2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Luke 21:5-19
The disciples said to Jesus, “Look at the Temple isn’t it beautiful?” And it was. It was truly magnificent. It was already grand when Herod the king set out to make it the grandest temple around. The result of his efforts was really something.
Jesus told his disciples, “What you see won’t be here much longer. The whole magnificent edifice will be demolished, totally leveled.” The temple, the house of God, the centre of Judaism would be destroyed. About 40 years later, in AD70, the Romans pulled that temple down.
The disciples – surprised?, distraught?, horrified?, – maybe for want of a better question, asked, “When?” And Jesus answered with a description, a word picture which gave them an idea but not a date. What indications did he give?
Some people would claim to be Jesus returned. Don’t believe them.
Some would put a date on Jesus’ return. Don’t believe them.
There will be wars and revolutions. All that tells us is to not expect much in the way of peace. Violent people craving power have been doing their thing since Cain, and they’re still doing it.
Earthquakes, famines and plagues – seen any of them lately?
But running through all this – and this is Jesus’ main concern – is the way Christians will be treated. Badly. Jesus warns his followers they will be persecuted. Therefore, he says, know it’s coming, be prepared and stick it out. Which they did. Of his 12 disciples, one committed suicide, ten were killed for their faith and one – only one – died of old age. How did they do it? They took Jesus at his word and proved it true. He said, “I’m right there in it with you. So stand firm and you will save yourselves.”
Encouraged? We’re hearing Jesus describe the “end of the world as we know it” in terms more frightening than hopeful, perhaps. While on the surface things seem to us to be peaceful, spiritually we are in a war – from which there is no respite. The question for disciples is, how will we live in the midst of it all, here and now? His reply: “Keep your eyes on me. Keep your ears open for the voice of the Spirit. And follow.” That’s it.
While we do not face the kind of persecution that our brothers and sisters in North Korea, Syria, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan and many other countries face, we face a more subtle opposition. Western cultures generally are not out to threaten your safety or destroy your body, they are nonetheless out to capture your allegiance from following the way of Jesus and declaring and embodying the good news of God’s kingdom. There are many forces out to use you as a marketer for their products, services, or political, social or economic agendas for the sake of their gain, not necessarily for the common good or in witness to God’s kingdom. There are many forces out to redirect your desire from desiring the kingdom of God above all else to desiring what they want you to desire.
The world doesn’t need to persecute us to stop us. It only needs to divert us. Wars, uprisings, portents, even threats, these are all diversions. The world in modern Western cultures, if anything, has gotten better at not needing to resort to such extreme measures when it can manipulate our desires to its ends.
And it can. And it does. All the time.
Jesus had quite a bit to say about the fact that he was coming back. For many of his followers this has the desired effect of greater devotion to him, perseverence in the good works he has prepared for us, and a care of the earth that doesn’t attach us to it. These bodies of ours are doomed to decay but it’s all good, come the resurrection we’re getting new ones. Likewise, the world is going to end but, likewise, come the resurrection, there’ll be a new one.
Unfortunately there have all-along been a few who have taken Jesus’ words to mean that they can down tools and sit on a mountain waiting for him to appear. More unfortunately, these ones have often got tired of twiddling their thumbs on the mountain and have rejoined the community but not gone back to work, instead become busybodies meddling in other peoples’ lives.
Paul is very straight with these ones: “You’re being disruptive so stop that and get back to work.” This was no critique of those who were poor and could not physically work to support themselves for whatever reasons. Of course, the community cared for these persons and provided them with daily bread.
Paul was actually critiquing one of the ideals of Greek culture—the value of the “leisure class.” These were the “scholars” (schole means “leisure” in Greek, and the word becomes the basis for the Latin word scola, or school). These were the philosophers. These were the purveyors of truth and wisdom. In Greek culture, these did not do “common labor” at all. That meant they either lived off of their own wealth (most commonly), or, in the case of non-wealthy teachers or traveling philosophers, survived on the wealth of others.
Paul, as a travelling teacher of truth and wisdom, could certainly have expected to have been treated as one of these “scholars” and so to have had his needs provided for. But, in fact, he did not do that. Instead, he paid for everything he received after having worked day and night to get the money to do so (verses 7-9). He continued to see work as a blessing, not a curse, and to draw a connection between physical labor and the food that would be on his table. Leisure was not the highest good, especially when having it increased the possibility for some to live unruly and undisciplined lives that got in the way of other people.
The messages around work in NZ culture are mixed to say the least. Entertainment culture glamorizes the leisure life. By far the highest demand consumer item in the world at this point is the mobile phone, particularly the smart phone. While these are used for business as well, they are marketed primarily for leisure use. Indeed, the former leading provider in this sector well into 2011, BlackBerry, which had marketed itself primarily for work use, may be close to shutting down its smartphone business altogether. We claim we are a hard-working nation, and compared to some, we are; but we can’t wait until Friday when the “work week” is done— or whenever we actually can get a day off in the 24/7 service economy we now inhabit.
A number of you here are retired, with sufficient income to maintain yourselves. Does that put you in the leisure class? It does. So, no meddlin’ or gossipin’, y’ here!. Yesterday, while I served in the Opportunity Shop, I conducted an informal survey to see how people occupy themselves. Most of those I talked with are retired. I found that most do not have time on their hands – their activities fill their days. Most are fulfilled and satisfied in what they do. I noted that family takes up a lot of time and much time is given to caring for others and to the garden. Sometimes we get to choose our activities, but more often they choose us.
Conclusion
So what do we say? Life will go on in much the same way it always has; circumstances will not change a whole lot. God’s people must go on and do so with discipline and in loving community. Be prepared for opposition, antagonism and even persecution but, more especially, watch that we are not drawn away from following Jesus. Keep paying your way, working productively and not disruptively. Keep listening to Jesus and expecting his return which is a good thing. Remember we are in the world but not of the world so let us not be distracted by the world. In Jesus’ strength we won’t tire of doing good.
When Jesus comes he expects to find us busy with the tasks he has assigned us. And these include ordinary everyday duties as well as more ‘spiritual’ activities like prayer or witnessing. We need a whole-life discipleship that sees every part of life as under God’s direction and that never tires of ‘doing what is right’ (2 Thessalonians 3:13). As Paul says elsewhere, we are to ‘serve wholeheartedly, as if serving the Lord, not people’ (Ephesians 6:7), determined that whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we ‘do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’ (Colossians 3: I7).
Prayer
Father God, we seek always to follow your ways. Send the Holy Spirit to bring each one of us a life full of faith and hope. May we follow your commands to love and care for those around us.
Lord Jesus, you warned us that following you would not be easy. Help us to live with your mercy and compassion, and to support one another in love when times are hard.
Holy Spirit, Jesus commanded us to tell others about him. Help each one of us to share the good news of Jesus with people we know.
Amen!