Proper 28 C November 17, 2013 Luke 21:5-19 Have you ever tried to foretell the future? How did you do? Here are some predictions that have actually been made: Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, said in 1943: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” In 1949 Popular Mechanics magazine said, “Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, calculators in the future may have only 1,000 vac-uum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons.” And the Decca record company turned down a contract with the Beatles in 1962, saying, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” As the disciples and our Lord were walking out of the Temple in Jerusalem, the disciples re-marked, “Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” The smallest stones in that structure weighed two to three tons. Many of them weighed fifty tons. The largest existing stone is twelve meters long, 3 meters nigh, and weighs hundreds of tons! No mortar was used between the stones. Their very weight held them together. The walls towered over Jerusalem, over 400 feet at one place. Inside the walls was 45 acres of bedrock mountain shaved flat, and in our Lord’s day a quarter-million people could fit inside comfortably – far larger than our greatest sports complexes. So, you can understand the disciples’ pride in the Temple complex, and their shock when our Lord said, “The days will come when not one stone will be left on another; all will be thrown down.” I mean, this Temple was not only the center of their religion and culture; it was the focus of their national pride. So, naturally, they asked Christ, “When will this be, and what sign will show that it is about to happen?” They wanted advance warning of such a catastrophe – like Woody Allen, who said, “I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” It did happen, about 40 years after our Lord’s prediction, when the Romans razed the city to punish Judah for the Jewish Revolt of 70 AD. It was the tragic consequence of the people’s own choices. When Pilate offered to free Jesus called Messiah, the people demanded Jesus Barabbas. (The first name was the only thing they had in common.) Barabbas’s kind of messiah-ship was what they wanted. He was in prison for leading an armed insurrection against the Roman occupa-tion. The Romans called Barabbas a “bandit” or “terrorist,” but the people of Jerusalem called him a “patriot” or “freedom-fighter.” A messiah-ship of redemptive suffering was not what they wanted. So, they got what they wanted – an armed uprising against Rome. And the result was that “not a stone was left on stone.” One has to wonder how much has changed. Human nature certainly hasn’t. Even within the church we flee from the cross and seek power instead. People will give generously to erect or re-store a building, but much less generously as a rule will they give for ministry, for service to oth-ers, for missionary work or social ministry or relief for the poor. After all, you can see a building; it can command pride or loyalty. I think it’s safe to say that, if our Lord had predicted that this building was going to be destroyed, we would all be eager to do anything we could to prevent it – or to rebuild it if the prediction should ever come true. In that way, the church has become merely one more respected institution among other re-spected institutions, and we cling to it, even though our Lord has taught us that all our respected institutions are destined to pass away. Our Lord told the disciples that the building they loved, treasured, and took great pride in, was going to be destroyed. I honestly think he was playing with their minds a bit in this Gospel. First he gets their attention with the remark about the building. They are horrified, and demand to know when it will be, and he says, “Oh, the end? Well, you know, when you hear about wars and rebellion …” “Yeah?” say the disciples eagerly. “It won’t be then. But you know, when you hear about earthquakes and famines and plagues …” “Yeah?” “Don’t worry about it, because you’ll be too busy with your own problems.” “What do you mean?” And then Christ lays it out: “Before all this happens they will arrest you, persecute you, betray you, hate you, and oh yes, some of you will be killed. But, even if they kill you, not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.” And whenever we feel as if our endurance has run out of endurance, it is good to know that our Lord has endurance to spare – even after enduring the cross – and shares it with us in his gos-pel and in the Holy Communion. “Georgia Tom” Dorsey was probably one of the greatest blues pianists of the early 20th centu-ry. He is credited with having written over 400 blues and jazz songs before the 1930’s. But trage-dy struck this successful musician and composer. In 1932 his wife Nettie died in childbirth along with their first son. Sunk in deep depression Dorsey sat at a piano and his fingers began to browse over the keys. He found himself playing a melody that soon came to be the first of all “gospel songs,” and the beginning of gospel music. The words came from a Sunday school hymnal, but Dorsey adapted them to fit his tune. And even the words come out of his blues roots: I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home. Dorsey insisted that the song was a gift directly from God. Who am I to dispute hm? From 1932 until the late 1970’s Dorsey was music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago. “Pre-cious Lord” has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Clara Ward, Roy Rogers and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson wanted it sung at their funerals. You can see why. Institutions may crumble and temples may tumble – but there are things that can’t be destroyed. The greatest of these is the love of God. But almost as great is the endurance of his faithful people. When the darkness appears and the night draws near And the day is almost gone, By the river I stand; guide my feet, hold my hand. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home. + Arthur D. Yunker, pastor
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:06:43 +0000
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