End of the world

Malachi 4:1-2a

Psalm 98

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Luke 21:5-19

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.

Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous things, whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory. O LORD, you have made known your victory, you have revealed your righteousness in the sight of the nations. You remember your steadfast love and faithfulness too the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands; lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing. Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the voice of song. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy before the king, the LORD. Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands, and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD, who comes to judge the earth. The LORD will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received form us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying fir it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idelenss, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we commend and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and ‘The time is near!’’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earth quakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your soul.”

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It sounds like the end of the world, doesn’t it? Insurrections, nations rising up in war, earth quakes, famines and plagues… my father is one who is sure Jesus is returning soon, that we are in the end times. But Luke was writing about an experience the people had already had, because he was writing after those stones of the temple had already been torn down. And historical tragedies on the scale of ‘the end of the world’ happen far more frequently than we would like to think about. Of course, it depends on where you land in the metaphorical pyramid if you would experience the end of the world as hope or as anxiety. But the world is ending all the time. For at least half of the country, this feeling of fear is very real right now. Just this week at the University of Albany, somebody drew a swastika on the Dutch Quad, guys on the Colonial Quad were yelling Trump’s now-famous ‘grab her’ line, another Muslim student was harassed, and threats of rape were made to a woman wearing a Bernie pin. People of color are being told to get to the back of the bus by bus drivers in New York City. As ugly as this election has been, as polarizing, as dehumanizing, we have yet to see the ultimate outcome of it, but in many ways it is another end of the world, isn't it? Major leadership changes always are some kind of ending and new beginning. Some of us somehow think this is God’s justice on the world, some of us are still begging for that justice. Some already feel betrayed by parents and relatives. Jesus’ words to his disciples are pretty relevant today, despite their being written almost two thousand years ago. 

But the way this Gospel is put together, Jesus speaks these words while on his way to die. He knows he will be one of the ones who is betrayed and put to death. And he does not turn away from it, because he is committed to his cause, dedicated to his values, and refuses to return evil for evil. It seems weird that Luke has him saying, within the same two sentences, both that ‘they will put some of you to death,’ and that ‘not a hair of your head will perish.’ But somehow the author of this Gospel finds hope in this and wishes to share it with his readers. Somehow the whole end of the world experience that Luke has just lived through makes him very aware that, even though the world as he knew it came to an end, the sun still came up again, the cycles of day and night did not end, and the integrity of those who claimed faith holds them together through the end of everything they knew. He does not offer this passage in light and fluffy Hallmark hope, where if we just pretend everything’s pretty and wonderful it will be, he does not simply offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ to those in distress, but he offers this testimony it as a survivor of this terrible series of compounded violence upon hatred upon even more violence. He writes this Gospel to tell his listeners “I lived through this and you can, too.”

So what does your life depend on? What values do build upon? What source of hope and strength and light guides you through times of major upheaval? And how does that give you strength to love? Nobody else can answer that question for you, and we can’t set that hope on any human ruler or authority, either. Because, as we know, people change and positions of power trade hands often. We need to set our hope on something solid, friends. Something bigger than ourselves. And it’s not the government. And it’s not our race. And it’s not assimilation. And it’s not a wall. And it’s not our job security. And it’s not healthcare benefits or retirement accounts or the current state of the stock market. And it’s not the church, either. If it ever becomes the church that we put our trust in, we are lost, because the church is still a human institution. We can’t live with somebody or some group telling us how to avoid judgment and conflict, we’ve got to think and decide for ourselves.

Which brings me to comedy and poetry. Because sometimes when I'm looking for answers and Scripture seems too familiar and borders on sounding trite - which it does sometimes, the way we use it for Hallmark cards and cute posters - I look to modern day prophets, many of whom are comedians and poets. One comedian in particular this week is sister to the woman who preached at my Ordination. She writes for the Late Show with Seth Meyers, and she is fantastic. This week she had a few things to say to those who were disappointed in the outcome, who had become wary of their neighbors and fearful for their safety: First, she let us know that if we are white and surprised about racism in this country, we could just “join the fun,” because people who’ve received firsthand experience of racism have always known our country has thrived on it. And if this surprises any of us, we’re not paying attention. And if our faith doesn’t tell us to pay attention, we’re not paying attention. But then Amber said something very serious: 

“The thought of someone believing you deserve fewer rights because of who you are is depressing. But then you realize that by doing what you do everyday you prove to them that you’re unstoppable. They can spend their time trying to pass laws to take away your rights and silence your voice. But all you have to do is live your lives right in their faces. And it proves that we simply cannot be stopped.”

In a world that seems to be ending, in the last days of whatever struggles we might be facing, politically or personally, just living, just seeking to live with integrity, just being who we are is a victory. We seek to heal, to love, to serve, to walk in the ways of Christ to our best ability, and we lean on each other for support in the work which lies ahead and within. Keeping our Muslim brothers and sisters safe, calling out the sexism that haunts so many women even as close as Albany University, trying to make sense of the swasticas showing up on public property as though they have become acceptable, these things are how we live into our identities as people created in the Image of God, seeking to honor that Image in each and every person around us, no matter their skin color, national origin, gender, or religion. Our faith calls us to live this reality, brothers and sisters, this reality that love conquers fear no matter how big the fear grows. That’s the message of a faith built on the Incarnation of God come to dwell with us in our very own flesh, bleeding the same blood, sweating the same sweat, weeping the same salty tears.

The power of God is revealed in the audacity to remain true to self and survive the end of the world. It beautifully comes through in Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise,” so I want to share with you the last stanza, recalling to mind the images from today’s Gospel reading that are so full of fear of the end of the world. Nation rising against nation. Family betraying itself. Earthquakes and hate and imprisonment and beatings. Try to hear Angelou’s words from the perspective of this Gospel, from someone who has felt their entire life threatened, who has lived through many world-endings, who has learned to live in that power of the integrity of self and strength of purpose to survive, who was a living Image of God:

“Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.”