The Sky is Falling.
“The sky is falling!” yelled Chicken Little when an acorn fell on her head. She was so panicked by this occurrence she immediately set out to find the lion who would grant wisdom to this horrifying incident. Along the way to the lion she met Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky and others who chose to join her on her venture. They too became panicked as she shared with them the fact that the sky was falling. They entered into her world of hysteria and fear. It is not long before they all are lured into the foxes den and do no return to the light of day. A sad tale for children, for sure; a sad tale for grown-ups too.
It’s a tale to remind people of their own moral health, it is a diagnosis of humanity. People tend to panic and jump to conclusions at the best and worst of times. This panic and reactive behavior creates even more problems than the original incident.
An acorn fell on a chicken’s head and
she interpreted it to mean that the world was coming to an end. As humans we
have a habit of looking to every disaster and every tragedy as an opportunity to
testify to the end times, to rant on about the end of human decency, the end of
the world as we know it.
Last night-Friday night I learned of two disasters, one
in a country I once called home and one locally of one of our own in the
church. The people of France where caught unaware as the people of New York had
been in 2001. They were caught in the crossfires of bullets claiming lives for
reasons we do not know-terrorism, random violence, horror.
The Arvidsons, Rick and Tracey,
were caught unaware as their son Matthew and his father were in a rollover car
accident. They were hit by another vehicle on their way home from a football
game-somehow, not sure how, they walked away from their totaled vehicle.
We could all rant about how these are the end of times
and make predictions about the inhumanity of humans.
But, we recognize in the midst of this reality of the
human condition comes the opportunity for mercy and forgiveness,
for healing and mending of the world
from one family to another to another,
from one country to another to another.
The prophecy that Jesus shares with his disciples is not
a prophecy stated to create panic or to be misinterpreted for the immediate end
of times.
As a matter of fact the words of Jesus were words of Old
Testament style of prophecy. They were not a crystal ball prediction of the
future as much as they were a statement of the current human condition.
They were words of judgment coming from the Savior as he
sat on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives by the way, was the place where
people of the Old Testament believed the Messiah would appear. And here is
Jesus sitting there talking to the disciple about the condition of the world
and what is to come.
He
tells them-These large stones will be no more. They will come crumbling down
and the life as you know it will never exist again. New life will emerge
from the death of the stones. The way things have been in your understanding of
community and relationships with God will take new form.
When Jesus warned the disciples to look out, He was
preparing them for a life ahead that should not be dependent on what currently
looks as though it will be permanent. How many of us would ever have imagined
that typewriters and phone booths would one day become obsolete?
Jesus
was preparing the disciples to live out his message of redemption, his message
of repentance, his message of healing, his message of love for all the people
of the world not the things the people of the world had made, but the
Creation God had made.
We have trouble seeing past the obstacles and tragedies we experience day after day. We have difficulty witnessing the Kingdom of God present with us in the midst of oppression and the struggles of life. We have trouble seeing past our massive structures of tangible treasures to experience the intangible grace of God.
Perhaps Jesus, was saying what later the poet Warsan
Shire said, “Later that night I took an atlas in my lap, ran my fingers across
the whole world, and whispered, where does it hurt? it answered, everywhere,
everywhere, everywhere.”
Pain,
suffering, tragedy will be with us, wars and rumors of wars will fill our
lives. But, Jesus brings hope in the midst of all of the present circumstances.
At this past week’s conference I attended the speaker (Rev.
Alan Storey) began with the words, “I have no hope.” Immediately our hearts
fell and our own sense of the future seemed dashed. As I read and prepared for
the sermon this week, his words swirled around me and I thought this must be
how the disciples felt when Jesus gave such words of hopelessness when he
talked about death and destruction. Rev. Alan Storey went on to say that part of our problem in the
Christian church and as pastors is that we deny our despair. And
when we deny the despair we feel in a world that seems intent on destroying
itself and others we create false hope. He explained that it is exactly when he
admits his despair and sense of helplessness and powerlessness to things of
this world, it is in this lament that he finds his hope.
When we turn away from our faith in buildings and societies and policies
and politics and turn our hope to the things of Jesus, (the things of grace,
loving those no one loves, mercy, forgiveness), we turn our hearts to God. Here we find our strength
and our ability to walk through the shadows of our dark selves and raise up
into the gift of mercy and love, forgiveness and rebirth.
Jesus
want us to know how to live in a world that collapses all around us every day.
He is FULL of HOPE for us in these times and all times to come.
Richard Rohr, teaches from his book, Falling Upward; in
crisis that we learn life’s greatest lessons. It is from disappointment and
struggle that we learn what is truly important; it is in meeting failure and
loss that we find the richest contents for our lives. It is at difficult times
that we realize that our soul within is greater than any of our earthly bodies.
(from sermon of Rev. Rey)
So we enter into the world of a new day and allow the words
of Jesus to be our guide. Here are three things to take with us today. Here are
three ways to live out hope. Here are three ways to live out this passage of
Scripture:
1.
‘The end is still to come;
this is but the beginning…the beginning of remembering God loves us and calls
us to love others at least as well as we love ourselves. This is
a powerful way to begin our new way of life with Jesus.
2.
Remember the early
church began and was built on loving and bringing in her enemies-Jews and
Gentiles shared the bread at the Table and were baptized in the same waters.
Who are our enemies? It’s time to invite them to eat with us.
3.
Live fully in the light of
new beginnings-what we think is permanent may collapse around us, but it will
not stop us from proclaiming the lasting love of Jesus. God is calling us into
new life through Christ. Let us live by expanding the grace we have
received as we offer to another, and another, and another…
Don’t let the Chicken Littles of
this world drag us into a fox’s den. Stay alert, see the truth and reach out to
offer the power of mercy and love.
Amen.
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