Don't Panic, But Be Ready

Transcript

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[0:00] Our sermon text today comes from Mark chapter 13 verses 1 through 8, and I'll be reading from the NLT, which is also in your bulletin this morning. As Jesus was leaving the temple that day, one of his disciples said, Teacher, look at these amazing buildings. Look at the impressive stones in the walls. Jesus replied, Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another.

[0:35] Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across the valley from the temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked, Tell us, when will all this happen? What signs will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?

[0:52] Jesus replied, Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come. People will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah. They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars. But don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately.

[1:14] Nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

[1:30] Let's pray. Let's pray. Our gracious God, we ask for your blessing upon this word today. God, may we speak and hear with your guidance and your discernment. Would you lay your presence and your word on our hearts? This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:52] So, this week, I mean, with an end-time text, I guess I get curious. And I wanted to know what the latest prediction was for the end of the world. So, I took the fool-free route and asked Google. And it turned out that according to Wikipedia, the end of the world has been, has come and gone more than 159 times. And I didn't even know that. I was clearly not aware. I was not paying good enough attention. But those are just according to like the official, the official predictions that got put into Wikipedia's database. I'm sure a lot more people have predicted the end of the world than that. But according to one American pastor, their calculations say that the rapture is going to happen sometime in 2021. So, we've got about a month and a half left. And I wonder how you're feeling.

[3:01] Actually, this is the only passage of Jesus' that gives me the feeling of a street corner preacher. You know, the kind that proclaimed the end times. But the difference is that I trust his words. Like so many passages, you really can't investigate just the words that we just read. You really have to read what surrounds it. In order to understand it. But this, just these eight verses make Jesus look a little bit evasive. The disciples ask, when, Jesus? And Jesus answers with this list of events that are going to happen, but it feels kind of obscure. It feels like he's almost trying not to answer the question. So, he gives this list of events. But if we look at the history of the world, those events are kind of commonplace. They happen kind of often. And finally, after the passage in our text today, toward the end of the chapter, he finally answers, No one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen. Not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

[4:25] I'm grateful. I'm grateful that the Father didn't impart that knowledge to the Son. Because I think we would get incredibly lazy if we knew when the end of the world actually was going to be. And I can trust that. I can trust Jesus' answer. It's honest. We can't trust people who give a date and time. We've seen that 159 times already.

[4:53] The only answer is Jesus. The only person who has that information is the Father. And Jesus we can trust. And why can we trust Jesus? Because part of Mark 13 came true already. Jesus predicted the destruction of Herod's palace, the center of government, and the temple. And 70 years later, there was a Jewish rebellion against the Roman government in which Rome laid siege to Jerusalem under the army of Titus.

[5:24] The Roman emperor. And according to Josephus, 97,000 people were taken captive and over 1 million people died. And they especially died from this slow, agonizing starvation. That sounds to me like the apocalypse. That sounds absolutely miserable.

[5:50] And this is what Jesus had predicted to the people. So they must have thought, this has to be it. They must have thought, we're coming toward the end. Now the Jews saw the temple as the center of not just their religious livelihood, but their political strength as well. So if they were ever going to experience political freedom from Rome, the temple would be the place where it all began. The Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah to come. They knew the Messiah would come. They knew the Messiah would bring the downfall of the Roman establishment and return them to freedom.

[6:31] And they knew that the Messiah would bring about the kingdom of God in Jerusalem. Now they didn't have the same understanding of this as we do today, but they knew those things. And this is probably why the disciples called Jesus' attention to the temple in the first place. They were excited to be in the Messiah's midst while he made his visit to the great palace where it would all begin. The stones that the disciples referred to weighed as much as a jet would today. You can't lift that. They're impressive. They're so impressive.

[7:11] It was breathtaking to think about. It was a place where great things were surely meant to happen. And the moment when the Messiah visited, there was surely a time of great pride. They couldn't wait for the new kingdom to begin under the Messiah's reign and it would all happen right where they were standing at that great, impressive temple. But instead, what existed of their government and hopes for a new earthly kingdom, along with that stunning piece of architecture, was destroyed.

[7:49] Seventy years later, by the Roman army, along with most of the city of Jerusalem. And just like that, it was gone. And Jesus had known. And Jesus wasn't worried. It wasn't the end of the world. It probably felt like that. Like I said, 97,000 people taken captive and a million dying.

[8:15] But it wasn't over. It wasn't the end of the world. And yet it's bundled right up here in this passage that's all dedicated to the end times. It was a prediction of what might have been seen as a mini-apocalypse. When that actually did happen, but it was nestled within a prediction of the ultimate apocalypse which is yet to come. And which will happen in concert with the return of Christ. And his return will create a new kingdom. One which will welcome both the Jews and Gentiles for all eternity. One that's far greater than the new earthly kingdom that the Jews had been hoping to establish.

[8:59] They had been hoping to establish a kingdom that would protect them from the Gentiles. That would set them apart from the Gentiles. The people would have believed that what Jesus spoke of was an apocalypse of sorts. It would have symbolized the end of their political hopes of rising up against Rome. It would have been seen as God's judgment over them. The destruction of the temple was the result of its misuse by leaders. The sacrificial system of the temple could not make sufficient atonement for the sinfulness of mankind. And the disciples could not believe that one of the architectural wonders of the world would lose the grandeur of the spirit.

[9:48] So Jesus' conversation about the destruction of the temple was symbolic of the systems and institutions that oppress and exclude people. He was talking about the end of the status quo and the beginning of justice and freedom and the redistribution and redefinition of power and wealth. So it was an apocalypse of sorts. But it was only a mini-stop on the way to much greater signs of a much greater judgment.

