SUNDAY, MARCH 17 2024 - NOW OR NEVER
Sunday, March 17 2024
Deborah Laforet
Now or Never
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Before I begin, I’m going to start with a definition: Eschatology. Eschatology is a branch
of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind. I’ll
leave that definition up on the screen along with this quote that I found on brittanica.com, on
eschatology in religion: “Eschatological themes thrive during crises, serving as consolation for
those who hope for a better world or as motivation for a revolutionary transformation of society.”
In the United Church, we don’t tend to dwell on eschatology, the end times. We focus
more on discipleship and justice, and what’s happening now. There are several branches of
Christianity that do focus on eschatology, that focus on the second coming of Christ and who
will be saved or not and who will be judged harshly and who will receive their heavenly rewards.
In the United Church, when we do talk about a future vision, we often dream of the
kingdom of God that Jesus announced, a world of peace and justice, a world where God’s kin-
dom or God’s reign is created here on earth, by heavenly actions combined with our own.
We have two books in our bible that are labelled apocalyptic eschatology, stories full of
symbolic language that reveal a vision of end times: the book of Daniel in the Hebrew
Scriptures, and the Book of Revelation in the Christian Scriptures. What Bert read for us this
morning is often called, the little apocalypse. As Bert mentioned, Jesus tends to talk less and do
more in the gospel of Mark. Chapter 13 is the exception to that rule. For 32 verses, Jesus speaks
and his words are full of this symbolic language, revealing a time for which the disciples need to
be prepared. Bert read many of those verses for us today.
When we read the stories of Jesus, we often hear them in the present tense, like a reporter
holding a microphone and recording all that he has to say, and we’re now hearing it 2000 years
later. We know though that this isn’t the case and that all of the gospels were written at least 30
years after the death of Jesus. The words we heard today from Jesus, these apocalyptic or
revealing words, are actually very real events in the lives of those hearing the gospel of Mark for
the first time, sometime in the 70’s BCE. In our story, we have at the disciples exclaiming at the wonder of the temple, the large stones creating this great building. In archaeological excavation, the largest stone discovered was 40 feet long, 10 feet high, and 14 feet wide, with an estimated weight of 500 tons. So to the
disciples, this building seemed indestructible. During Mark’s time though, this temple did come down. In the year 66, only about 25 years after Jesus’ death, Jewish revolts against Rome broke out. It took Rome four years to reconquer Jerusalem, and another three or four years to completely eliminate the last of Jewish resistance. A large number of Jews were killed by the Romans, perhaps as high a percentage of
the Jewish people as perished under Hitler. During this time, during the time when this gospel 1
was written, the temple was destroyed, and the people were scattered.
Let’s look at this quote again about eschatology in religion: “Eschatological themes thrive
during crises, serving as consolation for those who hope for a better world or as motivation for a
revolutionary transformation of society.”
We need to imagine the Jews and Jewish Christians who lived during this time of chaos,
death, the destruction of their homeland and their temple, which was central to their faith. We
need to imagine a people who had lost so much, either fighting the Romans or being conquered
The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem. Borg, Marcus J. 1
and Crossan, John Dominic. Harper Collins 2006. pages 76 & 80.
by them, women, children, elders, the infirm, the disabled. Hope would have felt very far away
for these people. Grief, pain, and suffering would have been very present. These words in our
gospel, spoken by Jesus, lets people know that this was expected and that these are signs of a
new world on the verge, a world God would create, a world where tyrants would be thrown
down, and God’s justice would reign. But before all of that, there will be wars, and famines, and
even earthquakes.
It was up to those who followed Jesus to stay alert, to stay awake, to not fall for the
promises of false prophets or mistaken messiahs. When theses signs come to pass, he tells them,
they must flee. This would have been in direct opposition to the many who were part of these
revolts, who fought against the Romans, who started these revolts against the occupation of their
lands. Jesus though was a non-violent resister, and he encouraged the same from followers.
Non-violent resistance is hard, especially when you’re angry, fed up, when you’re filled
with grief and despair, when you’ve experienced so much loss. Fighting can feel good. Fighting
back, hurting those who have hurt you and your loved ones, can feel like the right course of
action. Sometimes it can bring relief and release, but only for a short period of time. Violence
upon violence never makes anything better and only begets more violence. Jesus encouraged
resistance, resistance against unjust practices, resistance against occupation, resistance against
tyrants and an empire, but it was never violent resistance, which is one of the reasons
Christianity has a cross as its symbol and a Saviour who was not a warrior, but a man who was
nailed to this cross.
Unlike some eschatology myths that end in violence, with judgement, and with the end of
the world, Jesus predicted a kingdom that would be the end of all violence. He taught his
followers to watch and wait and resist, and when the violence of the end times began, to run and
hide, which some might describe as cowardly, but others might describe as smart, protecting
one’s self and one’s loved ones, until God’s justice could break through the violence, and until
the coming of God’s kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace.
Today’s letter, our fifth letter in the word lament, is the letter N. Do we wait around for
God’s kingdom or do we actively play a part in its creation? Now or never. We need to decide
what is our role. Our world is not getting better. People are dying. Innocent children are dying.
Our earth is getting hotter. It’s literally burning. Right-wing extremists are gaining momentum
and people are beginning to feel the hate and bigotry in the halls of justice and in legal
legislation. When do stand up and resist? When do raise our voices and push back? When do
ground ourselves in the teachings of Jesus, who died resisting injustice and speaking up against
tyrants and those who supported them?
There may come a time when we will have to run for the hills. We need to watch and
stay awake for that time, but now is not that time. The kingdom of God is here; the kingdom of
God is coming. The more we resist injustice and build a world where everyone can live in safety
and even in abundance and joy, the closer we come to this kingdom, the closer we come to that
time when every tear is wiped away and all can live without fear.
Now or never, St. Paul’s. Let us work together. Let us envision a way forward. Let us
get out of our comfy pews and solid brick walls and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, knowing it
may lead us to the cross, but ultimately, to resurrection. May it be so. Amen.
Mark 13:1-8, 14-19, 32-33, 37
(Introduce yourself.)
In the gospel of Mark, Jesus talks less and does more, except for the thirteenth chapter. The
words shared by Jesus to his disciples in this chapter, only three days before he is put to death,
are often called the ‘little apocalypse.” I am reading verses one to eight, 14 to 19, 32 and 33, and
37.
13 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large
stones and what large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and
Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these
things are about to be accomplished?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one
leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and they will lead many
astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place,
but the end is still to come. 8 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.
14 “But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader
understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 15 the one on the housetop must not
go down or enter to take anything from the house; 16 the one in the field must not turn back to
get a coat. 17 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days!
18 Pray that it may not be in winter. 19 For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not
been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Only
Begotten, but only God. 33 Beware, keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come.
37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
May God grant us understanding of our sacred text. Amen.