“End of the Age” Mark 13: 1-8, 24-37

 Since the point when Jesus ascended into Heaven his disciples have been looking for his return. Immiatley. And in every age since there have been people who have tried to guess when Jesus is going to come back, using everything from fancy counting methods to just straight up guessing again and again and again. If I’m honest, these attempts to nail down the date when Jesus will return frustrate me, because Jesus says in this passage that even the angels, even he, the son of God, do not know that date. It’s for God to know alone. And yet, we keep trying to guess, as if we know better than Jesus. 

The question is why? Why are we so fascinated with texts like this that talk about the end of the age. The Gospel of Mark is thought to be written shortly after the temple is destroyed. Christians are living in persecution. Things look really bleak. So they start to look for the signs of the times that point to Jesus coming back and setting them free from all of the pain and suffering that they are currently experiencing. 

I think we can understand that as well. We, too, live in a time where things seem bleak - even if it looks completely different then the believers who lived during the time when the Gospel of Mark was written. So we, too, look for that day and time when Jesus will return. It’s one of the reasons I think the Left Behind series were so immensely popular. People are yearning for Jesus to come back. 

When Jesus was teaching his disciples, they were marveling over the temple before them. This magnificant building that stood the test of time, and was believed to be the home of God. Under that wisdom it could never falter. But Jesus, in this time of private teaching with his disciples, points out to them that things are not always as they seem. The stability of a building, even the very house of God, does not last forever. Something new is coming. 

The disciples had to be shocked. Wouldn’t we be shocked if we heard that the very things we trusted most in our lives were going to come tumbling down? Yet, Jesus is reminding his disciples, and reminding us, that a time of change is coming. 

Peter, James, John and Andrew then had an even more private conversation with Jesus and asked the most rational of questions - when? When is this going to happen Jesus? And what’s going to tell us that it’s going to happen soon. 

And Jesus had a beautiful answer. Watch out that no one deceives you! Friends, we can get so distracted by the when that we totally miss the why. This teaching that Jesus is passing on is the bridge between all that the disciples have experienced with Jesus so far - the teaching, the miracles, the healings - and his Passion that is come. This time when Jesus would give his very life in order to change the world. 

For some that would seem like the end of the story, but it goes on. The Son of Man will return in final victory. Jesus will return in all of his power and glory. 

Church, that is surely exciting. But when we get so caught up in what is to come, we miss out on the present mission that Jesus has given us here and now. 

Normally, I am a pretty fast walker. I attribute it to having short legs that need to move faster in order to keep up with other people. Unless I am at camp. Whenever I am serving as a camp counselor, I know my place. I am at the back of the group of students with the folks who are the stragglers. Some would find this to be a frustrating place, but I find it fascinating. Because I notice more. When I slow down with these campers I notice new things, even if I have been in the same place so many times before. When we go too fast, we miss seeing what is right before our very eyes. 

When we are distracted, looking for signs of what is to come, we can miss the mission of the present. We can miss what God is trying to point out to us here and now. We can overlook the call to pay attention. 

There is, however, a flip side to being in the present as well. The things that Jesus says we will experience are frightening. Wars. Rumors of more wars. Earthquakes. Famines. It is sometimes hard to find hope in the midst of so much pain. But Jesus points out that pain is not to be seen in a fatalistic manner - instead it is like a birth pain. The pain that comes before something new emerges. 

Jesus goes on to tell them a story about keeping watch. That they (and we) are keep alert like we are waiting for the owner of the home to return. We don’t know when. So we stay alert. We are watchful.

For some of the earliest disciples, they were so convinced that Jesus was coming tomorrow, that they forgot the mission. They quit their jobs. Sold their homes. And just waited. And waited. And waited.

Friends, as we are watchful, it is not an excuse to give up what God has appointed us to do. We are certainly waiting for the owner of the house to return, but until then we are stewards of that which is entrusted to us. And that’s a pretty weighty thing that we are in the care of - Christ’s work in the world. 

When we give up on the mission, we are giving up on souls. It is like we are saying that people don’t matter and we are more interested in Jesus’s return than people coming to know him. I have told people many times, that it is our job to keep sharing the Gospel until Jesus returns, because I don’t know about you, but for me, there are people I know who if Jesus came right here and now today, don’t know him. And that breaks my heart. And I hope it breaks all of our hearts as the Church of Jesus Christ and gives us fuel for the mission before us. 

We are not passively waiting for Jesus to return, friends. We are actively waiting. We are to stay focused on the mission at hand and the truth that is before us. 

At the end of the day, the disciples didn’t get the answer they were hoping for. In fact, Jesus tells them that even he does not know the day and time. But he calls them to something greater with his answer. He calls them to faith and vigilance, even in a present and a future that will have suffering. He is telling them of the hope of the Kingdom of God, even if they do not fully understand or recognize it. He tells them of a freedom from that which binds their hearts and lives that will be broken at the end of the age. 

These were meant to be words of encouragement, but also challenge. Words that propelled them, even in the absence of Jesus, to be the people of God. 

I think there is always a fascination with knowing what will happen tomorrow. But the truth is, none of us know what tomorrow holds. Recently someone in this parish told me “things can change so quickly.” And that is true for any of us. The question is what are we going to do with the gift of today? Let us not be so caught up in what is to come that we forsake the mission and call in the present. Let us be emboldened to share the mission of God, here and now. Amen.