Preparing Our Hearts (Luke 21:25-33)

The first Sunday of Advent reminds us that how we prepare for a moment affects how we experience the moment when it arrives. Does that make sense? How we prepare for a moment affects how we experience the moment when it arrives.

How we prepare for Christmas affects how we experience Christmas. Or, to state it in reverse, How we experience Christmas depends on how we prepare for Christmas.

Christmas is coming. We see the signs. The decorations are up. The sales have begun. Coffee shops have replaced pumpkin spice with peppermint.

Just as Jesus told us to, we can see the signs. Jesus said that when you see the leaves start to appear, that’s the sign that summer is near. Well, when we see all these things, we know that Christmas is near.

So it certainly shouldn’t be a surprise when Christmas day arrives. The signs are all around us. Christmas is coming, but it’s only December 2; we have plenty of time to prepare.

But it still happens, doesn’t it, that Christmas day arrives, and we wake up, and we think, “Where did the time go? I’m not ready.” And on the day of celebration, the day of feasting, we’re stressed because we haven’t finished preparing.

And our experience of Christmas is shaped by how we have prepared for Christmas.

This is true for just about anything.

The wisest ones among us tell us that the first few minutes of our day can give shape to how the whole rest of the day will go for us. They advise taking a few moments in the morning to prepare for the day ahead.

When you first wake up: take a few deep breaths… focus your mind on gratitude… and set your intention for the day. A moment of gratitude in the morning will help you find things to be grateful for throughout the day. A moment of peaceful intention in the morning will help you find peace throughout the day.

A nice, relaxed breakfast, is a good way to do this. A moment of peace. A moment of thanks for a good meal. A moment of positive intention for the day ahead.

I know: starting your day in such a prayerful way is easier said than done. We hit the snooze too many times, we rush to do the tasks that we should have done the night before (but didn’t), and we frantically make our way out the door behind schedule.

That’s how our day starts,... and that’s how our day goes.

How we prepare for the day affects how we experience the day.

We really need to start our intentions the night before. Do those tasks that need to be done before bed, instead of leaving them until morning. That way your sleep won’t be interrupted by thoughts of all the things you’ve left undone. Set your clothes out. Have your bag or purse packed and ready to go.

And then, when you go to bed (at a reasonable hour), spend a few moments taking deep breaths,... and giving gratitude for another day.

Then crawl into bed, and just listen to the silence. If the noise in your head continues, be patient; it may take some time for it to settle down. Just let that silence wrap around you like a blanket. In that silence, find peace.

Whatever you do, do not interrupt this calming down process by checking your phone or having the TV on!

I know: ending your day in such a peaceful, intentional way is easier said than done. Yet, how we prepare for a night’s sleep affects the sleep we get.

We know what else needs to be done: exercise during the day helps us sleep well at night. Taking care of stressful tasks at least an hour before bed, so that the last hour we’re awake is calm and peaceful, helps us sleep well at night. Avoiding caffeine and alcohol and any kind of heavy eating in the hours before bed helps us sleep well at night.

How we prepare for a night’s sleep affects the quality of the sleep we get.

Jesus teaches us to prepare ourselves for the arrival of God’s kingdom. People in Jesus’s day measured the arrival of God’s kingdom in generations or centuries. After all, they had been waiting many generations for its arrival.

But Jesus said: “Look at the signs. Already the leaves are coming, and when that happens, you know that summer is near.” God’s kingdom is near. But how we experience God’s kingdom depends on how we prepare for it.

For some who are unprepared, it will be a terrible day of judgment. But for those who have practiced the ways of the kingdom, the kingdom is already present, and it is a glorious kingdom of love and peace.

These past few weeks I’ve been reading some works by Henri Nouwen, a Catholic theologian who died in 1996. His writings are intensely personal, and in much of what I’ve read, his focus is on preparing for death. He wrote of his mother’s death, and of his own preparations for death. This is not as morbid as it sounds. It’s all about a search for peace and meaning in death.

Many people die unprepared. Many more are unprepared for the death of their loved ones. And yet, there can be tremendous peace and tremendous meaning in dying, for the one who has died, and for their loved ones, as long as we have prepared ourselves for death.

How you prepare for death determines how you will experience death. (I’m so glad I found these books by Henri Nouwen!)

Let’s talk some more about Christmas: how, exactly, are you preparing for Christmas? Is it all about shopping and decorating and filling up your schedule with activities?

