MIDWEEK MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015

This week's reflection comes from 
Rev. Norma Malfatti
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop

Reflecting and Dwelling in the Word
PRAYER OF THE DAY  
Almighty God, your sovereign purpose brings salvation to birth. Give us faith to be steadfast amid the tumults of this world, trusting that your kingdom comes and your will is done through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
 
Gospel: Mark 13:1-8
 
1As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" 2Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." 3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4"Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" 5Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, "I am he!' and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For 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.
 
REFLECTION

I love apocalyptic literature. My favorite book of the Bible is Revelation, followed closely behind by Daniel and Ezekiel. This love of all things apocalyptic may also be why I have a special love for the Gospel of Mark, because contained within this oldest Gospel account are little apocalypses, brief nuggets of Jesus' talking about the end times.
 
Now, my fascination with this kind of Scripture isn't about my hope that Jesus' return is imminent, though it certainly could be. Nor is it about my love for action and suspense, though that's usually the kind of movie you'll find me watching. Instead, it's about how the world responds to apocalyptic thinking - the Left Behind series, rapture theology, people selling all their possessions because they are convinced the world will end on December 13 or whatever the latest date is.
 
These reactions to apocalypse completely defy what we learn in Scripture and what apocalypse is really all about. When it comes down to it, this is what defines apocalyptic writing in Scripture:
  1. God has made not one world but two and this world is essentially unfixable so God has set a limit to it and it will come to an end.
  2. No matter how chaotic things appear, God is in control and what God wills to be will be and God's will is that there will be a new creation.
  3. The transition from this world to God's new creation won't be a simple evolution, as Paul writes, "the whole cosmos is in labor pains trying to give birth to the new creation."
These first two parts of apocalyptic writing are things we know - that we are in "bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves" but through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ we, and all of creation, are bound up together and will be made new in the resurrection.
 
Part three is where anxiety and chaos helps us forget these basic tenets of Christianity. We start thinking that we can control outcomes, that we can determine what God is going to do and when God is going to do it. In reality, the only thing we can do in the midst of chaos (or any other situation we find ourselves in) is to be faithful; be faithful to God and God's ways. That's easier said than done, of course. Chaos leads to fear and, in the immortal words of Yoda, "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side." Once we head down that path it is hard to remember, really remember, that God is God and we are not, that God is in control, not us, and that God's will is for all people to experience the flourishing of life.
 
Instead, we do the exact opposite, we make determinations about who's in and who's out, who is deserving and who's not, who God favors and who God doesn't, and perhaps the most scandalous, where God is and where God isn't.
 
If you have been connected anywhere to social media or watched the morning news this week you'll see that a "war on Christmas" has been waged because Starbucks changed how it gives us those Biblically depicted peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes. Gone are the snowflakes and reindeer and now it's just all red. God has been kicked out of Starbucks, that plain red cup is a sign that God is no longer active in the world and that Jesus is being hidden away from the world. Never mind the fact that a nativity scene was never featured on the red cup, Jesus has been affronted. In these times of coffee chaos what are we to do?
 
Whether we're talking about the true chaos of the world - war and rumors of war - or the imaginary chaos created by media hype, as God's people we are called to do one thing: be faithful. Be faithful to God by being people of the Great Commission (go, baptize teach) and Great Commandment (love God, love neighbor); be faithful to bearing God's redeeming love to all the world; be faithful to remembering that God is more powerful than red cups and media hype, more powerful than presidential candidates vying for who's the greatest, and more powerful than people who tell us that Jesus has disappeared from Christmas. Christ will always be present because he promised he would be.

Please visit our website upstatenysynod.org
 
Thank you for spending some time reading this edition of the Midweek Musings. We hope, and pray, that you found it useful. If you know someone who could benefit from this email, please forward it to them and ask them to sign up directly for the Upstate Update list.