Sermon preached on my second last Sunday at St Barnabas Northolt,
17th November 2024
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[lean to one side] Over confidence?
[lean to the other side] Over panicked?
[scratching head] over sight?
This is a time, a season, for strong emotions. In America President Elect Donald Trump particularly evokes these.
On the one side - Donald Trump is the “annointed one”. God saved him from the assassins bullet so he could make America right again. After decades of woke mania and an establishment who ride roughshod over ordinary people and their value, In January the Donald is going to drain the swamp and put everything right.
On the other side - Donald Trump is - well “the devil is probably a too religious word” - but THE danger to Democracy, the dictator for a day- he will bring fear and terror for women, ethnic minorities, gays. He will bring war. He will personally be responsible for the Climate Crisis. He will bring tariff inspired global poverty
That’s the same man we are talking about - “interesting times”
In England - well the Church of England - [confident voice] “always been here - always will be here” - this week, for the first time since Thomas Cranmer was burnt at a steak, an Archbishop of Canterbury has been forced from office in a scandal.
“Interesting times”
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[lean to one side] Over confidence?
[lean to the other side] Over panicked?
[scratching head] over sight?
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OVERCONFIDENCE
“As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’” (Mark 13:1-2)
Have you ever been to St Peter’s in Rome? Its an amazing building. And HUGE! The day I went there, I went to an English in a side chapel. Now side chapel - you are thinking small? [shakes head -] uh uh. At the time I as a curate at St John’s Church Bethnal - an East End church that could seat a thousand people. In St Peter’s in Rome - this side chapel was bigger than my entire church back home. This side chapel could seat way more than a thousand people - and that was just the side chapel. The lettering you could barely see on the dome above - that lettering was apparently 9 feet tall. This building was full of art going right back to the renaissance - and this building had been there for ever.
That is how first century Jews felt about the Temple.
“As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’”
For first century Jews the Temple was a sign of Permanence - God’s never departing presence that assured them everything would go on safely.
But Jesus knows - only 40 years later in AD70 the Romans would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple would be torn down. Jesus did exaggerate slightly. Not every stone was thrown down - a tiny section known today as the “wailing wall” survives as a reminder of the great edifice that once stood there. But the rest of it - “Not one stone [was] left here upon another; all [was] thrown down.’”
It is easy to be sucked into over confidence - nothing can really go wrong. Things will continue the way they always have…
In Afghanistan - there were beautiful statues - the Bamiyan Buddhas. The larger one was 180 foot high. The smaller one 125 foot. Even that is equivalent to more than twenty people standing on each others shoulder. These statues had been built in the 6th century. Generations had walked past them. Wars had gone on around them. Languages had come and gone. But the statues were always there.
Then in 2001 the Taliban blew them up.
In 1993 I was invited to go on a University Reading trip to Assisi - we would study theology together and also see the sights including the incredible basilica there. Well I can’t quite remember why I said “no”. Perhaps I had another holiday to go on. Perhaps it was too expensive. I do remember thinking I could always go to Assisi another time.
Then in 1997 an earthquake obliterated the Basilica and most of the art work within it. A copy has been rebuilt, but not the original - and the art work is gone.
I never visited Sycamore gap. But apparently - in that dip in Hadrian’s Wall there was an Amazing Tree there. A tree that had stood on the sight for hundreds of years. A tree that had been voted the nation’s favourite tree.
Then last year (2023) two young vandals came in the middle of the night with a saw and chopped the beautiful tree down.
“As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’”
Over confidence.
And it’s not just buildings and trees that we can think will be unchanging for ever. It can be - our health, our marriage,our job, - I bet the Ukrainians didn’t really believe three years ago that their country was going to be taken away from them.
We can rely on “everything will always stay the same”.
But there is only one thing we are meant to rely on.
[whip out an American dollar bill]
No… not money
[handing it to a congregation member] - what does it say? “In God we trust”
“The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of the Lord endures for ever” (Isaiah 40:8)
OVER PANICKED
The first disciple is overly confident that the Temple will provide protection. When Peter James and John hear that every stone will be thrown down - they have the opposite reaction. [high pitched screech] “PANIC!”
"Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’ (Mark 13:3-8)
“When I was a little boy I’d sometimes get scared when I was at home alone. When that happened, I noticed every single noise in the house. I’d hear every creak in the floor, every bush blowing in the wind, every squeak in the walls. My imagination would run wild, and I’d be sure that someone was trying to get in, that some crazed axe murderer was outside. Now when I was like that, was I clear headed? I was certainly paying close attention to what was happening around me. But I wasn’t clear headed. My imagination and fears were causing me to read into every creak and squeak. I believe the same kind of thing happens to Christians during times of world crisis,” (1)
That quote comes from a sermon I came across whilst researching for preaching this one. The sermon was written in the middle of the 2nd Gulf War - and the preacher comments about how Christians at the time were convinced that that conflageration in the Middle East was a sign that Jesus was about to return any moment.
Then he points out that a decade earlier - EXACTLY the same thing happened.
