Don't Fall for It

Pentecost 23, Proper 28

Fr. Tim Nunez

May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Our gospel today unfolds in front of the Temple at Jerusalem, just before Jesus will be arrested and crucified. Let’s quickly review that the first Temple was built at God’s instruction to Solomon to be his house among humanity. It wasn’t actually any bigger than this building, a bit taller, but it was extremely ornate, the interior was covered in gold, but was destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 BC.

The second Temple was built 70 years later in 516 on the same spot and to the same specifications, except it was much more modest. Israel was a vassal state of Persia at the time and didn’t have the resources to cover everything in gold.

However, prosperity was high under Herod the Great. He more than tripled the height of the Temple to about 150 feet. By comparison, the Walesbilt Hotel is 106 feet, so half again higher than that. It was covered with white marble and gold, as well as adorned with bronze and precious jewels. The historian Josephus described it this way:

“Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays.” Josephus, The Jewish War 5.5.6 (§222–223)

That’s what they are looking at. It would be very easy to fall in love with that building as a great achievement. That’s exactly why Herod remodeled it and built a massive complex of courtyards and colonnades around it. So they were shocked at Jesus’s warning that it would be cast down. He said, “Not one stone will be left upon another,” which is what happened in 70 AD. The Romans destroyed it during the Jewish Rebellion and tore it all down. You can see where they dumped the stones today. All that is left is the stone pavement and the foundation’s retaining wall, including the Western Wall where Jews continue to pray and grieve over the Temple. The point is, do not put your faith in buildings or objects.

That’s the first of three cautions Jesus gives them in this passage. The second is in response to their shock. They naturally want to know when this will happen. Jesus doesn’t want them to focus on that, either. Note that he makes a subtle shift. He doesn’t say anything further about the Temple. “Hey! Forget the building. Over here!” They are to keep their focus on him.

Then he says not to be led astray by people who claim to come in his name and say, “I am he!” and “The time is near!” False prophets in Jesus’s time often claimed to connect current events to elements of the apocalyptic passages in the Old Testament prophets, like the one we had this morning from Malachi. The arrogant and evildoers will burn to stubble but those who revere God’s name (not his building) “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”

So, when is that? That’s not Malachi’s point. Revere God’s name is the point. Put him first is the point. Focus on him. That’s Malachi’s point. That’s Jesus’s point, too. Focus on Jesus and you are focused on God.

Today we still have a cottage industry of self-styled prophets who link current events to apocalyptic passages in scripture, especially the Revelation to John. It’s effective because it preys on people’s fears. It’s quite easy to do. Let’s try right now.

Jesus said “Nation will rise against nation.” Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, check, Insurrections in Nigeria and Congo, check. Earthquake in Afghanistan, check. Famine in Sudan, check. A plague, hmmm, COVID! We’re getting a stage four solar storm right now, which sounds like a dreadful portent, and it’s causing the Northern Lights, the aurora borealis, to shine as far south as Mexico. Could that be a sign?

Check back with me in a year and we’ll have a new list. Don’t fall for it. Don’t be distracted.

The third caution is to not worry about being arrested, persecuted, imprisoned, and put on trial because of his name. This is not metaphorical for them, of course. It’s more like a job description for them. They will be arrested, persecuted, imprisoned, put on trial and killed for sharing their witness to Jesus. Many of those who come to believe because of their witness will suffer the same ways. Imagine sharing Jesus with someone, then seeing them die because of their faith.

That is scary, but they are not to fall prey to fear of those very real, very difficult and very painful days ahead. Rather, they are to hold fast to Jesus, trust that he will give them the words and wisdom they need. Their opponents won’t be able to withstand or contradict them, but that won’t stop the persecutions and executions to come. But that’s OK because they have Him.

While there are many places in the world today where Christians are persecuted, here in Lake Wales we have to take that metaphorically, applying it to suffering with Jesus. The tragedies we face in life, sometimes to ourselves but more pointedly to those we love, can be the biggest, most enduring discouragements to our faith.

When we hold on to our faith, when we hold on to Jesus in the face of real suffering, he is with us. Our witness in such times shines very brightly. Holding on to him no matter what gains us our souls. I don’t think we should see that as a transaction so much as formation. The benefit from studying for a test isn’t the A you get, it’s the knowledge, the self-discipline and so on. The benefit from practicing, running and lifting weights for sport isn’t a trophy, it’s the strength you gain, the character you build along the way. Persevering in faith is a spiritual exercise that prepares us for the Kingdom of God.

Don’t fall for the beautiful building. Don’t fall into distraction by the end times. Don’t fall into distraction by your suffering or the suffering of those you love. In all these things and more, look for how they point to Jesus. Hang onto him.

AMEN!