In the song “Joy to the World,” we sing: “Let every heart prepare him room.” How is your heart preparing? How are you preparing room in your heart for Christ this Christmas?

It’s not just our decorated houses and our paper-wrapped presents that we need to prepare. We need to prepare our hearts. Too many arrive at Christmas day with unprepared hearts; this, despite the fact that the signs of Christmas’s arrival are impossible to miss.

Christmas is coming; are you preparing your heart?

How you prepare for Christmas day will affect how you experience Christmas day.

Because the future is not disconnected from the present, and the present is not disconnected from the past. How you experience God’s presence in worship this morning depends, in part, on how you have prepared your heart to be here today. How did you prepare your heart yesterday for worship today? How did you prepare your heart last week for worship today?

We can’t go back and change the past in order to have a better present. But we can make decisions in the present that will help us have a better future.

How does one prepare one’s heart for Christmas? I think you already know the answer to that.

The heart is prepared by love. When we show love, when we practice love, we are preparing our hearts for Christmas.

Love takes many forms. Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay in Bethlehem; but because Bethlehem was full of visitors, and because Mary and Joseph were people from far-away Galilee who spoke with an accent, no one would give them a place to stay. No one would provide them refuge. It didn’t matter that Mary was pregnant; no one would show them any love.

So they had to spend the night among the livestock. And that’s where Jesus was born: out back, among the sheep and cattle.

We can show love when we do extend a loving welcome to others. To those who are forced to travel from far away, and may speak with an accent, we can extend a loving welcome. To those who have been told by their families that they don’t really belong; to those who have been told by various manifestations of the church that there is no room for them… we can say, Yes, there is room for you here. There is room at God’s table for all of God’s children. There is plenty of love to go around.

So come on in. Find refuge. You are welcome here….

That is but one way we can show love, and prepare our hearts for Christmas.

And the truth is, when we prepare our hearts for Christmas by showing love, Christmas is already present. We don’t have to wait until December 25 to experience Christmas! Christmas day may still be several weeks in the future, but that future becomes present when we show love.

African-American poet Howard Thurman described ways we can prepare our hearts for Christmas. He said we prepare for Christmas when we:

• find the lost,
• heal the broken,
• feed the hungry,
• release the prisoner,
• rebuild the nations,
• bring peace among brothers,
• make music in the heart.

Actually, Howard Thurman was writing about the work we do after Christmas, but I hope by now you see how past, present, and future are all connected, and that we can always prepare our hearts for Christmas by showing love - in these ways, and many other ways.

Another way to prepare for Christmas is by spending time in prayer, and contemplating on what message and meaning the story of Christmas has for us today.

We’ve already done a little of that this morning, in pondering the significance of Mary and Joseph being forced from their homeland, and finding no refuge in Bethlehem. Though it took place 2,000 years ago, the Christmas story speaks to us today… because, again: past, present, and future are all connected.

We will hear more of the Christmas story in the weeks to come, and in so many ways, the past will become present…

And the future becomes present as well.

Jesus saw summer as he pointed out the leaves appearing on the fig tree…

The future for which we long is present here with us, now. The leaves of summer are already present on the tree, even in the cold of winter, in little nibs we can see if we look closely… and even before that, in the very DNA of the tree… and even before that, in the seed from which the tree grew.

They’re all there, every leaf of summer.

Too often, in the middle of winter, we look at a tree that has lost its leaves, and all we see is bare, barren branches. We don’t see the life within the tree. Which is understandable, because we’re used to seeing things a certain way, and since we don’t see the leaves, we think all is lost.

But there is another way of seeing, and when we tap into that other way of seeing, we see the leaves, we see the life, that is really present, there, in the tree, at that very moment.

So the future we long for, the future we hope for, the future we anticipate, is already present.

And the church we long for, the church we hope to be… we already are. I know in this New Beginnings process, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the church we want to be, or the church God wants us to be… but we already are that church.

We’ve been preparing for a new future, but that future is already present, because we are filled with hope, and we are filled with love.

And in a world where many see only greed and hate and despair, God’s kingdom of hope and love and compassion is present and alive right now, through the church. We wait for God’s kingdom, we anticipate its coming, but God’s kingdom is present. God’s kingdom is here.

So please: don’t look at the bare tree and give up hope. Don’t look at the bare tree and say “all is lost.”

