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Mark 13:1-13

Apocalypse Now?
Sermon preached Nov. 22, 2015
Intro to New Testament Reading
On Monday, I thought Id preach a sermon that was light, upbeat, funny.
Because the last three weeks have been pretty heavy, from the pulpit. About building our
lives and church on Christ and nothing but Christ. About tithing so we can be free from
the power of money and participate in Gods work in the world. And last week about
facing and meeting the tremendous challenges our changed culture poses us.
Writing and preaching those sermons wore me out. Maybe wore you out too. Reminded
me of the family after-church lunch conversation where the mother asked their sevenyear-old son what was the highest number hed ever counted to. 3,442 was his answer.
Whyd you stop there, asked his father. The sermon was over.
So I thought Id preach a sermon that was light, upbeat and funny. Started it on Monday.
Well, on Wednesday the Spirit squashed that idea and here we have another serious,
heavy sermon from a rather hair-raising scripture from Mark. But its a scripture that
speaks directly to our times. Here now Gods word:
Scripture reading
Opening
The great columnist Mike Royko tells of a practical joke played on a man by his three
friends. The four of them were on a fishing trip on a secluded lake. They fished all day,
played poker at night and went to bed at 10:00 and got up before dawn to fish.
One of the guys named Joe fell asleep first, and his friends got an idea. They took Joe's
wristwatch off the dresser and changed the time to 4:45 A.M. Then they changed their
watches and the alarm clock to 4:45, and set the alarm to go off at 5 o'clock, just fifteen
minutes later. Then the conspirators turned off the lights and went to bed.
Fifteen minutes later, when the alarm clock went off, they all got up, and made the
grumpy noises people make in the morning. One of them put toast and coffee on. Joe
felt truly miserable. He kept looking at his watch and complaining he hadn't gotten any
sleep.
I must be getting old," he said as they dropped anchor and began fishing. Every few
minutes he'd look at the horizon and ask, "What time have you got?" "Fiveforty,"
someone would say. "Boy, it's dark." Joe would say. And a little later, "What time have
you got?" "Six," someone would answer. Then Joe began to get concerned. By the time

his watch said 6:40, he had stopped fishing, he was just staring into the darkness. Finally,
his voice cracking in terror, he cried, "I'm telling you, something is wrong! It's not getting
light today! It's not getting light!"
It's the end of world," his buddies hooted. "Doesn't matter," one of them said, "the fish
aren't biting anyway." That's when Joe caught on. He took it rather well, though they did
have wrestle an oar out of his hands.
Scripture
Our scripture is about the end of the world. And I think it speaks to us this morning.
Jesus and his disciples have traveled to Jerusalem, in the last chapter of his ministry.
Soon he will be arrested, tried and crucified. Theyre visiting the temple and the disciples
are acting like tourists in a big city, gawking at the enormous temple built by King Herod.
And to a devout Jew, the temple was the center of the nation, it was the place where the
people went to encounter God. Magnificent in architecture and in purpose. And to a
devout Jew, the temple was the symbol of and guarantee that God was with them and they
were Gods chosen people. The Romans may have conquered and occupied the county,
but still the temple stood, so God was with his people.
And Jesus told them, one day, soon, it would all be torn down, a heap of rubble. And
from there, things would get worse. Wars and false prophets, famines and natural
disasters. And Jesus warned them that they would be arrested and tried and persecuted
for being his followers.
It sounded to Jesus hearers, like the world coming apart. That the apocalypse, was nigh.
I think we know the feeling. We have seen enormous buildings collapse into a pile of
rubble when the unthinkable happened on 9/11 and terrorists flew airplanes into the
World Trade Center towers. And in the last three weeks ISIS terrorists brought down a
airplane full of people and systematically slaughtered 130 people in Paris.
Their apocalypse vs. ours
Nobody seems to know exactly what to call ISIS and groups like them. Radical Islam?
Terrorists? It might be more accurate to call them Radical Apocalyptic Deviant Islamists.
I know, that doesnt help at all. Except for one thing. Theyre an apocalyptic group.
That means, they believe this world is passing away. That means, they look forward to the
end of this world and the beginning of a new world. And surprisingly enough, we have
that in common with them. Because Christianity is also an apocalyptic faith. We also
believe this world is passing away. We also hope for the coming of a new and better
world.

