by Rev. Scott Summerville

And as Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down.” And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?” And Jesus began to say to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is not yet. 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.

Mark 13:1-8
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The world is coming to an end. That is a fact.

On our retreat last week we contemplated creation. We were asked to search for tiny objects that manifest the wonder of the earth. Someone brought back a very small clover, and with it an even smaller clover, and one smaller yet, then pointed out in a clump of dirt a tiny green speck that was the sprout of a clover coming into being.

We contemplated the vastness of creation: the sun and moon and stars. We watched a scientific animation showing the surface of the sun: massive, one million times the size of Earth, a furnace of nuclear fusion blasting energy throughout our solar system. We were reminded that all things that burn one day burn out. We were reminded that the sun is five billion years old and that it has another four or five billion to go. From the astronomer’s viewpoint that will be the coup de grace for planet Earth. No sun = no earth, unless we are struck by some comet or large asteroid before the sun burns itself out.

It is an awesome thing to contemplate the Earth and the Sun to know that nothing, not even Earth and Sun, last forever. Not even mighty galaxies with their billions of stars last forever. An awesome thing to contemplate.

In a mysterious passage in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark Jesus seems to be talking with his disciples about the end of the world – I say “seems to be,” because this passage is not necessarily what it appears to be. I will come back to that thought in a bit later.

13:1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”

13:2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

13:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

13:4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”

It would appear that Jesus was for-telling the destruction of Jerusalem , which for Jews would signal the end of time in history as we know it. At least some of the early disciples of Jesus believed that the world was going to end in their lifetime. Scholars are sharply divided over whether Jesus himself taught that the world was about to end. What is clear is that the world did not end at that time, and it is still here today.

For hundreds of years people have been saying that the world is coming to an end. Throughout my years in ministry, I have been told by any number of people that the world is coming to an end. This is usually declared with a resigned shake of the head, “Reverend, it’s pretty clear isn’t it, we are coming to the end of days? The way the world is; it’s got to be the end.”

It has come to my attention that there is a growing belief that the Earth as we know it will come to an end – not 5 billion years from now – rather, it will end 1,132 days from this day, precisely on December 21, 2012. This very precise prediction is based on the Bible, Nostradamus, and ancient Mayan calendars from South America. I heard a popular radio teacher just recently declare that the end of the world on December 21, 2012 is no longer just a possibility; it is an established certainty. There are hundreds of web sites dedicated to announcing the coming end of the world on 12/21/2012 . These offer everything from spiritual advice to assistance in stocking up on specially prepared foods that are guaranteed to have a shelf life of at least thirty years.

Because this is the USA, enterprising individuals realize that the end of the world may sound bad to most people, but it is ripe with commercial opportunities. They have even developed a slick marketing term for this emerging opportunity: “ 2012 mitigations.”

There are engineering and construction companies that will build a fortified home for you with all the necessary underground bunkers, air filtration systems, and other features to help you survive the dreadful events of that day in 2012. One such company, Hardened Structures Inc., describes itself as:

“A Professional Construction Program Management Firm specializing in… fortified homes, bomb shelters, bunkers, storm shelters and self-sustaining hardened facilities… We provide Client/Project specific designs addressing conventional weapons…. chemical, biological, radiological and explosive weapons, 2012 mitigations, Climate Change and any type of Apocalypse or World Ending Scenario.”

Nuclear warfare, chemical warfare, mass starvation, plagues; not to worry! For a price we will “mitigate” for you!

There are also individuals who have been appointed as God’s special ambassador to the world to interpret the unfolding of these events, or so their web sites tell us. Take Ronald Weinland, for instance. He has announced in all humility that he is nothing less than the one “sent by God as God’s final witness and God’s end-time prophet.” Mr. Wineland informs us that in 2012 we will see the whole world engulfed in war which “ will be the result of clashing religions and the governments they sway. Billions will die! The destruction of this time will far exceed the very worst times of all human history.”

I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence that God is going to bring the world to an end exactly one month before the next presidential inauguration. You get the feeling that there are people out there who just can’t believe that God would allow the first Black president of the United States to complete his term of office.

My father taught his children never to ridicule the religious beliefs of any other person no matter how peculiar we find them to be. That was and is wise advice. But people who claim on the basis of Nostradamus or ancient Mayan carvings or the Bible to know how and precisely when the world will meet its end are charlatans pandering to fear and superstition in the name of religion and sometimes in the name of making a buck.

In the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark Jesus talks about the signs of the end of history as we know it. This is complicated and challenging section of the gospel. No one can claim to be absolutely certain as to how to interpret it, but there is an interesting theory that is held by most biblical scholars and historians. It goes something like this:

The Gospel of Mark was written some time after the year 70, following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the destruction and burning of the city of Jerusalem and the massacre of much of its population by the Roman army. The writer of the Gospel of Mark inserted into his gospel a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples as a way of making a commentary upon the horrifying events which had unfolded in his time. He had to be careful about how he phrased it so as not to invite violent persecution by the Roman state.

Think how horrified we were at the destruction of the World Trade Center. Imagine that the cities of New York and Washington DC had been destroyed entirely. Imagining that may give you some notion of the overwhelming catastrophe that fell upon the Jewish nation at the time Mark’s Gospel was being written. When Jerusalem was destroyed, the political and religious and symbolic heart of Judaism was destroyed. We should remember too the spiritual and historical center of the early Christian church was Jerusalem. The Jerusalem church was also destroyed. This truly was a moment of supreme terror.

There is not time here to go into detail – you will be glad to know! – but the point is that chapter 13 of the Gospel of Mark is not so much a prediction of things to come as it is a commentary upon a disaster that has already happened. It is an attempt to come to terms with a great terror.

Whenever human beings are deeply shaken, through events in our individual lives or through shattering events that affect millions of people, we have the sense that reality as we know it is coming apart at the seams. It is understandable that people may see in their own suffering or in the events of their own moment in history a sign that all of history and all of the Earth as we know it is coming to an end. But the Earth so far has survived all of these predictions, and humanity has survived its endless cascade of tragedies.

And as a theological matter we must ask ourselves, “Why would the God who created the world and called it good, the God who gave human beings the gifts of intellect and freedom, the God who calls us in Christ to nonviolence and reconciliation – why would such a God arbitrarily and violently destroy the Earth, destroy the beauty of earth, destroy humanity, or cause to suffer further this suffering world?”

The Scripture today speaks about reading the signs of the times. There are important signs that must be read by humanity in this moment in history. There are real dangers to humanity in this moment in history. We need to be asking ourselves, “What is God’s claim upon our lives in this time of momentous threat and challenge to humanity? Do we love God and God’s earth and God’s creatures and God’s people in such a way that our hearts are moved to act on behalf of these things we love, to honor and protect these things we love, and to accept change even if it is painful in order to protect that which we love?”

This is not a time to build bomb shelters and or to stock up on enough provisions to ride out the Apocalypse. This is a time to take stock of our own lives. How are we using our lives, how are we using our individual material and spiritual resources, and how are we using the Earth’s resources. It is a time for people of faith to make a fundamental decision and commitment. Are we going to live in this world and conduct our lives as though this is a throwaway world, a world for the human species to use and discard, a world where our comforts in the moment take precedence over the well-being of the Earth for generations to come?

Or shall we do all we can to honor the God of life, the Creator, and preserve and pass on this glorious wondrous Earth that it might sustain and inspire our descendants a million years from this day?

Grace and peace to you
in the name of the one God
who is our Creator
our Redeemer
and whose Spirit moves among us in this very moment.