Suffering and Hope…Hope and Suffering*

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

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 

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 1^stcentury 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

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