All is not lost. All is not lost because YOU are present in the world. All is not lost because you have the hope and the love of Christmas in your heart. All is not lost, because God has placed Christmas in your heart, and you don’t need to wait until December 25 to share Christmas with the world.

Christmas is coming, yes; but Christmas is also now. We prepare for Christmas, yet Christmas is already present.

Through you. Through me. Through the church.

Sermon: "In Our Death, a Resurrection" (Luke 21:5-19)

OK, I’ve talked about the temple before, but I want you to picture it. I want you to picture yourself as a first-century Jew arriving at the temple after a long journey.

The temple is largest man-made structure on earth. In scale and grandeur, it rivals the pyramids in Egypt and the Colosseum in Rome – and it’s not even finished yet. Construction continues.

The walls of the temple are 50 feet high, and are made of gleaming white and green marble. As a traveler arriving in Jerusalem, you can see it from many miles away.

Inside the walls is an area the size of 14 football fields, and at the center of that area is the Holy of Holies. When we read in the Bible that so-and-so was standing in the temple, most likely that means that they were in this massive courtyard area (which actually was divided into mulltiple courtyards), or along one of the porticoes which surrounded them.

The temple symbolizes permanence. Stability.

And when you finally reach its base, you can’t help but touch those massive stone walls with your hands, feeling the smooth, cool marble with your fingers, sensing the strength and power and permanence of the temple flow into you. With all the turmoil in Jewish history – and all the turmoil in the present – what with the Roman occupation – how comforting and reassuring to have this symbol of stability and strength, and to feel it with your own fingers, and then to walk in through its massive gates, passing from the hot sun into cool shadow, and climbing its endless stairways before emerging into the courtyard and back into the bright sunlight.

And there, squinting, you look around and see all the ornate carvings and magnificent decorations adorning this wonder of religion and architecture.

How could you not proclaim, out loud, your admiration and awe? What words would you use to describe this magnificent sight: the temple on which you now stand?

Imagine, then, if Jesus is there, and he hears your words of admiration, and says to you: “These things you see… the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another. All will be thrown down.”

Say what?

Nahhh…

What kind of power, what kind of force, could destroy such a magnificent, sturdy, solid temple?

Incredulous, you might ask: “Jesus, when will this happen?” You want to know, because the end of the temple would surely mean the end of life as you know it. The end of the temple would mean the end of the world. To no longer have the temple – that would be catastrophic.

Jesus says: “It’s not just this temple that will be destroyed. There will be wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and plagues. By the time that occurs, you will already have been arrested and persecuted because of your faith, and you will be made to testify before kings and governors.”

Then Jesus says: “But don’t be scared… don’t be terrified… Stand up, and keep your head high. Because this is actually an opportunity for you, a blessing in disguise…”

And hearing this, you think: “What? Jesus says the world is about to end, but to not be frightened? Earthquakes, wars, famines, and – worst of all – the destruction of the temple, and I’m supposed to not be afraid?”

It was around the year 30 that Jesus stood in the temple and supposedly said these things. Forty years later, the temple was destroyed. The Jewish population rebelled against the Roman Empire, and in retaliation, Roman legions under Titus attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.

Ten years after the temple was destroyed, Luke wrote his gospel.

Keep that in mind. It was ten years after the temple was destroyed that Luke wrote about Jesus predicting the temple’s destruction.

And it’s possible that not all the words Luke says Jesus said, Jesus actually said. They may be Luke’s words, spoken to comfort and encourage people of faith living after the destruction of the temple.

But that does not mean that Luke’s words aren’t inspired.

After all, Jesus did speak – more than once – of the end as being a new beginning. In fact, that is a central theme of our faith!

And this wouldn’t be the first time that followers of Jesus witnessed things come crashing down around them, only to discover new opportunities and new life.

They had expected that Jesus himself would become the ruler of a new age, a new kingdom, on earth. He would be crowned king, elected president, appointed prime minister!

That’s what they expected. But it’s not what happened.

Jesus was captured and arrested by Rome, tried, and executed.

A cataclysmic event for his followers.

They did not want, or expect, to see Jesus die.

They did not want, or expect, to see the temple destroyed.

How on earth could things possibly continue?

How on earth could the movement Jesus started continue without him?

How on earth could the faith continue with its spiritual home in ruins?

Jesus’s life must. Be. Preserved.

