11/29/2022
November 13, 2022
Luke 21.5-19
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he 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 earthquakes, 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; and 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 souls.
2 Thessalonians 3.6-13
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 from 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 for 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 idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command 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.
This Sunday we continue with 2 Thessalonians now adding Chapter 3.6-13. The theory that someone leading the congregation wrote 2 Thessalonians is a reasonable assumption after reading Chapter 3.6-13. Only someone living in the community could have known what was happening unless they had sent a letter to Paul detailing everything that was occurring, and he wrote back to them.
In the previous reading from 2 Thessalonians, Paul warns the congregation to stay the course despite rumors about the coming of the end times. He reminds them that that: God chose them. God called them and they have work God expects them to do.
Then, Paul adds Chapter 3. Some members of the church have responded to the news of the coming of the end of the world by becoming idle. They refuse to work and expect to be taken care of. They even refuse to pay for what they receive. Paul tells them, “…we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it.” Are these people depressed and have they given up? Do they believe it does not matter what they do because it will all end soon anyway? Or are they just lazy?
The church leaders like Paul had a huge problem of their own making. They believed the end times would occur heralding the return of Jesus. Jesus would return in their lifetimes, all believers would ascend into heaven, the dead would be resurrected, and this would usher in the reign of God. But soon everyone realized as the believers and the leaders were dying, the end times were not coming. Jesus had not come back so life needed to go back to normal, and the believers needed to go back to work. Everyone needed to go back to living a normal life whether Jesus was coming tomorrow or thousands of years in the future. But it is difficult to change people’s beliefs.
Across the ages, I think it would be safe to say Christians have believed Jesus would return in their lifetimes. Each generation has read Revelations and Luke 2, and they have felt the end times were coming. At the turn of each new millennium, fears have escalated. For those of us living today, wars, nuclear proliferation, climate change and COVID-19 have fueled the same fears for many people. Some find solace in religion and others turn away from religion especially organized religions.
Many Christian churches in the United States were dying long before the COVID-19 pandemics hit in early 2020. There were dwindling membership numbers particularly of young couples with children. Older members were unable to attend services due to inaccessible buildings which led to a in decrease in tithing from the group of members who traditionally always supported the church. Finally, there was an overall inability of people to make time available for church because it was no longer relevant in their lives.
These people returned to church only to get married, to baptize their children, for holidays, times of crisis and funerals. Other people stayed in church but they “quietly quit” the church doing the minimum amount of physical and spiritual work they needed to do, so they could say they went to church and were still Christians. Others the valiant few, have held on to the church no matter what, but some are burned out and dissatisfied by organized religion and today’s church cannot change quickly enough to meet their needs. We all struggle to remain faithful to God.
In the Gospel Lesson this morning, Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This event was still decades in the future around 70 AD, but he made the Jewish community truly angry when he foretold the Temple’s destruction. How dare Jesus say that this sacred place would be destroyed for it was more than a building it represented the Jewish faith and the Jewish people; its destruction was their destruction.
We feel much the same way today. We are invested in our buildings and less in our God. The building is not God, and it is not who we are as Christians. Jesus lets us know a synagogue or a church is in the end just a building. We do not make it a sacred space.
Churches as a congregation have lifespan just like any other living thing. A church is born. A church lives and a church will eventually die. How a church navigates each step says a lot about the congregation and its leadership: how well they work together and how well they listen to God and remain in covenant with each other.
A church as a congregation is the people and their relationships with God and with each other. A church as a building is a place where we worship, and we praise God. A church could be a living room or a basement. A church could be a garage or a barn. A church could be corn field or a gym. It only matters as Jesus said, “that two or more are gathered in my name.”
As we wait for Jesus to return, we are called to do the work of the Spirit in the world and to pray. Where we do the work is not important but how we do the work is. We may simply meet once a month for Communion Sunday. We may simply meet in each other’s homes, for the first churches were just house churches. Let us come together with open and loving hearts for as long as God guides us to do this.
When we decide we can no longer continue, let us close our doors over a defined period with dignity and grace. We must acknowledge the memories, the fears, the concerns, the pain, and the sorrow each of us will hold in our hearts. We must work together with love, and respect. We must pray for wisdom, courage, and strength to do what God wants us to do.
I am not saying this will be easy but each of us knows life is not always easy. God will be with us each step of this difficult journey and throughout our lives. We should not allow this ending to weaken our faith in God. Our faith, our worship, and our prayers do not depend on a space but on what is in our hearts, our minds, and our souls. Each ending is always a new beginning.
This Advent and Christmas Season we await the birth of Christ and not the end times. We sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ranson captive Israel.” We know that Jesus died on the Cross for our salvation. We are no longer captive to sin and evil. We are no longer captive to death for eternal life in God awaits us.
We can make the world a better place no matter where we are. We can welcome Mary and Joseph into the inn rather than into the stable; for Jesus that baby born in the stable brought us abundant love and taught us the meaning of hospitality. We pray unceasingly in his Name!
Amen and Blessed It Be!
Pastor Ava
