33rd Sunday in Ordinary time, cycle C

LUKE 21:5-19
LAST SUNDAY WE WERE OUT ON THE WILBUR CROSS PARKWAY IN CONNECTICUT ON OUR WAY TO VISIT MY DAUGHTER. THE TRAFFIC CAME TO A STANDSTILL AND I COULD SEE FLASHING LIGHTS AHEAD, INSIDE A TUNNEL. AS WE INCHED FORWARD, THE THOUGHT CAME TO MY MIND THAT MAYBE THIS WAS A TERRORIST PLOT, AND OUR ENEMIES WERE TRYING TO PARALYZE THE COUNTRY BY BLOCKING MAJOR ROADS. I IMAGINED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A FEW TUNNELS OR BRIDGES WERE BLOWN UP.
I WORRY MORE THAN I SHOULD. I WORRY ABOUT THE RISING PRICE OF GASOLINE AND WHAT THAT WILL MEAN TO THE FUTURE I'VE TRIED TO PREPARE FOR. I WORRY ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I GOT REALLY SICK AND COULDN'T WORK ANYMORE. I WORRY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING; WHEN THE SEAS RISE TWENTY FEET OR SO, WILL WE BE UP TO OUR NECKS IN BOSTONIANS FLEEING THE FLOODS? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RED SOX THEN? I WORRY ABOUT HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED AND CONTINUES TO CHANGE, SEEMINGLY FOR THE WORST, SINCE 9/11. AND I FIND MYSELF MISSING THE “GOOD OLD DAYS” WHEN THE FUTURE SEEMED SO PREDICTABLE, EVEN THOUGH IN TRUTH I WAS PROBABLY WORRYING ABOUT THE COMMUNIST MENACE THEN.
JESUS LIVED IN A TIME WHEN THINGS SEEMED VERY STABLE. GRANTED, SOME THINGS WERE NOT PARTICULARLY DESIRABLE, LIKE THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS; BUT EVEN THAT SEEMED BETTER THAN SOME OF THE TYRANTS WHO USED TO RULE THE JEWISH TERRITORIES. THERE WAS PEACE OF SORTS, PEOPLE COULD PLAN, THE LAW WAS THE LAW AND THE ROMANS ENFORCED IT. AND THE JEWS HAD JUST RECENTLY BUILT THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE. LIFE SEEMED SAFE, PREDICTABLE, AND UNCHANGING.
AND JESUS OVERHEARS SOME TOURISTS TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT THE TEMPLE IS, AND TELLS THEM ITS GOING TO BE RAZED TO THE GROUND; IT IS NO MORE PERMANENT THAN A FLOWER THAT BLOOMS AND DIES.
JESUS TELLS US THREE THINGS.
FIRST, THERE IS NO REAL STABILITY. IF YOU THINK SO YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN. THE TEMPLE WILL BE A PILE OF RUBBLE; THERE WILL BE WARS, LIKE IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN, AND MAYBE SOON TO COME, IRAN OR PAKISTAN OR VENEZUELA, WHO KNOWS? THERE WILL BE NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS, LIKE THE GULF HURRICANE, LIKE GLOBAL WARMING, LIKE AN OIL TRANSPORT SHIP BLEEDING ITS CONTENTS INTO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY. AND IT'S ALL UNPREDICTABLE, AND FOR SOME PEOPLE, AT LEAST, LIFE WILL BE COMPLETELY CHANGED, AND ALWAYS FOR THE WORSE. AND EVEN IN OUR OWN LITTLE LIVES, A CAR ACCIDENT, A LUMP IN A BREAST, A SPOT ON THE LUNG, AND EVERYTHING CHANGES.