But there the similarities end. ISIS believes they bring a new world through making
others suffer and die. Christians believe Jesus comes again to bring a new world to
rescue those who are suffering and dying.
In our passage Jesus assured us that he will return. And his return is the final act of the
drama that begins with Christmas - the renewal of all things - the end of terrorists
slaughtering the innocent, the end of children crying from hunger, the end of rogue
nations building nuclear weapons, the end of dictators exploiting their people, the end of
cancer eating our bodies away - Gods rescue mission in Christ began at Christmas, but
is finished when he comes again.
We live in the time in-between. Between Christs first coming and his return. And what
do we do in this in-between time, when there is chaos and violence and fear? The Lord
tells us in our reading. Dont be afraid, and be faithful to the end.
We stay faithful to Christ.
This is what has happened in Kenya in the past few years.
A group of gunmen from the El-Shabab terrorist group, carrying automatic weapons
entered the nicest shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya and systematically executed everyone
who couldnt prove they were Muslim. Nearly 70 people were murdered.
Last December a bus carrying workers from the Dadaab refugee camp back to their
homes was stopped by gunmen. Everyone was ordered off the bus. The Muslims were
ordered to walk away. Twenty-seven Christians were lined up and shot to death.
In April, a group of gunmen again from Al-Shabab slipped into the University of Garissa
campus before dawn and attacked a Christian prayer meeting. Again, those who could
not prove they were Muslims were killed on the spot, one by one. Since no help came for
several hours, the terrorists were able to be methodical in their executions of these young
people. Nearly 150 Christian college students were killed.
In attacks like these, there is a small mercy extended to the Christians who are lined up to
be shot. They are encouraged to convert from Christianity to Islam by saying the Shahada
- There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. Say that, renounce your
faith in Christ, and you will survive.
That is a kind of the scenario the Lord is describing in our scripture. He is warning us
that some of us will be dragged before the powers that be, that some of us will be beaten,
physically harmed, for our faith. And he is saying, in the midst of the worst that the
world can do to us, even if we face death itself - to endure to the end. To cling to Christ,
no matter what.
Some Christians, with the muzzle of an AK-47 pointed in their face, have said the

Shahada and saved their lives. I will not judge them, for who knows what one would do
at the point of a gun? Christ forgave and restored a coward like Peter so he will forgive
and restore us when we turn cowardly too.
But the Lord is promising to give us strength to stand for him, to be faithful, when the
world is falling apart. And what might that look like for us, here in America?
We love our enemies
Wednesday one of our youth posted this on her Facebook page:
All of you that only say Pray for Paris, did you ever think to pray for Isis? Yes I
still believe in praying for Paris with all the damages and the beautiful souls lost,
but Isis needs those prayers too. Jesus came for the sick not the healthy. We need
to pray for them. For a peaceful nature and calm mindset. Yes, what they are
doing isn't right, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve prayer for healing and
understanding.
Destiny reminded me that Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who
persecute us. That is not my first reaction to people like ISIS. I want to crush them, wipe
them from the face of the earth. I want death to rain from the sky, I want Marines on the
ground. And yet, theres Jesus, telling me, telling us, to love our enemies and pray for
those who persecute us.
That is not just pious wishful thinking, be nice and hope that your enemy is converted by
your niceness. Prayer is an offensive weapon, in two ways:
Its our primary weapon in spiritual warfare, and thats what were engaged in.
Paul in Ephesians reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the evil powers that rule this sin-darkened world. And you dont defeat the
spiritual forces of darkness with bombs and bullets. You defeat them with prayer.
In Revelation, there is a great image of how our prayers work. They ascend to the
throne room of the Almighty, and are mixed with incense to purify them, and then
they are hurled back to earth with the crack of thunder booming.
And its our witness to the peace and love of Christ - that evil and sin and death
do not have the last word, that ISIS and their like will not win. They mow down
men, women and children with automatic weapons; they blow people to bits with
bombs, they bring down airplanes with explosives - murder, death, mayhem,
horror. And we respond - with prayer. Because we trust not in the terror of
violence, we dont return evil for evil, we pray for our enemies - that God heal
them, convert them, stop them, save them.
Do you see the power in that difference? They convert by sticking the muzzle of a

