Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
November 18, 2018
28 Proper B
Today, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of our
Noack organ, an amazing instrument that has brought joy to this congregation
and to the community for two decades.
Yet today, we also hear one of Jesus’ disciples say “Look, teacher, what
large stones and what large buildings” as if the Temple was all about stones
and buildings. Today, we think about the
way music enhances our worship and our experience of God in this magnificent
building. Yet today, we also hear Jesus
say “Do you see these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown
down.” Today, we sing our hearts out in
some of our favorite hymns. And at the
same time, we hear Jesus talk about division, wars, earthquakes, and famines. Clearly, our gospel lesson this morning is
yet another installment in the series “I don’t pick them. I just preach them.”
The commentaries clearly come down on the side of Jesus
condemning beautiful places of worship, the time and resources required to
maintain such buildings, and the temptation to worship the building rather than
God. On the one hand, I get that, having
spent part of last week without heat in our offices. But on the other hand, I found myself a bit
annoyed. Some years ago, I had the
chance to worship at York Minster in England.
The faithful have worshipped on that site since the 7th
century, and the construction of the current building took over 200 years. More than 5 generations of people worked on
the building. They dedicated their lives
to their little piece of a great cathedral being built to point the whole city
to the glory of God. The deep faith that
went into such building projects is humbling, and the temple in Jerusalem was
no different. And, while I know that
everyone’s experience is different, great church hymnody is key to my
experience of God and of worship. So, I
found myself with little patience for what I was reading in the
commentaries.
So, what are we to make of Jesus’ words this morning? In the 13th chapter of Mark’s gospel, also
known as Mark’s “Little Apocalypse,” Jesus describes the end times, the time
just before he returns. Apocalyptic
writings in scripture usually describe what is actually happening in the lives
of the original readers, while also describing the salvation that will come in
the future. The original readers of
Mark's gospel were being persecuted.
They were experiencing many of the kinds of things Jesus describes in
this section of Mark's gospel. In the
verses following our gospel reading, Jesus continues to describe the present
and coming persecution in some detail.
But in the final verses of the chapter, Jesus promises that this is not
the end. Jesus is coming and may even be
here now, and Jesus calls his followers to watch. Passages such as this give people hope that
the challenges they endure do not have the final word, and the challenges do
not mean that Jesus is absent.
When
times are difficult, we can easily wonder where Jesus is. Between natural disasters like the fires that
rage in California, the issues of immigration and gun violence that divide
families and friends, and personal challenges of health or family concerns, we
can easily wonder if Jesus has disappeared or God is asleep.
In
the reading from 1 Samuel, Hannah is crushed by her lack of a child. She is experiencing bullying by her peers and
the heartbreak of infertility. At the
time when God seems most absent to her, what does Hannah do? 1 Samuel says she presents herself at the
temple, but from the way the passage reads, I think she throws herself down at
the temple, is deeply distressed, weeps bitterly, and pours out her soul to God. She is reassured by Eli, the priest, that God
has heard her. God has not abandoned
her, and eventually she does conceive and bear a son. Yes, she does get her heart’s desire, which
does not always happen, not even in Scripture, but the point is that, rather
than run from the God who seems so absent, she drew near to God and she did so
in the temple.
Scholars do not know who wrote the letter to
the Hebrews or the circumstances around that writing, but the words at the end
of our reading this morning are among my favorites. "And let us consider how to provoke one
another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
approaching." Provoke one another
to good deeds. The word
"provoke" actually means "to call forth" but I find myself
provoked more often to anger or impatience as Hannah was by her rivals rather
than being provoked to good deeds. When
the writer says "and all the more as you see the Day approaching,"
the writer is telling us that the need to provoke one another to love and good
deeds, and not neglect to meet together only increases as challenges
increase. The early church did not
gather to sing hymns, share scripture, and break bread together because life
was easy. They gathered because life was
hard and they needed each other in order to be able to find Christ in their
midst. They needed each other in order to be able to make Eucharist, which is
the Greek word for thanksgiving, when being thankful was too hard to do alone.
As
we gather this morning to worship in this beautiful space and celebrate the
gift of music, Scripture reminds us that God is closest when God seems most
absent, and that we experience God's closeness and find Jesus in our midst by
coming together. Together we can encourage one another, provoke one another to
love and good deeds so we make a difference, and stick together as we meet
life’s challenges. Scripture reminds us
of what we already know-that there is strength to be found in our worship in
this place, and that God can be experienced and glorified here through each
other and through our worship in good times and in hard times. Anything less would be just a building.
Amen.
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