Listen! - Mark 13:24-37

 

Mark 13:24-37 NIV

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Listen!

Notice? These are all the words of Jesus. Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ warning. Jesus, yes, the fully Servant Jesus, even Jesus does not know the time of the End. Jesus, Son of Man, rejected and suffering, Jesus dies and then… and then… Jesus is exalted.

In all of these words of Jesus, we find a prediction and a parable.

Jesus speaks of the future return in glory of the Son of Man. Here, in this teaching of Jesus, Jesus describes the End itself. Jesus describes a total collapse of the universe. This description has been offered by God in the past. Yes, God has warned mankind in the past.

Hear this prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah delivers…

Isaiah 13:10 NIV

¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
    and the moon will not give its light.

Isaiah 34:4 NIV

⁴ All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
    and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
    like withered leaves from the vine,
    like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

What are we to make of all this?

When we really, literally expect Jesus to return, this is only the start of things yet to come into eternity. This is the faith God gives to his disciples and followers that God acts, for real and literally, on our world and in our life and for our future with Him.

That’s a heavy paragraph!

What we see in our “material” existence is exchanged for God’s coming action through God’s gift of faith into eternity.

With God there is no recycling of our material plastic stuff of this world. With God’s gift of faith to mankind; this is the faith that lasts forever.  Take that in for a while. There is more to what we experience in the here and now. There is more to what we see in the materials of this earth. Riches, power, prestige, education, and all sorts of “stuff” that we think of in this world… well… with God there is so much more. More than we can understand.

With this in mind… Jesus tells us that the Son of Man will come again in the clouds. Well, who is this Son of Man? Jesus!

And once again, God has been telling us all along…

Witness this dream that God gave to Daniel to record…

Daniel 7:13 NIV

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

It’s mysterious stuff to you and I.  But it does point us to Jesus. The ultimate triumph is Jesus! Yes, Jesus, the suffering Messiah, who enters His glory. Jesus’ return is real! Jesus’ return is sure!

Look at what John says…

John 1:1 NIV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

See how Word is capitalized? That Word IS Jesus. As disciples of Jesus and as mankind, we can depend on the Word of God.

 

What is real in our world? Real in our world is the unreal acts of God’s love through His Word made flesh in Jesus.

 

I know I’ve been confusing here, but hang in there. In our real world where we live with this unreal act of God living in Jesus, we are instructed to be vigilant by Jesus.

 

How do we stay vigilant?

 

Do the work of God and expect God to examine the work He gives you to do.

Well, that sounds pretty works righteous! Like God is the big counter of good works in the clouds. Well, that’s a yes and no…

 

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NIV

¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

 

So, who are they? They are the people of God who have been building on the foundation of God laid out in his grace of love through Jesus’ gift of salvation to all people.

What is the work?

2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

 

What are these things done?

 

This is doing the will of God, in bringing the message of God’s love through Jesus’ life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, so that all people see the gift God has given to us in eternal life with God.

 

Boil that down! That’s impossible for me, but I must tell those that God gives to me how much God loves them and wants to be with them in eternity. Yes, God gives us responsibilities, as He also gives us new life in Him. This is some serious stuff here. God’s gift of life is way beyond myself… but I can tell. Like my mom always told me, “You have a mouth, so use it!” I think this is what God is telling us in a way too. As disciples of Jesus, we know what gifts He has freely given us. Gifts that we don’t deserve and could not earn. So, knowing this, respond to this gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life by TELLING those God gives to you about the gift of Jesus.

 

Point people to baptism… Point people to the body and blood of Christ in with and under the bread and the wine, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.

 

Yes! Point people to Jesus! Use what gifts God has given you and freely Point to Jesus!

 

And finally in this Gospel passage of scripture…

Live your life alert to Jesus coming again. Live life with ears perked up and eyes wide open. Jesus will come again!

 

Jesus calls us to be ready and watching. Jesus calls us to be awake and aware.

 

And think about this…

 

These words of Jesus are His final words of teaching before his passion, suffering and death. All acts of love for those Jesus came to save from sin and death.

