Do you remember 20 years ago there was a sniper that was terrorizing the Washington, DC area? I mention this because my younger sister was getting married out there at the time. She called me and asked if they should postpone the wedding. My response was something like, "There are 7 million in the DC area and only 7 were shot, so I think we have good odds." They were not caught when we arrived for the wedding. I drove out there with my parents and older sister and nephew. We were supposed to be on the lookout for a large white van, so I was ready and kept me eyes peeled. When it was time to fill up with gas, I was the one tagged to do the 'honors' so I was ready and tried to be aware of my surroundings. I wasn't going to be a one-in-a-million statistic. I believe the shooters killed about 13-15 people before they were caught. My sister's wedding was beautiful and everyone got home safely.
Today's gospel lesson is 'supposedly' about the end times and how we prepare and how we survive. Be alert and be ready (I'll skip over the stuff about selling all your possessions right now). But as I thought about this, in the last 20 plus years, we have dealt with the Y2K bug, 9/11, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2008 housing bubble and financial crash, the Tea Party, various health scares, increasing fires and floods, a reality star presidency, and now an ongoing pandemic. Russia invading Georgia and now Ukraine. All of this we have been through. All of this we have survived. And then, and then, we have the whole planet under stress and duress because we have polluted it beyond the breaking point?!? Are we truly suppose to be on constant alert, awake in the middle of the night? We are tired!
To take these sayings literally, we should sell our houses and stuff, move into the church and prepare for Christ to return and as one bumper sticker proclaimed, "Jesus is coming, look busy!" While at the same time preparing for the time when robbers will try to come and steal whatever stuff we have left after selling everything. Are we supposed to prepare for the return of our Master, our Lord, and our Teacher, or fortify ourselves, arm ourselves, and be suspicious of anyone trying to come into our church? As Larry Norman wrote, "Life was filled with guns and wars, and everyone got trampled on the floor, I'd wish we all been ready. Two men climbing up the hill one disappears and one left standing still, I'd wish we all been ready. There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind."
Chapters 12 and 13 seem to be focused on eschatology, which is a fancy word about the end times, how the world is going to end. It seems a little ludicrous that what the lectionary leaves out between last week and this week is Jesus telling his disciples and us, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will wear." These sayings and parables are designed for us to worry and be concerned and spur us to action. However, we can only be alert for so long. We can only stay up in the middle of the night in case the Lord returns or the thief comes to rob us. We have the right to legitimately respond, "Oh Come On! Are you serious??"
It does us no good to constantly be on alert, mentally, physically, mentally, or spiritually. Always expecting the world to end or for someone coming to steal our stuff is exhausting and send us right into PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. In some ways, our society, if not our world has this. We are quick to overreact, we are quick to jump to conclusions, and we cannot let things go, always looking for offense. There are real dangers out there and there are real threats to our nation and to vulnerable people. We also live in media driven society that thrives by turning up the dial to 11.
Alright, we can look to the letter to the Hebrews that talks about faith and the hope the drives us forward. We can remember the stories of when there were hardships, wars, and despair in the Bible and how they got through it. We can remember the stories of our nation of how we survived wars, depressions, assassinations, and monopolies. We can believe that God will see us through to the other side. We don't have to believe the future is all doom and gloom, but there is a way for things to get better.
We can acknowledge that we are tired, we have been through a lot these past couple decades, and especially these past couple years. We can acknowledge that we aren't out of danger yet, with the rise of autocracy, the pandemic, and the now present global climate crisis. But to always be alert, or hyper vigilant, will only cause us to wear down quicker and crumble. We can trust that God is working through us and others to bring the kingdom to earth, we can trust there are others in our country and around the world to do the same. We can do our part, but we can't do it all. We need time to rest, to heal, and to re-member and re-create to remember the goodness of God, God's creation, and humanity.
We are tired, but we are not done. We are tired, but we are not defeated. We are tired, but God isn't. We are God's beloved children, and so are they (whoever your they is). We have a beautiful day right now. It is time to stop and smell the flowers and the food being cooked downtown, watch the waves and maybe a parade and play, and reconnect with friends, family, and people who we haven't met yet.
Can we say, "God is good"? (All the time)
All the time! (God is good)
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment