Loving God, you call us to live as your children in faith, trusting you even during times of distress and destruction.  Teach us to live every moment with you, empowering us by your Spirit to serve all those in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    How do you live, most of the time?  Do you spend most of your time thinking about the past – perhaps longing for the “good old days”?  Do you spend most of your time worrying about the future, or getting ready for the next thing, or wondering whether you will have enough to survive?  Or, do you savour the precious present moment, making the most out of every day and being fully present and aware of the things that are going on around you?  There is perhaps a little bit of all three approaches in the readings that we heard today.

    Isaiah was speaking to people who were most likely lamenting and looking back to the days when both Jerusalem and the Temple were all in one piece.  Although they have now come back to Jerusalem from their time in Babylon, many things are still in ruins, and persecution continues.  And so Isaiah invites them (and us) into God’s vision of a new heavens and a new earth, where all creatures live in peace and have enough to eat.  Things might look dismal now, Isaiah says, but this is not God’s final word for you, or for anybody else.  God is at work on the new creation!

    At the same time, we heard today what Paul was writing to the Thessalonians, who seem to have been totally focused on the future.  In fact, some of them were so sure that Jesus was going to be returning any day now that they had stopped working, and in some cases had stopped doing anything at all.  And so Paul says to them (and also to us), “do not be weary in doing what is right” (2 Thess. 3:13).  Don’t spend your time waiting for what may or may not happen tomorrow.  Spend your time today doing what is right.

    Of course, then we have today’s gospel, which was delivered to people whose worlds had been absolutely shattered.  By the time that Luke was writing, many of the things that Jesus had spoken about had already happened.  The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down.  People had been betrayed by their own family members and had been arrested and persecuted and put to death.  

    Once again, many people were looking both to the past and to the future.  They were wishing for the time when their Temple was still standing in all its magnificence.  They were wishing for the time when Jerusalem was not under the control of the Romans or of any other foreign power.  And at the same time they were wishing and hoping that Jesus would return really soon, because there seemed to be distress and destruction all around them.  Does any of this sound familiar?

    Over this past week we have witnessed unprecedented levels of destruction and distress in the Philippines, and as people of faith we struggle to make sense of it all.  Undoubtedly some will come out with pronouncements about many of the “why” questions that people have, and at least some of these pronouncements will be entirely unhelpful.  As people of faith, it is okay to have these questions, and sometimes we may not have satisfactory answers to everything.

    However, as a person of faith, there are a few things that I do believe to be true.  First off, from the Scriptures I know that Jesus knows what it is to suffer and knows what it is to be hungry and thirsty and knows what it is to grieve and knows what it is like to be naked or without shelter.  And so, I have no doubt that Jesus is right there with all those who suffer, sharing their sorrows and their cries for help.
 
    At the same time, I look at today’s gospel, which oddly enough speaks about being arrested and persecuted as an opportunity!  Those who are brought before kings and governors will have “an opportunity to testify” (Lk. 21:13).  And so I have to wonder when we see people who are in need, whether right here in Winnipeg or half way around the world – I have to wonder if we are being given an opportunity to serve Jesus.  After all, we are reminded in the Scriptures that when we minister to one of the “least of these,” that is when we minister to Jesus (Mt. 25:40).  And so, “do not be weary in doing what is right.”

    I also have to wonder if we are being reminded today to be aware of which things are temporary and which things are eternal.  For as long as people have lived on the earth, there have been both natural and man-made disasters that have destroyed cities and towns, buildings and people.  And every time it happens, we are reminded of our own mortality.  None of what we have is permanent.  Buildings can be destroyed.  Material possessions can be swept away.  Even the Jerusalem Temple with the giant stones that were used to build it was all thrown down.  Only those things that are of God are eternal!

    Even in the church, where one would think that we might be more aware that only God is eternal, we get tied to a particular building and have it in our heads that once we can’t go to that building any more, the church is gone.  However, God’s church is to be found in far more places than we can even imagine, and crosses over borders and racial lines and language barriers and any walls that we might try to erect.

    Martin Luther knew, too, that the true church was not limited to any one denomination or place or group of people.  In his estimation, God’s church is to be found wherever “the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel” (Augsburg Confession, VII).  And so, wherever believers gather together for Word and Sacrament and the good news about Jesus is spoken and seen and heard, this is the church.

    Still, most of us have a hard time when things change.  Most of us get attached to things that are temporary and not eternal.  And most of us fall into the trap at some point of either dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.  However, when we do so, we totally miss the precious present moment.

    Certainly, there are times when the present involves challenges that are to be overcome, and the best approach is to meet them when they come.  Are you likely to be hauled before the authorities because of your faith in Jesus?  Don’t prepare it all ahead of time.  God will give you the words that are needed.  Are you convinced that Jesus is going to appear soon?  Don’t stop everything and wait!  Keep planting seeds and doing what needs to be done, and “do not be weary in doing what is right.”

    There is nothing we can do to change the past, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot control what will happen in the future.  And so, we live every day by faith.  We live knowing that through baptism we belong to God through Jesus Christ.  We live knowing that when we seek God’s kingdom above all else, all that is needed will be provided.  And we live looking for opportunities to serve Jesus, for he continues not only to be God with us, but also to show up in those who are in need.  May we be given the grace to recognize him wherever he is to be found!  Amen.

Lectionary 33(C)                            Isaiah 65:17-25
November 17, 2013                        2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                    Luke 21:5-19
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
© 2013 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved