Enduring to the End

Mark 13:1-8

November 17, 2024

 

            In the movie When Harry Met Sally, which is one our favorite movies and one that we traditionally watch every New Year’s Eve, the character Harry, played by Billy Crystal tells the character Sally that whenever he begins a new novel, he turns to the last page and reads the ending before he gets into the rest of the novel. That way, if he should happen to die mid-read then he’ll know how it turns out. His point in telling this to Sally was that it proved he was dark and thought about death all the time.

            I laugh at this scene every time we watch it because it’s funny, but also because I resonate with it. I sometimes do the same thing as Harry did but for a different reason. I don’t read the ending before the rest of the book because I’m worried I might die while reading. I do it because if the book I’m reading is intense to the point that it makes me feel anxious, I want to know if the character or characters I’m most anxious about survive. Knowing that they’re alive or dead at the end, helps me get through the ups and downs, the suspense, and the heartbreak that the rest of the book may hold.

            I don’t do this all the time with books. Most of the time I want to follow the story as it unfolds and be surprised by the twists and turns, but every once in a while I need to take a peek at the ending so I can have the fortitude to get through the middle.

            Wouldn’t it be nice if real life worked like that? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a way to see the ending well before we’ve gotten there, so we can know how to endure the in-between? I think that desire to know the ending is what fuels end of the world stories and scenarios. I think it gave rise to the zombie apocalypse movies which were so popular a few years ago. And I think that our longing to know the end also finds voice in the doomsayers who proclaim that on such and such date the world will end. Every few years we hear that a person or a group of people, a religious sect or something like it, have predicted when the end of the world will happen. Since we are all gathered here today, I think we can safely say that so far the predictions have been wrong.

            But when we read scripture passages like the one before us from Mark’s gospel, we can understand the impetus of end-of-the-world, apocalypse proclaimers. Apocalyptic literature and language are part of our scripture – in the gospels, in Revelation, in prophets like Daniel. People read these passages and these books, and probably think, “Okay, well scripture says there’s going to be an end time, so when is it going to happen? Tell me what happens at the end, so I can be ready for the middle.”

            And if you read passages like this one from Mark through a literal lens, its easy to believe that the end times are happening right now. There are people out there leading believers astray in the name of Jesus. There are certainly wars and rumors of more wars to come. Natural disasters happen with more frequency. The world feels chaotic and scary, and it’s no wonder that a whole lot of people worldwide try to cope with anxiety and depression.

            But are we actually reading about the end in this passage from Mark? Is this a story about the end of the world or is it about something else? When we hear the word apocalypse many of us do tend to think more along the lines of zombies and smoke and fire and destruction and the whole world collapsing. But that is a more worldly understanding than scriptural. In scripture the meaning of apocalypse is not so much about ending so much as it is uncovering. Essayist and theologian, Debie Thomas, writes that an apocalyptic vision reveals a new way of seeing. Apocalyptic passages in the Bible are about what is being revealed, what is being uncovered, and what can be newly seen. So, what is it that’s being uncovered in this passage?

            I’m not sure that the disciples were thinking about the end times at the beginning of our passage, nor were they longing for something new to be revealed. Instead I suspect that they were looking for reassurance that some things will never end. And one disciple puts that longing into a question about the temple.

            “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”

            As if to say, look Rabbi, look at these enormous stones with which our temple was built. Nothing and no one could ever bring down these stones, these massive buildings. They will stand the test of time.

            But if they were looking to Jesus for reassurance on this point, he does not give it to them.

            “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down!”

            Wait? What?! What do you mean that these large buildings built with such enormous stones will be thrown down? How is that possible? How is it possible that the temple, the temple, will be destroyed? That’s not possible. It cannot be possible. As Debie Thomas put it, what the disciples saw was an architectural wonder. But what Jesus sees is something else altogether.

            Jesus and the disciples leave the temple, and they go to sit on the Mount of Olives which was opposite of that great house of worship. There, Peter, James, John, and Andrew, privately asked Jesus for more details. If the temple is going to be destroyed, Jesus, when exactly will this be? The disciples wanted a sign.

            But Jesus does not give them one. He does not give them a time or a date either. In other scripture passages, Jesus states he does not know himself, only God knows. But what he does offer is a warning, and another uncovering, another revealing.

            “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. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

            Who reads these verses now, today, and thinks, well this is it! We are clearly at the end times. Who read these verses a generation ago, two generations ago, three, four, five, ten, and thought, well this is it; we are at the end times! Every generation contends with this passage and others like it and speculates if today is the day. But I don’t think Jesus was trying to predict the ending of the world, as much as he was trying to help the disciples see what was being, what is being, uncovered and revealed.

            Again, to paraphrase Debie Thomas, Jesus tells them that they see the temple as not just a marvel of building and design but as the greatest symbol of God and God’s power. Yet what Jesus sees it that even this symbol will be brought to ruin, not because it’s the end of the world but because God will not be contained. God will not be smooshed down into a box of our own design. God will not be held captive by our own misunderstandings.

            There’s a wonderful scene in the Disney movie, Aladdin, where the genie is squeezed and smooshed back into his lamp. Outside of the lamp, the genie is huge and all-powerful, but he does not stay outside of it. He is captive to that lamp and his proportions must be narrowed and diminished to fit into it. That makes me wonder if that’s what we do to God. Maybe that’s what Jesus was warning the disciples against. Stop trying to contain, restrain, and limit God. God is not tied to these stones, no matter how large they are. God is not contained within these buildings, no matter how massive. God is doing a new thing. God is creating and recreating, so don’t let others lead you down the wrong path because they claim to know what’s coming next. What seems like the end is just the beginning. It is the birth pangs. It is the hard and difficult labor that brings about new life.

            If we had continued to read through verse 13, we would have heard Jesus preparing the disciples for what they will endure because of Jesus, because they follow Jesus. You will be handed over to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues because you follow me. You will be made to stand before governors and kings because of me. You will be made to stand trial, but don’t worry about what you will say. Don’t worry about what words you should speak. The Holy Spirit will speak through you. The Holy Spirit will give you the words that you need, and the strength that you need and the courage that you need to endure to the end.

            Jesus does not once promise them peace or security or a quiet life. He doesn’t offer them reassurance that the temple will stand. He doesn’t give them assurance that they will not die for his sake. He just reveals to them, uncovers for them, the truth that God is doing a new thing. God is creating still, and that whatever trials they face, they will have the power of the Holy Spirit. They will find their courage and their strength and their endurance through the Holy Spirit, no matter what comes. In other words Jesus does not tell them specifically about the end, but he promises them that they will have the strength to endure the middle because God is in the beginning, the middle, the end, and the new beginning after that.

            That is the good news. God is with us in this middle and God’s new thing is being uncovered and revealed bit by bit. That is where our hope lies, not in what we do but in what God is doing right now, right here in our midst and in our middle. May we find endurance in the power of the Holy Spirit to live into it all – middle, end, and new beginning. Thanks be to God.

            Let all of God’s children say, “Alleluia.” Amen.