SECOND, JESUS TELLS US THAT BEING A CHRISTIAN DOES NOT MEAN EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE WONDERFUL FROM THERE ON OUT. JUST THE OPPOSITE, BY BEING CHRISTIANS, WE INVITE PERSECUTION – IN FACT, WE SHOULD PROBABLY ASK WHETHER REAL CHRISTIANS CAN EVEN GET THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PERSECUTION. IF WE'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED A CONDESCENDING STATEMENT ABOUT OUR FAITH, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT SLIGHTLY OUT OF TOUCH BECAUSE OUR BELIEFS SET US APART FROM THOSE AROUND US, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT A TWINGE OF SADNESS WHEN WE HEAR OF ANOTHER PRIEST SCANDAL, THEN MAYBE WE AREN'T REALLY CHRISTIANS. JESUS SAYS WE WILL BE PERSECUTED, AND SOME OF US WILL BE PERSECUTED BY OUR OWN FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, AND IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, SOME OF US ARE STILL BEING PUT TO DEATH, ALL BECAUSE OF BELIEF IN CHRIST, ALL BECAUSE OF THE DESIRE TO FOLLOW CHRIST.
SO FAR, JESUS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE HE'S MUCH FUN.
BUT FINALLY, JESUS TELLS US THAT THERE IS SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES WHICH WE CAN COUNT ON, WHICH WILL NEVER CHANGE, WHICH CAN RESIST WARS AND NATURAL DISASTERS AND PERSECUTION – THAT IS FAITHFULNESS, PERSERVERANCE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE ARE SAFE – AND WE WILL LIVE, EVEN IF WE DIE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY – AS LONG AS WE ARE BEARING WITNESS WITH OUR LIVES AND OUR WORDS – BECAUSE JESUS PROMISED THAT HE WILL GIVE US THE WISDOM TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD THAT CANNOT FAIL. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, AND PERSEVERE IN FAITHFULNESS, WORRY SHOULD BE THE LAST THING IN OUR MINDS.
IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THERE WERE PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND PROCLAIMING THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END, THAT JESUS WAS COMING AGAIN, AND THIS TIME HE WAS REALLY MAD. AND RIGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT THEIR DESCENDANTS CONTINUE TO BOTHER THEIR FELLOW CHRISTIANS WITH WARNINGS ABOUT THE FUTURE. AND TO THEM WISE OLD PAUL SAYS, “WORK QUIETLY, AND EAT YOUR OWN FOOD.”
SOMEONE ONCE ASKED ST FRANCIS WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE FOUND OUT THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END IN 15 MINUTES. HER REPLIED THAT HE WOULD KEEP WORKING IN HIS GARDEN.
SO I, AT LEAST, HAD BETTER ASK MYSELF, WHY DO I WORRY? WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID THINGS WILL CHANGE AND ALL MY PLANS WILL BE FOR NOTHING. BUT THINGS WILL CHANGE, AND I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID OF HOW OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT RESTRICT MY FREEDOM, MIGHT MAKE DEMANDS ON ME, MIGHT IN FACT PERSECUTE ME IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. BUT JESUS SAYS I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. IF I AM HIS FOLLOWER, I BETTER EXPECT JUST THAT.
AND FINALLY, JESUS PROMISES THAT IF I AM FAITHFUL, I'LL COME THROUGH AT THE END, I'LL HAVE REAL LIFE, WONDERFUL PERMANENCE, AND NO UNCERTAINTY; I'LL NEVER HAVE REASON TO WORRY AGAIN. AND THAT FOR ME IS A GREAT PROMISE.
TODAY TAKE STOCK OF YOUR WORRIES IN THE LIGHT OF THIS GOSPEL. AND AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FRET THE MOST, MAYBE YOU WILL REALIZE THAT WORRY IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITHFULNESS; AND FAITHFULNESS, THE PERSEVERANCE JESUS TALKED ABOUT, IS WHAT WE MUST HAVE TO CLAIM HIS PROMISE, THAT NOT A HAIR ON OUR HEADS WILL BE DESTROYED, THAT THROUGH FAITHFULNESS WE WILL SECURE OUR LIVES, BUT NEVER THROUGH WORRY.