33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Proper 28
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16
Keep me safe, O God,
You are my hope,
You are my Hope, O God
Mark 13:1-8
Chapter 13 of the Gospel of Mark is known as the “Little Apocalypse”
With the “Greater Apocalypse” being the Book of Revelation
Apocalyptic literature…
I confess it is not my favorite preaching material
it sounds just weird and confusing to modern ears
But it was familiar to the biblical world of the Ancient Near East
It was familiar to the first hearers of Mark’s Gospel
And in the Hebrew Scriptures the Book of Daniel is the prime example
And in the Hebrew Scriptures the Book of Daniel is the prime example
It is CRISIS literature
Written in times of great oppression and suffering
The Book of Daniel grew out of the terrifying conquest of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes…around 150 BCE
The people are trying to hold fast to their tradition
in a time when it was a capital offense
to read from the Torah,
or to circumcise your son,
or keep the Sabbath,
or gather for prayer and worship
The identity of a people was being systematically erased
So Daniel writes
To comfort, guide, strengthen, and encourage
At the time Mark’s Gospel is being written
Around the year 70
The first Jewish uprising against Roman occupation was in full swing
And even though the Romans were beaten back for a while
Eventually the full force of the Empire strikes back with unbeatable force
…again a time of great crisis
Wars and rumors of wars
Chaos and death
And the great Temple…a Temple surely too big to fail
destroyed
Judaism…the life and practice of the people of God…
as they have known it will never be the same
So like Daniel…Mark writes
To comfort, guide, strengthen, and encourage
Funny how when we moderns read this kind of writing
we tend to focus on the future predictions…
But the purpose is clear
To comfort, guide, strengthen, and encourage
IN THE PRESENT
Suffering and Hope
Held together
The Gospel says that the current suffering is ‘Birthpangs’
Birthpangs
digging into that metaphor
digging into that metaphor
I picture one of our nice hospital birthing rooms
There is a soon to be mother
And it hurts like----…it crazy hurts
No epidural…no pain medication…this is a 1stcentury type birth
But on the horizon
Is what is hoped for
Hope for a new life
Calling to mind those four words:
I notice…
those are words descriptive of a midwife
The midwife (just like these strange texts) is there to
comfort, guide, strengthen, and encourage
this suffering woman in her birthpangs
Mark is comforting his community
His people who are suffering at the hands of their oppressors
He reminds them that there is something hoped for
These are birthpangs
And what is to be born is not frightening
We are participants in
…birthing the kingdom of God
…in birthing the love of God
…in birthing peace
Today is our last Sunday reading from Mark’s Gospel
Year B is closing out
I’m really going to miss Mark’s story
And the earthiness of the Markan Jesus
And I’m going to miss those fumbling Gomer Pyle-like disciples
Looking up at the Temple and saying G-O-O-O-L-Y
I feel oddly comforted by these guys
Discipleship in Mark is no cake walk
It was hard then and it still is
But these are just birthpangs
Hold fast
I have a friend who 25 years ago
Re-married
She and her husband both had young families
And she tells stories…
Stories of how hard those first years were
Trying to blend their two families
With middle school, and hormone fed teen-age resistance around every corner
She tells it now and it sounds funny…but not so then
She says that there was only one thing that saved them
We never BOTH wanted to leave at the same time!
When she was in the birthpangs
Her husband played midwife
And when he was in the birthpangs
It was her turn to be midwife
That is the beauty of community
It has been hard this week not to be consumed
By the devastation that continues to unfold in California
The sheer ferocity of the fires
The magnitude of acreage
I simply can’t fathom the power and reach of these fires
Like the audience of Daniels writing
And the community of Mark’s gospel
What these communities are facing is literally ‘earth shattering’
I go back to that birthing room
Many people…and whole communities…are clearly in the birthpangs
Death, grief, loss, terror
And then there are the midwives
all those firefighters and aid workers of all kinds
all those firefighters and aid workers of all kinds
From all over
Fighting alongside one another
Putting their own lives at risk…there as midwives
To comfort, guide, strengthen, and encourage
The ones in the birthpangs…And the midwives
But there is more
Some take the role of Daniel and Mark
They get to hold the beautiful baby
They get to shine with wonder and awe
They are the ones who tell the world of the hero stories
Stories of ordinary people
Doing extraordinary things
…yesterday I just googled ‘hero stories from California fires
And I found a very long list…stories from small local newspapers
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things…
The suffering are still suffering
The crisis is still a crisis
But Hope and Suffering go together
For the Christian, suffering can never be the WHOLE story
Like the disciples in Mark’s gospel
We too get hung up on timing
We swear it is because we just want to make sure we are ready and all
But that is not our calling
Our calling is to live NOW
To be ready ALL the time
And that sounds really hard
Really hard until we remember about all the characters in our birthing suite
We are called to live on the lookout
Not for stuff to be afraid of
But for glimpses of the kingdom
Living on the lookout
Is living looking for God’s activity here and now
Looking for those in birthpangs
And midwives attending to them
And others telling their stories of hope and resurrection
Maybe that’s my simple question for this week
Each night
As I crawl into bed
I will ask
Where and among whom did I see the promises of God today?
And I feel certain
that by the end of the week
after a week of
Really looking…
I’ll get better at seeing
And the number in my nightly accounting log
will be increasing
When will this happen?
NOW
What will be the sign?
People being Jesus-like
Kindness
Outreach
Working together
Listening
Feeding
Touching
Healing
Right here
Right now
