Because Our Family History Tells Us So

(sermon audio available here)

Originally I had scheduled to preach on Luke 21:5-19, but during my studies this week, I discovered it would better serve us to read the entire chapter, don’t worry you can remain sitting while I read it.

“He looked around and saw the rich folks putting their money into the collection plates. He noticed a penniless widow put in two cents, and he said, “Surely it is true that this poverty stricken widow put in more than the others, because all of them gave from their overflow, while she, from her scarcity, has put in all she has.”

Some people were commenting about the Temple, its architecture and the beautiful marble and the stained glass memorial windows. He said, “All that you’re admiring, the time will come when not one piece of marble will be left upon another without being torn down.” “Teacher,” they asked, “when will this happen? And how are we to know when all this ready to take place?”

“Don’t let anybody fool you,” he replied, “for there will be many people buzzing around in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Don’t go chasing after them. Even when you hear reports of fights and factions, don’t get alarmed. For these things will of necessity come first, but the end does not immediately follow.”

Then he continued, “Race will rise up against race, and nation against nation. There will be great shake-ups in various places, and there’ll be starvation and epidemics. Great, frightful omens will appear in the sky. But before all this happens they’ll lay hands on you and arrest you, turning you over to church councils and putting you in jail, and dragging you before courts and committees because you bear my name. It’ll turn out to be your opportunity to make a witness. So don’t get it in your heads that you’ve got to prepare your defense in advance. For I’ll give to you a mouth and a mind which all your opponents won’t be able to match or reply to.

“You’ll be turned in even by your parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they’ll kill some of you. You’ll be hated by everybody because you bear my name. But you won’t be really harmed in the slightest. By your uncompromising stand you’ll find a new dimension to life.

“Now when you see Jerusalem taken over by the military, you’ll know that her time is running out. Then let the people in the country run to the hills, and let those in the city itself get out, and those on the farms not enter it. For these are the days of reckoning that so much has been written about. It’ll be terrible for the pregnant and the nursing mothers at that time. Throughout the land there’ll be nothing but hard times and fury for the people. For they’ll be butchered and enslaved by other races, and the nation will be buried under racial problems until all races have full opportunities. And there’ll be signals on the sun and moon and stars, and throughout the land there’ll be a tension of races in confusion like the roaring of the boiling sea, with the men passing out from fear and anticipation of what’s happening to civilization. For the powers of the higher ups will be shaken. And then they’ll see the son of man leading a Movement with great strength and authority. When these preliminary things happen, hold up your heads and throw back your shoulders, because your freedom is arriving.”

And he told them a comparison: “Take a look at the pear tree and all the other trees. When they are far advanced, you can look and see for yourself that warm weather is here. Likewise, when you all see these things happen, you can know that the God Movement is here. I truly tell you that the present generation will not be gone before all these things happen. Land and sky will pass away, but what I’m telling you won’t. Check up on yourselves to see that your sensitivity isn’t dulled by fast living and drunkenness and worry over making a living. Otherwise, the times might catch you suddenly like a trap, for they’ll confront everybody in the world. So stay on your toes all the time, praying that you’ll have the strength to break loose from that situation and to stand up and be counted for the son of man.”

During the day he was teaching at the temple, but he would go out and spend the nights at the Mount of Olives. And all the people got up early to hear him speak at the church. (Luke 21 Cotton Patch Gospel NRSV).

In seminary, I was taught to do four important things when joining a new church community: learn their family history, learn their church history, and learn their community’s history, as well as knowing your own family history. The theory is, if you know those four histories, you will have a much better insight to how the congregation functions.

I imagine when Luke shared this sermon with his congregation, they resonated very well with it. They had experienced firsthand the destruction of the temple by Rome in 70 AD and many had been betrayed by their families and handed over to the government and martyred. As it resonated with them I wondered if any Jewish Christians related to the text on November 9, 1938 when they heard news of the Final Solution and death of 91 Jews in Nazi Germany. I wonder if the Tutsi women and children related to the text while they hoped for refuge in their churches, instead the armed Hutu men slashed the women and bashed in the children. I wonder if the Filipinos related to this text as they buried hundreds of their people in a mass burial site, and begin to rebuild their nation, after this past week’s devastating typhoon. I wonder if the millions dying from starvation relate to this text as they long for morsel of bread. I wonder how hard it is for them to look up, hold on, and have hope expectation of a resurrection, a redemption, and a rescue. I wonder how hard it is for many of us, as violence continues to erupt in our world and in our own communities, as families fall apart, and face a bleak future, to look up in hope, expecting a resurrection, a redemption, and a rescue.

