Do Right; Trust God
Sermon
Ten Hits, One Run, Nine Errors
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (Last Third) Cycle C
In the moving picture Planet of the Apes the viewing audience is led to believe that a United States rocket ship has crash-landed on another planet, which the flight crew is horrified to discover is inhabited and ruled by super-apes. These super-apes speak perfect English, wear stylish clothes, live in cities, and in many respects are just as accomplished as human earthlings. There are even super-ape churches, where the super-ape-pastors preach on texts like "Ape shall not kill ape," and "I never met an ape I did not like."
The astronauts discover something stranger and even more frightening, however. There are some humanlike creatures on the same planet, but they have somehow become brutish and subhuman. Indeed the super-apes raise them as cattle to be eaten, or as wild game to be hunted. The stranded astronauts, not yet discovered by the super-apes, realize that if they are seen, they will be hunted and rounded up and dehumanized just like all the subhumans they have seen behind barbed wire, or hanging up lifeless from meathooks in meat markets.
The airship captain manages to escape and finds his way toward a body of water, an ocean perhaps. There he sees lying face down in the water the Statue of Liberty. It is quite recognizable, in spite of being in wrecked decay. Only then does he realize something most horrible of all: his spaceship did not land on a strange planet, but back on earth itself. Somehow the flight had gone wrong; they had crash landed back on earth again, but they had passed through some kind of time warp so that it was years in the future.
Perhaps because of nuclear or biological warfare only a few remaining human beings had become animal-like, and they had been replaced by apes. The thing which made all this horror so perfectly clear was the ruins of such a recognizable, famous, and beloved landmark as the Statue of Liberty.
If the moving picture Planet of the Apes had been filmed in France, the wrecked object might have been the Eiffel Tower; in England, the clock tower of Big Ben at Westminster Abbey; in India, the Taj Mahal; in Rome, Saint Peter's Cathedral; in any country, whatever building represents the pride of its citizens: their hopes, dreams, history, and their spiritual values.
In Jerusalem in the days of Jesus and his disciples that building would have been the Temple. The Temple was their Statue of Liberty, their Eiffel Tower, their Westminster Abbey, their Taj Mahal, their Saint Peter's Cathedral. Imagine then how the disciples felt when Jesus said about the Jerusalem Temple in today's Gospel Lesson, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
As a matter of fact, destruction of the Jerusalem Temple is exactly what happened some 35 or forty years later. Between the years 66 and 70 A.D., the Jews rebelled against the Romans. It took four years for Rome to reconquer Jerusalem; but the Jews lost again, and this time Rome really destroyed Jerusalem. The only thing left of the Temple was a section of wall which is believed to be the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem where Jews are accustomed to gather still today, especially on Fridays, and bewail the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple at least three times: in 586 B.C., 70 A.D., and 135 A.D.
One interpretation of today's Gospel Lesson is that Jesus' prediction came true in 70 A.D., and that could be the end of the prediction.
All those bad things in today's Gospel Lesson indeed happened before 70 A.D.:
? "Many will come in my name and say ... 'The time is near.' "
? "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."
? "There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues."
? "There will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."
? "They will arrest you and persecute you."
? "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends."
? "And they will put some of you to death."
Jesus also had words of encouragement for his followers who were about to endure such bad things.
? "This will give you an opportunity to testify."
? "... I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict."
? "But not a hair of your head will perish." (This promise is hard to understand in relation to some of the above-mentioned bad things.)
? "By your endurance you will gain your souls."
Most of us would feel very relieved if we could simply dismiss today's Gospel Lesson as something which is strictly in the past tense -- over and done with. It would certainly be reassuring that Jesus knew what he was talking about, that his prediction came so terribly true within forty years. It would make Jesus' other predictions so credible, so to-be-taken-seriously.
Even if that is the case, however, there are still lessons for you and me to take to heart.
What about destruction of our world's environment here in a new century and a new millennium? We can look at before-and-after photographs in our nature magazines of forests, fields, rivers, lakes, and cities every bit as depressing as a fallen Statue of Liberty or "thrown down" Temple. We should be ashamed and frightened of what we have done to God's world before our children and grandchildren get their chance to live in it.
What about our loss of personal integrity, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice? Why is it that what we used to call "family values" are now mocked and ridiculed in public entertainment? In all these fearful things (both 70 A.D. and 2001 A.D.) we have Jesus' assurance, "By your endurance you will save your souls."
A state legislature was in session when a summer storm so darkened the sky that it seemed like night even in midday. "It's the end of the world!" shouted one frightened representative. "Bring out candles," ordered the Speaker of the House. "If this is indeed the Second Coming of Christ, I would like him to find us hard at our work."
Saint Francis was hoeing in the monastery garden one day, when a fellow monk asked him, "Francis, what would you do now, if you knew for a fact that the world would end this very afternoon?" "I would just keep on hoeing in this garden," he said.
Seminary students were engaged in a discussion of what Bible text they would choose for their final sermon, if they had reason to believe that this was the Final Day. Some suggested John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Others suggested Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... Even though I walk through the darkest valley I fear no evil...."
Still others suggested the very last verses of the Bible, Revelation 22:20-21, "The one who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."
The winning suggestion was, "I would preach on whatever Bible lesson was appointed for the Gospel for the day."
A homeowner had hired a gardener to plant a certain kind of tree. "But that kind of tree takes many years to mature," the gardener protested. "Then get started with the planting," the homeowner replied. "You do not have a moment to lose."
