"Is It Really All For Not Jesus"?

Jesus predicts that every stone in these buildings will come down
Not one stone will be left one on the another.

Ever heard the saying “Like the rock of Gibraltar” what comes to mind?   Something you can count on, never changing, solid as the rock of Gibraltar.  Well we all know that is not a reality for change comes no matter what.

What in your opinion is the most significant change that has taken place in our world during your life time?  

Nov 15, 2015 Readings:  Hebrews 10: 11-14, 19-25, Psalm 150 VU p 874, Mark 13: 1-8

As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left one on another." To the disciples this was bedrock.  Jerusalem was the foundation of everything they believed in.   Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus. 

We know today from history that the smallest stones in the structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons.  In fact the largest existing stone, is still part of the Wailing Wall, and you can see it today.  It is 12 meters in length and 3 meters high, and it weighs hundreds of tons! 

The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, well over

200 feet in one area history tells us. 

Do you think this passage is about the end times, a time when the world as they and we know it will come to its end, perhaps, but please do not stop there, for I believe that this was not Jesus’ only intent here.   I believe Jesus’ illustration was also challenging the very foundations of humankind, meaning the things they and we put our hopes, dreams and security in, could they possibly be all for not.  The things that we think are important for our future and are sometimes thought to be indestructible, as the old saying goes, solid as the rock or Gibraltar.   How many of you remember that saying, I believe it was the slogan for “Prudential life” in its hay day.  Well everything man made has its hay day, doesn’t it, but then change forces it to transform or come to its end. 

Folks if we are honest with ourselves we know from experience that nothing resists the forces of change, that everything mankind has ever made no matter how well designed or built it was in the beginning, eventually crumbles under the weight of change.  The earth is an organism birthed from the Universe, programmed to evolve.  Even the very building we are sitting in this morning is being affected by the changes that our religion will have to face tomorrow.  We will either accept and face the change and be transformed or die.  Yet our faith teaches there is one thing that never changes, and we can trust it to guide us in changes.  It is the same yesterday, today and will be there for all our tomorrows.  What is it!  God’s unfailing love for all his children, not just a few, not for a chosen race, but for all God’s children.  This is where our belief and trust belongs, with God’s unfailing love, I will never forget or leave you for I have carved your name on the palm of my hand, Isaiah 49.

Church buildings are closing their doors all around us as I speak and the status quo does not seem to know where these changes will take us.  But there are some who are facing this truth today and are beginning to take steps towards rebuilding their future.   “Is the Christian religion and its churches as we now know and understand them at risk?   Of course they are if we take Jesus seriously when he tells his disciples that the stones that hold their and our lives together will all eventually crumble.   We are mortal folks, and eventually under the weight of stress or age we too will be torn down.  

We don’t know when but our bodies will return to the dust from whence they came.  May I suggest that Jesus was indicating that all manmade structures and systems are doomed to fail the final test.  The stones in what we think the foundations of our lives are secure will be the dust of tomorrow.  You know this might be a good time for us to stop and contemplate our own mortality or the mortality of our church congregations. To start, we need to ask ourselves these questions:  What can we consider as stones in our foundation and how does our connection to these stones affect our relationship with God?   We have a stone of wealth.  How much emphasis is put on wealth today?   How much of our time is dedicated to securing buildings and the wealth to maintain them.  Take a look around at the homes that are being built today or the churches that had been built in the past and the cost of maintain them.  We have a stone of church doctrine and worship.   A stone of possessions, all that we have.  A stone of accomplishment, all we have done.  A stone of seeking to be loved by our families and friends.   A stone of what you personally would consider most important in your life or the life of your church.    

Imagine them as the stones in the building Jesus and the disciples were looking at.  A building containing thousands of stones, stones which represent those things that we seek out, those things we turn to for a sense of permanence, stability, for comfort, for peace of mind, all built into a building that, when there is trouble in our lives we make our place of refuge, and when there is joy we make the place for our thanks offering. "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." A hard image to get hold of is it not?   We, just like disciples, want to reject these thoughts.  For some - the question is - how could this happen?  For others the image is a challenge - something to work with not to resist.   Here we must learn to work together not as individuals.  God has not abandoned us, God has not removed our ability to bounce back by taking risks.  In fact when we have come to the edge of all that we know and are about to step off into the darkness once again, we can trust that one of two things will happen.  On the other side of our darkness we will find the light, something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly but we will not be forsaken or abandoned.  That we can trust in.  
                               " I Will Never Forget You My People"