Nouns and Adverbs

Sermon-Year B-Proper 28 24 Pentecost November 15
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A couple of deer hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls off the path, down a ravine, to the ground below. His buddy looks down after him. The fallen man doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes have rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"
I’m sure you all are already prepared but I thought I would just check to make sure, you know that the world is ending 2012? Right? But not til Dec. 21st 2012 so at least we have over 3 years left. That’s according to the Mayans. This year 7 movies referring to the end of the world have been released, including last Friday’s 2012. Even for Hollywood, seven movies about the end are a lot. Why do you think there are so many? What’s it all mean? One survivalist who has a blog says that his website has tripled in popularity in the last 14 months. Why? Why is the end of the world so popular? (Transformers, G.I. Joe, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
“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…”
Sound scary? Mark the gospel writer is writing this about 70AD we think. That becomes important later. But first let me tell you a couple of things.
In the early 1500s a man by the name of Melchior Hoffman who was a lay preacher was noted for his teaching that the world would end in his lifetime. In 1526 Hoffman published a detailed pamphlet on the twelfth chapter of Daniel which proclaimed that the world would end in seven years, at Easter of 1533.” “A German bookbinder named Hans Nut said that he was a prophet of God sent by Christ to herald the Second Coming. This would occur exactly three and a half years after the start of the Peasant's War, in 1527.” “Bishop Frederick Nausea predicted that the world would end in 1532 and Martin Luther, the reformer, predicted the end of the world in 300 years or in 1800.
These are just a few of the prophets of the early 1500s! Every era, every century believes that the world will end, that the end is coming. It’s called “the apocalypse”, which means the “unveiling” or “revealing.” If you watch any end of the world movies, read any of this genre, you will hear the word APOCALYPSE. It is very popular. Every year there have been dire predictions, terrible prophecies forecasting the end of the world. There are 4 places in the Bible in which we read about the apocalypse-The Book of Daniel, The Book of Revelation-and the 13th chapter of the gospel of Mark and the 21st chapter of the gospel of Luke). Writers (and movies) love to refer to these books as “predicters” of the future.
One psychologist I was reading said that the more people feel out of control in their personal life, the more they are drawn to apocalyptic teaching. For instance-people losing their homes, people losing their jobs, people without health care or who are told daily that global warming or international terrorism is going to destroy them. People who are losing what will keep them safe are most susceptible to stories about the end. No wonder people are making a lot of money off of predicting the end of the world.
Do you remember last week’s gospel and Dick’s sermon? A poor widow drops two pennies into the collection at the temple. And only Jesus seems to notice and appreciate her sacrifice. The story continues this week with Jesus and his followers walking out of that same temple and taking a place opposite it-and all the disciples want to talk about is how grand the temple is. Jesus obviously is still thinking about the poor widow they just saw giving up everything.
And Jesus says, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." They must have been shocked. This is the center of their faith, and Jesus is telling them that it will end? And of course, within 40 years the Romans tear down the temple, all except a portion of the west wall that we have today. And so Jesus’ prediction comes true. His friends say nothing at the time, but later, in private, they want to know about the end, “WHEN WILL THIS BE??? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS THAT THE IS GOING TO HAPPEN?” TELL US ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE???
A volunteer tutor was asked to visit a nine-year-old in a large city hospital. She took the boy's name and room number and was told by the boy's teacher that they were studying nouns and adverbs in class. It wasn't until the tutor got to the boy's room that she realized the boy was a patient in the hospital's intensive care burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a nine-year-old so horribly burned and in such great pain. She felt she couldn't just turn and leave, so she gathered her courage and entered the room. "Hi, I'm the hospital teacher," she stammered. "Your teacher asked me to help you with nouns and adverbs." And, clumsily, she launched into the lesson. The next morning a nurse called the tutor. "What did you do to that boy?" The tutor immediately began a tearful apology, but the nurse interrupted her. "No, no, no. You don't understand. We've been very worried about him. But since you were here, he's fighting back, he's responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live." The boy later explained that he had given up hope, until the tutor came. "I figured they wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a kid who's dying, would they?" ("Hope in the active voice," Connections, Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 1998)
Why waste time on someone who is dying? Jesus tells his friends that bad things are going to happen, but that God is constantly trying to build up his kingdom-not tear it down.
We live in scary times. Human beings have always lived in scary times. Buildings get destroyed. Walls are pulled down. People lose jobs and homes, and often, they lose hope. We feel overwhelmed, we feel powerless, we cannot cope with all the stuff going on in our lives. That happens. It always has, and it will continue. So where do we go? How do we act? How do we respond when so many movies, so much of the newscasts, so much of the words coming at us are full of fear?
We sit down and go on with our lives. We live each day. Of course we’re afraid, of course we’re overwhelmed. And often we feel powerless. But you know what? We go on. We continue. We decide to live and fight back. It is not easy. We often don’t know which direction to go, or how to get there.
10 years ago, when the 10-year celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, they were remembering the economic crisis and general chaos the fall of the wall created, while we, over here in the US were celebrating. A woman who'd been behind the iron curtain was quoted in the paper saying that while it was great that they were now free, no one had taught them how to be free. And she was terrified of what came next.
Today’s reading ends with this verse: This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
Think back over your life, to moments when your life was about to change? At the time do you remember feeling confident and strong? Do you remember feeling sure of yourself, and absolutely clear about what you were supposed to do? When Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was torn down in 70AD, the church was based and centered in Jerusalem. Christianity was forced to leave and scatter throughout the world. It looked like the end of the church. Guess what?-That was the apocalypse, the unveiling for the Christian church and look at it today.
It is so easy, so inviting, when we are powerless, when we are scared, to give in to fear. It is so simple and so appealing when we are overwhelmed to succumb to paralysis. But it is not Christian. Next Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year. This is a time of endings. But for Christians, it is also day of beginnings. This is but the beginnings of the birthpangs. We are often powerless, we are frequently scared. We look at the world and the things that are happening and we get paralyzed with fear. But that’s ok. We know that change always starts this way. With fear and trembling and worry. That’s ok. The future isn’t about the end of the world-it’s about the beginning of God’s kingdom. Sometimes when we are feeling as though we are in the burn unit awaiting death, God comes in to teach us about nouns and adverbs. Amen.
Mark 13:1-8
13:1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!"
13:2 Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
13:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,
13:4 "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?"
13:5 Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray.
13:6 Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.
13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.
13:8 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 birthpangs.