Birth pangs? Yes, Birthpangs!

Text:  Mark 13:1-8

Theme:  “Birthpangs?  Yes, Birthpangs!”

25^th Sunday after Pentecost

November 15, 2015

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

If you study law, you break it down into parts.  Are you to examine family law, criminal law, elder law?  It might depend on your interest.  Or how about medicine?  It, too, has its parts.  You might look at oncology, hematology, or neurology.  The same goes for the study of theology, which, of course, is an examination of the Word of God.  The various parts or fields or disciplines are there as well.  Calvin called them “institutes”; Philip Melanchthon called them “Loci”.  I’ve noticed that reformed Christians call them “tenets”. 

At this point, late in the church year, the part of theology the church takes a fresh look at is the discipline of eschatology.  Eschatology is one of those million dollar terms that is not in our workable vocabulary.  But I’m here to say that we sense what the word means; we have wonder about what the word means; we worry about what the word means.  Eschatology is the study of the end times.

What do you think?  Are we in the end times?  In The Apostles’ Creed, we affirm that Jesus Christ will “come again to judge the quick and the dead.”  Do you think that will happen in our lifetimes?  Are the signs of the times suggesting that this could possibly transpire?  Will there be a so-called “rapture” where some will be taken and others will be left behind?  Will there be various “dispensations”?  Will Christ reign on earth for a thousand years? 

Eschatology, at least as this pastor has studied it, raises more questions than answers.  That means, human curiosity being what it is, that the subject is rife for speculation.  For example, an entire cottage industry of literature has grown up around eschatology.  I recently perused the “Christian Fiction” aisle at Barnes and Noble.  There you have a plethora of books – fictional, mind you – that purport to describe the future, the end.  Pretty clearly, there’s a market for stuff like that and a profit to be made.

Occasionally, we’ve heard about some “renowned” Bible scholar – usually of the fundamentalist/inerrantist stripe with a special interest in “prophecy” -- who has it all figured out.  He or she even assigns a calendar date for the return of Jesus, the end of the world, etc.  His or her followers get on board and start getting ready for the end!  Well, I’m still here today after all these various and sundry predictions; you’re still here today too.  If we use the brains God has given us we have to conclude that every one of these predictions of the end were totally false.  Then, the purveyors have to “revise” their estimate or estimates.  My suggestion to you is to stay away from ALL of this silly nonsense.

Remember the statement of Jesus Himself when He was asked point-blank about the end and when it will be.  In Acts 1 Jesus says to His disciples then and now:  “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”  I, for one, am grateful for this gift.  It’s one less thing I have to worry about!  Without having to twiddle my thumbs about the end of time, I can devote more time to endeavoring to live a life of faith toward God and love toward my neighbor. 

Still, while dates and times are not given for us to know, there will be certain happenings in the lead-up to the end.  And the biblical evidence basically says it is not going to be a picnic. 

In today’s reading, the disciples marvel at the beautiful temple building that had been restored by King Herod.  Jesus replied – in an almost deadpan fashion:  “Do you see all these buildings?  Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”  Later, the disciples sought to pry out more information.  Based on Jesus’ response, it looks as though false messiahs would arise.  There will be wars and rumors of wars.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  Earthquakes and famines are in the offing.  Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; these are the beginning of the birth pains.”

Birth pangs!  Yes birth pangs!  I cannot speak from any experience about birth pangs – only a mother knows about that.  Yes, there is pain -- even pain in the extreme.  But that pain has an ending point, and then all that matters is that precious, beautiful new life. 

Unless you have been off the grid for the last two days, you know full well about horrific events in Paris, France.  But did you also know that they also happened in Beirut, Lebanon; Baghdad, Iraq; and in Kenya.  The forces of evil, hiding under the banner of religion, have slaughtered hundreds of people. 

Here in America, responding to the tragedy in Paris on Friday, we have taken to social media with our French flags and images of the Eiffel Tower superimposed on a peace sign.  We’ve assured the French people of our prayers. In one of the best reflections I’ve read in the last few days, an anonymous author has identified our narrow, parochial focus:

It is not Paris we should pray for.  It is the world.  It is a world in which Beirut, reeling from bombings two days before Paris, is not covered in the press.  A world in which a bomb goes off at a funeral in Baghdad and not one person’s status update says “Baghdad”, because not one white person died in that fire.  Pray for the world that blames a refugee crisis for a terrorist attack.  That does not pause to differentiate between the attacker and the person running from the very same thing you are.  Pray for a world where people walking across countries for months, their only belongings upon their backs, are told they have no place to go.  Say a prayer for Paris by all means, but pray more, for the world that does not have a prayer for those who no longer have a home to defend.  For a world that is falling apart in all corners, and not simply in the towers and cafes we find so familiar.

More than one television report I’ve watched this weekend has warned viewers with young children that some of the images that they are about to see are graphic.  Indeed, many of the happenings Jesus described – the “beginning of the birth pangs”, He said – are, likewise, graphic. 

From such graphic things, we tend to try and insulate ourselves – and our children.  We want to protect them from being scarred from such violent imagery. 

I find it interesting that the mother of Fred Rogers, of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” fame, did not do a good job of insulating little Fred from scary news reports.  It has to be something of a miracle that he wasn’t scarred for life and actually turned out to be the wonderful man he was for so many children in America.  And, by the way, he was a Presbyterian minister too.  Some of you may remember a great day in the life of this congregation when Texas reporter Tim Madigan shared his remembrances of interviewing and befriending Mr. Rogers. 

Little did I know, Mr. Rogers was a first-rate, indeed, exquisite eschatologist.  In a profound statement (and profound because it is so practical), Mr. Rogers said this:  “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.’”

People who help are people who serve.  What a Christ-like thing that is to do.  Jesus said:  “I am among you as One who serves… .  The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

He is servant and a ransom for many – for girls and boys, men and women, for the Lebanese, for the Iraqis, for the French, for the Kenyans, for the Christians, for the Jews, for the Sunnis, for the Shia, for all the Muslims, for the gay, for the straight, for the poor, for the middle class, for the rich, for the atheist, for the agnostic, indeed, for the human race He shall forever be servant and ransom.

Yes, these are painful times; they may or may not be the birth pangs of about which Jesus spoke.  But, beyond speculation, the pain has and ending point, and the precious and new life will begin. We get to be part of this.  Do not be afraid.  Look up!  For your redemption draws near.  Amen.