Beginnings and Endings
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sometimes I think human beings are very pessimistic. We have this proclivity to find the glass half empty rather than half full. We want something better. We want a better world. We strive for better things, and we become disenchanted with our lot. It is a natural human thing. We all do it, and no matter how brilliant something may be, we can usually find a reason to be pessimistic.
This last week, I really saw this come face-to-face in a way that was so real that I couldn't even believe I was hearing it. I had my winter tires installed. As I was lining up ready to pay to have these done, there was a gentleman in front of me who hadn't yet actually purchased his winter tires. He was there to make the transaction.
He went in and said, “Now, what have you got for me, what are my options?”
The person at the dealership started to outline all the different options that were there for winter tires from el cheapos to really expensive things that they put on Ferraris. He said, “You know, you can buy any of these, and I think for your car, this is the particular brand of tire that you should buy.”
Then, to make the sales' pitch all the better, he said, “Look, these will last a hundred thousand kilometres. If you balance and rotate them, they might last even longer. I suggest that you put nitrogen in them to make sure that they maintain their pressure and last.” The bill was going up and up and up and up! You should have seen the look on this guy's face!
He was a rather heavy set gentleman. He had a cane,and he didn't look particularly well. Finally, he said to the clerk, after this major sales' pitch about how long these tires will last, he said, “Well, I have a feeling I'll be dead before these things wear out.” I laughed, the clerk laughed; he didn't laugh. We felt so foolish!
He was grumpy and he had had his day, and he just thought “I will never outlive these tires.” Oh, human beings! I saw him having a “glass full” - very good tires at a decent price that would last a hundred thousand kilometres. He saw himself dying before they ever wore out. We do it all the time! We tend to be pessimistic creatures, don't we?
The truth is none of us know, if we are really honest, if we will actually live to see our car warranty or our tire warranty or anything else for that matter survive beyond us. Neither you nor I know when it will end. Actuaries will probably be able to give us some information about the probability of when we would pass from this life. Health indicators will outline certain criteria that will say, “You are probably going to live such a length of time with the medical conditions that you have” but even they cannot guarantee it. No one really knows if they will expire before other things take place.
The great philosopher, Francis Bacon, put this all in very clear perspective. He wrote, speaking in the masculine of course: “Men must pursue things that are just in the present, and leave the future to the divine providence.”
There is a sense in which we do not know from one minute to the next whether in fact our lives will continue. I think the same applies for humanity as a whole. We never know as human beings how long we will survive. We like to think that we will live a long time. We like to think that humanity will always be around for generations to come, but the fact is we don't know, no matter how wise and insightful we might be.
That is why in The Bible there is a group of literature that is known as Apocalyptic Literature. This simply means literature that relates to the revelation of God. Attached to that is the recognition that human beings and people on this earth in fact will have an ultimate day of ending. We will never live as creatures forever and ever. Even the world itself will pass away.
This Apocalyptic Literature finds its roots in Judaism, particularly at times when the Jewish people faced struggles and difficulties and challenges. They faced it, for example, during The Exile when they were driven out of their land and forced to live in Babylon and beyond: scattered, dispersed. During this time, they wrote Apocalyptic Literature. They had no idea when their world and the world of their people and the world as they knew it would come to an end.
You see signs of that in Books like Daniel, you find it in sections of Isaiah, you find it in different places in Ezekiel, you find this apocalyptic, this sense of the ending of things. In the New Testament, it became particularly acute for first generation Christians who were facing the persecution of Nero and the Romans. They were being blamed for having set Rome on fire, and many of them were being persecuted for what they believed.
In that time, there was a whole body of Apocalyptic Literature wondering about the end time, whether it would come in their lifetime. They looked to the words of Jesus, and they looked to the heavens to try to find out precisely when that ending would occur.
But, you know what happens when people start to think like that, a whole industry seems to arise that exploits peoples' feelings of insecurity. You can see that today in Christian movies that have come out recently. One of them is called Left Behind. It is one of the biggest selling Christian movies of all time. The premise is basically that there will be finally rapture at the end of time. Some will remain on earth while others are taken away, and that the righteous will reign. It is a very popular movie that has really sunk its way into the psyche of many Christians.
Even in secular culture, movies like Independence Day, which was very much in vogue a few years ago, but has had many of its spin-offs assume that the world is going to be destroyed by an asteroid or something like that, and that we never know when the earth will come to an end.
Even in terms of politics, there are books that are being written like, The Armageddon Factor, which sees the hand of particularly religious people trying to manipulate the government and policies in the country. The book is a little extreme, but it is trying to point to what they think will be an end day, certainly in the minds of some religious people.
This industry builds up and plays on our fears. We see things like that and read things like that, and we think “What is the point of living?” If everything is destroyed, if the world is just going to come to an end anyway, why bother? Certainly, there is no incentive to go and buy an RRSP, that's for sure, and if you think that it is imminent, probably no reason to brush your teeth in the morning for you will not outlast your teeth!
I think this is serious, because I think there are people who are genuinely worried and live under the cloud of whether or not the destruction of the world and themselves is at hand. I think it has been exacerbated by nuclear technology and the fact that there can be a nuclear meltdown, and people sit on the edge of their seats knowing that the technology is there to destroy a lot of life.
Many seem to think that the environmental issues that are around us, as bad as they are and as needful to be addressed as they are, could signal the end of the human race as we know it. Then, there are always those who look to the stars and think of cosmic forces, and wonder if in fact something can happen in the cosmos that can alter our existence on earth. Even recently, we read about such things passing thousands of kilometres from the earth.
We know things today that make us actually wonder if it all ends. Does it really matter? Why would we address it on the First Sunday of Advent? Well, there is a very good reason. In today's text, what we have is the “Apocalyptic of Jesus.” This is in Mark the encapsulation of Jesus addressing this one very important topic. He addresses it very clearly: he talks about the end of the world, he talks about not knowing when the end of the world will be, and he talks about the “coming again of the Son of Man.”
What Jesus is doing in all of this is not to cause us to worry and to focus on what might be happening down the road or in generations to come. What Jesus is doing here, and most scholars agree, is actually giving a word of encouragement to people who are concerned and worried about the future and what that might bring. There are four things within this passage that really do help us deal with our fears.
The first is that His word is above all other words. Last Sunday we celebrated the reign of Christ. It was a time when we remembered the victory of Christ and that all things would be placed under Christ's feet. It was a glorious ceremony, really, and it was an uplifting one. But, what is the point of having a Christ who reigns if his word does not have power? Jesus says in Mark, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will live on.” In the passage from which I read a few moments ago from The Book of Isaiah, there is this very same principle that the flowers wither and they fall. Humanity is like those flowers, but the Word of God lasts forever.
What do we mean by “The Word of God” here? We mean the power of eternity: the power of eternal assurance that we are in God's hands whether the world comes to an end or not. Heaven and earth will pass away, the things in the sky and the things of the earth, that is what he means by this, will pass away, but the Word of God, the power of eternity, lasts forever. That is the word of hope, and it is a word of triumph in the midst of difficulty.
Not only is the Word above all other words, it is a word that speaks to comfort us. Notice how Isaiah begins that great passage: “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.” This is a passage that has been immortalized in great music. It is a passage that has been repeated throughout the centuries. It is a word of comfort in the midst of uncertainty, and I think it is a word that we need to take into our hearts.
There is a second thing that Jesus wants to say. What he wants to say is “Do not worry about the time when the end takes place.” Jesus makes it abundantly clear that no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, when the Son of Man will come again, when the world will come to a conclusion. Nobody knows! Readers are encouraged not to speculate on the end of the world. But again, if you look throughout the history of the Church those there have always been those who have made great political and spiritual and religious capital by trying to tell you when this will happen. What happens when that occurs?
What does it do to you? What does it do to you when you are told by somebody that the world will come to an end? I always wake up the next morning, going “Thank you, Lord, that you have not revealed this to people.” And, he hasn't revealed it to people. It would be almost too ominous for us to know what God has in mind. But, the question is then, having recognized God's providence over all these things, does it not also mean that we have to live in faith in God and not in our own knowledge of when the world comes to an end?
