Sufficient Evidence?

SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE?

Luke 21.5-28

Matthew 24.1-31, 25.31-46

Mark 13.1-27

(Preached 18 November 1991)

Some weeks I find it easy to prepare a sermon. Some weeks I find it difficult. And some weeks I find it well nigh impossible.

This sermon falls into the latter category.

Whenever I have had a spare moment this past week, I have found myself staring at a blank piece of paper asking myself what on earth is God trying to tell us in the Gospel Reading for today.

I suppose it was not helped by a caller at my mother’s door on Wednesday 19th September.

I was on a pair of steps, decorating the lounge, ready for her return home from hospital.

Suddenly the doorbell went in a rather aggressive manner. I climbed down from the steps, put the tin of paint down on some newspaper, balanced the brush carefully on the tin so that it would not fall off, either onto the floor or into the tin, climbed over the furniture which I had placed in the centre of the room, climbed over some black plastic bags of rubbish in the hallway ready to go to the local tip, opened the door to the lobby, placed my hand on the handle of the front door, when suddenly the doorbell went again. I opened the door and found an elderly miserable looking lady standing there.

She handed me a religious tract with the words: ‘In view of the things that are happening in the world at the present'- obviously referring to the events of September 11th in America – ‘I thought you might like to read this’.

Before I could say anything, she had gone, leaving me standing in my old clothes, with paint all over my hands, holding this religious tract!!

When I opened it I noticed the words from today's Gospel Reading "Nations will rise against nations and Kingdom against Kingdom: there will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues: and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven".

At the bottom of the back page, I saw that it was printed by the Jehovah Witnesses.

Whilst I admired their promptness of action, I was not particularly amused, having interrupted my painting for this!!

St Luke, Chapter 21, which is more or less the same as St Mark Chapter 13, and St Matthew Chapters 24 and 25, is the happy hunting ground for all religious fanatics and nutters, together with the Book of the Revelation. They are very difficult to understand and therefore l have always avoided preaching about them.

These particular pages of the New Testament, together with the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, form a type of literature commonly called "Apocalyptic".

The word "apocalyptic" comes from a Greek word which means "revelation" or "unveiling". It is a type of religious literature which seeks to unveil the future.

Whereas the Old Testament prophets were essentially preachers concerned with problems of their own generation, the apocalyptic writers were concerned about the end of things and the destiny of the world in general.

The need for this type of literature written between 200BC and 100AD arose out of Israel's conflicts with other nations and the conviction that trust in military power was useless. As the nation continued to be subjected to foreign domination, it despaired of ever attaining political supremacy. The conclusion was drawn that God would eventually intervene, destroy Israel's enemies, and set up his kingdom on earth.

In short, it was a means of boosting the nation’s morale based upon their religious faith.

The Book of Daniel, was probably written against the background of the persecution of Antichus Epiphanes between 175-1638C, whereas the Book of Revelation was written against the background of the persecution of the Roman emperors such as Nero and Diocletian at the end of the first century AD.

Incidentally, there are other apocalyptic books outside the Old and New Testaments such as, the Book of Enoch, the Book of the Secrets of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, the Book of Jubilees, the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Peter. These are all attributed to well-known heroes of the faith to give them authority since they are not included in the recognised canonical scriptures.

The unfamiliarity of this particular type of writing is therefore possibly the reason why I found it difficult to prepare this sermon.

Then there is the unfamiliarity of the imagery used by Luke, Matthew and Mark. They talk about "The Day of the Lord". The Jews regarded time as being in two ages. There was the "Present Age", which was considered bad and evil, and there was the "Age to come" which was the golden age of God and Jewish supremacy. In between these two ages, there was the 'Day of the Lord', which would be a terrible time of economic upheaval and destruction, the birth pangs of the new age.

Hence we read "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified: for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately" and "there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues: and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven" as the Jehovah Witness reminded me, when she called!

Then there is the image of the fall of Jerusalem which actually fell to the Roman armies in 70AD. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that over 1 million people perished in the siege, and 97,000 were carried away into captivity. In short, the Jewish nation was obliterated and the Temple was fired and destroyed.

Hence we read, "When some were speaking about the Temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said: ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another: all will be thrown down’".

There is also the image of the Second Coming of Christ. Initially it was thought that this was imminent. Hence we read in the epistle today of some early Christians "living in idleness" as they sat waiting for it. Later, it was thought to be sometime in the distant future.

Hence we read of the disciples asking Jesus: ‘When will this be and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ Jesus warns them that false teachers will appear and there will be wars and insurrections ‘but do not be terrified: for these things must take place first’.

And finally, there is the image of persecution to come.

Hence Jesus says, ‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you, persecute you, they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.’

Not only is today's Gospel an unfamiliar type of literature, it also contains unfamiliar imagery for us today - unless we are living in Indonesia, China, the Sudan and other places where Christians are currently being persecuted - which is probably another reason why I found the writing of this sermon difficult.

In other words, it is literature and imagery set against a particular historical background which does not appear to have any relevance for us today.

But then some words come flowing into my head concerning the former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

He was 41 years old at the time. He was conscious of feeling a great emptiness in life. He was in church, when he heard a sermon entitled "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence convict you?” This marked a turning point in his life.

Although you and I live in a totally different situation from that in which the apocalyptic literature was written, including our Gospel Reading today, that question is nevertheless relevant for us. "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence convict you?”

And so I leave you with that question to ponder over during this coming week, and to pray for those who have been arrested and are facing their time of testing today, as did those Christians in the early church whom St Luke had in mind when he wrote this part of his gospel.