WHAT TO DO WITH THE TIME THAT IS GIVEN TO US

Remembrance Sunday 2022

Luke 21.5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘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.’

They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ And 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.

 ‘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.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

‘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. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

——

In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Frodo the diminutive hobbit is given probably most important task that anybody has been given, to destroy the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron and bring peace to Middle Earth.  The most unassuming of people, the one who has his quiet life in the shire is suddenly thrust into a larger world that is at risk of falling to a coming darkness. This evil had in fact been defeated in a previous age, but Gandalf the Wizard reflects that the darkness rises again.

‘Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.’ ‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’

I think that this is true. Human beings are so small and our world is so large; yes, there are a few who have a power to really effect change and shape the events of history. One only needs to look our recent global crisis and it’s impact on the world to see that we can be affected profoundly by things that we have no control over, nor ever could. Like surfers, we can’t stop the next wave from coming; what we can do though is learn to surf as best we can.

Life can change just like that, this is true now, and it was also true in Jesus’ time. A few years ago I visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the only part of the Jewish Temple left standing today. And it’s not small, about 50 metres long and 20 metres high. It’s the remains of the retaining wall which surrounded the huge temple mount area. In the centre of which was the Most Holy Place. The place where God, the LORD himself, dwelt on earth.

The temple site in Jesus’ day was much larger and incredibly beautiful. There was nothing like it for many miles; it had a reputation for being the most beautiful building in the world. It is this very building that the people around Jesus were so impressed by, how it was adorned by beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God.

And Jesus replies:

‘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.’

This is the modern-day equivalent of a person going into the centre of Manchester with a megaphone and shouting that some disaster is going to befall all of the buildings and that they’re all going to be torn down.

Why did Jesus say this? It’s because he knew what was going to happen, and knew that If the Jewish people followed their ways and didn’t follow his ways then they would invite destruction upon them. This proved true in AD68 when the Romans destroyed the Temple.

In our passage, Jesus uses apocalyptic language to describe what this ‘earth shattering’ event will be like, this is a genre of Jewish literature which is used to illustrate times of great upheaval and of change, of events that are of cosmic in their scope. Jesus is not only speaking about the destruction of the temple, the North Star of the Jewish people. But he’s saying that all the things that you think make the world make sense will be torn down.

From our reading:

‘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.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

Now, I’m not going the way of saying that somehow what we go through is predicted in scripture, but what I am saying is that in scripture there are perhaps reference points to the way that our world is, sometimes there are things that happen that are great turning points on the wheel of history, where nothing is the same again, the bible reflects that, our lives do too..

Yet though Jesus gives us a picture of what will happen, he also tells us what to do, he tells us to keep the faith and endure

In times of conflict, great callings are put upon people, ordinary people, you and me; people are told to go and fight a great threat, and many don’t return home, sacrificing themselves for love’s sake. Jesus says that ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down their life for their friend.’ They follow the example of Jesus Christ, the man who sacrificed everything for us. They know in their hearts that eternity is real, and that Jesus is there waiting to receive us into his loving embrace. Because that is what having faith is about. When there is great suffering, the correct path is not to turn our backs on the hope that is in us, but to go deeper, where faith, hope and love abide, no matter the circumstances; where trust is put in Jesus yet again, the man who triumphed over sin and death and darkness. The man whom so many people have put their faith in for the past two thousand years, even when they have gone through terrible events and war and conflict. One day all wars and death and destruction will come to an end in the New Heavens and the New Earth will be here for all to see, where God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes..

Today we remember and commemorate those who have died, and indeed those who are still dying today, in conflict and war; for love of one another, for their homes and their families, for something that is greater than themselves.

We do not choose the times, ‘all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us,’ I hope and pray that we will not go through times any more difficult than we currently do. But if we do, I pray that we will endure in faith.

‘By your endurance’ Jesus says, ‘you will gain your souls.’

Amen.