November 13, 2022 Sermon
Sermon title: "The Coming Persecution"
Scripture: Luke 21:5-19
(Other lectionary choices include Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah 12, and II Thessalonians 3:6-13.)
Luke 21:5-19
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." Signs and Persecutions 7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!' and, ‘The time is near!' Do not go after them. 9"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. 12"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Some scary words from Jesus in today's Scripture reading: First of all, the magnificent temple will be thrown down. Also, there is some turmoil to come. There will be people who claim to be Jesus, but do not be led astray. There will be wars and rumors of wars, but these things must all happen before the end. And, says Jesus, "they will arrest you and persecute you." And what else? "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends." Also, "You will be hated by all because of my name."
What is going on here? I hate to be repetitive, but I need to say this again: Jesus seems to be predicting the future. There WILL be persecutions, and they will happen to his followers after he is no longer walking the earth. And the temple WILL be destroyed. We know that it was in 70 A.D. when the Romans put down the Jewish rebellion. What I have said before is that Luke's Gospel was written shortly after Mark's Gospel was written, possibly around 65 A.D. So, the author of Luke may actually have witnessed the destruction of the temple! It is tempting to think that Jesus could predict the future because we believe he was the Son of God. HOWEVER, we also need to realize that the Gospel writers were not eyewitnesses to what they wrote about. It is thought that they TALKED to eyewitnesses and wrote down what those eyewitnesses told them. But we need to understand that if the Gospels were not written until thirty years after Jesus was here in the flesh, those writing the Gospels did not witness themselves the things they are writing about. That doesn't make them wrong. But it DOES mean they weren't there for the life of Jesus, and that they were TOLD about Jesus from those who knew him. As I have said before, quoting some unknown religious scholar, "The Gospels tell what the early church thought about Jesus." That doesn't make them wrong, but it does mean we need to take into account that what was told them was told by those who believed Jesus was the Messiah. So, in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we have the FAITH of the early church as well as stories told by members of that first believing community.
Let me break away for a moment to tell you about a group of New Testament scholars called the Jesus Seminar. They are probably more liberal than anybody in this room, but they have come up with some interesting insights. These scholars are spread from coast to coast and maybe even beyond. One was Marcus Borg, who taught at Oregon State until he died a few years ago. He was only in his seventies, I believe, when he died. One of the things the Jesus Seminar did was pass out a survey regarding the quotes we have from Jesus in the Gospels.
What the survey or surveys asked, among other things, was how authentic were the words of Jesus. Did he say them or not? You had five choices: (1) Jesus definitely said that - whatever the quote in question was, (2) Jesus probably said that. (3) No opinion either way. (4) Jesus probably did not say that quote. And (5) Jesus definitely did not say that quote. As I said, these scholars that make up the Jesus Seminar are probably more liberal than any of us, but I think it's GOOD to question what we read in the Bible. For example, I believe we need to ask WHEN was this written, WHAT was the context, and other questions. I know, I know: it can be a slippery slope if we try to decide what Jesus said or didn't say. But here's one I'll throw at you: shortly before Jesus was to be crucified and he was at the Last Supper with his disciples, he was talking about Judas without mentioning his name, and he said of the one who was to betray him, "It would have been better had that man never been born." Wow! That's quite a statement! Did Jesus REALLY say that? Wasn't a Judas NEEDED to turn Jesus over to be crucified so that the world could be saved? I don't know; what do YOU think? There is another statement that has always bothered me. Jesus says that sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. WHAT? I thought God forgave EVERYTHING. Don't you? What did Jesus mean by that quote, IF he really said it?
That's enough about the Jesus Seminar, but I mention that group because I think context is important. And I need to reiterate that the Four Gospel writers used to be called the Four Evangelists. Why were they called Evangelists? Because they believed Jesus was the Messiah, and they want YOU to believe, too. So, the four Gospel writers have an AGENDA. It isn't a BAD agenda, but they believe certain things about Jesus, and they want you to believe, too. If you read the most recent newsletter, you may recall that I had something in there from Diana Butler Bass, who talked about Jesus's parables. She says that Luke starts out some of his accounts of Jesus's parables with what he thinks you ought to glean from the parable......and then he wraps up that parable by telling you again what you were supposed to learn from the parable. Diana Butler Bass's point is that there is NO ONE CORRECT ANSWER to any of the parables; they are told so that YOU can wrestle with them, not Luke, not your pastor, but YOU. YOU wrestle with that parable, and never mind Luke's agenda! Isn't that fascinating? If Diana Butler Bass is correct, even the Gospel writers had their own opinions about Jesus, and they passed those opinions on in their writings, either accidentally or on purpose. I am reminded of THIS quote: "Nobody reads the Gospels for the first time." Isn't that a great quote? I love it because the first time you read or heard the Gospels you had ALREADY heard about Jesus and had formed some opinion of him. Therefore - again, and I don't know who said it - "Nobody reads the Gospels for the first time."
Getting back to what we heard in today's Scripture reading, I think you'd have to say that Jesus could read the signs of the times, and what he saw was not hearts and flowers. He had said before that if you want to be his disciple, be prepared to pick up your cross and follow him. There's a story of a leader who wrote to a friend during a great struggle, "Heads are rolling in the sand; come and add yours." In a way, that was what Jesus was saying. He was not offering an easy way, but an heroic way.
But Jesus also promised that his disciples would not be meeting tribulation all by themselves. In fact, in today's lesson he says that when his followers are hauled before judges and courts, don't be worried about what you are to say. Says Jesus, "I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict." To me, this sounds like what Jesus says at the end of Matthew's Gospel: "Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age." Or, in Martin Luther's words, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God, a Bulwark Never Failing." Or from Psalm 46: "The God of Jacob is our refuge."
The final line of today's Scripture reading is a bit puzzling. After all the turmoil talked about before, Jesus says not one hair of your head will perish. What's he mean? I think he means - again, using Martin Luther's words - "the body they may kill", but those who are faithful will endure, and they will save their souls as a result. Put another way, "Those who walk with Jesus may lose their lives, but they can never lose their souls."
Jesus is calling us to have integrity, and the price of that integrity might include friends and even family members. What is amazing is that Jesus still has followers, even though he warned everybody what to expect. Amen.
Pastor Skip