I could point out that when
- Rome was sacked by Barbarians in 476 AD Christians saw it as a sign that Jesus was about to return at any moment
- When the black death happened and a third of Europe’s population died of disease Christians saw it as a sign that Jesus was about to return at any moment
- When Constaninople (after being there for over 1000 years) fell to the Turk in 1453, Christians saw it as a sign that Jesus was about to return at any moment
- When the French Revolution brought murder turmoil and war to the whole of Europe - Christians saw it as a sign that Jesus was about to return at any moment
- When the first world war - you’ve guessed it - Christians saw it as a sign that Jesus was about to return at any moment
“When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come”
Things can feel quite traumatic at the moment - war in Europe. Multiple wars in the Middle East. Potential War in Taiwan and / or Korea. Flooding in Valencia. Hurricanes in the Carribean and South America. Forest Fires in Italy and Greece”
I refer you - not just to Jesus but also to Douglas Adams -
“In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitch-Hiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.” (2)
Julian of Norwich in her “Revelation of Divine Love” writes -
I often wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the onset of sin was not prevented: for then, I thought, all should have been well. This impulse [of thought] was much to be avoided, but nevertheless I mourned and sorrowed because of it, without reason and discretion.
But Jesus, who in this vision informed me of all that is needed by me, answered with these words and said: “It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (3)
Fr Martin Elfert - in a sermon written for this exact same Sunday three years ago in 2021 writes
“It is the end of a hard year. It is the beginning of a new year that has already gotten off to a hard start. In the isolation and anxiety of pandemic, on a day not barely two weeks after the Capitol building was invaded, as we live with our own griefs and our own losses, it may be hard to believe in or to heed Julian’s words. Perhaps they strikes us as too facile, too easy. They certainly are simple. But I have this hunch, this holy guess, that they are not simplistic.
I have this hunch that they are telling us the truth.
Jesus knows all about pain, about loss, about unfairness, about absurdity, about injustice, about sin, about death. He knows as well that – somehow, in a way that we cannot fully explain or understand – these things are necessary. And he promises that, on the far side of all of these things, there awaits resurrection.
All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Or, if you prefer
Don’t panic.
Somehow, in spite of everything, it’s going to be OK.”
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[lean to one side] Over confidence?
[lean to the other side] Over panicked?
[scratching head] over sight?
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OVERSIGHT
“As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him”
“As Jesus came out of the temple”
But what had Jesus been doing IN the Temple. He had been teaching on many things - and in particular he spots the widow putting her tiny coin - her “mite” in the temple collection - and he tells the people how she has been so much more generous than any one else because she has given all she had. (Mark 12:41-44)
[holding up dollar bill] - That woman had trust in God - but all the disciples seem to want to talk about are impressive buildings or utter panic.
Imagine a young couple that’s deeply in love. "Finally," the guy thinks, "I’ve met my soul mate, the woman I can pledge the rest of my life to." So he buys a ring, and when the time is just right, he pops the question. She cries and laughs at the same time, and gladly accepts his proposal. So they set a date for the wedding, and start looking forward to that special day. They imagine looking into each other’s eyes as they repeat their vows to each other. They imagine celebrating at the reception with their family and friends. They imagine their wedding night as they consummate their love with each other. But imagine that they’re so star-struck with their love that they don’t do anything to prepare for their wedding day. No premarital counseling, no invitations, no guest list, no dress or tuxedos, no church, no pastor. They’re so caught up in what their future wedding day’s going to be like that they don’t do any of the things you have to get done to have a wedding. What’s going to happen when their wedding day finally comes along? Nothing. Because they didn’t prepare for their day. If we live so far in the future of Christ’s second coming that we fail to work to fulfill Jesus Christ’s great commission in our own day, we’ll be no different. (5)
Dominican preacher Fr Benedict Jonak OP says:
“When we say ‘I believe in God,’ we do not simply mean that we believe that God exists.
[It means] .... that our life is always directed towards God, no matter what.
It means that ... we want him in our lives, that we long for him.
It means that .... we see God as the goal of our existence.
It means that .... we believe that after we die we will have our place with God.
It means .... we trust him, even when we face wars, disasters or the very passing of time.
God’s love is stronger than death, and
he is always faithful, even if we hesitate to keep true to our promises.”
[hold up dollar bill] “in God…” [leave it for congregation to complete the sentence] “we trust”
“do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’”
“This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’”
We are not to be over confident - relying on everything to always stay the same because God will protect us
Nor are we to over panic - [paniced voice] War in Ukraine …war in Gaza .. war in Lebanon .. war in sudan … flooding … hurricanes … fires [hyper ventilate]
Yes - its a crisis. And Jesus compares it to labour.
And what comes at the end of labour? [take response from congregation]
A baby is born. Despite it all - something wonderful is around the corner.
“I imagine the Divine Midwife next to us whispering, “Push, push, push. It’s almost here.” (6)
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(1) Timothy Peck - sermon on this site
(2) The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
(3) Julian of Norwich - Revelations of Divine Love
(4) https://favs.news/dont-panic-spiritual-advice-from-the-hitchikers-guide/
(5) Timothy Peck - sermon on this site
(6) Sermon by Michael Marsh nov 2021 https://interruptingthesilence.com/2021/11/14/do-not-be-alarmed-a-sermon-on-mark-131-8/
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