Snow and Rumors of Snow...

Sermon 11-18-18

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Jesus probably should have added "You will hear of snow and rumors of snow…."  So this time, the rumors of this upcoming snowstorm undersold it’s power, didn’t it? Just a little bit. So much so that about forty pastors, including myself, decided to stay one more night at the hotel we were having our annual Bishop’s convocation. It was only SUPPOSED to be one night… but many of us decided one more night with our new Bishop was better than driving 5 or more hours in a driving snowstorm!

This won’t be the last time we will be having snow this winter, but it is the last time that we will be hearing from the Gospel of Mark for three whole years. Even though technically NEXT Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year – Christ the King Sunday – that Sunday we will be hearing from John, not Mark. So, for better or for worse, it’s bye-bye Gospel of Mark. It was nice knowing you…. Catch you in three years.

Mark certainly doesn’t leave us on a happy note, does he? This reading comes straight on the heels of last week, where we heard about the “Widow’s mite.” Last week Jesus watched as the wealthy giving the massive amounts of money in the temple treasury, which supported people like the scribes who took advantage of vulnerable and powerless people. A widow, one of the most powerless, came by and gave two small coins – all she had because everything else had been taken from her.

Even after knowing that the religious institution was built on the devouring of widow’s houses, the disciples could not stop “Rubber necking” the grand temple building itself. “My, what large stones and what large buildings we have!” one of the disciples cries out in wonder. You can almost hear Jesus’ facepalm two thousand years later.

Or, maybe the disciples were amazed for another reason – not simply from their grandness, but from the fact that their huge size must mean that many, many vulnerable people like that widow have been fleeced in the name of political and religious power. Their exclamation might then be also equal parts wonder and dismay. These stones represent power that they have no hope opposing. How can they, a little band of 12 plus Jesus, have any hope against such large and imposing stones? It would be like sheep trying to beat a wolf at his own game.

“My, what big stones they have, and what large buildings!” the disciples said. “My, what big eyes you have!” said little Red Riding hood in that old fairy tale we were told as kids. You know the story – Red Riding Hood goes through the woods and arrives at her grandmother’s house… only to find that that a big wolf has eaten her grandmother, dressed up in her clothes, and wanted to have Red Riding Hood for a second course. I like to think that Red Riding Hood knew right away that something was very wrong and was stalling for time.

“What big Eyes you have…” “The better to see you with, my dear….”

“What big ears you have….” The better to hear you with, my dear…”

“What big teeth you have….” “The better to eat you with, my dear!”

Personally, I like the versions of the story where Red Riding Hood defeats the wolf herself, rather than get eaten and rescued.

The moral of “Little Red Riding Hood” is something like: don’t talk to strangers, or at least don’t give them your grandma’s address. The moral of “Little Faith Jesus Followers” might be something like: don’t ask Jesus about when the end of the world is happening. Because you won’t get the answer you want.

It’s understandable that the disciples wanted to know when these things were going to talk place. Jesus was talking about some scary stuff, and they wanted to be prepared for what was to come. But there isn’t really anything to be done to prepare for a scary and unpredictable world, full of wars and rumors of wars, where nations clash and natural disasters loom around every corner.

When the Gospel of Mark was written, the magnificent stones of the temple that the disciples admired were already a pile of rubble. For the followers of Jesus that Mark was writing to, the end of the world felt like it was already happening.

As we listen to Marks words on THIS day, its easy to feel like the end of the world is happening now, and the aspects of life we thought were rock-sold are now in piles of rubble at our feet. Sometimes it seems almost unbearable to listen to the news lately. The snowstorm gave us a small taste of what happens when we no longer have control of transportation, and feeling helplessly stuck in our homes, cars, or places of work without a way to get out.

And for many of us, the rug has been pulled out from under us in other ways – our businesses flop, our health fails, our marriages fold, our relationships with our family fall apart. The future we were hoping for suddenly doesn’t look so bright anymore. … at least, it does not look like the future we imagined.

But what if that could be a good thing? What if – since we are not in control – someone else IS? if something new is being born, but first the old has to be cleared out, and a way be made for its arrival? What if we’re feeling unmoored and unanchored, because we have previously moored and anchored ourselves on the very things that Jesus has come to dismantle?

Jesus says here, as he says all over the Gospels, “do not be alarmed…” meaning “do not be afraid.” Scary things are going to happen, but Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives, the rock of our salvation that will not be moved, the fortress that will save and protect us in all the storms that rage around us.

In just a few short weeks, we will be in Advent, the season that celebrates the arrival of Jesus at Christmas. An angel visited a young woman named Mary and told her not to fear when she heard she was pregnant with Jesus, before she got married to Joseph. Later, Mary sang a song to her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist after waiting so long for a child. Instead of being worried at the rumors spreading about her, Mary sings. And We get to sing my favorite version of Mary’s song - also known as the Magnificat – in a moment. This version has Mary – and therefore us – sing these words:

“From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone….” And also “The nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast.”

We remember Jesus holds us fast, and will never let us go. Jesus will hold us fast, amid all the things that we can’t control, amid all the things that make us afraid. Do not be alarmed, because even though these things are happening, it does not mean the end of us.

As writer and pastor Rachel Hackenberg explains, “The teeth that threaten us will crumble to dust. The stones that ground and shelter our ways of life will topple and erode. The dreams that haunt us as well as those that inspire us will fade with the dawn. The agonies of this life — from the strained relationships to the violence of evil — as eternal as they may feel in this moment, they too will fade before the stars burn out. Let earth rejoice and be glad.”

We will rejoice and be glad… because Jesus is the new and living way into a future. Stones are dead, but Jesus lives, and gives us new life out of death. The world is about to turn, and we give thanks that our God creates a new and living way for us through Jesus.

In a few minutes, we will be expressing that thanks in a few ways. One will be by turning in our cards for our 2019 pledges during the offering time. Another will be turning in the blue hands, after we have written how we will use our hands to minister to others in 2019.... They will decorate the altar for a few weeks in Advent as a reminder, to encourage one another in love and good deeds. Join us in this work of building up the Body of Christ together, as we give thanks to God. Amen.

Dance party at the Bishop's Convocation!