 

Yes! This is Christ the King showing all creation the God’s salvation lasts! Our Lord and King, who was and is to come. The eternal, timeless nature of God given for all… today… tomorrow… and forever.

 

Come, Lord Jesus, come… what a great day that will be!

 

Thanks be to God!

Enjoy this YouTube Music video that I listened to while preparing this message.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come

 

Look At Dat! - Mark 13:1-13

 

Mark 13:1-13 NIV

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Look At Dat!

So, we are on a trip to Branson Missouri. I think we were taking the grandchildren to drop them off with their parents. Anyway, Bubs, Daemien (I call him Bubs because his sister, Kaiya called him Bubba when she was a baby) … anyway, Bubs is in the car with us as we were driving down the strip of Branson. Bubs, looks up and sees this big King Kong on a building and shouts out, “Look at dat!”

I think of the passage of scripture above and have to wonder if the disciple would have shouted out the same… “Look at dat!” Perhaps, maybe… the stones of the Temple in Jesus day were very impressive to any human of that time.

This passage of scripture is often referred to as the “Little Apocalypse.” But, as I studied this scripture this week, I became a little annoyed by this rendering or title given by some religious scholars. Let me explain why…

Last week we looked at the passage of scripture when Jesus was watching the widow offer all she had at the Temple. Now in this passage today, we hear a disciple exclaim the “Look at dat!” It made me stop and think. Where was the disciples’ “Look at dat!” when the widow offered all she had to live on to the Temple treasury?

You see, last week, Jesus looked on as the poor widow gave her all to God. Jesus’ “Look at dat!” is far different from the “Look at dat!” of the disciple in the reading above. Jesus’ “Look at dat!” is far different from mankind’s “Look at dat!”

In Jesus’ “Look at dat!” there is the suggestion of the quality of Life. Like the quality of life in eternal life. Yet, by contrast, for most of mankind, man’s “Look at dat!” seems to point to stuff. To material stuff, to earthly stuff, like money, power, prestige, you know… stuff.

Jesus “Look at dat!” is ethical and spiritual. Jesus “Look at dat!” is of an eternal nature.

So, I pause and think. I think I need to be sure to look at the quality of my life, at the spiritual nature of my life. If I don’t “Look at dat!” here first, perhaps the “stones” of my life will tumble down, one on top of the other.

So, as Jesus and his disciples leave the Temple area, they move across the way to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus begins to teach. Two questions arise due to what Jesus had said earlier…

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Jesus words show Jesus the Prophet… I mean, after all… Jesus IS God too!

Yes, the Temple was destroyed about 70 AD, but that’s not really the point here, as I studied it.

Two very common questions, in my mind. When will this happen and what sign will be seen to signify when.

Jesus’ answer seemed to be more of a warning than an answer to the questions.

Even today, this warning applies. Today’s church should take this warning from Jesus from the early church. Don’t be led astray to too much focus on “End Times.”  The “This is it!” Rather, we should focus more faith and trust in God to act when He chooses the “This is it!”

We must be aware in our time to not be taken off the path of following and Pointing to Jesus. Don’t lose focus and look away from Jesus towards the worry of the “End Times.” Really, as I’ve heard this expression before… “Ain’t nobody got time for dat!”

Instead of focusing on the “End Times,” focus on loving God and all those God gives to you each and every day of your life. God will take care of the “End Times.” You take care of the NOW as your respond to all God has done for you. That’s the NOW of today.

Okay, let’s move on with my studies of this week. Jesus tells us that the time then was just the beginning of suffering. Let’s look at this…

Soon, Jesus would stand before Pilate and be crucified later. Later Paul would stand before Agrippa, later John Huss would stand before the Council of Constance, and later Martin Luther would stand before Charles V at Worms.

The Christian church will suffer.

Right away, the Christian church did suffer…

Acts 9:1-2 NIV

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Later on, Saul would be renamed Paul and bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. And when Paul brought the Gospel to the world… boy did he pay for it!

