“For by your endurance you will gain your souls.”
In
all honesty, when I read the lessons
for today, I almost decided to punt and just preach on the Psalm. The Prophet Malachi warns of a day that is
coming that will burn like an oven, reducing the arrogant and the evildoers to
stubble. The author of Second Thessalonians writing in the name of Paul is
focused on busybodies and spongers in the community, an epistle of resentment which
sounds a lot like our culture wars today. And then there’s Luke who depicts
Jesus as laying out a frightening scene of wars, natural disasters and false
teachers ready to mislead the faithful. And when his disciples ask him how they
will survive all this, he is evasive – By your endurance you will gain your
souls. Now, what the heck does that mean?
So
you can see why it was tempting to blow off these visions of doom and gloom this
morning and focus on the Psalm with its exhortation to “Sing to the Lord a
new song, for he has done marvelous things.” But, unlike some in our state government, I
believe that we do not get to avoid those things that make us uncomfortable.
Indeed, it is often the things that are uncomfortable that we most need to
consider.
A
Gospel Emerging From the Ruins
The
first thing we need to know about the words from Luke’s Gospel today is that
they aren’t mere speculation. Luke’s writings appear in two parts – his Gospel
and the Acts of the Apostles. Both were completed about 85 CE. That’s a good 15
years after the Temple has actually been destroyed. Thus, the words Luke places
in Jesus’ mouth in this passage are not predictions, which we sometimes confuse
with prophecies, they are actual historical accounts.
Those
who have visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem have seen the enormous blocks of
granite that once supported the Second Temple which the Romans managed to
topple from the Temple Mount hurtling hundreds of feet to the ground below.
Before the Romans were through, not one stone would be left standing on another,
just as Luke has Jesus saying.
Concurrent
with the destruction of the Second Temple, the Romans would force any Judean who
survived their assault on the Temple to permanently depart from Jerusalem. Eventually
all Judeans would be expelled from the land of Israel altogether becoming what
we have historically called wandering Jews in the hands of often hostile
Christian majorities.
With
the loss of the Temple, the center of Israel’s religious life had been taken
away. Now Israel’s faithful must find a way to continue their religion. It
would have to change or die. And the response to that challenge would be seen in
the rise of the synagogues under the direction of the rabbis. It would be there
that the Torah would become central in determining how one lived one’s life as
a good Jew.
In
the tumultuous time in the wake of the Temple’s destruction when Luke is writing,
Judaism had begun a long period of redefining itself. Feeling threatened by the
worldview of the Greco-Roman culture, Judaism began to define itself in
opposition to any ideas it found to be contrary to life defined by the Torah as
interpreted by the rabbis. The first step meant deciding which writings
constituted Torah and which did not, a process that would take place over the
next few decades.
With the rise of a distinct population among the Jews who followed Jesus, contention arose in the synagogues. Before it was over, the Jesus followers would be expelled and the writings they held sacred with names like Gospels and Epistles would be banned. Within a century of the Fall of the Temple in 70 CE, both rabbinical Judaism and a new religion called Christianity were well on their way to permanently separating from one another. To say it was not an amicable divorce is an understatement as the many negative references to “the Jews” in the New Testament evidence.
Now, that’s the context in which Luke’s writings occurs. When he speaks of the destruction of the Temple, it is a fait accompli, the result of Roman impatience with the constant insurrections of Jewish zealots. When he speaks of famines and plagues, such are common in places where societies have been destabilized by war and insurrection. Everything from food supply to health systems are thrown into jeopardy. And when Luke speaks of betrayals, even within one’s own families, and persecutions it is because this is what is actually happening in the shredded social fabric of the Jewish population of Palestine at the end of the 1st CE. It was a grim time, indeed.
Sounds
Painfully Familiar
So,
why do we need to hear this? Haven’t we got enough problems of our own? Do we
not have wars that have disrupted our world’s economy including its food
supplies and the abilities of people to heat their homes? Do we not have
insurrections that threaten to topple our very way of governing ourselves? Was
not our Temple of Democracy sacked and desecrated by rioters? Do we not have
vulnerable people who worry every day that they may be betrayed by those they
thought they could trust when it comes to their gender identity and decisions
regarding their reproduction? And do we
not have desperate refugees coming to our shores every day praying for
compassion and a new beginning only to be persecuted by those with power over
their lives?
In
truth, I think we understand the world that produced Luke’s Gospel only too well.
And it is precisely because we do understand it that hearing this Gospel reading
today is essential. So what good news can we take away from these dire readings
this morning?
First, like the people of 1st CE Judea, we must acknowledge that we live in a time of transition. All things change. And for change to occur, old, established ways of being and understanding, some of them deeply cherished, must die before the new can be born. That is happening now and for many of us it is painful. Rather than deny our pain and rage at the agents of change, a healthy people will allow themselves to mourn as we let go of that which is dying even as we learn to adapt to that which is being born.
That
last part is important. Something new is being born and that should give us
hope and a sense of expectation. Had we used the alternative lections appointed
for this day, we would have heard the prophet Isaiah saying “I am about to
create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating…” Change
is perhaps the only constant in human existence. But G-d is with us in all
things. And that alone can empower us to embrace the transitions we face with
humility, candor and courage.
Community: Essential to Endurance
Second,
it is essential to note that the Gospel of Luke comes to us from a community
which preserved it first as an oral tradition and later reduced it to writing.
The key word in that statement is community. With all the loss that occurs in
times of major change, human beings need safe places to honestly and openly
acknowledge their suffering. And the role of community support in surviving times
that try men’s souls, to quote Thomas Paine, is absolutely vital to survival
and healing.
But
that community does not just happen. It requires all of its members constantly
agreeing to be fully present, working through disagreement and bearing one another’s
burdens. We are fortunate to be members of a healthy community. Every day I
give thanks for this community we call St. Richard’s. It is a gift from G-d.
Finally, let us take very seriously these words that Luke places in the mouth of Jesus in this Gospel reading. At the very end of this lesson, Jesus tells his listeners “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” And here’s the thing. They did endure. How do we know? Because 2000 years later we are reading the gospel their community produced this morning. Luke’s community of Jesus followers endured. And we will, too.
So
in this sometimes frightening time of major change in our world and in our
lives, may we be courageous enough to face our fears and voice our suffering.
May we work to be a community where it is safe to do so and supportive of each
other in our struggles. And may we resolve to endure these trying times, trusting
the G-d who is always with us through all that may come.
There are many beautiful collects in our prayer book. I close with this one designed to be prayer in times of conflict:
O God, you have bound us together in a
common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles, to confront one another
without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and
respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Harry Scott Coverston
Orlando,
Florida
If the
unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it
religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things worth considering do
not come in sound bites.
Those who
believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either. – Mahatma
Gandhi
For what
does G-d require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your G-d? - Micah 6:8, Hebrew
Scriptures
Do not be
daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are
you free to abandon it. - Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Wisdom
of the Jewish Sages (1993)
© Harry
Coverston, 2022
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 comment:
Thought provoking and written in truth. Peace and All Good Brother
Post a Comment