26th Sunday after Pentecost

Pastor's sermon is based upon the gospel lesson from Mark 13. When Jesus goes apocalyptic and talks of the end, he’s not just predicting the future; he is speaking of how precarious the present is. The temple and this world of ours are not as stable, nor eternal as they appear. Mainline, educated, respectable, Christians get nervous when Jesus talks apocalyptic. We prefer Jesus as a great moral teacher, the perfect example of compassion for the poor, or someone who gives us a spiritual boost. We want to say, “Jesus, before you leave, give us some final words of wisdom.” Jesus replies: “God is going to turn the world upside down. All this you see before you, for any of its present glory, is ending, stone ripped from stone, all reduced to rubble.” By God’s grace, these painful endings may be birth pangs, and an offer of a new world. We all depend on a truthful God, whose eternal love is our only hope.