2 Corinthians 11:24 NIV

²⁴ Five times I (Paul) received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

The day of Christians standing before authorities is NOT over and won’t end until THE end.

When we, as disciples, oppose power, wealth, money, slavery, separation, greed, public opinion and on and on, over the people God created… This becomes the time for faith and action in the love of God and our neighbor. I mean ALL neighbors… the people we like and those we don’t included.

Persecution ties the disciple to Jesus. BUT… Persecution also gives the disciple the chance to proclaim the Gospel to all people. You will defend the faith God gives to you while being persecuted.

But why? What is this Gospel that we defend?

I was always taught that the definition of “Gospel,” was God’s Love freely given. Sounds so simple, yet it was totally costly. Notice how I capitalized the word “Love” above. God’s Love was sent down from heaven to be like you and me, in the flesh of Jesus. However, as mankind has been sinful since the Fall of Adam and Eve, this Jesus’ was sinless. And in Jesus, sinlessness, He suffered and died in my sin, to put sin to death on the cross. Not just some execution, rather a painful death that Jesus did not deserve. And Jesus, on that cross, took on my sin and the sin of the world. In fact, He became sin, to let it die with Him. But, there’s more. As Jesus defeated sin, through the glory of God, Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus rose to new life, just as His disciples rise to new life, daily in their baptism. The significance of the water in baptism, is that we drown, the Adam in us and all of our evil desires and sinfulness, just as Jesus died, so that we rise again daily as Jesus rose from the dead in God’s glory to a new life to live with God forever.

Now there’s some Love! Freely given Love but at a great price. A price that God paid for you and me. Its Love given… see that? Given! God gives the faith… God repents us of our sin… God raises us up… It’s all about God, not us. The only US in this whole thing is that God loves US so much that He saves US from ourselves and sin and death.

Will you defend the Gospel?

Don’t worry about all that.

 ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

OK, sure! But…. But… But…

This is NOT brainless nonsense here! No!

When we have a living faith in God, we turn to God in Word and Sacrament. As disciples of Jesus, we have a continual relationship with Jesus. When we are baptized, God works on us for life. So… we don’t need to get stuck on ourselves. The Holy Spirit acts on us and prepares us. So… put things in order and put worry away.

In Jesus’ words…

Matthew 6:33 NIV

³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

As, disciples of Jesus, Pointing to Jesus; apply effort and leave the results to God.

And just as I found this week… this “Little Apocalypse”

¹³ Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The end is NOT the end of the world; rather the endurance to remain faithful.

In the words of Jesus…

Luke 21:19 NIV

¹⁹ Stand firm, and you will win life.

Stand firm or endure. Standing firm is more than just surviving. Surviving is just existing. Standing firm takes the faith that God freely gives you. Stand firm in this free faith to your very last breath.

Now there is the “Look at Dat!” the “Look at Dat!” that stands firm in faith… today… tomorrow… and forever!

Beyond space and time God delivers and saves. God shows us the path of life, in and through Jesus.

May we provoke one another to love and good deeds, in response to all that God has freely given to us. Let God take care of the “End Times” and focus, yes, point, Point to Jesus!

Thanks be to God!

I invite you to enjoy this YouTube music that reminds me of my studies of this week...

Reckless Love

Get Naked - Mark 12:38-44

 

Mark 12:38-44 NIV

³⁸ As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Get Naked

Jesus teaches with a heavenly vision. It seems to me that we don’t need all the stuff and baggage we carry around. We don’t need all the fancy clothes. Think about it, God created us naked. As mankind stood in the presence of God naked at the beginning of the world, we also stand before Jesus naked in life. Jesus sees right through all of our nonsense. Jesus teaches with a heavenly vision and Jesus teaches us to get naked.

In this scripture, we see how the scribes put on a show to gain man’s awe and favor. And they go on to consume and exploit poor widows.  Jesus silenced the scribes and revealed their unbelief. Jesus makes the scribes naked in their sinfulness.

Don’t get too haughty about all of this exposing the scribes. Jesus makes me and you naked in our sinfulness as well. I have done it, and I’m sure you have too. Done what?

