Sermons for the Month

The Things That Last
DATE: November 18, 2001
TEXT: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

Before the end of the day on September 11, the talking heads of television and the disembodied voices of talk radio were saying "the world will never be the same again." At the time, I reacted with a surge of media-directed cynicism: "Oh please, you people said the same thing when Art Modell moved the Browns out of Cleveland. Life goes on!" And so it does. So it has. But I'm willing now to concede to a certain amount of denial mixed into my reaction; because things are not quite the same as before, not even for us here in Akron, Ohio, a thousand miles away from the rubble and the rising smoke. New images have been imprinted on our minds, new anxieties upon our hearts, and that is where Jesus touches us this morning.

The scene in today's reading from Luke's Gospel takes place immediately after last week's story. Jesus' disciples, who perhaps had missed the point of Jesus' commentary on the poor widow and her two tiny coins, were ooh-ing and aah-ing like the tourists they were over the magnificent architecture, the lavish and expense interior decoration of the Temple in Jerusalem.

But Jesus doesn't join in the admiration. "These things that you see," he says, shaking his head sorrowfully, ruefully, "the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." Is it just me, or does anyone else now shiver at those words, remembering magnificent, towering buildings, marvels of architecture and design, in barely more than an instant of time crumbling into a cloud of dust and rubble?

Jesus continues to look into a future that includes …"war and insurrections…nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…famines and plagues…" those used to be things that happen far away, in someone else's world, not here, not now. But since September 11, that's changed too. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that WE have changed. Oh, probably not every one of us, and no one of us all of the time. But since the unprecedented terrorist attacks upon our own nation, there is in our society a heightened awareness that no one of us, and no thing that is of human creation, will last forever. And that's not at all a bad thing.

It's one of the things that Jesus was trying to punch home to his disciples in the final days of his time on earth. "What you see, guys, is not all there is; there's a whole realm out there and in here that you can't always see, but which is most definitely real, and that is vitally important, because in the end, it's the only thing that lasts." They knew that; even before September 11, we knew that. They, and we, just get caught up in the ooh-ing and aah-ing, tourists that we are in this journey through life. Fact is, we'll make much better use of our time while we're here if we learn to keep in mind the perspective of God, the perspective of an eternity of holiness, righteousness, and love that is safely in store for the children of God when this life, when this world, comes to an end, whenever and however that may happen.

Fortunately, God gives us direction for living in a way which keeps that eternal perspective and recognizes the provisional character of this life, even as we appreciate and value and use well the time and abilities we are given. This morning I want to highlight three things from His Word.

First, the Lord tells us to stay focused, to stay "on target," or "on task." We're here for a reason, that with our lives we might give glory and honor to the awesome God who created us; that we might give testimony in our words and in our actions to both to His mighty power and to His very great mercy and faithfulness toward the world He has made. We are not to be distracted from those aspects of life which are eternally important by the things which are not, not even if they are good things in their own right like, for example, a beautiful and awe-inspiring temple. A building is a means to an end; a pastor, a council, a constitution, a congregation, are all means to the end of providing a physical place and a spiritual space for God's people to come together to pray and to praise, to learn and to grow, to encourage one another, and to be equipped for our everyday ministries.

It's all too easy to become absorbed in the care of a building; to bicker over a budget; to view leadership positions as empty slots to be filled with warm bodies; to long for the "perfect" pastor to make it all run smoothly and comfortably, and almost forget that these structures, and these people, are the tools of the Holy Spirit to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the people of God so that the Light of Christ can shine in this community, wherever our daily appointed rounds take us. Similarly, it's all too easy for our daily lives to become so fragmented between work, school, housework, homework, ball games, piano lessons, dance recitals, trips to the store, bills to pay, e-mails to answer -- and to lose sight of the mission that holds it all together, namely, to give glory to God and to live a life that honors the One who gave it to us. So, the Lord reminds us, STAY FOCUSED!

Secondly, Jesus says that whatever happens, do not be afraid. One troubling aspect of growing older is that you find yourself thinking that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Drugs, crime, violence, disrespectful young people with pierced body parts and incomprehensible music, and now terrorist attacks and anthrax in the mail - things have never been THIS bad, and surely they can't get much worse! In fact, Jesus says, the world is a dangerous and scary place, especially for Christians as Satan loves to keep things stirred up against them; and when you think it looks about as bad as it could possibly get, it might get even worse!

But everything is still under God's ultimate control; count on it! DON'T PANIC, and DON'T DESPAIR…don't throw up your hands and say, "it's all so awful, and there's nothing I can do." You and I are called to worship and to witness to God, no matter what; called to be little points of light in a gloomy world, called to continue to be faithful; we're also promised that we will be given the words and the wisdom to do so. Whatever we are called upon to endure, to venture, to tackle in the name of Christ and for the sake of the Kingdom of God, we don't have to be afraid, we just need to keep on going, to keep on "keeping on."

'Cause the third thing Scripture tells us today is "don't quit!" In Paul's letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, he refers to some believers who seem to have concluded that since this world is only temporary, what's the point? Why not just sit back and wait for Jesus to come and pick us up? Meanwhile, we can live off the labor of those poor fools who don't realize how unimportant all this is.

Paul regards this as absurd. This world is not ALL there is, but it IS God's world, it is where His Son lived and labored and loved and ministered and suffered and died for our redemption, the world in which the Holy Spirit has planted the Church to be the Body of Christ, so get up off your be-hinds and BE THE BODY, Paul says. It can be tempting to quit, or at least to take a vacation from being a Christian, to grow weary in doing what is right, especially if we don't see immediate results or rewards. But if September 11 has affected us in any way, it has been a vivid reminder of what we knew all along, that we none of us know how much time we have left to do the things that are truly important, to be the person God created us to be.

STAY FOCUSED - DON'T BE AFRAID - DON'T QUIT. We are called to be faithful and focused, over the long haul, praying and studying and striving and trusting the Holy Spirit to pull us back when we wander off course. We are called to be courageous, to FEEL afraid or uncertain at times, but still to go forward as the Lord leads us. We are called to endure, encouraging one another, reminding one another of the Lord's presence and of His eternal promise.

And then it won't matter if the Lord calls us home -- or calls an end to it all -- in 5 years, or in 50 years, or at 5:00 this afternoon. He'll find us busy with the work of His Kingdom; yet ready to put it down or to hand it on with a sense of completion and of satisfaction, of a job well done and of a life well spent.

In the end, that's all that truly matters. We knew that, before September 11, and we knew that before Sunday morning, November 18. But thank you, Jesus, for reminding us again; thank you for today, and for each day you give us; keep us focused - keep us faithful - keep us following you forever.

AMEN

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