine and violate the human rights of Muslims,
slave laborers, and homosexuals.
On
a personal level, what do you do when others (21.26) grow faint “from
fear and foreboding, and the powers of heaven are shaken?” What do
you see when earthquakes shake, loved ones die, your job and pension
are jeopardized, the economy fails, and the future is dark? Don’t
see mushroom poisoning. See signs of a future pregnant with hope.
Even in the worst of times, the Son of Man is near at hand, coming
with power and great glory. 21.27, “Stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.” Just when you think it
is the worst, when you think you just can't handle any more, then
claim God's promise, trust in God's grace and the Son will come in
power and glory, filling your life, flooding you with joy and peace.
On
the Day of Pentecost, Jesus came in power and glory through the Holy
Spirit. Jesus came in power to the church---the early preachers and
missionaries. And Jesus comes again and again in power and glory
into our lives, into our church, even today. In the midst of
turmoil, don't misread the signs. The Son comes in power and glory.
Look
around. Don’t see mushroom poisoning, doom and gloom. Don’t
misread the signs and panic like the mushroom guests. God is at work
in this world, constantly at work as the old ways fall around us.
The old economy falters and fails. Old prejudices and
discriminations crumble. The new emerges. Some try so strongly to
hold back the new, to keep the old, the status quo, the good old
days. Well, the good old days are over, and the bad old days are
over. We are in a new age, a new era, a new presidency, and our task
is to encourage the new, to influence the new to be like the kingdom
of God. Let God work in this world through us.
We
are called to be faithful. We are not told to try to figure out what
is going to happen next, and to misread events of current history to
predict when the end is going to be. We are told to feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, preach the word, work for justice, teach the
nations, make disciples. Like the mother cat that ignored the
turmoil and panic around her, and had her babies, ignore the turmoil
around while others misread the signs and run frantically to the
emergency room to have their stomachs pumped. Trust Christ for your
salvation. Like the cat, let the others be frantic, just do what you
are called to do. Be faithful. Do your ministry. Don’t panic,
but pray “Fill me with your Spirit, Lord.” Look to the Son of
Man for power.
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