Happy New Year!
I know that the days are getting shorter and the news is looking dark. I know that Christmas hasn’t gotten here yet—there are still 21 days of shopping before Christmas, and the rest of our country will be celebrating New Year’s about a month from now—but today is the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical year. Today, as in every year, we gather to say that God’s time is not always the world’s time.
Today we proudly and loudly bear witness to God’s saving work among us and for us as we begin telling the story of our faith using the Gospel of Mark as the predominant narrative for this year. Mark is the first gospel to be written and, as such, the Gospel of Mark has special authority. For instance, did you know that almost 90% of the material in Mark is included in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke?
You would think that since this is the year we tell the story of our faith through the Gospel of Mark that we would start at the beginning with those towering words of faith--“In the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”—but those words are saved for us until next week.
Today we hear the words of the end of chapter 13 of Mark. This chapter is known in pastor-speak as the Little Apocalypse in which Jesus speaks to his disciples as they are coming out of the Temple. In chapter 12 they have just witnessed the widow giving her only two coins which displays the extreme taxation of the poorest people compared to the wealthy putting in as little as they can. This is not a headline article from the newspaper today—it is the account of what was happening 2000 years ago. It just sounds like today.
Earlier in 13 the disciples are amazed at the beautiful construction of the temple which is built of large stones. It is magnificent, and so the news Jesus gives, that the temple will be destroyed and that the world as they know it will no longer exist, is a little …… shocking.
Here early in the Little Apocalypse, Jesus confronts the disciples, and us, by describing a world gone awry. There are earthquakes (the sun will not shine) and solar eclipses (the moon will not give off light). There are wars and rumors of war, consuming fires that destroy valued crops; stars are falling. Public voices are telling us that the way to save the world is over here or over there--this person has the right answers for the world we live in; that person has the right answer for us. If Jesus had known the tune, he may have even sung, “Here a savior, there a savior, everyone is claiming to be a savior. Old McDonald rules this farm, ee-I, ee-i-oh.” It is a time of chaos, and, frankly, the world looks a little scary just like it does today.
But before I get too far ahead of myself, I also have words of hope for you today from my professor, Gwen Sayler, “All apocalyptic literature is predicated on hope. We are assured that we should keep the faith because the battle has already been won.” That’s right; the battle has already been won!
As we read today’s gospel, we need to keep in mind that, although these images may be talking about what our world is like today, this cosmic battle, the battle of God vs evil, has already been won. Mark is recounting these words to us with sure and certain hope that can only be stated because Christ has already been crucified. Christ is already raised up from the tomb. And, although there are times when the world is going to look really dark, the sure and certain hope comes to us, is given to us, is shown to us, in the light of Easter morning with the women at the empty tomb.
Indeed, not only has the cosmic battle of death and the grave already been won, Jesus has gone ahead of his disciples then and before us today into Galilee, that world of ministry where we will meet him. Therefore, we are told that we need to be engaged in our world, that is, we are to be vigilant, keeping our eyes wide open, so that we see what is going on around us, maintaining our post as doorkeeper, for Christ is coming to us here.
Let us understand that these images Jesus uses are real. As we read to the end of this first Gospel of the New Testament, we will see the Star of Heaven fall. We will see Jesus die on the cross and be taken down and buried. At that time, we will hear of how the world becomes dark, the sun does not shine, the people do not see the moon, for darkness covers the earth. The heavens will shake; the temple curtain will be torn in two; and the division between heaven and earth, between God and God’s people, will be permanently destroyed. It will pass away. Those are just the cosmic signs.
After celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples, it will be evening when Jesus is arrested, midnight when he is first tried, cock’s crow when Peter will deny him, and early morning when the women will flee in terror and in fear telling no one. As dark and dismal as this all sounds, remember, “Keep the faith! The battle has already been won.”
So, on this New Year’s Day, it is appropriate that our attention is focused on the problems of the world. It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, to acknowledge our need for vigilance, to keep alert, and watch for Christ’s presence among us, remembering that the purpose of the doorkeeper is not to keep people out of the kingdom but, as the first person met, to be the voice of welcome to those who would enter into the midst of Christ’s ministry with us; in the words of Martin Luther, “to be Christ to one another.”
“For it is like a man who has gone on a journey (‘And on the third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven …, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead’), when he comes again at an unexpected time.” The world and Jesus’ disciples were not able to read the signs of the time even though Jesus told them everything beforehand, but we have the opportunity to do better. Therefore, let us continue to watch. With a little twist to a well-known ad, we watch and hope to hear, “Can you see me now?” I give thanks for all of you who join me on the ramparts of this watch tower, this place we call Albany Lutheran Church, with all of the spiritual gifts we need to succeed, while waiting for the place and time of Christ’s coming again to be with us.
In the meantime, we are given this amazing Gospel as a narrative journal recounting where Christ can be found. On this journey, we will encounter the leper, the sick, the lame, the maimed, the deaf, the blind, the grieving, and outsiders who have spiritual gifts for the whole community of faith. We will meet women, men, and children as we discuss and learn what it means to be faithful in a disruptive and chaotic world. And we are always remembering that Christ has already won the battle for us, that Christ was crucified; Christ is risen!; Christ will come again.
Therefore, in our moments of despair, when we are tempted to shout out, “O, that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” we remember, “Oh, yeah, you already did that. Thanks be to God.”
Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year!
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