There is a great phrase by Queen Elizabeth I. I'll get my monarch right this time, unlike last Easter! She wrote: “I wish I could be alive when Christ returns, because I would like to be the first earthly monarch to take my crown and lay it at his feet.”
Isn't that marvellous? But, she doesn't know. And no one knows. What she does know is that she would be willing to lay down her crown before Christ's feet. We do not know the time or the season or the era when the Son of Man will come again, but we do know that it is in faith and in recognition of Him that we should live right now. Elizabeth, if it came in her reign, would be willing to bow down and give her crown to Him.
Jesus also makes another statement: We are not to worry about the fate of others. I think that one of the things about the end time that people get all wrapped up in is if they will be the recipient of God's gift of salvation, because the Creed says, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” There is this sense in which, at the end of time, Christ does in fact reign.
What we sometimes get caught up in is all of those, whoever they might be, who will not be given the chance of a new life: those who were in and those who were out. So often as people of faith, we get caught up with that question, but since when was it ever given to us the power to know who is part of God's elect? Surely, faith tells us, even reason tells us, and certainly providence tells us, that this is in the hands of Almighty God and not ourselves.
I was reading an interesting interview yesterday in the newspaper with the hockey player Paul Henderson. He was asked if he was content not to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Now, as many of you know, Paul is a very devout Christian. He makes that absolutely clear whenever he gets the opportunity. He is somebody, as we know, who has been ill from lymphatic cancer and has really struggled in recent months with his illness.
He was asked when looking back and scoring that great goal in 1972, that goal that is probably above all other goals ever scored in the history of hockey, if he feels he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He made a really fascinating comment. He said, “I don't think that I have ever been good enough or worthy enough to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I don't have the statistics, I don't have the goals and the assists, I don't have the victories and the Stanley Cups. I scored a big goal on a good team at a very important moment.” He continued, and this is fantastic, “As a Christian, I am not actually so concerned about if I get in the Hall of Fame. I am more interested in the fact that the whole team gets into the Hall of Fame.”
I thought, “That is exactly what Christians should be saying and doing!” That is exactly the right approach. It is not only the right approach to the Hall of Fame; it is the right approach to the Kingdom of Heaven. Ours is to share, not the bad news that the world will come to an end, but the good news that Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to live by his word in eternity. Whether the heavens or the earth pass away, Christ's grace will always be beyond it, above it, and around it. Therefore, it seems to me that rather than being worried about who is in and who is out, we should be more concerned in sharing the good news of Christ's love.
There is one last thing that Jesus said, and it is really quite a word: He tells us to be prepared. That is what Advent is about. It is a time of deep personal preparation in prayer and contrition as we get ready for the birth of Jesus. He uses terms like, “Be alert,” “Be ready,” “Be organized,” because you never know when this day will come, either of your own departure or the end of the world. You never know! So, be ready. You can see the signs, but the signs alone will never be able to tell you, so be prepared in your heart and your soul.
As many of you know, one of the worst prison systems in the world used to be, and in part still is, in Mexico. It is known for its brutal prisons! When President Echeverria was elected, he knew that this was one of the great blights on his land. It was something that was going to affect his people and Mexico as a nation.
Rather than setting up a commission, which we would do in Canada, to try to figure out what is wrong and to sort it out, rather than having a case study, he got up one night and simply went and visited one of the prisons. There he saw the most devastating things: People living in squalor, guards who had basically left for the evening and left people in chains, filth and dirt, screaming, and men packed into rooms just like rats. When Echeverria went into the shadow of night to see what was happening, he realized that this needed to change.
Only as someone who had experienced it and seen it for itself could he honestly bear witness to what needed to be done. It gave credibility to his argument to change a system that would still take many years to change. He went under the cover of darkness and saw for himself what was happening.
I think in many ways God is like Echeverria. God comes into our world, into our dark places, into our pessimism, into the things that challenge us, but God wants us to be prepared for when he comes. He wants us to be prepared to have our house in order, to make sure that our lives are in conformity with his will, and that our faith is strong, our compassion boundless, and our sense of justice intact. If we do that, we will have prepared ourselves for Advent, not for the end of the world per se, not for the return of Christ per se, but forever and ever. Amen.