When we focus on how great we are, that’s the very moment we lack greatness. How’s that? As we push our way to the front of thinking that we deserve the best in life, Jesus points us to the lack of love we have for our neighbor. In the push and shove of life towards personal greatness we just become naked.

How? To be great is not something we deserve because of our own effort. We only become great through serving. Look at Jesus. Did He seek greatness in power, money, or shoving to the front? Jesus’ service to God and man is the real stuff.

The scribes, as well as you and I, sometimes serve God in a phony way. We think we are the ones that have earned our way. We become self-righteous. When we are self-righteous, we really don’t love God or our neighbor. Rather, we love ourself and what we have done to be great. And it’s at this point that Jesus makes us naked in His presence.

When we are self-righteous, we tend to devour our neighbor for our own privilege. Look at what the scribes did. What was the cause of poor housing for the needy widows?

 Our privilege, even today, devours houses and yes, even homes. We think it’s fine to forget the needs of the suffering and the poor and the alien. We flaunt our own privilege of belonging in the face of our neighbors in need. We become self-righteous thinking that we earned all that we have and deserve to be greater than our neighbor. And it’s here, at this point, that Jesus undresses us in our sin to the point that we stand naked before Jesus.

Now that you and I and the scribes, stand naked in our sin before Jesus, the passage moves on to Jesus observing a widow, naked before Jesus as he watches on.

But first let me offer a visual. There may or may not have been a building labeled the “Treasury.” However, along the colonnade which surrounded what was referred to as the “Court of the Women,” were thirteen chests with trumpet shaped opening for the offerings of the worshippers at the Temple. These trumpet shaped openings would make a noise at each offering of coins.  So, when this poor widow gave, there would not have been much of a noise.

But here is the deal. The widow, unknowingly naked in the presence of Jesus, didn’t just give a small portion, no, she gave all she had. Really you could say, she gave herself.

Paul talks about this type of giving, from the churches of Macedonia giving to the Jerusalem church…

2 Corinthians 8:5 NIV

⁵ And they (the churches of Macedonia) exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

And Jesus speaks of this widow, also in the Gospel of Luke…

Luke 21:1-4 NIV

21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

This particular tribute to the widow, was Jesus last act in the Temple. This tribute to the widow who gave all she had as an offering to God. Hmm… You see, Jesus never entered the Temple again after this.

Here, this widow, stands naked before Jesus. Here, we come to understand that God looks to the amount of love and self-sacrifice we have, not the amount of our own perceived self-righteousness. For, now we can see, that our righteousness only comes through God in Jesus, not something that we can conjure up for ourselves.

Here, as the woman stands naked before Jesus, Jesus’ comments on what the woman has done, but does not praise her for her actions. True giving is a sacrifice. The gift’s value is relative to the giver. The widow gave all!

This widow’s act is a free act of generosity.

And as this widow stands naked before Jesus, we see her giving a gift that counts. There it is again; giving is relative to what is left. It’s not the size of the gift.

When we see our sinfulness and reach the end of ourselves, standing naked in our sin before Jesus, it’s then that we see it, and it’s then that Jesus hears it.

As the widow gives her all, Jesus hears the “Greatest” gift go into that trumpet shaped offering vessel. It’s then that Jesus sees our heart. It’s then that Jesus sees that no gift of love is too small to count.

But wait! Isn’t this type of giving what the Father gave to us through Jesus serving to all mankind in His birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension?

There it is! Point to Jesus and see. Point to Jesus and follow. Point to Jesus and run in obedience. Perhaps this widow is a type of Jesus?

Don’t worry. All you have ever had from your nakedness in birth before God, has come from God. God provides even when you doubt your resources. It’s all a gift from God. Trust in God… not in man.

Yes, Lord Jesus of Heaven and Earth, I stand once again naked in your presence and I eagerly wait for you… today… tomorrow… and forever, as I follow you and Point to Jesus!

Thanks be to God!

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video of how Jesus and the Widow have given…

Withholding Nothing

Artwork … Lucas Cranach