November 16, 2003

Mindekirken Nov.16, 2003
Pastor Jens Arne Dale

Mark 13.1-8

It was past midnight, and the light was off. But the teenagers at the Bible camp lay awake in their beds, discussing in the darkness. The camp preacher had spoken clearly and strongly on the subject of the last times and Jesus’ return. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. The preacher said that these prophecies are being fulfilled in this world now. Never before in history, has there been so many rumors of war, famine and earthquakes. The message struck the teenagers hard. It was an atmosphere of revival, some were anxious. Would the return of Jesus happen tonight? One could never know.

Today’s text does not introduce us to excited teenagers at Bible camp. The sibling pairs Peter and Andrew, John and James had a guided tour of the Jerusalem temple. Look teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!, they said to Jesus. They were poor fishermen from Lake Kinneret, and greatly impressed by the temple of Jerusalem. It was built in shiny white marble, and shone like the snowcap on Mount Hermon. The column rows looked like a forest, and the enormous temple yards could easily hold more than 100,000 people. The heaviest stones of the temple weighed more than a hundred tons. And even heavier were the thousand year long traditions of songs, prayers and Bible texts which had made this house the dream of all Jews. My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Psalm 84, This they had sung for generations.

The temple was more then a wonder done by the hands of men. It was the meeting place with God. God’s faithfulness was on display at this place. Therefore, Jesus’ words this day must have sounded so brutal: Not a stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down. In Norwegian we have the expression to swear in the church. Even that wouldn’t cover it, if one should describe what Jesus was saying. The four disciples might have been shocked. All will be thrown down. Jesus doesn’t only predict the fall of a house, but the end of Jewish religion. No wonder that the speeches Jesus made about the temple became a reason for blaming him for blasphemy and finally bring him down.

But Jesus got it right. Only a generation later, the Roman army advanced against the city. The siege began in April in the year 70. On August 10^th, the same year, they took the walls by storm. And the later Roman emperor, Titus, did the job well. Only a small part of the support wall around the temple was left of the once beautiful temple. Today it’s known as the Wailing Wall. Today some want to build another temple. There have even been ceremonies for laying down the corner stone. In the OT there are many prophecies about a reconstruction of the temple. But it’s important to see that Jesus didn’t interpret the prophecies in a concrete way. The one who looks for reasons to rebuild the temple, has to search elsewhere than the NT. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, Jesus said, John 2.19. What Jesus had in mind was not stone upon stone, but a building of living stones where he was the cornerstone. The three days of reconstruction was the time when he was in the tomb. The new temple is Jesus himself. On Easter Day he stood up to new life. Wherever his body and blood is shared in the holy sacrament, God is near. We don’t need to go as pilgrims to a certain house at a certain place in the world to meet God. He is here at Mindekirken now. We meet him in the Bible. God is present in our everyday life when we pray to him even with a sigh. 1 Pet 2.5 says that through baptism we are living stones in the temple of the Spirit. Paul stresses that this building unites Gentiles and Jews, and joined together it grows into a holy temple in the Lord, Ephes 2.21.

Today we have a lot of Negro spirituals in the service. We began with "Your Best Is Yet to Come" and will end with "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room." These are songs about the goodness and greatness of heaven. In many respects the Negro spirituals are the songs of the oppressed, they have been made as people longed to be free from slavery and oppression. They longed for a better land. In today’s text Jesus says there might come difficult times even for us. War, famine and earthquakes are signs of the last times. And Jesus goes on describing that persecution and suffering for his sake might come. But we won’t be able to cross off different signs of the last times on a calendar, as if we would be able to predict what time Jesus would return or the end of this world. All attempts of this kind have been dead ends in the history of the church. Jesus warns about the danger of being led astray. Many false Messiahs will appear. But when Jesus lets us know that we’re living in the last times, it’s not to scare us. He wants to bind us to him. He is our reason to be confident in our faith.

When I was a child I sometimes walked alone in the darkness. Trees and bushes would appear like scary beings that frightened me. But if I went the same way with my father, nothing was scary. Do not be alarmed, Jesus said. The one who may walk his life’s way together with him, is safe. The one who joins him comes home. The new Jerusalem is the name that sometimes is used for our heavenly home. There, all the things which were before, are gone. Rev.21.4.

For the Jews the destruction of the temple was a national catastrophe. But even so, it was not the end of God’s faithfulness. The ruin of the temple does not tell that God is dead. It witnesses about another way. The way is Jesus Christ. The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner. 1Pet 2.7

We may also experience that our lives are laid in ruins. Fear, depression, illness, divorce, war or disasters, we don’t know what we might face. Some of our brothers and sisters other places in the world face slavery and suppression as the ones who first sang the Negro spirituals. There might be occasions in our lives when our dreams of a good life crash. But the faithfulness of the Lord isn’t over even if our lives looks like a ruin. Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 1 Pet 2.6 Don’t be alarmed. We don’t know what will come, but we do know who will come: Jesus Christ. And he will walk with us: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me? Heb 13.6

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716