As Peter said when Jesus predicted his crucifixion, “God forbid these things should ever happen!”  Peter didn’t want to see the end. He didn’t want to see things fall apart.

Remember Jesus’s response? “Get behind me, Satan! You have set your mind not on divine things but on human things!”

And then Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”

This is really hard to understand, isn’t it?

To save your life, you must lose it?

To save the temple, it must be destroyed?

 It’s like in the Pixar movie Cars: Lightning McQueen is told to turn right to go left. His response: “Oh, that makes perfect sense! Turn right to go left! Yes! Thank you! Or should I say ‘no thank you!’ Because in ‘Opposite World’ maybe that really means ‘thank you!’”

So the temple has been destroyed. Jesus has been crucified. The end has come. What now? Can we really believe that this is a new opportunity for us? Can we really believe that good will come of it? Can this really be an opportunity to show what we’re made of, to testify and bear witness?

Here’s another movie scene for you:

The 1995 movie Apollo 13 dramatizes NASA’s attempt to rescue 3 astronauts after their spacecraft is damaged. When the gravity of the situation becomes clear, and the challenge before them seems insurmountable, the NASA director says: “This could be the worst disaster NASA’s ever experienced.”

That is the voice of those who have given in to fear.

In response, flight director Gene Kranz says: “With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour.”

That is the voice of those who refuse to give in to fear, who keep their heads held high, and who are prepared to meet the challenge before them.

Now, I must admit, the crucifixion was not easy for the disciples to witness. In fact, it was devastating. They were crushed and weighed down with despair – until the truth of the resurrection became apparent to them.

And those who witnessed the destruction of the temple: those were indeed trying times, difficult times, challenging times.

But we shouldn’t be afraid of the challenges before us.

A few weeks ago I was substitute teaching a middle school class in which the students were learning something new. One girl said to me, “This is hard!”

“Yes!” I said. “Isn’t that great? Your mind is being challenged. If it was easy, you wouldn’t need school. If it was easy, your mind wouldn’t expand. If it was easy, you wouldn’t grow.” (I’m not sure she appreciated my encouragement…)

I say something similar to the kids who I ride bikes with every third Sunday of the month, at Kidical Mass. We come to a steep uphill section, and some of them groan, but I say, “Yeah! Uphill!”

I mostly do that to try and encourage them, make them laugh, lift their spirits, but as with any exercise, it takes effort for growth to occur. It takes effort and exertion to make those muscles grow. Ride up enough hills, and pretty soon, those uphills won’t be so difficult.

You know this, right? Any opportunity to grow is a challenge. Look at Archer: Archer is learning how to walk: over and over he fails at it. Babies stand up, babies fall down. It’s difficult work! It’s takes awhile to figure out. But he hasn’t given up yet! He keeps putting in the effort, and one day soon, he’ll succeed…

When Jesus died and the temple was destroyed, the followers of Jesus had to find a whole new way of doing church. Everything they thought they knew was falling apart. They had to find a way to embrace a new beginning.

And every 500 years since, like clockwork, it has happened again. Every 500 years, the old is torn down, and something new emerges.

500 years after Jesus, Christianity had become widespread, and accepted into mainstream culture. This was very different from the early centuries when Christians were persecuted and oppressed. This was a whole new way of doing church.

500 years after that was the great schism, when the western church centered in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church split. It was a time of great religious upheaval, a time when, once again, the end of one era became the new beginning of the next.

500 years after that, the Protestant reformation once again tore down old ways of doing church, and new ways emerged. Like the previous times, it was difficult, challenging, and things were in chaos, but the church was transformed into something new.

500 years after that brings us to our own time. Yes, we live in the midst of a new reformation, a time when the old church is being torn down, and a new church is emerging. The way church has been done the past 500 years is coming to an end, but in every end is a new beginning. What the church will look like when this is all over, I’m not sure. It is a challenging, difficult time to be the church.

But like every other time of upheaval, this is also a time of great opportunity.

Because when we work with the Spirit and rise to meet the challenge, what will emerge from the ruins of our temple will be a transformed church, ready to carry out our mission in a new age. Transformation often feels like death, but in death, there is a resurrection.

Weighed Down (Luke 21:25-36)

December has begun, and with it that time of year that is sometimes known as “the crazy season.”  While big corporations are desperate all year long to get you to buy their goods, they seem to become even more desperate this time of year.  They see it as “make-or-break” season, and indeed it is as far as profits are concerned.  The advertising really kicks into high gear, and every tool available to the advertisers is put to use. 

