“AND MY SOUL SHALL BE HEALED“
SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON November 14th 2010
Luke 21:8-9 “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified. For this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”
Not exactly cheery news on a Sunday morning is it! But it could be any news item that we’ve had this year. I think of Haiti, and I think of wars.
I remember in the 50’s when I was a child, my grandmother had this very large Bible with a blue cover. We lived in a country town in those days, and it was probably purchased from a traveling Bible Salesman. It contained full page vivid pictures. The one I remember most clearly is one toward the back, in the Book of Revelation. In the picture there were some terrified people, falling stars, and what seemed like falling rocks or hail.
This picture both scared and fascinated me. But it did not square up with what I had learned about Jesus in Sunday School: gentle Jesus, meek and mild. The image of the end of all things, and the second coming of Christ, was something I found difficult as a child. We heard about it in the season of Advent, but it was secondary to childhood preparations for Christmas.
For most Episcopalians and traditional western Christians, the second coming and the end of all things is not very big in our thinking. I think there are two reasons for that.
Firstly, the Episcopalian Church, as part of the Anglican tradition, places an emphasis on the Incarnation – and by extension, the sacraments. Our great feast is Christmas. Our faith looks to creation as good and loved by God. We seek to honor all persons because God has created them. Furthermore, life is to be full of joy. It’s said that Episcopalians know how to have a party! Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
That is they way we live as Christians in the Episcopal Church. An emphasis on the end of the world and the second coming of Christ in judgment is almost a negative contrast to that. Certainly, there are many churches that preach the second coming and God’s judgment with great enthusiasm. We usually look at that enthusiasm with great suspicion.
The second reason that the second coming and the end of all things is put to one side is because western society is pervaded by a secularism that does not allow for any sense of the supernatural or the invisible realm. Our world wants instant gratification. You can get anything your heart desires fairly easily. We are concerned with the material things of this world. It doesn’t quit fit with the concept of the supernatural world and the fact that Christ, who is in heaven, is going to return.
I remember from my youth in the old Prayer Book, at the intercessions the priest would say: “Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church: militant here on earth, expectant in paradise, and triumphant in heaven.” It’s a triple layer: the church here, the church in the waiting time before heaven, and the church in glory. Now the eternal dimension of the Church, both in time and space, is reduced to Praying “for the whole state of Christ’s Church and the world.” We are now, seemingly, concerned only with the things of this world.
By contrast, last Sunday, we celebrated our Patronal Festival – the Feast of All Saints. We rejoiced in the fellowship and communion we have with all the saints in heaven. With that in mind, we remember that when our Lord comes in glory at the end of time he will come with all the angels and saints. This is what scripture tells us. The heavenly dimension will be part of the end of all things.
Furthermore, because of our communion with the saints, we know that heaven is already experienced by us in the church – and especially in the Holy Communion.
The attitude of putting to one side the fact of the second coming – one might even say a denial of it – is in sharp contrast to the way we live our lives in time and space.
For instance, last Thursday was Veterans Day, the day we remember the end of WWI. For the military this involves a little preparation, and certain ceremonies on the day. It’s a day that comes with certain expectation. It will be even more so for all of us in ten days time, when we celebrate Thanksgiving. Flights have already been booked by many people to join their families. Meals have been planned, and everything is organized.
We have no problem planning for a specific event that occurs on a certain day. Yet we give no preparation for that great event, which could happen tomorrow, or even this afternoon – the second coming.
Scripture is full of urgings that we should watch and pray and take heed to yourselves. ‘Take heed to yourselves’ – the phrase, ‘take heed’ occurs thirteen times in the first three gospels.
It was put another way by St. Paul in Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, and not on the things of the earth.”
Truly, our affections are set on the things of this earth, aren’t they? St. Augustine, the great doctor of the Church, said that we are hesitant about the second coming because we love our sins more. St. Paul also teaches us that as Christians we have already experienced these last things and the things of heaven. In Romans 8:23 he refers to the first fruits of the Spirit. In other words, we have a taste now of what will be a full harvest in heaven.
Although the Bible does seem to portray the second coming as a terrible day of judgment, the Christian hope, based on scripture, is that it will be the fulfillment of what we’ve already experienced now through the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, even if we aren’t aware of it, gives us a taste of fullness of what life shall be in the Kingdom of Heaven. We literally have a taste now in Holy Communion, where the things of earth, bread and wine, are transformed by the Spirit and become the things of heaven.
All these is made clear by Jesus in today’s gospel, Luke 21:5-19. Note how relevant it all is. Firstly, Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This would happen later, when the Romans destroyed the Temple/ This was a great tragedy for the Jews and their religion, centered as it was on the Temple in Jerusalem. Two thousand years later the Wailing Wall bares witness to the destruction of the Temple and its ongoing affect.
Then Jesus goes on to refer to those who will pretend to be prophets of Jesus, or who prophesy about the end of the world. He was right, of course. America has hundreds of churches who preach that same message. “Do not go after them,” Jesus said.
Lastly, Jesus speaks about wars and tumults. We are very familiar with this. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestulences.” Jesus could be describing this year, or this decade – but he was not some fortune-teller looking into a crystal ball. He really could have been describing any decade since he said those words.
Looking at this gospel, Luke 21:5-19, it seems that Jesus has three messages for us.
Firstly, “Do not go after them“. Which is to say, don’t stray from the Church and its’ teachings.
Secondly, “Do not be terrified“. Fear not.
Lastly, “By your endurance you will gain your lives“.
In other words: keep the faith, rejoice always, watch and pray.
And when Christ returns, what will we say to him?
Perhaps, we might hear the words that are said at Mass when we are invited to come to meet Jesus in the Holy Sacrament:
“Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him that takest away the sins of the world.”
Even if that is not what we hear, when we see Jesus on that day our reply will surely be:
“Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed.”