There is a lot in our churches that we do not talk about; one which is how to reconcile the violence in our scriptures with the hope and love of Jesus. Often you hear preachers talk about the violent God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New Testament. They suggest the bible is divided into two different Gods, one bent on destruction and violence, and the other bent on redeeming the lost by his infinite love and mercy. We don’t talk about this false disparity often in our churches, because the truth is difficult to comprehend. But Israel isn’t afraid to talk about it. Much like this passage which is filled with violent turmoil, strife, and hopelessness, Israel is accustomed to such prophetic texts. They are familiar with their family history, knowing God has spoken of such things to Israel before; yet they remember the anger of God was not ever without his steadfast love and steadfast patience. I am sure upon hearing the words of Jesus, they recall Hosea’s proclamation of judgment and war:

“They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword rages in their cities, it consumes their oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. My people are bent on turning away from me. To the Most High they call, but he does not raise them up at all.” (Hosea 11:5-7).

Just I am sure they recall God’s judgment, I am equally sure they remember what God says next:

“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. They shall go after the Lord, who roars like a lion;
when he roars his children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.” (Hosea 11:8-11).

This Jewish Christian community, which Luke preaches to, knows its family historical relationship with God. They know the covenant God made with Abraham and how God has been faithful to that covenant, despite Israel’s constant struggles to live as God’s people. They are not shy about reconciling the violence in the world with God’s love because they know, they believe, God will never give them up nor hand them over. Jesus reminds them of their family history. He reminds them not to be alarmed because the breaking in of God’s Movement, of God’s kingdom, brings with it chaos.

Chaos comes, not because God is violent nor is that the kingdom ushered in by violent wars, instead it is because those in power will do what they can to hold on to their power. Remember the first King Herod in Matthew 2? Remember how he slaughtered the boys 2 and under? The kings will beat their ploughshares into swords, and pruning hooks into spears, and go to war with this coming kingdom, Jesus says, because this kingdom brings to light our own family histories. The kingdom of God brings to light that which we have hoped to remain hidden, it brings with it a power that cleanses the soul, and that cleansing is so painful, like the cleaning of one’s teeth after a 10 year absence from the dentist.

We have a lot in our family histories we do not talk about: a great-grandpa’s alcoholism, a mother’s postpartum depression, a father’s drug addiction, a child’s abuse or suicide, and much more. For my family, the part of our history we do not talk about is divorce. Over half of my immediate family either comes from a divorced family or is divorced themselves. We don’t talk about how badly divorce has affected our family’s history and our relationship with one another. Each time an opportunity comes up to talk about it, bring to light how painful that moment in our family history is, my family retreats to the dark, feelings get hurt and insecurity rears its dangerous doubtful head. Yet, in order for my family to be healed and function healthily, such issues must be discussed and our pain needs to be heard.

Likewise, the breaking in of God’s Movement brings with it chaos because we rebel against it. We see as we truly are, we see how we have leaned on our own power, our own military strength, and power of politicians, and not on the steadfast love of God. We see how we’ve stricken the poor, raised up the wealthy, oppressed the minority, praised the powerful; we see how we’ve starved the hungry, parched the thirsty, unclothed the naked, unhoused the homeless, and how we worshiped ourselves saying, “Look at our nice new church, with our nice comfortable pews, and our marvelous stained glass windows.”

When such things are brought to light, our broken human instinct is to turn away from the light; to run headlong into the darkness. We have become accustomed to the darkness, singing too long for heaven, and rejecting the ushering in of the new heaven because the grandness is too much, too new, too unfamiliar, and the darkness is a safe familiarity.

Jesus knows this because he knows his nation’s family history. He is familiar with their injustices and iniquities. He stands there with the crowd as they admire the beautiful stain glass, and speaks his words of prophetic destruction and restoration, because he knows who donated the money for those windows. He knows King Herod, who styled himself as a King of the Jews, paid handsomely to adorn the temple with beautiful marble floors and bright stain glass so that the First Temple of Jerusalem would rival any pagan temple of rival rulers. Jesus knew the temple was not an alter unto God; but a monument unto a king who took pride in killing his own family to secure his position. Jesus knows his family history, he knows the people are going to rep what they have sown because they have rejected the justice of God’s kingdom and embraced the injustice of men. He tells them when that day comes to lift up their heads, throw back their shoulders because their freedom is arriving. They will be free at last from their brokenness and broken world.

Jesus tells them to hold up their heads, to remain faithful, while the land and sky all fade away, he promises his word never will. He promises to be faithful and true, and he will strengthen them during this time of chaos as he brings with him God’s Movement. As the world sinks into chaos and fear, let us be a people of God who stand faithfully out in the dark with the light of Christ in hand, so the lost, the hurting, the oppressed, the hungry, the poor, the addicted, the sick, the thirsty, the imprisoned, all in need of it may find Christ’s words true; for he is indeed faithful and true as it is written in our family history.