How fortunate that the coming of Christmas gives them a wealth of sentimental, feel-good images to use and manipulate.  “’Tis the season for giving, so why not give yourself what you’ve always wanted?”  Do you see how they manipulate the meaning of Christmas?  They use the language of giving, but what they’re talking about is getting, which is just the opposite.

The truth is, it really is a season of opposites.  We reminisce and long for a simple, down-home holiday, but Christmas has become anything but.  It’s a frenzied, frenetic and frantic season of frivolity and madness.  Christmas tries to lift us up to a higher place, a place of meaning and happiness and joy, but the stress and anxiety weigh us down.

Last week, you may recall, we heard a scripture from Daniel which described four beasts, images that represented four oppressive kingdoms.  Daniel then described a human being, a son of man, who would bring to earth a new type of kingdom, the kingdom of God: a kingdom of peace and joy and equality and freedom.

And you may recall that, by Jesus’ time, those four kingdoms had been replaced by one massive empire, the empire of Rome, which was so much more powerful and oppressive … and perhaps you also recall how the hope for a son of man to establish a kingdom of God remained even in the midst of Roman oppression.

Well, it’s not my intention to make light of how oppressive these earthly empires were, for they were truly oppressive, but sometimes what weighs us down are our own habits and choices.  I think Jesus recognized this when he insisted that the kingdom exists in and among the people, in the present, even in the midst of Roman occupation – if only the people would accept it, believe it, and live it. 

The kingdom is in you.  Rome may control your money, your land, your opportunities and your freedom, but Rome does not control the choices you make.  Rome does not control the thoughts you think.  And Rome does not control how you treat your neighbor.

In this Christmas season, it can be very hard to find the kingdom of God in our midst.  The kingdom is love, and joy, and peace, but there’s little room for such things among the pressure to find the best deal and the anxiety of making sure you’ve got everything checked off on your “to-do” list.

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that, in our time, many of us feel oppressed by all the baggage that comes with Christmas.  The pressure to buy gifts that people don’t need, the pressure to decorate, the pressure to put on a good show for all the world to see.  There are so many parties and events to go to, and if you want to go, great, but sometimes we force ourselves to do too much. 

Likewise, if you are able to give a gift of the heart, something meaningful, well, that is truly wonderful.  It is a special thing to receive a gift of the heart.  But if you are convinced by society, by friends and family, and – most of all – by advertisers to spend ridiculous amounts of money buying gifts that no one really needs or even, in many cases, wants – gifts that have no heart – all because of the pressure you feel, then I dare say you are feeling the oppressive weight of the season.

And it is, to some extent, your own doing.

In Jesus’ time, people were eagerly anticipating the end times, which is to say, the end of oppression, and the advent of a kingdom of peace, freedom and joy. 

In our own time, many people eagerly anticipate the end of the Christmas season, and the return to a simpler, less crazy pace of life.

In passages of scripture like the one we heard this morning, we hear messages that encourage us to be prepared, be ready, be on guard.  But what is it that we need to be prepared and ready for?  Well, for an end to the craziness, an end to the oppression, an end to feeling that we’ve lost control of everything meaningful.  What good news this was!  What hopeful news!  A message that says, “prepare for the end of these things” is indeed a message of hope!

In today’s scripture Jesus also says, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life.”

The things that weigh us down are not the same things that weighed down the hearts and minds of people in Jesus’ time, specifically, since life in twenty-first century America is so very different from life in first century Rome.  However, I think it can be said that, both then and now, people tend to allow themselves to worry about things that really aren’t that important, while forgetting and neglecting the things that are.

And this is especially true in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

This week, several friends have shared with me a story that has been making the rounds on facebook and other internet sites, about a professor of philosophy who stood before his class with various items on the table.  The story goes like this:

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a beer with a friend.

I don’t know if the story is literally true – but that doesn’t really matter, does it?  The message is true, and especially during this crazy, busy time of year.  Ask yourself what it is that you really want out of this Advent and Christmas season.  What are the golf balls of Christmas?  What are the important things?

And what is the sand?  The “everything else” in our lives that isn’t as important, and yet we try to pour it into our jar first, and then can’t figure out why the important stuff doesn’t fit in, and then we become overwhelmed with the season and even begin to resent it.

