CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Living in Christ
Pentecost 23, Proper 28 | November 17, 2019
By the Rev. Canon David Sellery
CAMINANDO WITH JESUS is a series of reflections on the Sunday Gospel by clergy and laity from across the Diocese.
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When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said,As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.
They asked him,Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place? And he said,Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and, `The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them,Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
– Luke 21:5-19
Our church year is ending. Next week we will proclaim Cristo Rey: Christ the King, the Reign of Christ, the triumph of the Christian narrative. But as we are instructed in this gospel, that reign will come in with a bang, not with a whimper. And Luke’s gospel is not the most apocalyptic by far. Both Mark and John illustrate more graphically the perils that will signal the end of days, while Luke’s gospel predicts an initial apocalypse on a smaller, more immediate scale: the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Christ then goes on to tell us of the turmoil that will plague the earth: Nation will rise against nation, and there will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues. Jesus puts Christians on notice that we will be singled out for persecution, betrayal and hatred, all because of (his) name. But then he stands this doomsday narrative on its head, promising not a hair on your head will perish.
But how can that be? How can we escape an all-consuming apocalypse? How can we survive mortality? And how do we dodge the bullet of bigotry aimed at every active Christian? Over thousands of years and countless generations, Christ’s saving message comes to us with the freshness of morning as he assures us, “by your endurance you will gain your souls.” The operative word that leaps from the page is endurance.
To many, endurance conjures up images of marathon runners struggling towards a finish line, then collapsing in complete exhaustion. Is that what lies in store for us, physically and spiritually hanging on? Dragging ourselves into heaven, is that God’s plan for us?
Hardly! We are here to rejoice in the Lord always – in good times and bad, in celebration and in persecution. In fact, that is the only way we can truly endure, by faithfully connecting with the Lord everyday, by humbly asking his help and aligning our attitudes and actions with his guidance, particularly as it is revealed in his gospel.
The gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ. And the best of the good news is that we are not in this race by ourselves. Jesus is with us every step of the way. We need not rely on training, conditioning or dieting for our endurance. His grace is the source of our strength. To endure, we must constantly seek it, cling to it, live in it and rejoice in it.
Because Jesus is the truth, he always tells us the truth, even when it is hard for us to find good news in dire predictions. Luke 21 is the last chapter before the Passion. Jesus clearly sees what he must endure for our sake. But he looks beyond his looming agony to tell us what we, too, must endure.
To carry us home, Jesus will soon carry his cross. To follow him home, each of us must carry our own cross. For some, the cross is relatively light: minor inconveniences, petty prejudices, snide remarks, negative peer pressure, constantly navigating a world of vanishing values. For others, the cross literally means martyrdom, either by the sword or by institutional prejudice. A recent study found that 50 countries had official anti-Christian statutes and practices with sanctions ranging from death to imprisonment, from harassment to expulsion.
Christian life is more than a marathon. At times it can also be a deadly obstacle course. Expect to be tripped. Expect to fall. Endurance means more than just chugging along. We must regularly pick ourselves up and get back on track. Our faith will be shaken. Our sins will betray us. For endurance, we look not only to the cross, we look to the Resurrection. That’s because we know how this story ends, not in tragedy, but in triumph. That is the source of our strength, our hope, our joy. As Paul instructs us in Hebrews 12, “Let us run with perseverance…looking to Jesus…who endured the cross… so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.”
With every passing day, the odds grow longer that our generation will not be the one to face the apocalypse. But the odds are certain that each of us will face our own personal end of days. And in the face of that certainty, we cling to the cross of Christ, the ark of our salvation. If we take nothing else from this gospel, take the word of Jesus that even in mortality, we will never perish. Trust in him. Live in his love.
And so another Church year approaches its conclusion. Thank you, Jesus. In your saving grace, we rejoice and endure. We know that, individually and collectively, we are safe in your love. We know you will make our ending here a happy one because we are risen with you.
The Rev. Canon David Sellery is is the canon for congregational mission in the Diocese of North Carolina.
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