Nov 18,
2018 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 on another." To
the disciples this was bedrock. Jerusalem
We know today from history that the smallest
stones in that 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 or 360 feet and 3
meters high, or 36 feet 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 will not last, 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 folks,
doesn’t it, but then change forces it to transform or come to its end.
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, and it is 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 the
change and be transformed or we die. Yet our faith teaches there is one thing
that never changes, and we can trust it to guide us through change. It is the same yesterday, today and will be
there for all our tomorrows. What is it! God’s
unfailing unconditional love! It
does not change and it is there for all His children, not just a few, nor 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. "I will never Forget You"
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 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 man made 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 often
referred to as 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
personal importance 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 thanks be to God
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