In a wonderful book called The Awakening of Hope, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove puts it this way:  “Just as an Olympic swimmer shaves his body hair to cut down on drag in the water, followers of Jesus strip themselves of excess baggage … for the sake of rushing ahead toward the new creation that God is giving us even now.”

When it comes to Christmas, the most important thing is the coming to earth of a messiah who promises a better life in the kingdom of God, a better life that is available right now, in the present.  So many things weigh us down and keep us from living in that promise – and we let them. So many things slow us down on the journey toward discovering the true meaning of Christmas.  We let them drag us down, and end up resenting the very season in which we should be filled with joy.

Advent is a season of preparation.  It’s a season of repentance, a season of turning our lives to face a new direction.  It’s a season of hope and transformation. 

The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of hope, and it is hope that the message of Christmas will transform our world and our lives, that the kingdom of God will be made real in our world and in our lives. 

And it’s time to start planning now how we can make that happen.

The End? (Luke 21:5-19)

Just a few years before Jesus’ birth, the temple in Jerusalem was dedicated.  After a ten-year building project, it was ready for use, although work would continue on the temple for many decades to come.

This temple was actually a rebuilding of an earlier temple which had been destroyed; and that earlier temple was itself a rebuilding of the first temple, the one built by Solomon.  However, this third temple was the grandest, most monumental of them all.

Its construction took place under the command of Herod.  Herod was (technically) a Jew, having been born in a Jewish family, although he and most of his family weren’t what we would call practicing Jews.  Herod was in fact more interested in the cultures of the Greeks and the Romans than he was in the religion of his ancestors.  For that and for various other reasons, Herod was unpopular among the Jews.  They hated him.

“Herod” was actually a family name; there were Herods before him, and Herods after him.  It was a family that had strong connections to the government in Rome, which is another reason the Jews hated this particular Herod. 

Herod became governor of Galilee at the age of 25.  Soon after that – because of his connections to Rome and his willingness to use his military to his advantage – he was able to unseat the ruler of Judea, thus enlarging his territory to include the influential city of Jerusalem.  He soon became known as the king of the Jews.

Herod was a smart ruler.  He was not afraid to repress any opposition, and at the same time, he sought ways to appease the people,… especially the Jews.  He distributed bread to the poor, so that all would know of his generosity.  In his quest to establish stability and order under his reign, he also became known as the prince of peace.

In addition to ingratiating himself to the Jews, Herod also sought ways to enhance his status in the eyes of Rome.  He did this through the construction of magnificent and grandiose building projects.  He built fortresses, seaports, even entire cities; paid for, of course, by magnificent and grandiose taxes.  And the most significant of all Herod’s building projects was the temple in Jerusalem.

The temple was covered with gold, and was built on an enormous platform with spacious courts.  It incorporated current Greco-Roman architecture.  It was surrounded by a Roman-style double colonnade and entered through monumental gates.

It wasn’t faith that built this temple; it was politics.  Herod hoped the temple would win over dissident Jews while at the same time impressing upon Rome the importance of his Jewish kingdom.

To some extent, it worked.  A number of Jews accommodated themselves to Rome, most notably, the Herodians and the Sadducees.  Other groups resisted; some, like the zealots, continued to advocate violent resistance.  But very few could deny the grandeur of the temple built by Herod, the king of the Jews.

Into this scene comes Jesus of Nazareth.  Many Jews began calling him their king; others referred to him as the prince of peace.  He himself spoke of a new kingdom, and in one particularly powerful demonstration of this new kingdom, he took it upon himself to distribute bread, along with some fish, to thousands of people who had gathered in the wilderness to hear him.  Take that, Herod!

For Jesus, going to Herod’s temple was as much about politics as it was about faith.  There, in the temple that Herod built, Jesus proclaimed the imminent arrival of a new kingdom, what he called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven.

One day, while he was speaking in the temple, he heard some people who were expressing their admiration for the temple’s beauty.

I don’t know what their intentions were.  Given the political atmosphere, it could be that they were trying to provoke Jesus.  They certainly wouldn’t be the first to do so.

It could be that they were trying to provoke Jesus because here he was, in Herod’s temple, even though he himself was proclaimed by many as a king and spoke often about God’s kingdom.  “But look at these stones, Jesus; look at all the gifts dedicated here to God.  How does your kingdom compare to all this?”

