Sermon from November 1, 2009
"A Model for the End of the World"
Mark 13:24-27

Movie makers love to destroy the world every few years, but the current crop of apocalyptic flicks - there are five of them between September and January - has outdone itself. The current buzz is about “2012,” an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it thriller, based on the Mayan calendar, which ends on December 21, 2012. All five have a new twist. They focus on life after the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it.

Why do people make movies like that? Roland Emmerich, who directed “2012,” said, “I’m really very pessimistic these days.” There’s plenty of that to go around, what with terror and the threat of terror, and with economic crisis and the rumor of economic crisis. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574318630585925804.html). As entertainment there’s also money to be made; but as a guide to reality it is all sheer nonsense.

If you’re really interested in how to think responsibly about the end of the world, consult Jesus Christ. Let me show you in Mark 13:24-25, page 1006 in the pew Bibles.

An Old Jewish Word Picture
Jesus said: “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’”

When stars fall from the sky, the show is over. Jesus’ words seem to anticipate the disintegration of the natural order. That really would be the end of all things. But that’s not what He meant. He was using a time-honored, Jewish way of speaking. Let me show you. Keep your finger in Mark 13, and turn back to Isaiah 34:4, page 708.

All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved
     and the sky rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
     like withered leaves from the vine,
     like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

Turn back a few pages to Isaiah 13:10.

The stars of heaven and their constellations
     will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
     and the moon will not give its light.

Did Isaiah mean the disintegration of the natural order? If he did, it didn’t happen. If not, what did he mean? Verse one gives a clue: An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw. This chapter is talking about the fate of Babylon. Verse nine:

See, the day of the Lord is coming
     – a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger –
to make the land desolate
     and destroy the sinners within it.

It sounds like Babylon was in for a rough time of it. Verse 19 is very clear about that. This verse would be a good newspaper summary of the entire chapter.

Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
     the glory of the Babylonians’ pride
will be overthrown by God
     like Sodom and Gomorrah.

When Isaiah talked about the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light and stars falling out of the sky, it was his way of saying that Babylon was headed for political and economic catastrophe. 800 years after Isaiah, Jesus was saying that the Jerusalem of His day was also headed for political and economic catastrophe.

A Model for the End of the World
Isaiah and Jesus used the same language for the same purpose. I could show you that Jeremiah, Daniel, and the book of Revelation used the same language for the same purpose. All of them meant that some nation was headed for political and economic catastrophe, because God had had enough of its injustice, immorality and godlessness.

Here’s what I want you to take away from this. First, Jesus and others who used that language never set dates for the coming catastrophe, because they didn’t know when it would happen, and they also knew that it might not happen, if a nation repented and sought God. God who judges nations is also merciful toward nations for a very long time.

Second, Jesus and others who used that language were not predicting the end of the world; they were predicting the end of a certain world order. And often they offered repentance as a way to avoid that outcome.

Third, we don’t often use the language of the Bible to describe political and economic catastrophes. We prefer to express that possibility in movies like 2012; but I could responsibly look out on American life and say: the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. I would also say that God will be merciful to us if we repent.

Fourth, the biblical language always calls for redemption in the midst of catastrophe, and it centers on the Church and Israel. You can see it in Mark 13:26-27. “At that time (the time of national catastrophe) men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”

Christ will preserve and gather His elect in every political and economic disaster, because He has chosen them to be central to building His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Bad news doesn’t have the last word in the Christian view of reality.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
We are about to receive Holy Communion. In this act the Church holds communion with Jesus Christ, who governs the political and economic disasters that beset nations, and who preserves and gathers His elect in every political and economic disaster. This is the Jesus you need to know and reckon with.

You may not be a part of Brandywine Valley Baptist Church. However, if you believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead to eternal life in an indestructible body, and if you have confessed Him as Lord in the act of baptism, we invite you to eat and drink with us and together hold communion with Jesus Christ.

If you have not yet believed in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead or confessed that Jesus is Lord, why not take a first, decisive step to doing that right now? Doing that can be as simple as what Doubting Thomas in the Bible did. He said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” – John 20:28. Then, be baptized and confess Jesus to be Lord. That simple act puts you on the right side of history and opens you up to a flourishing life.

Our habit here is to serve everyone the bread, and we all eat together. Then, we serve everyone the cup, and we all drink together – signs of our solidarity with each other and with Christ. Now, together, let’s hold communion with Jesus Christ.