Luke 21:5-19
November 18th 2007
In today’s Old Testament reading we hear, “See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble!” Pretty cool uh? But when? Then in the gospel reading Jesus teaches there will come a time when this beautiful temple will not have one stone left standing. The disciples inquire, when?
Fast forward just a few years later when Paul writes to the Thessalonians, who think they know when the second coming will be. They think is going to happen like tomorrow or next week at the latest. So they quit working and started mooching off others. Paul tries to remind them we don’t know when, so do your work. He tells them, “Do not be weary in doing what is right.”
Even in our Revelation class, we just studied how people of any day have been fascinated with the end of time and when it will be. We examine everything from natural disasters, wars, pestilence, plagues, and heavenly signs to make predictions of the end times.
We studied how the people of Pompei truly figure time had come to an end when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE killing up to 25% of the nearby inhabitants. In 1201 an earthquake in Syria claimed the lives of over one million, causing more than slight concern that time was near.
The black plague in the 1300’s took the lives of some 20 million convincing many the end is just around the corner. Even with Luther many thought the split of the Catholic church would spell doom. We have WWI, WWII, the threat of nuclear holocaust, and global warming all leading some to predict the end of time as we know it. Even a I speak, in Russia there are 34 souls who have barricaded themselves in a cave awaiting the end of the world.
But Jesus says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert!”
So guess what? I’m not going where most of the commentaries and preachers go today. I’m not even going to give the time and effort in trying to cover the end of days. We have no clue as to when the world will end—actually I spend very little time even thinking about it. I might spend slightly more time considering when my life will end—but once again we just don’t know when! I do however invest quite a bit of effort in thinking about what might happen next—today or tomorrow.
So today instead of covering the end of world as we know it, we are going to examine a more important aspect of human nature that might help us live right now. We are going to look a dangerous quality that if not managed properly can actually damage our ability to grow in our relationship with God, and may affect the end of world as we know it.
Go tell secret….. “Jesus loves you! Jesus loves me!
How many of you are at least slightly curious as to what I share with ……? Well I’m not going to tell you. What if I gave you a hint and said what I shared with them may be the most important piece of information I have ever shared with anybody—would that spike your interest. Well I’m still not going to tell you.
Don’t you just hate when that happens? I know I do. It drives me nuts when little Kaylee goes up to her mom and whispers something in her ear at the dinner table. It drives me crazy if I’m in a meeting and I see two people sitting back in corner just whispering away.
It lies in the simple fact that I despise secrets.
First I assume if they are whispering they must be talking about me, and secondly and more importantly I don’t care for anybody knowing something that I feel I should know.
However, I guess done right secrets can be a good and necessary part of life, especially as a parent or friend. Sometimes we use secrets to protect our loved ones. It’s sort of like “a need to know” basis. I don’t want to upset and worry my children with certain knowledge they have no control over.
Sometime I keep secrets from the ones I love in order to do something very special. I can remember before I became a pastor my financial means were slightly better to say the least, and I bought Sandy a full length white mink coat for our 10 year anniversary. I did about everything to keep her from knowing the surprise waiting for her.
So you see, keeping secrets or holding knowledge can sometimes be a good and productive element of living. With that said, for the most part I/we despise secrets. This lack of knowledge will not only drive us crazy, it can seriously affect our relationships with others—most notably it can damage our relationship with God.
We can better understand the truth of matter by going way back into time, all the way back to the very first human beings—Adam and Eve—who also despise secrets. God Almighty has just created us and gives you and I—Adam and Eve the world on a silver platter in enjoy and take care of. And the Lord God commanded us, “you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The serpent or anything in God’s good creation tempts you and I by saying, “Nah! You won’t die. For God knows if you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like gods.
For God Knows. For God Knows. Think about this one for a moment. God Knows something you do not. And if God knows that we will be like gods if we eat of the fruit, then why won’t God let us eat?
What else has God not informed us about? “For God Knows,” claims that God has not told them/us everything about life that our God keeps something back—our God has secrets—and we despise secrets. To us this is a very scary situation.
Why would God not tell us the whole story? Could it be that God is guiding us on “a need to know” basis, and perhaps protecting you and I. Or maybe like me buying that mink coat, God has a surprise waiting for us beyond our understanding. We should have come to believe that God’s secrets are necessary and good.
But the serpent does makes it sound like in keeping the full truth from us, then God must not care a whole lot about us—and we believe the tempter. After all we reason if God did care then He/She would have told us everything—right?
And this issue of knowing or of knowledge becomes at its deepest level our original sin, or as I like to call it an originating sin—every sin or every evil thing that we do, proceeds from not Knowing or Trusting that God has our best interest at heart. Not trusting this Creator, simple because we don’t know exactly what is going on.
We don’t know the end time—the worlds or our own. We don’t even know what is going to happen tomorrow. What are God’s plans? We must know! We despise secrets. So we reach up daily and furiously grab out at that tree of knowledge.
But what if we as part of God’s very good creation could begin to accept that while we have been given the world on a silver platter with extraordinary freedom, also begin to accept that part of truly being human entails acknowledging certain limits—we don’t know it all!
Just this past week the council met at our home for a visioning and budget meeting. We had great fellowship, ate some barbeque pork and tried to look forward as to what God desires for this lampstand. Toward the end of the meeting there was some concern as to where this extra money might come from.
I realized something extremely important—I don’t know. But I do know that God has guided and protected His people thus far and I trust that God has a surprise awaiting this congregation beyond our understanding, if only we heed the words of Paul, “Do not be weary in doing what is right!”
In a moment we will be baptizing Valerie Marie Rivera. Here too, her future is a secret known only to God. However, through these life giving waters God promises her, promises you that no matter what happens in the future “I am with you always, even until the end of time.” So be on guard! Be alert!
This week when you are tempted to beat yourself up over the past, get frustrated with today, or live in the future desiring the secret knowledge of God, take a moment and ask yourself is the Giver of every good gift, the One who breathes the breath of life into your body, the One who came and lived among you, who was crucified as a criminal to forgive you even when you do eat from the tree of knowledge.
The One who gives you the promise of abundant life now and eternal life in the future through the waters of Baptism—Can this God be trusted with your best interest in mind even though you do not know everything about life and about death?
My prayer is that you will be able to answer Yes!
Amen.