Or, it could be that they were people who were anxious, confused, frightened.  They didn’t like Herod.  They didn’t like Rome.  So they weren’t sure what to think about the temple.  There’s no doubt, it was very nice.  It was dedicated to God, and they took comfort in that.  In the temple, they saw strength, beauty, and security in a world of turmoil and uncertainty…. “What do you make of that, Jesus?”

Jesus said, “Everything you see – these massive stones, this wondrous beauty, all of it – will be destroyed.  Not one stone will be left upon another.  It will all be leveled.”

This third gospel was written by the man we know as Luke around the year 80 or 85.  As it turned out, Herod’s magnificent temple was destroyed in the year 70 by armies from Rome, some ten or fifteen years before.  As he wrote his gospel, Luke knew that the temple was no more.  Luke knew that many Jews and Christians had been devastated by this.  Luke knew that some even believed that the destruction of the temple meant the end:  the end of Judaism, the end of the faith, the end of God.

To what extent did this knowledge influence the way Luke told the story of Jesus, which took place some 40 years before the temple’s destruction?  It’s hard to say.  Many of the events that Luke has Jesus say will happen had in fact already happened by the time Luke wrote these words down.  In Luke’s own day, following the destruction of the temple, many people were asking, “Is this the end?”

So Luke makes sure to include in his story Jesus’ words that “many will come in my name and say, ‘the end is at hand;’ but don’t listen to them!”

The destruction of the temple is not the end of God’s kingdom.  The destruction of the temple isn’t even the end of the world. 

Yes, there will be wars.  There will be disasters.  There will be acts of terror but don’t be terrified.  Place your faith in God and in God’s kingdom.  Don’t place your faith in earthly kingdoms or nations.  Don’t place your faith in buildings made of stone.  Don’t place your faith in a life of stability and prosperity.  All these things will come to an end, but God’s kingdom will endure.

And when those difficult times come (remember, for Luke, those times had already come); when those times come, you will have the opportunity to testify.  Don’t worry about preparing for those opportunities in advance (remember, for Luke, the time for advance preparation had passed); don’t worry, because God will be with you.

Do you know that, one day, this beautiful sanctuary will be no more?  These magnificent, beautiful stained glass windows will be no more.

It all may last for centuries; and may it be so!  But one day, this sanctuary will be no more.  One day these windows will be destroyed.

Oh, we don’t like to think about that, do we?  Well, neither did the people in that glorious temple like to think of its demise.  Never mind that it had been built and destroyed and built and destroyed and built again.  It seemed so strong and sturdy to them. 

But destroyed, it was; and even ten and twenty years after its destruction, the people were still having a hard time getting over it.

Well, we’re not here because of a building.  We’re not here to worship wood, metal or glass. 

We’re here because of the kingdom of God.  We’re here to worship God.

And though even heaven and earth will pass away (as Jesus says later in the chapter), God and God’s kingdom will last forever.

There will be difficult times; don’t let your heart be weighed down by them.  Be alert, and pray that you may have the strength to endure.  Pray that you may always live in God’s kingdom.

…Because God’s kingdom is not like the kingdoms and nations of this world.  God’s kingdom is the one true thing.

And in God’s kingdom, those who are oppressed by the kingdoms of this world are set free.  Those who are troubled find rest.  Those who live in a state of unease will find peace. 

In God’s kingdom, no one will have to prove they have might or power, because all will be recognized as children of God, brothers and sisters, one family.

In God’s kingdom, justice will prevail.  No more will some dwell in the midst of luxury while just a few miles or even blocks away children go to bed with nothing to eat, crying out because of the hunger pains.

In God’s kingdom, there will be a unity of spirit because the Spirit of God will find a home in each and every individual.

In God’s kingdom, there will be bread for all, and not just the kind of bread that tastes good on the tongue and passes down the esophagus and into the windpipe, but the kind of bread that nourishes and satisfies and lasts; the kind of bread that gives meaning to one’s life.

In God’s kingdom, people like Herod, those who are unafraid to use military might, will be replaced with people who are unafraid to use the power of love and generosity and service as the tools to bring about transformation.

It is God’s kingdom that will last.  It is God’s kingdom on which we set our sights.  It is God’s kingdom in which we place our faith.  It is God’s kingdom which we seek above all other wants and desires.

Seek first God’s kingdom, and everything else will fall into place.