The common factor in all these stories is the importance of doing God's will all the time, so that there is no need for panic or hurry when any emergency comes -- even the end of the world.
The final words of today's Gospel Lesson give us all the assurance we need to trust God: "By your endurance you will gain your souls."
The astronauts discover something stranger and even more frightening, however. There are some humanlike creatures on the same planet, but they have somehow become brutish and subhuman. Indeed the super-apes raise them as cattle to be eaten, or as wild game to be hunted. The stranded astronauts, not yet discovered by the super-apes, realize that if they are seen, they will be hunted and rounded up and dehumanized just like all the subhumans they have seen behind barbed wire, or hanging up lifeless from meathooks in meat markets.
The airship captain manages to escape and finds his way toward a body of water, an ocean perhaps. There he sees lying face down in the water the Statue of Liberty. It is quite recognizable, in spite of being in wrecked decay. Only then does he realize something most horrible of all: his spaceship did not land on a strange planet, but back on earth itself. Somehow the flight had gone wrong; they had crash landed back on earth again, but they had passed through some kind of time warp so that it was years in the future.
Perhaps because of nuclear or biological warfare only a few remaining human beings had become animal-like, and they had been replaced by apes. The thing which made all this horror so perfectly clear was the ruins of such a recognizable, famous, and beloved landmark as the Statue of Liberty.
If the moving picture Planet of the Apes had been filmed in France, the wrecked object might have been the Eiffel Tower; in England, the clock tower of Big Ben at Westminster Abbey; in India, the Taj Mahal; in Rome, Saint Peter's Cathedral; in any country, whatever building represents the pride of its citizens: their hopes, dreams, history, and their spiritual values.
In Jerusalem in the days of Jesus and his disciples that building would have been the Temple. The Temple was their Statue of Liberty, their Eiffel Tower, their Westminster Abbey, their Taj Mahal, their Saint Peter's Cathedral. Imagine then how the disciples felt when Jesus said about the Jerusalem Temple in today's Gospel Lesson, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
As a matter of fact, destruction of the Jerusalem Temple is exactly what happened some 35 or forty years later. Between the years 66 and 70 A.D., the Jews rebelled against the Romans. It took four years for Rome to reconquer Jerusalem; but the Jews lost again, and this time Rome really destroyed Jerusalem. The only thing left of the Temple was a section of wall which is believed to be the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem where Jews are accustomed to gather still today, especially on Fridays, and bewail the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple at least three times: in 586 B.C., 70 A.D., and 135 A.D.
One interpretation of today's Gospel Lesson is that Jesus' prediction came true in 70 A.D., and that could be the end of the prediction.
All those bad things in today's Gospel Lesson indeed happened before 70 A.D.:
? "Many will come in my name and say ... 'The time is near.' "
? "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."
? "There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues."
? "There will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."
? "They will arrest you and persecute you."
? "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends."
? "And they will put some of you to death."
Jesus also had words of encouragement for his followers who were about to endure such bad things.
? "This will give you an opportunity to testify."
? "... I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict."
? "But not a hair of your head will perish." (This promise is hard to understand in relation to some of the above-mentioned bad things.)
? "By your endurance you will gain your souls."
Most of us would feel very relieved if we could simply dismiss today's Gospel Lesson as something which is strictly in the past tense -- over and done with. It would certainly be reassuring that Jesus knew what he was talking about, that his prediction came so terribly true within forty years. It would make Jesus' other predictions so credible, so to-be-taken-seriously.
Even if that is the case, however, there are still lessons for you and me to take to heart.
What about destruction of our world's environment here in a new century and a new millennium? We can look at before-and-after photographs in our nature magazines of forests, fields, rivers, lakes, and cities every bit as depressing as a fallen Statue of Liberty or "thrown down" Temple. We should be ashamed and frightened of what we have done to God's world before our children and grandchildren get their chance to live in it.
What about our loss of personal integrity, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice? Why is it that what we used to call "family values" are now mocked and ridiculed in public entertainment? In all these fearful things (both 70 A.D. and 2001 A.D.) we have Jesus' assurance, "By your endurance you will save your souls."
A state legislature was in session when a summer storm so darkened the sky that it seemed like night even in midday. "It's the end of the world!" shouted one frightened representative. "Bring out candles," ordered the Speaker of the House. "If this is indeed the Second Coming of Christ, I would like him to find us hard at our work."
Saint Francis was hoeing in the monastery garden one day, when a fellow monk asked him, "Francis, what would you do now, if you knew for a fact that the world would end this very afternoon?" "I would just keep on hoeing in this garden," he said.
Seminary students were engaged in a discussion of what Bible text they would choose for their final sermon, if they had reason to believe that this was the Final Day. Some suggested John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Others suggested Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... Even though I walk through the darkest valley I fear no evil...."
Still others suggested the very last verses of the Bible, Revelation 22:20-21, "The one who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."
The winning suggestion was, "I would preach on whatever Bible lesson was appointed for the Gospel for the day."
A homeowner had hired a gardener to plant a certain kind of tree. "But that kind of tree takes many years to mature," the gardener protested. "Then get started with the planting," the homeowner replied. "You do not have a moment to lose."
The common factor in all these stories is the importance of doing God's will all the time, so that there is no need for panic or hurry when any emergency comes -- even the end of the world.
The final words of today's Gospel Lesson give us all the assurance we need to trust God: "By your endurance you will gain your souls."
