What a fun scripture on portents of the end of the world
for week two of social distance worshiping. It’s the end of the world, they
say.
Yet, Jesus says a couple interesting things here—maybe you
missed it. He says, “Nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the
angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows.” That last part really
gets me. Jesus is saying that even he does not know when the end will come.
That knowledge is beyond the living Christ.
So, who are these dudes who think they know better? Who are
these con men who pretend to have it all figured out? And who are we to suggest
we can figure out signs of the end of the universe? Our perspective is so
limited. The idea that our little brains can figure out what it all means is just
so laughably naïve. Even Jesus didn’t know when the end would be.
But then Jesus says something else that’s fascinating. He
says, “I assure you that this generation won’t pass
away until all these things happen.” So, if you’re confused by that, you’re not
alone. Jesus is talking about several different kinds of apocalypses at the
same time. “Apocalypse” is this great Greek word that means “revealing” or
“revelation,” a kind of great awakening to the way things truly are. These
days, this word is generally used as a substitute for the end of the world, but
that’s not how it’s typically used in the Bible. When Jesus talks about the end
of things, he is most often talking about a seismic change in the way the
universe works. When Jesus was born, it was an apocalypse. When Jesus dies, it
is an apocalypse. Easter morning is the great apocalypse. So, when Jesus says that
this generation will not pass away until
all these things happen, it’s not a mistake that world did not end. In
fact, by the time of Gospel of Mark was written, most of that generation had already passed away. Mark knew what
he was writing here. Like most of the Gospel of Mark, “the end of things” is a
reference to the cross and to the empty tomb.
That is the end of all
things, and also the beginning.
As we navigate these
strange days, living through a pandemic the likes of which none of us have
experienced before, it becomes awfully tempting to start looking for signs that
this is it: The end of the world. There’s a whole cottage industry of end times
predictors who have always been wrong, by the way, and they always will be
wrong, as Jesus points out. But putting all that aside, even if you did know
that the world was about to end, what good would it do you? Why aren’t you
living right now like it is the most important time regardless of anything
that’s coming?
Legend has it that Martin
Luther was once asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was ending
tomorrow?” And he replied, “I would plant a tree.” It’s a brilliant answer.
Live now. Do good work that will outlast you now. Show the world how valuable
life is to you right now. You are guaranteed right now and that’s it.
I realize this is a
challenging command when we are stuck at home either feeling alone, or sick of
our families, or both. It’s hard to imagine living fully in the moment when our
lives feel cramped. Yet, at the same time, when we are forced to abandon our
normal routines, we may discover what is actually most important. Spending our
energy figuring out God’s plan for the universe is ultimately pointless and a
distraction from doing the good work that will help others in the meantime.
Plant more trees, spend less time trying to figure if this is the end of the
world.
Anyway, I find that most
people who are obsessed with the end of the world are acting out of
selfishness. Now, they might put on the front that they are preaching salvation
or something like that, but it comes at the cost of caring for the lives of
future generations. Nobody should be eager for the end of the world, because we
have grandkids and great-grandkids and their great-grandkids yet to live. Instead,
I find that those who revel in the end of the world fear death and are looking
for any means of escape. Perhaps if Jesus comes back right now, we can skip
that death part and fast forward straight to new life, but that is a sad hope
to live with. You gain nothing by welcoming the end of the world, like the man
who continues to expect death to come day after day until, eventually, he is
right, but in the meantime, he has neglected to live. You can believe and trust
with all your heart that God has you covered, that the life to come will put
this life to shame, and that you will be reunited with those you love. These
are the promises we hold to in faith. You can believe all this and still cling
to the belief that underneath it all life is good. After all, if we are going
to spend eternity in a better world, then why not spend the limited time we
have doing whatever we can for what we can see and touch and love here and now.
At the end of the day, if
you are championing the world’s end, you are championing death. It’s so easy to
be led astray by philosophies that trade in human life for some greater good.
We are apparently having a national conversation right now about the value of
the Big-E Economy against the value of human lives. The Bible is crystal clear
that there is no exchange value between human life. You can’t put a dollar
amount on what is priceless. That life is complicated is no excuse to see
anybody as expendable. After all, Jesus cried over Lazarus even with the
promise of resurrection.
The Christian faith is
about more than leaving the earth behind. In fact, I might be so bold to say
that the Christian faith is not about leaving the earth behind at all. We are a
faith that proclaims resurrection and new creation, not spiritual escape from
our bodies. Like the earth, our bodies were created by God and called “good.” Soon
thereafter sin entered the world and that has led to disease, to old age, to
war, and to all the worst parts of human nature, but underneath it all there is
goodness worth fighting for—goodness we recognize with love. The apocalypse is
about setting right those forces of sin and death, so that when Jesus died on
the cross it was the first hammer blow against death, but death is still
clinging to life. The apocalypse is not about leaving behind a big, bad planet.
The apocalypse is about God’s kingdom here, our bodies changed, and the ultimate
triumph over death.
So, this isn’t the
apocalypse—at least, it’s not the big end-of-the-world apocalypse that so many
would-be prophets are preaching—but that’s also not to say that God doesn’t
work in and through this. COVID-19 is going to change us. Already you may be
reassessing your priorities. We are focusing more on what really matters. We
are hopefully planting trees for a future that is not guaranteed to us, but,
then again, what is guaranteed? Just because there’s a chance we aren’t there
to see it doesn’t mean a tree isn’t worth planting.
The “end of our world” is
our deaths. That apocalypse comes for every generation in the same way. And we
hope it comes for us in old age, but we also know that that isn’t always the
case. Sin and death are still real, but God’s creation is good underneath it
all. There’s something in humanity worth fighting for, even if the fight
consists of sitting at home and eating nachos while binge-watching Netflix.
Never have you been able to be more of a hero while doing absolutely nothing
than you can be today!
Meanwhile, the would-be
prophets who are looking to escape are doing us no favors. There is plenty of
pain in the world, but as Christians we do not turn away from the pain but
instead we walk the way of the cross toward and through it. We continue to
build a better world, as if everything we do will last, even though we know it
might not. It’s not always the results that matter, sometimes it’s the effort
itself. And that hurts, because there are people losing loved ones today. We
want good results, and we pray that things will change, but love reminds us
that the effort matters regardless of the result—that planting trees, even when
the world is ending, is good and faithful and right.
As Jesus says in the
reading today, “Stay alert.” But today that might mean something different. It might
mean “Stay home. Stay safe.” The future is not guaranteed, but then again it
never is. There’s no need to live as if the world is ending, even if it were.
Instead, you should live as if everything you are doing will save it. Plant
trees. Call friends. Laugh at bad jokes. Turn off the news. It isn’t the
apocalypse they are saying it is, because death has always been a part of life.
Together we can fight for better days ahead. We can admit that the danger is
real and life is fragile, but that isn’t the end of the story. It’s a reminder
to focus on what really matters.
Love God, because God loves
you. Love your neighbor, because we are in this together.
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