Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
November 17, 2024
Mark 13:1-8

The audio of this sermon is available here. The livestream of the worship service is available on the Trinity Church YouTube channel.

Yes, I am one of those people that went to college and got a seemingly pointless degree. History. I heard it all the time when I was in college – “what are you going to do with a history degree? That’s useless.” Of course, that usually came from engineering majors or pre-meds. You know, the “useful” people.

So I would like to take this moment and speak up for all the “useless” history majors out there. I mean, who else do you want on your team on trivia night? You want a historian – we know all sorts of random stuff. 

And if you are the leader of an institution, or a political leader; sure you should have legal and economic advisers, certainly. But you also want some historians around. Think of this way – remember how your parents would told you not to eat all your Halloween candy because you would get a bellyache. But then you ate all the Halloween candy anyway and got a bellyache. And then your parents were like, “why didn’t you just listen to me in the first place?” Yeah, that’s how every history major feels. Like, c’mon, we’re right here. We learned about this stuff. While you all were being so snobby about designing bridges and taking anatomy, we were learning about everything in the news today – Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Taiwan; labor relations, economic policy, attitudes toward immigration; you name it, we took a class on it. In fact, we are quite useful.

It’s the same when we read the Bible. Now I know, on the face of it, Jesus is saying some scary stuff. “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines” (Mark 13:5-8). Yikes! It sounds like Jesus is coming back at any minute. Look around – we’ve got famines, we’ve got earthquakes, wars, charlatans as leaders. And then, “All will be thrown down,” Jesus says (Mark 13:8). I can’t tell you how many sermons have been preached, how many books have been sold, with people convinced that Jesus is talking about the end of the world; that it could happen any minute.

That’s not all what Jesus is talking about. How come no one bothered to ask a historian?

First thing – Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. That’s a thing that actually took place. Jesus is not talking about something that is going to happen in the future. He’s talking about something that was imminent for the people of his time. And it did happen. They wrote about it, there is archaeological evidence, you can go to Jerusalem today and still see the ruins of the ancient city. The Temple was thrown down. The city was burned. There were wars, rumors of wars, corrupt leaders. The Jewish Revolt that took place forty years after Jesus played out just as Jesus said it would. And what’s more, the good historian will tell you that Jesus was not the first person to talk about the destruction of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah also talked about the destruction of Jerusalem, six hundred years before Jesus. The Jewish historian Josephus, he also wrote about the destruction of Jerusalem extensively. 

Why does this matter? Because we find it scary when Jesus talks about this stuff because it’s the only time we hear about it. But back in the time of Jesus, talking about wars and rumors of wars and famines and earthquakes was just as common as, well, it is today. We read this passage and think it’s awfully strange. But a historian will read this passage and think, yeah, sounds about right. I mean, when in the history of the world hasn’t there been a time with wars and crackpot leaders and misinformation? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Now, at the end of the passage, Jesus has this cryptic saying – “this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” Think about this historically. After Jerusalem is destroyed, the early church leaves the region; and they take the message of Jesus with them. It was a painful time, certainly. But what was born out of it? The Church. The Church as we know it. Because what happened was that as Christians were fleeing Jerusalem after it was destroyed they took the message of Jesus with them. All was thrown down, yes. But that was just the beginning of the Church. These were the birth pangs.

As the historian, I have to tell you. This passage is not about the end of the world. This passage is not even all that strange. It’s actually quite ordinary. It’s about this new community of love that was forged out of the horror of warfare. It’s about the Church and its first generations.

But sadly, it is not just history. Because warfare, and violence, and corruption, and disaster are far too common.

But I do have something else to say. Or, as Jesus said, “do not be alarmed.” This week I can guarantee you, that we will hear of wars, and rumors of wars, and misinformation. Do not be alarmed. Instead, choose this week to do, to be something else. Don’t get caught up in all that nonsense. Instead, do good works. Say your prayers. Love your neighbor. I do believe that the Holy Spirit, even now, is trying to give birth to a new world. A lovelier world. A holier world. And you, you are the one that God has chosen for this task. Yes, the birth pangs are real, living as a Christian in this world is hard, because we are trying to give birth to something new, something holier, something lovelier. 

Hope with me, dream with me, dream with Jesus of a better world, a holier, more gracious, more peaceful, more honest world. I’m not taking about when we die and go on – I’m not talking about going off to heaven – I’m talking about bringing heaven to earth. This is the world that Jesus loves, and this is the world to which we have been sent as agents for good – to give birth to a world that Jesus dreams it could be. The historian will tell you it can never happen because it never has, but the Christian must believe that it will happen. In Christ, with the Holy Spirit being born in you, it can happen.

So, “go on your way in peace. Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak; help and cheer the sick, honor all people, love and serve the Lord” (from the Brotherhood of St. Andrew Devotional Handbook). And you will be doing something new, something beautiful, something lovely for this world that God loves so much. 

See also

Why the U.S. President Needs a Council of Historians

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/dont-know-much-about-history/492746/

Wright, N. T. Christian Origins and the Question of God. 2: Jesus and the Victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.