November 13, 2022 + Second Sunday before Advent + Lectionary 33c + Pr. Craig Mueller
All will be thrown down. The disciples are looking up—gazing at the wonders of the temple. Imagining all the generous donors who helped build it. Capital campaign 537 BCE?
Yet Jesus declares that the temple will come tumbling down. Not one stone will be left upon another. Shattered in a million pieces. Of remember, when Luke’s audience hears this, the temple had already been destroyed in AD 70.
As November reminds us—in nature, and in scripture and liturgy —nothing lasts forever. Things fall apart. Nations and empires rise and fall. A difficult truth to grasp when pondering what has been happening to our country and others around the world in recent years.
The same is true for other institutions as well. Including churches and denominations. And I don’t need to remind you that our bodies age and we face a vast variety of ailment. Marriages and relationships eventually end, in divorce or death.
And scientists remind us that our sun will come to the end of its life as well. It could be 10 billion years from now.
In our part of the globe, November is a stark reminder of life’s impermanence. We could simply notice the barren leaves, the shorter days, the colder weather. But the rhythms and cycles of the earth alert us to our place in the universe. Everything changes.
It is eerie for me to think that the last time we heard today’s gospel was in November 2019, having no idea that a pandemic would be upon us in three to four months.
The apocalyptic language in today’s gospel grabs our attention. We could write its off since some Christians use it to predict the end of the world. Or because it can seem strange, irrelevant or a bit wacky. But are there spiritual truths here for us to ponder? As one writer says, “reflection is hard especially in a culture bent on distraction and superficiality.”1
All will be thrown down, one stone upon another.
It reminds me of the Mother Goose rhyme most of us probably learned at some point:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
Take the rhyme deeper and you realize that Humpty Dumpty was an egg, a symbol of both fertility and fragility. And many myths remind us that we need to fall, that at some point we need to fall apart, that our shell needs to broken into a million little pieces. In order to grow, face our mortality, and turn from the illusions that cloud our vision.
When the disciples look at the temple they see a magnificent structure. Jesus instead sees, as one writer puts it, “ruins not rubble. All must break and buckle before new life will emerge.”2
Eventually life falls apart for most of us. For me, it was about twenty years ago when my then partner became addicted to crystal meth. Everything came crashing down. Sometimes weeping brought me to my knees.
There is a book with the title, “A Million Little Pieces.” It’s the story of James Frey’s journey with addiction. The million little pieces could represent James's life before rehab. This guy pretty much did everything he could to break everything: himself, his friendships, his parents, his relationships, public property. The rest of the book is a slow crawl, describing the long process of rehab, restoration, new life.
I’m also intrigued with the title of a book by Buddhist writer Pema Chödrön: Things Fall Apart. The essence of life is challenging, Pema writes. We’re always trying to find the perfect life that is secure and comfortable. But that is death. There is no fresh air. To be fully alive is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
Hear Jesus’ words to us today: remain steadfast. By your endurance you will gain your souls. Maybe you will not be persecuted for your faith like the early followers of Jesus. But you may be misunderstood, like our youth council member Jake, who wrote this week that when his friends know he attends church, they respond: “Man, that must suck.” Or we may be told be patient or to be quiet when we speak truth to power. And stand up for those most marginalized because of racism and other forms of inequity.
And that leads to the mission of Holy Trinity and to our generosity appeal. Things will fall apart. Everything changes. It is built into the universe. Yet we gather around a gospel that offers healing, wholeness, and new beginnings. We proclaim Christ crucified and risen. We announce the good news that out of our deepest losses and deaths, resurrection dawns.
As Annie Dillard writes, “the absolute is available to everyone in every age. There was never a more holy age than ours, and never a less.”
I am part of this faith community and I financially support its mission because we rally around a message of hope. I invite and challenge you to join me in increasing your support for Holy Trinity in 2023. So we can continue to be nurtured by word and sacrament, work for justice, and when life falls apart, be signs of wholeness for a hurting world. Or as we heard in Second Thessalonians, “do not be weary in doing what is right.” Or as Jesus says in the gospel, “I will give you the words and the wisdom” when your faith is tested.
For as our theme this year powerfully states: “Commonwealth is God’s commandment. Common good is holy ground.” Holy Trinity is proud to bearers of this countercultural message.
The hymn of the day that follows is a call to trust in the One who guides you through the changes and the chances of life. For mortal pride and earthly glory, sword and crown, they will betray your trust. Yet Christ calls you his day. Those who follow will not fall.
For even when things do fall apart. When the people and things that you love seem to be on the point of shattering. When everything you know breaks into a million little pieces, Christ will lift you up. This community will accompany and support you. That is what happened to me twenty years ago.
And it is my hope, that in times of doubt and despair, change and chance, you will be put back together again. And be all the stronger, all the wiser, all the more compassionate for it.
1James K. Smith. How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now, p. xiv.
2Debie Thomas, https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2451-by-your-endurance