gun in your face; they deal with their enemies by slaughtering them - and
everyone who is not one of them is by definition, an enemy - we as Christfollowers love and pray for them, that God would heal and change them. What
side would you rather be on?
To be faithful to Christ, to endure to the end, is to obey him. Like by loving and praying
for our enemies.
We dont give in to fear
You have heard me ask this question probably 20 times. What is them most frequently
given command in the Bible? Fear not. Dont be afraid.
Jesus told us that a lot, too. At the Last Supper - do not let your hearts be troubled, and
do not be afraid. I have heard it said that unbelief is not the opposite of faith, fear is the
opposite of faith. Because when fear possesses us, we no longer trust God, we no longer
can be confident in our faith and live boldly, because we our self-preservation instinct
toggles on.
The writer Marilynne Robinson points out,
America is a Christian country. This is true in a number of senses. Most people,
if asked, will identify themselves as Christian, which may mean only that they
arent something else. Non-Christians will say America is Christian, meaning that
they feel somewhat apart from the majority culture. There are a large number of
demographic Christians in North America because of our history of immigration
from countries that are or were also Christian. We are identified in the world at
large with this religion because some of us espouse it not only publicly but also
vociferously. As a consequence, we carry a considerable responsibility for its
good name in the world, though we seem not much inclined to consider the
implications of this fact.
(But)...contemporary America is full of fear. And...fear is not a Christian habit of
mind. As children we learn to say, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. We learn that, after his
resurrection, Jesus told his disciples, Lo, I am with you always, to the close of
the age. Christ is a gracious, abiding presence in all reality, and in him history
will finally be resolved.1
I am ashamed of and appalled by the fearful response to refugees from Syria and Iraq by
Christians. Im not easily shocked, but I am shocked that the response of so many selfprofessing Christians is to keep the refugees out.
On a practical level - there are much easier ways for terrorists to slip into the
country than go through the months of travel and detention and interrogation that

refugees experience.
But as followers of the Lord - welcoming and caring for foreign refugees is
commanded by God of his followers over and over again in the Bible. Check it
out for yourself if you dont believe me. Jews and Christians are to be people who
welcome and care for refugees. Thats the will of God, plain and simple.
Christians are supposed to witness to Christ by not giving in to fear. Sure, we feel it like
everybody else, but we overcome it because we know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Many
politicians are pandering to the worst instincts of Americans. Christians should be calling
instead to what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.
I mean - France has announced it will take in 30,000 Syrian refugees and they were the
ones just attacked! France is one of the most atheistic countries in the world, and they are
being more Christian than allegedly Christian America.
I think, we could make a powerful statement that we follow Christ, not fear, by
sponsoring a Syrian refugee family, maybe partner with some other churches in this.
Based on the number of churches, Franklin County is one of the most Christian places in
the country. Maybe we could take the lead in proclaiming Christ as Lord, maybe we
could take the lead in being obedient to our Lord and his Word, by welcoming and being
merciful to the refugees. And if you think Im wrong on this, I challenge you to prove it
by the Word of God.
And one more way
Our world feels shrouded in darkness. Christians believe in and hope in Jesus Christ,
who is the light of the world. And Christmas, is a season when we celebrate Jesus
coming into our world to rescue us from evil and sin and death. When we witness to our
frightened and confused world that there is hope to be found in Christ.
Friday, Dec. 4th is a First Friday event downtown, where we light the luminaries. A group
of pastors and churches got the idea that we Christians could help to create a joyful and
peaceful Christmas presence downtown during that event by gathering on the square hundreds of us - and singing Christmas carols. The vision is to have groups on each of the
four corners of the square who have joy and hope, not fear, in their hearts and who break
into song and proclaim
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Come, thou long-expected Jesus, from our fears and sins release us...
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace; hail the Son of Righteousness
Imagine hundreds and hundreds of us gathering to sing - to spread joy and hope. To share
the good news that in the end, evil is defeated, Christ wins and the sun dawns over a new
world.

Closing
Robby Robins was an Air Force pilot during the first Iraq war. After his 300th mission,
he was surprised to be given permission to immediately pull his crew together and fly his
plane home. They flew across the ocean to Massachusetts and then had a long drive to
western Pennsylvania. They drove all night, and when his buddies dropped him off at his
driveway just after sun-up, there was a big banner across the garage"Welcome Home
Dad!"
How did they know? No one had called, and the crew themselves hadn't expected to leave
so quickly. Robins relates, "When I walked into the house, the kids, about half dressed for
school, screamed, 'Daddy!' Susan came running down the hallshe looked terrifichair
fixed, make-up on, and a crisp yellow dress. 'How did you know?' I asked.
'I didn't,' she answered through tears of joy. 'Once we knew the war was over, we knew
you'd be home one of these days. We knew you'd try to surprise us, so we were ready
every day.'"
Endnotes
1. Marilynne Robinson, Fear, in The New York Review of Books, Sept. 24, 2015.

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