[10:20] The destruction of the temple was part of the unfolding of a much larger story. The return of the Messiah is yet to come. And Jesus indicates that the events leading up to the return of Christ will be majorly apocalyptic in nature. You won't be able to miss it. We only get a taste of it in this passage. But if you have time on your own at some point, you can read the rest of Mark 13 as well as Matthew 24 or Luke 21. And there's a much more detailed account.

[10:57] Now when our world is falling apart, God is not through with us. A mini-apocalypse it may have felt, but God was not through with Jerusalem. He was not through with the Jewish people. He was not through with the Gentiles. He was not through with the world. Not by a long shot. Jesus reminds us not to create our treasures here on earth. We must create our treasures in heaven.

[11:27] The things that we think are permanent in our lives are only temporary. Material goods are temporary. They can be taken away. Our journey through life is short. We are travelers passing through. Our true home is in heaven and our true wealth is in knowing Jesus' love and care for each of us.

[11:51] Think for a moment of the wonders of the world and the greatest structures that you have ever seen or the establishments and the institutions that seem to keep this world as we know it running. I was shaken after the January 12th event. I was shocked at the January 6th insurrection. A little at least. Our government had been attacked and I never imagined that would happen. When the stock market fluctuates, people get anxious. Or we put our trust in democracy and we stand in awe of things like skyscrapers and great statues. But they're not that big a deal. None of that is. We might think they are, but ultimately they're not. They're actually quite insignificant.

[12:45] When the disciples looked at the temple, they saw not only a magnificent place of worship, they saw a citadel of power. They saw their manifest destiny in the plan of God to rescue them and establish their nation as God's chosen people. But it was demolished.

[13:05] Did that mean that the Lord stopped caring for them? All these great structures and systems and institutions that we put our trust in on a day-to-day basis? All the material goods that we take for granted and even idolize? They'll all pass away. Our help doesn't come from them. Our help comes from the Lord.

[13:28] And that is something that we can count on right here. And right now. No matter what our circumstances, God is with us. We can turn to him in all things. When we face any uncertainty. When the things of this world have let us down, we can always count on God.

[13:48] But Jesus spoke also of a greater apocalypse. And that's the second thing that we can count on. That there's a greater kingdom to look ahead toward. The first apocalypse began to change the status quo. It showed the direction that God's kingdom was to take. It changed expectations. But there's a greater kingdom. And it is coming. Jesus will return.

[14:15] And we won't be able to miss it. Mark 13, 26 and 27 says, Everyone will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send out his Son of Man. And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world. From the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

[14:37] And while we find our constant help for the here and now in the Father, our future hope is built on the promise that Christ will come again. Unfortunately, the wait is long. And honestly, there are times when it's painful. And it has been so long since Jesus made these predictions and promises. And it feels like life doesn't get easier, but harder. And we see war and famine and poverty and injustice. And people start to doubt. And people start to lose their hope.

[15:13] And it was the same in the early church. People were being attacked left and right for being Christ followers. They had clung to the words of Jesus. But it had already felt like he had spoken those words so long ago. They had lost their hope. 2 Peter 3, 3-4 says, In the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They'll say, What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.

[15:55] And Peter responded, The Lord really isn't slow. Or running a bit late or tardy or procrastinating his return. God is being patient, giving as many people as possible the opportunity to come to Christ. But be assured and never doubt for a moment that the second coming is coming.

[16:18] The day of the Lord will come as an unexpected thief. So don't lose hope it will happen. We don't know the day or the time. But it will come. Here's the other difference between Jesus and doomsday preachers. The street corner doomsday preacher stirs up fear and terror. But Jesus says, Don't panic.

[16:46] You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. But don't panic. And that's how we know, or that's how we're meant to live our lives. While we're in the middle of this all-out war. In this already but not yet kingdom. In the middle of the mini apocalypse and the end of the world apocalypse.

[17:08] We're to live our lives with trust in God. Hope in the return of Christ. And we're to not panic. If we turn back to 2 Peter 3.14 it says, And so dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives, that are pure and blameless in the Lord's sight.

[17:33] We have hope in Christ so we don't need to panic. We don't need to worry about when the end of the world will come. We don't need to fear what lies ahead. We don't need to wonder if we'll be okay. We don't need to stir up trouble when things start to fall apart.

[17:50] We put our hope and our faith in Christ. And instead people look to us as people who bear the image of Christ. And so we stand firm in our faith. And we extend the peace of Christ to others by living peacefully.

[18:06] We're meant to live peaceful, pure, and blameless lives. Those who live without hope and basically believe this is all there is, have no good reason to live good and blameless lives. In fact, they're less motivated to otherwise experience it all, get it all, feel it all, see it all, and do it all. Because when it's over, that's all there is.

[18:32] Should we have a care that Christ will come again? Absolutely. As we said, that is what we put our hope in. We need to always be ready. The Bible said Jesus will return like a thief in the night. And you can't prepare for his coming right at the moment when you see him come because that will be too late. We must prepare ahead of time. Our faith must be in Christ now. We must be living peaceful, pure, and blameless lives now. But we also have no need to fear it. And we have to live in this world as Christ's ambassadors, which means that the things that we do in this world still matter. We must live blamelessly and peacefully among others and within ourselves, with Christ as our lead, so that they too can prepare for Christ's return.

[19:29] So we do not live in panic. We do not live as if there was no reckoning for the next life. Because Christ is coming, and we want to be found faithful when he comes. The mark that distinguishes the Christian in the midst of an impending apocalypse is that we are found to be living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in God's sight, prepared and ready for Christ's return each and every day. Let's pray.

[20:00] Dear God, thank you that you are in charge of it all. We can put our hope in you. We can put our hope in Christ's return. And we can live faithfully to honor your glory. God, we ask for your help as we work out how to do that in our lives. These things we pray in Jesus' name.