MARK 13:1-8
WE HAVE REACHED THE LAST SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME. IT SEEMS TO BE ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD. IT TALKS
ABOUT THE GREAT TRIBULATION, WHERE THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, THE MOON
WILL NOT GIVE FORTH ITS LIGHT, THE STARS WILL FALL, AND THE SON OF
MAN WILL COME. AND HE WILL SEND OUT HIS ANGELS TO GATHER THE ELECT
FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH TO THE ENDS OF THE SKY.
WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS? WE CAN
TAKE IT AS A WARNING, I GUESS, THAT LIFE IS PRECIOUS, THAT WE DON'T
HAVE MUCH TIME, THAT WE BETTER MAKE A DECISION RIGHT NOW THAT WE ARE
GOING TO BE AMONG THOSE ELECT.
BUT JESUS GOES ON TO SAY THAT ALL OF
THIS WILL HAPPEN BEFORE THIS GENERATION PASSES AWAY. ON FIRST
GLANCE, THAT WOULD SEEM TO MAKE JESUS A VERY POOR PROPHET. THERE
AREN'T ANY OF THAT GENERATION LEFT, AND GENERATIONS AND GENERATIONS
HAVE COME AND GONE, AND STILL THE GREAT TRIBULATION HASN'T HAPPENED..
THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T THOUGHT IT WAS HAPPENING;
DURING THE FIRST GENERATION OF CHRISTIANS YOU COULD BE EXCUSED FOR
THINKING THAT IT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN; THE CHURCH WAS BEING PERSECUTED
TO DEATH. AND A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS LATER, THE PEACE OF THE
EMPIRE WAS BEING SHATTERED BY BARBARIANS. AND THEN ISLAM CONQUERED
BYZANTIUM, THE EASTERN HALF OF CHRISTENDOM; AND THEN CAME THE BLACK
PLAGUE – AND YOU GET MY DRIFT. BUT LOOKING BACKWARDS NONE OF THESE
LIFE-SHATTERING EVENTS TURNED OUT TO BE THE GREAT TRIBULATION, AND
THEIR GENERATIONS HAVE COME AND GONE.
MAYBE JESUS ISN'T TALKING ABOUT
LITERAL GENERATIONS. MAYBE HE IS TALKING ABOUT THE GENERATION THAT
PAYS ATTENTION TO THE THINGS OF THE WORLD, THAT LIVES IN RELATIVISM,
THAT SEEKS ONLY TO PLEASE ITSELF. THE GENERATION THAT THINKS HUMAN
LIFE IS DISPOSABLE OR TO BE USED. THE GENERATION THAT BELIEVES WAR
CAN BRING ABOUT PEACE. THE GENERATION THAT LAUGHS AT GOD'S LAWS.
THE GENERATION THAT BELIEVES THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OBJECTIVE
TRUTH. OUR GENERATION, THE GENERATION OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, AND
EVERY GENERATION IN BETWEEN.
WE DON'T SEE THE HUMAN RACE GETTING
BETTER WITH TIME. OH, WE'VE LEARNED TO CURE A LOT OF ILLNESSES;
WE'VE MADE LIFE A LOT EASIER FOR SOME OF US. TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
HAVE REPLACED SLAVERY IN ALLOWING A FEW PEOPLE TO LIVE IN LUXURY BY
EXPLOITING THE MANY. BUT WE ARE NOT A LOT DIFFERENT FROM THOSE
WEALTHY PEOPLE IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE; WE TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT WE HAVE
A RIGHT TO THREE SQUARE MEALS A DAY, A DECENT HOUSE, AN ANNUAL
VACATION, FREEDOM FROM PAIN. WE FORGET THAT PEOPLE LIKE US MAKE UP
ABOUT TEN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD – PRETTY MUCH THE
SAME AS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
WE ARE THE GENERATION JESUS IS TALKING
ABOUT. JESUS INVITES US TO LEARN FROM THE FIG TREE. ANYONE CAN TELL
WHEN SUMMER IS NOT FAR OFF; THE BRANCHES OF THE TREE BEGIN TO GREEN
UP; FLOWER BUDS BEGIN TO FORM. THE TREE KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND
PREPARES. THE TIME OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION IS NOT A FAR DISTANT
THING, BUT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. JESUS PROMISES THAT.
HOW WILL IT HAPPEN? I DON'T KNOW. I
THINK JESUS IS TELLING EACH OF US THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE IT.
I KNOW A LADY OVER AT THE NURSING HOME.
SHE'S ABOUT NINETY. SHE CAN'T GET OUT OF BED ANYMORE, AND NEEDS TO
BE FED. SHE SLEEPS MUCH OF THE TIME, BUT SHE'S LUCID WHEN SHE WAKES
UP. SHE NEVER FAILS TO REMIND ME THAT SHE'S HAD A GREAT LIFE, AND
THE PICTURES THAT SURROUND HER BED SAY THIS AS WELL. BUT SHE'S THE
LAST OF HER FAMILY; HER HUSBAND HAS PASSED AWAY; HER CHILDREN ARE
BUSY WITH THEIR OWN LIVES; AND FOR HER, THE SUN HAS DIMMED AND THE
MOON HAS LOST IT'S LIGHT. SHE SPENT HER LIFE AS A FAITHFUL CATHOLIC;
SHE'S RECEIVED THE SACRAMENT OF THE SICK MORE THAN ONCE; AND SHE HAS
NO FEARS OF THE NEXT LIFE. BUT HER LIFE IS ONE OF TRIBULATION AT
PRESENT.
WE ARE ALL PART OF THIS GENERATION; WE
WILL ALL EXPERIENCE THE TRIBULATION; WE WON'T KNOW WHEN OR HOW; AS
JESUS SAYS ONLY GOD KNOWS. BUT IF YOU WALK THROUGH A NURSING HOME,
OR THE CORRIDORS OF A HOSPITAL, OR GO TO A WAKE, OR WATCH THE
EVENING NEWS, YOU WILL SEE THE SIGNS, YOU WILL LEARN FROM THE FIG
TREE.
JESUS PROMISES US THAT AT HIS COMING
THE ELECT WILL BE GATHERED UP. I BELIEVE HE OFFERS EACH OF US A
PLACE AMONG THE ELECT.
TODAY'S READINGS NOT ONLY GIVE US A
WARNING, BUT A REMEDY AS WELL. IN THE PSALM, WHICH I INVITE YOU TO
READ THOUGHTFULLY AND WITH PRAYER, WE ARE TOLD WHERE OUR ATTENTION
SHOULD BE. “YOU ARE MY INHERITANCE, O LORD”, THE PSALMIST
REMINDS HIMSELF. “YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO THE NETHERWORLD,
NOR WILL YOU SUFFER YOUR FAITHFUL TO UNDERGO CORRUPTION. YOU WILL
SHOW ME THE PATH OF LIFE.”
JESUS PROMISES TO SEND HIS ANGELS TO
GATHER HIS ELECT. IF WE HAVE MADE JESUS THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF
WE DO SEE HIM AS OUR INHERITANCE, AS OUR TEACHER, AS THE ONLY ONE WHO
HAS ANYTHING WORTHWHILE TO OFFER, AND WE ACT ACCORDINGLY, THEN WE ARE
HIS ELECT. IF WE PERSIST IN BEING PART OF THIS GENERATION, HE'S
WARNED US OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
WHEN TRIBULATION COMES TO US, LET US
PRAY THAT WE ARE AMONG THE ELECT, THAT JESUS IS OUR INHERITANCE, THAT
WE NO LONGER BELONG TO THIS GENERATION.
