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“Given into God’s Keeping”<=
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I Samuel 2: 1-10
Mark 13: 1-8
Biblical
scholar Lamar Williamson begins his commentary on today’s passage say=
ing:
“The thirteenth chapter of Mark is a happy hunting ground for persons
fascinated by the end of the world. It figures prominently in books by
doomsayers and in sermons by evangelists more interested in the next world =
than
in this one. On the other hand, this chapter is largely ignored by pragmati=
sts,
activists, believers in progress, and all who dismiss preoccupation with the
end of the world as a juvenile state of human development or an aberration =
of
unbalanced minds.”
I
trust that the Holy Spirit has guided me to an understanding somewhere betw=
een
those extremes!
The
recent World Series stoked memories of my first visit to Yankee Stadium.
Growing up near Philadelphia and having a father who played minor league
baseball for the Phillies before the Second World War ended his prospects, =
my
brother and I had been taken to see many games at Connie Mack Stadium where=
the
Phillies used to play. But the first time I emerged from under the stands to
behold the interior of the legendary ‘House that Ruth Built,’ I=
was
awe-struck --- not so much at seeing the field where the likes of Babe Ruth=
and
Joe Dimaggio had played, but rather at the sheer size of the three-tiered s=
tadium.
To a wide-eyed boy of thirteen, it seemed as if the entire Phillies’ =
park
could have fit into the Yankee infield!
We
get a sense in today’s gospel that the disciples had a similar sense =
of
architectural awe while in Jerusalem and seeing what, to a bunch of back-co=
untry
and small-town folk, were huge stone buildings, especially the temple. There
was nothing comparable in the villages from which they came. “Wow,=
221;
some disciples said to Jesus after leaving the temple. “Look at the s=
ize
of these buildings around us and the great stones from which they are
made.” In our day, of course, it’s also easy for us to get over=
ly
impressed by things made by human hands, whether they be objects of scale or
complex technology. It seems to be in our nature to be awed by something be=
yond
us.
Jesus,
however, wasn’t impressed with the things that wowed his disciples.
Gifted with prophetic insight so as to know the consequences of choices his
nation was making, he saw that destruction, not greatness, was being woven =
into
the future of those buildings. We’re told in another passage that Jes=
us
wept over Jerusalem, sad that his people refused to learn the ways of peace.
They would resort to violence against the Roman occupation forces, and the =
day
was coming, Jesus told his disciples, when those stones which so impressed =
them
would look like the former walls of Jericho. History tells us over and over
again what the choice of violence brings to people and nations, but we, too,
sadly refuse to learn the ways of peace. As a consequence, we live in a wor=
ld
filled with crumbled stones that were once homes and buildings but now are
scattered on the ground.
In
Mark’s narrative this passage follows the story in which Jesus called=
the
disciples’ attention to something he thought more awesome than the
grandest architecture they could imagine. It was something small and seemin=
gly
insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but what impressed Jesus was t=
he
sight of a poor woman putting a small coin in the temple offering.
Widows
were not well taken care of in Jewish society in Jesus’ time, hence t=
he
coin Jesus saw the woman give represented a sizable, no doubt meaningful
contribution from what little resources she had. It was a sacrificial offer=
ing
for the needs of others, given despite her own need. It reflected a quality=
of
spirit more wonderful to behold than the greatest of stones, however
artistically arranged they may be.
A
short time later, while viewing the temple from a hill above the city, the
disciples ask Jesus to say more about the ominous future he envisioned. Some
biblical scholars believe the response recorded in Mark is a conglomerate of
sayings common to what is called “the little apocalypse,” mater=
ial
about end-time events drawn from a variety of sources that seem to appear
whenever end-of-the-world scenarios are the topic. Images from the prophet
Daniel figure prominently in these.
There
may well have been messianic pretenders in the early church --- teachers and
healers who claimed to be Jesus returned to earth. Surely we have had
characters of that ilk in the not-so-early church! Don’t be deceived,
Jesus tells his followers: those who act as if they are God --- or presume =
to
know exactly what’s on God’s mind --- will only lead you astray=
.
Adopt
a wait-and-see approach to the coming of God’s kingdom, we’re t=
old.
If God has a calendar for such climactic events, I’m not aware of it,
Jesus says. So chill out and don’t let preoccupation with ‘the =
end
of the age’ distract you from your primary task of discipleship in the
present age. Put into practice the ethical and religious truth that is know=
n to
you now rather than wasting time speculating on an unknown and unknowable
timetable concerning God’s intervention in human affairs. Be alert for
moments of the kingdom’s arrival, often found in opportunities to care
for others or be cared for in times of your own need. After all, signs of t=
he
‘end times’ described in apocalyptic literature are present at
virtually any moment in human history. . . .
G.
K. Chesterton observed that there are many people who claim to know the last
word about everything but know the first word about nothing! Fruitlessly
fussing over “last things” must not distract us from focusing on
the “first things” of Jesus: the great commandment to love God =
and
love our neighbor as ourselves.
The
Presbyterian Church USA has adopted today as a Sunday to specially celebrate
the ministry of “care-givers.” Taking care of others is surely a
fundamental way in which followers of Christ do those “first things
first.” I’ve asked Jane Givens, our Health Ministry Coordinator=
, to
share with us some very specific ways in which such care-taking happens and
needs to be acknowledged and supported by the church. =
(Jane’s
text)
Today’s
lesson from the Hebrew scriptures is the prayer of Hannah who struggled with
the realities of her life, her heart burdened with a deep grief. Her hopes =
and
petitions to God had been centered on her desire to become a care-giver in
humanity’s most common way: she wanted to be a mother. As the text
poetically explains, however, the Lord had closed her womb. Hannah confront=
ed
her grief anew each day because her husband Elkanah had another wife, as we=
ll,
who had borne him children and enjoyed rubbing that in Hannah’s face!=
The
sons of Eli mentioned in this passage were not students at Yale but priests=
in
the temple at Shiloh, where Elkanah took his family each year, a pilgrimage=
to
offer the annual sacrifice required of God’s people. (Perhaps our ann=
ual
stewardship campaign is the modern day equivalent --- minus the blood!)
Hannah
took advantage of this visit to holy space to fervently pray for the
opportunity to become a parent. She poured out her prayers with such visible
distress that Eli, the old priest full of both years and wisdom, thought she
might have poured out a few other things before coming to the temple. After
learning the truth about her desperation and her persistent hope, however, =
Eli
bestowed a blessing upon her that God might grant her the child for which s=
he
had so long prayed.
In
the context of a new child entering the world, Hannah’s prayer praises
God’s life-affirming presence which strengthens the weak, lifts those=
who
have fallen, feeds those who hunger and provides for the poor. The birth of
Samuel and Hannah’s grateful response of dedicating her son to
God’s keeping reminds us that all those for whom we care must ultimat=
ely
be given into God’s keeping, and all who give care to those in need c=
an
find strength in the everlasting compassion of a God who returns to us over=
and
over again --- but usually in a ‘still, small voice.’