Mark 13:1-8
As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
This past Wednesday I was invited to lead worship at the seminary I use to attend. It was an honour to return to the place that had prepared me for the path of ordained ministry as now an ordained minister. Yet I must admit, it was also a little bittersweet. The worship service was held at the Anglican college because the United Church college in 2021 closed its building and merged its studies with the Anglicans. I had spent my years at UTC studying and forming community in another building, just down the street from the Anglican college, and it was in that small basement that many of us UTC students over the years grew in faith and fellowship. The year I graduated from the college was the last year it was open. Returning to the area on Wednesday and standing in the Anglican chapel with Anglican and United Church students, I was greeted with both endings and new beginnings. But such is the experience of life. Buildings and circumstances change.
Change is an aspect of life that can lead to very joyful things, but it can also be an extremely challenging process to go through. Whether we choose to embark on new adventures to alter the world around us or whether the world around us forces us into new adventures we didn’t really plan for, change is an inevitable dynamic of our existence. As we in the United Church celebrate Children’s Sunday, perhaps we can look to our youth as the best group of people to highlight this truth. Growing up brings with it many beginnings and endings, lots of change. I do not have children, but I have been blessed to have a nephew and niece growing up around me. He is 4 and she is 2, and just in that short span of time I have borne witness to many changes in their lives. Some they embraced with eagerness, first time walking, first time speaking, first time being amazed by baking powder and vinegar volcanoes. Others I’m sure they would have chose to avoid, the first time teeth come in, the first time going to school or daycare, the first time encountering death. The experience of life as a child is filled with constant changes, and while experiencing the tough ones it may feel like the end of the world, but as they grow they learn it’s not, that changes are just a part of life that must happen, part of lessons they must learn, and so they learn to embrace all that comes their way.
As adults, our experiences of beginnings and endings can feel more intense, which is probably why we don’t want to experience them as frequently as children do. We seek to create comfort and security around us, and with pay checks and resources we look for stability and routines, not constant change. We buy homes, rent nice places, have churches we attend every Sunday, go to the same grocery stores we like to shop at, we eat dinner with our family every weekend, we trust our money with institutions and take comfort in governments that will protect our human rights. And then, all of a sudden, changes can happen. We may lose a job, can’t afford our rent anymore, the church building we have gone to every Sunday for years closes, a new company bought out the grocery store we like, a family member around that dinner table has passed away, interests rates rise, markets fall, and government institutions we trusted to protect us don’t anymore. Through no choice of our own the world can suddenly turn upside down; security and comfort can disappear. In these moments of extreme change, we tend to resist the idea that whatever is happening is happening because it must, or because it is part of a lesson we are learning and instead we can feel like the world is coming to an end, and that finding a way to embrace this change is impossible.
In the gospel reading today we are brought full circle in our Christian year, where we began Advent with Mark 13 and now end it with Mark 13. As we close out Mark’s gospel, we are reminded how from last year until now we have been on a journey, one that has seen many changes for us as a church and for some of us in our personal lives. As we’ve spent time with the stories of the disciples throughout Mark this past year, they have encouraged and reflected our own desire to grow and change in Christ’s ministry (walking on water, seed parables, reaching out and grabbing the cloak of Christ), yet they have also reminded us throughout the year of the ways we struggle to embrace change, of the parts of our humanity that cannot help but gaze at big beautiful buildings that we think bring us comfort and security, that we like to imagine will last forever. In this final passage of the year, Jesus gives his disciples and us a clear message: it won’t last forever. And he’s been giving it to us all along: (10) Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor; (4) the cares of this world and the lure of wealth and desire for other things choke out the word of God; (6) take nothing for your journey but a staff, no bread, no money, no bags; (8) for what will it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your life; (9) whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all; (12) give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had. Jesus has been telling us all along that changes in this world are inevitable, so if it is in the things of this world where we place our hope and faith, then we will feel hopeless and doubtful when those things surely change. Christ calls us instead to build our faith not in stone that will be thrown down, but rather to build it in the one thing of this world that does not change: the love of God. (god, neighbour, self) Where do we see this love in the world? What does building with this kind of love look like?
Let us not forget what we heard from Jesus in our scripture reading a year ago: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”. Things of this world will change, devastation will occur, wars will happen and famines and earthquakes will take place, such is part of the process of new life. Yet the good news is that during these unimaginable hard events, we can remain hopeful, we can remain faithful to the path of Jesus’ ministry, because though all may change around us, his words are forever, his words are eternal, and they offer us nothing but new possibilities in God’s love. And yes, as we seek to live our lives and put into action the beginnings of the gospel, like birth, there will be times where it is messy, hard, unpredictable, dangerous and possibly deadly, such is the reality of all beginnings of life. But if we want what life we have to grow then we must, like children, embrace all the changes that come our way, embrace them as not the end but the beginning, as something that must happen, as something that invites us to more deeply learn, follow and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, news that can keep us steady on any path.
Cycles happen here on earth, cycles filled with both devastation and miraculous growth. As we move through these cycles of change as followers of Christ, may God strengthen our resolve to not be led astray by the grandiose elements of this world, may the Spirit calm our alarming fears as we experience them, and may the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth guide us through the beginning of any birth pangs we encounter. Amen.
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