“By your endurance you will gain your soul.” Luke 21.19
Now, I know that there were many smart people working on that issue for many years, but I was surprised by how smooth the transition occurred. Y2K quickly became an afterthought and it is just a blip when we imagine the fear and anxiety on the morning of 9/11. Over a couple of hours on that day, we feared that the world, as we knew it, was gone. And in some ways it was, but certainly not in the ways we, initially, feared. The seconds continue to tick past, we continue to breathe, and our lives remain relatively constant. That is until the next moment when we are caught by surprise and shaken from our routines.
And I have to say that I’ve noticed that the human fascination with what the future holds is, constantly, renewed. Once a supposed day of doom passes, it is, like Y2K, quickly forgotten and a new day, adopted. Right now, the date we are told to be wary of is December 21, 2012.
The 2012 date was the title character in a blockbuster movie released last year. The promotionals for the movie began with a voice saying the following:
“Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.”
The series of events, in the movie, converging on the December 21st date are:
1. The planets and the sun are aligned in a certain way.
2. The earth’s electromagnetic field shifts.
3. A rogue planet collides with this one.
4. And all of this occurs on the last day of the Mayan calendar. That is how we know that it’s coming.
You might remember that when the movie was released (a year ago, yesterday), NASA, yes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, posted on their website a page debunking many of the supposed facts in the movie. They used a frequently asked question format. A few of them are:
Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.
Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?
A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
Q: Could a phenomenon occur where planets align in a way that impacts Earth?
A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html
So, I bring this to you not to recommend that you see this movie, but to note the human fascination with the end of time. Every couple of years, the movie industry produces a blockbuster about the destruction of the earth due to a cataclysmic future event. Books and articles are commonplace; it is a theme of science fiction. The movies rely heavily on special effects to make the downfall, “realistic.” I use that word with some sarcasm because the chances of a worldwide volcanic eruption, the attack of aliens, or a giant asteroid hitting the planet are most unrealistic. But as I said, this is not new to our current culture. The fear of the unknown has followed us through the generations. We seek the signs that will point us to the knowledge that will bring us comfort. But our fascination is about more than knowing how the world will end; it is about the natural fear of things unknown.
We might believe that this fear of the unknown is a recent phenomenon in light of human history. We might believe that only after the age of reason and the scientific method were people so worried about not knowing things. But, this same human curiosity existed well before the Enlightenment.
Today’s Gospel lesson from Luke tells of an encounter with a crowd of people shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, only days before his death on the cross. These crowds of people were amazed with Jesus’ teachings, but failed to understand how these teachings overturned their own comfortable existences. The crowds were distracted by the extravagant gifts given to the Temple by the wealthy, but Jesus in the passage immediately preceding the one we heard today, pointed out a widow who gave two small copper coins as being the most generous in the eyes of God. But the crowds didn’t understand what Jesus was teaching. They instead looked at the Temple and marveled at its beauty.
Jesus called them out for their reliance on human things. He said that the Temple would be thrown down. And the crowds called out to him. When? How? What will be the signs? The crowds couldn’t deal with the uncertain future but then Jesus’ prescriptions are even more ominous.
At the time of Jesus, many people believed that the end was right around the corner. If there had been movies like ‘2012’, most people would have jumped on the bandwagon. There would have been limited skepticism. They didn’t have NASA, or modern science, or the age of reason to explain away the events happening around them. They envisioned the events as precursors of the immanent destruction of the entire created world, and all this from God. But Jesus warned the crowds against these fears. Jesus warns his followers, then and now, that when things seem to line up or the news becomes frantic, when there are wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. When things seem to be going in the wrong direction it is not the time to pack up but a time to reach out. It is not a time to give up but a time to get up.
Jesus also warns that stepping into the fray, reaching out and getting up, also means that they and we might suffer as a result. In taking on the ministry of speaking up for the downtrodden, seeking justice for the people on the margins of society, or simply sharing our beliefs, we might be persecuted, but then that is better than hiding in fear.
Worrying about the things beyond our control, the things hidden around the next corner, can often consume us into not stepping forward; hiding from the needs of now.
And yet, here we are. I hope you enjoy movies like ‘2012’, but at the same time I hope that your life is not preparing for the end, not fretting about the unknown, instead I hope that you might seek to revitalize the world that exists around us. To serve the needs of all people, to seek justice and peace, and to love like every day is our last.
Whenever you feel the compulsion to crawl in, hunker down, and wait out the calamities of the world, recall what Jesus taught those crowds in Jerusalem. Jesus told them that times would be difficult, but God will overcome, God will provide. Jesus’ message continues to ring true today, there will be times when we are overwhelmed by trials, families will break up, our safety will be lost, the earth will shake. We might wonder if God has forgotten. As we try to eliminate all surprise and chance, these unexpected detours often distract us from our faithful responsibility.
I, often, am questioned about why someone should spend time on spiritual things. It takes so much time to build fellowship and to come together to serve. It takes even more time to study, pray, and worship. In today’s world of science, facts, and reliance on self, why should someone waste their time on something that cannot be tested or proven in a laboratory? I believe that there is something deeply rooted in those questions, questions that I expect we have all asked ourselves. The root of those questions is our desire to know why and how and when. It is our desire to eliminate the unknown. My only response is to point to what you gain through deeply rooting oneself in faith. It is the joy of relationships, it is the confidence of community, it is the strength of prayer, it is the foundation of God. It is bringing oneself into a relationship that is rooted, not in the world, but in the love offered by God, something that transcends all of our joys and sorrows. I can only express what all of those things do to provide something extraordinarily unseen in my soul. The soul provides us with meaning and it gifts us with love. So, as Jesus said to those crowds who wanted to know what is unknown, “By your endurance you will gain your soul.”
The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard - kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org
Proper 28, Year C, RCL
Luke 21.5-19
November 14, 2010
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