I haven't been writing a lot lately. Took an unplanned summer break, but it was one that I think I needed. This morning in my prayer time, however, I felt compelled to write. So here goes:
Mark 13:1-13 1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” 2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” 5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but those who stand firm to the end will be saved.
You aren't going to find this scripture text sloganized on any bumper stickers. No one has Mark 13:1-13 tattooed in a cool design on their ankle right next to their ICTHUS (you know... the Jesus fish). No one attaches this to the signature of their email. It's just not that kind of text. In fact, this is one of those texts that many of us would ignore if we could. Either that or it is one of those texts that makes us say, "See?! This is exactly why I refuse to follow Jesus! What's the point if it just leads to pain and suffering and division and betrayal?"
I won't pretend for a second that this isn't a difficult text, and I won't be on my way to the tattoo parlor anytime soon, but I do think that this text (and others like it) is important for us to pay attention to because of what it reveals to us about following Jesus. We can't skip over this, simply because it is more difficult to swallow than those texts that make us feel warm and fuzzy. I have said this before, but it bears repeating. We find great comfort in the fact that Jesus comes to us in our own times of suffering and need. He is the light in our darkness. He enters in to the deepest places of our hurts and needs and accompanies us there. We like that he is with us in those times and in those places. We find comfort in his presence there with us. If Jesus is there with us in our times of darkness, then it stands to reason that following Jesus often means going with him to accompany others in their suffering as well. Following Jesus is not shiny and happy all the time, but as anyone who knows him would testify, there is nothing greater than knowing that he is with us and that he is good... especially in times of suffering and struggle. In this text, Jesus was making some radical claims about the destruction of the temple... the entire religious system of the day. He was assuring his followers that because of their allegiance to him, they would experience unimaginable pain and suffering. He describes them as birth, or labor pains. Sounds fun, eh? While I have never experienced labor first hand, I have witnessed it in the birth of my two children. It doesn't take a genius to know that it hurts. That being said, I can proclaim with great confidence that Michelle (my wife), while she didn't "enjoy" the pain of labor... and doesn't long for that kind of pain again... willingly endured the pain of labor because the result was something beautiful. New life. Our two beautiful children. In Jesus God was (and is) birthing something new. The old system is gone... it has been destroyed. The radical love and grace and mercy and forgiveness that we experience and celebrate and proclaim has been unleashed because Jesus was willing to go through the great pain of birthing it. The old is gone, but there are many (as there were in that day) who would seemingly much rather rebuild the old than accept the relentless grace we have been given. So the pain continues. As we follow Jesus and stand firm on a foundation built on love, we will surely experience pain. Love leaves our hearts exposed and vulnerable. But the pain is worth it because the result is something beautiful.
) and I got stuck on the phrase, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Yesterday was a day when I needed to know and be reassured that God is greater than all things -- that God is in control. So I just hung out in that part of the prayer for a while and then spent some time in scripture. A buddy and I have been reading Psalms together and one of my readings for the day was Psalm 24
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