Community Church Sermons

Year C

November 17, 2013

Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Stand Firm #2

Luke 21:5-19

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

Senior Pastor

Every year when we hold our Blessing of the Animals service someone asks the question, “Do dogs go to heaven when they die?” I get fewer questions about cats – birds – snakes – and gerbils. But people who love those pets probably wonder, too. “Will I see my beloved pet in heaven?” One of my colleagues likes to answer the question, “Will I see my dog in heaven?” by saying, “Only if you’re as good as your dog!”

Well, I’m convinced the answer is “yes.” I realize that some of my more theologically minded friends who claim to know the mind of God in precise detail argue against animals having souls, or moral culpability, or any of the things they think are necessary to buy a ticket to heaven. Even so, I hang my conviction on the prophecy of Isaiah 65 which was read earlier in today’s service.

Isaiah paints for us a wonderful picture of what it will be like when God’s kingdom comes in its beautiful and glorious fullness. Wars will be ended. Poverty will be eradicated. No more unemployment. No more infant mortality. No more complications for women from pregnancy. No more homelessness.

In fact when you read the vision laid out in Isaiah 65 you’ll notice that all of the beautiful characteristics of the kingdom of God are actually answers to the problems the people of that day faced – war, poverty, unemployment, infant death, barrenness, homelessness. God, though Isaiah, identifies many of the problems faced by people of that day and promises that these difficulties will be resolved with goodness through the love of God. You probably know that another serious problem of the day, in that land where sheep and goats were so important to the economic well-being of people, was the predator – lions and wolves that preyed upon the flocks.

So Isaiah assures the people that in God’s kingdom the lion and the lamb will lay down together.

And so we are given a vision of God’s kingdom and please notice that it includes all the animals God created.

So if you have a little child or grandchild who is grieving the loss of their pet dog Buddy and wonders if Buddy went to heaven, you go and tell them, “Yes, Buddy is in heaven!” And then open your Bible and show them Isaiah 65 where our animal brothers and sisters are right there on God’s holy mountain where the lion lays down with the lamb!

This all has nothing really to do with today’s sermon, but I thought it might bring hope to all you pet-lovers out there.

Because, you see, Isaiah 65 IS a prophecy of HOPE!

It was written in that bittersweet time located between the destruction of Jerusalem and the eventual restoration of Jerusalem. The Temple had been destroyed. Now it was being rebuilt.

I think one of the reasons faith is so important is because it offers us hope in those in-between times – when our lives are shaken by change and uncertainty. True religion never glosses over the difficulties of life. Nations rise and nations fall. People are born and people die. There is great joy in life, and deep sadness too. Life is not always fair.

And the future is kind of scary!

Which is probably why many of us stop thinking about the future after a while. Do you remember when you were a kid? You were all about what you wanted to be when you grew up. I wanted to be a cowboy once. I had my own “toy-boy gun and hootin’ hat.” And then I wanted to own a gas station so I could buy my mother a nice dress. I actually drew a picture in kindergarten of me the gas station guy handing my mother a beautiful blue dress. Mrs. Ruane, my kindergarten teacher, thought it was a beautiful work of art! During my teenaged years I wanted to play professional baseball. And do a million other things. And when I went to bed at night I dreamed about my exciting future.

Not so much anymore.

A minister friend of mine talks about how life changes for us when he says that when he was a young minister doing weddings he was very attracted to all the beautiful brides and bridesmaids. But after a few years, he found himself attracted to the mothers of the brides and bridesmaids! And later still, he found himself drooling over the grandmothers of the brides and bridesmaids. Now – years later – he says he doesn’t do weddings anymore!

The deeper you go into life, the more difficult it becomes to face the future.

A preacher over at Duke Divinity School once got his listeners’ attention by suggesting that if they really wanted to see what their future looks like they should go visit a nursing home!

The Duke students in chapel that day didn’t like that view of what lies ahead.

But he was right. It’s hard to get our minds around the real future that awaits us all. Generations rise, and generations fall. None of us gets out of here alive!

Jesus and the disciples are in Jerusalem. They are at the Temple. And the followers of Jesus are amazed at its splendor. It is huge – bigger even than Neyland Stadium which can seat over 100,000 people. And that’s nothing compared to Bristol Motor Speedway where in a few years our Tennessee Volunteers are going to play football against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Bristol will hold about 140,000 football fans!!

But even Bristol is tiny compared with the Temple in Jerusalem. Scholars tell us it could hold over 400,000 people in its massive courtyards.

So the disciples are awestruck by the sheer size and magnificent stones of this great wonder of the world.

But then Jesus says, “The time is coming when not one stone will be left on another.” And he tells them about a future day when even the indestructible Temple will be destroyed.

And the disciples want to know how they can face such a moment! How do you live when your world is falling apart? How can you make it through times when your temples fall and your safe and predictable present gives way to a frightening and unpredictable future?

Well, over in verse 19 Jesus tells us.

“Stand firm, and you will gain life.”

You may notice that in last week’s sermon from 2 Thessalonians we were also told to “stand firm.” Stand firmly on God’s love for you, on God’s choosing you for salvation, and for God calling you to share in the glory of Jesus Christ. I summed up those three things with the word “grace.” Stand firm on the grace of God.

And today, Jesus tells us again to “stand firm.” And what we need to stand firm on is “hope.”

Yes, our temples will fall. Every last one of them! But God will rebuild our lives.

It happened back in the days described in Isaiah 65, and over and over again in the lives of our spiritual ancestors, the Jews. Our God is the God of resurrection! The reason the Old Testament of our Bible is so important to us Christians is not because it gives us rules – most of those rules are obsolete - but because it gives us STORIES – stories of people who mess up, but are redeemed – stories of folks whose lives are torn apart, but who God makes whole. The whole narrative of our first testament is about the world crashing down on people, and our loving God raising them up.

You may have recently seen on Facebook a version of this little rundown on the people of the Bible. It begins by saying something about if you feel God can’t love, accept and use YOU, consider this:

~ Noah was a drunk

~ Abraham was too old

~ Isaac was a daydreamer

~ Jacob was a liar

~ Leah was ugly

~ Joseph was abused

~ Moses had a stuttering problem

~ Gideon was afraid

~ Samson had long hair and was a womanizer

~ Rahab was a prostitute

~ Jeremiah was too young

~ David was an adulterer and a murderer

~ Elijah was suicidal

~ Isaiah preached naked

~ Jonah ran from God

~ Naomi was a widow

~ Job went bankrupt

~ John the Baptist ate bugs

~ Peter denied Christ

~ The disciples fell asleep while praying

~ Martha worried about everything

~ Zaccheus was too small

~ Paul was too religious

~ Timothy had an ulcer

~ Lazarus was dead!

The world in one way or another had come crashing down on all these people. Society had given up on them. Their families may have disowned them. They may even have given up on themselves.

But God is a God of hope – and our religion is a faith of resurrection. Yes, things and times and people die. But death is never the last word, and God is at work making all things new.

So how do we live in times like these?

We stand firm on hope, and live like followers of Jesus Christ.

St. Francis was out weeding his garden one day. A fellow came along and asked, “If you knew this was the last day of your life, what would you be doing?”

“Well, I’d be weeding this garden,” St. Francis said.

And you have a garden too – your family, your neighbors, your church, your community, your world.

Whatever temples may fall in your life, keep tending that garden.

When I think about people who faithfully lived their lives all the way through temples falling I remember Arlene, a woman in my first church who was dying of cancer. The family gathered at her bedside – including her two daughters who were estranged from each other. They had nothing to do with each other, and barely spoke. But there they were as their mother came to the end of her life – one on the right, the other on the left side of the bed. All at once, Arlene reached out and took the hand of one daughter. Then she took the hand of the other. And with great effort, she brought their hands together over her heart and whispered, “Take care of each other.”

And then she went home to God.

And do you know what? The two daughters reconciled and became best friends again.

Arlene – like St. Francis – tended the garden.

And God took care of the future!

So live your life and tend your garden! Stand firm on HOPE! And help us be a church that is a signpost pointing to that hope.

The famous theologian Carl Barth had a painting prominently displayed on the wall of his study. It was Matthias Grunewild’s painting of the crucifixion of Jesus and in it is an image of John the Baptist, a long crooked finger pointing you to the cross of Jesus in the center. When Barth entertained visitors and talked with them about his work and ministry he would direct the attention of the person to John the Baptist and say, “I want to be that finger. I want to be a sign pointing to the victory of Christ.”

The disciples of Jesus wanted to know what would be the sign of his coming.

YOU are the sign. WE are the sign!

This is why our job in the church is to love each other, support each other, and walk with each other from birth – through all of life - to death – and into the very kingdom of God.

This is why we work hard as a church to bring healing to those who are broken, food to the hungry, housing to the homeless, acceptance to the rejected.

This is why we judge no one in their present state, but try to see them as God sees them, and embrace them as fellow travelers through this world – people for whom God has great hope.

This is why we let go of our sectarianism, denominationalism, and all those other divisive “isms” in order to more powerfully and clearly be that finger – a sign pointing the way to Jesus Christ and the future he promised.

Stand firm on HOPE, dear friends!

We do not know what the future will bring.

But we know the One who holds the future!

Stand firm!