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A reflection on Luke 21:5-19
A few weeks ago I had a dream about someone I knew years ago. In my dream she had died and I was reading about her in the obituary column. When I woke that morning I knew this person had not died, the dream was clearly about something else.
I know my dreams are never prophetic. I don’t dream about things that are going to happen. True, in my conscious life I sometimes have a pretty good idea how things might turn out. But then there is always the possibility that something else could happen.
Have you ever tried to make a prediction? Were you right? Here are some predictions made a long time ago by respectable people who were experts in their field:
In 1943, Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
In 1962 The Decca Recording Co. said: "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." They were talking about the Beatles.
Of course we all like the idea of predictions. On some level we all want to know what is going to happen tomorrow or next week or next year. We want to be prepared, or if possible, avoid the problem altogether. All around us people are predicting the cost of gasoline or heating fuel, the state of our economy, the housing market, the next major epidemic, which version of the flu will make us sick this winter, global warming, world poverty, what will give us cancer, what will prevent cancer, and on and on…
Often these predictions are wrong; although surely natural disasters, the economy, fuel, and global warming are key concerns in our world today. But, often these predictions are wrong because there are too many variables at play. In some ways the world is made new every day. Even as we are prone to do the same thing over and over again, one small shift and everything could change.
In our Gospel reading today Jesus is calling the people to take a good long look at their lives. “Beware,” he says, “that you are not led astray.” He wants them to examine their lives; to understand who they are and why they do what they do.
Looking carefully at our lives is a spiritual discipline. St. Ignatius created a method for this called the “examine of conscience.” This method leads us through a systematic review of the events in our daily lives. Intentionally reviewing our lives enables us to recognize when we need to forgive others or seek forgiveness, to look at what causes us concern, and what has brought us joy.
Jesus is preparing the disciples, and in essence us, for the challenges that lie ahead. Sometimes, as a people of faith we think we are protected from life’s difficulties. God will protect us. Or conversely that God never gives us more than we can handle…well there have been plenty of times in my life when I’ve said, “Ah, God, don’t over estimate me…”
In one of the Hagar the Horrible comic strips Hagar is preparing his troops for battle:
"This is the moment we've been waiting for men! The moment we do battle with the enemy! Is everyone here?"
They shout: "YES!"
Hagar continues: "Okay men -- repeat after me. 'I am a Viking Warrior!'"
"I AM A VIKING WARRIOR!" they shout.
"And I will fight to the death for what I believe!"
(the next frame: silence)
And, again, in the next frame: silence…)
In the third frame Hagar asks: "Okay, why aren't you repeating after me?!"
One meek Viking speaks for them all: "Hagar, the men would like to change that to 'and I will fight hard until it's time for dinner.'"
Yes, God, don’t over estimate what I can handle… I want to be home in time for dinner. I want my life to be anchored in things that are comfortable, safe, and familiar. I don’t want to suffer.
Ultimately I do not think God micro-manages the events of our lives. God does not give us trials and tribulations to teach us something, nor does God dole out rewards for good behavior. Life happens, the good and the bad. To a small degree we are able to influence what happens to us. Our actions have consequences. But we are not able to completely control things one way or another.
This Gospel reading falls in the genre of apocalyptic scripture. Apocalypse means “Revelation” and in the Bible apocolyptic texts describe horrible events leading up to a great transformation of the world into the Kingdom of God. In other words, the Kingdom of God is revealed in the process of living through tragedy. We often hear these readings “as if” God is imposing these horrible things in order to prepare us for the Kingdom of God.
In essence, though, the apocalyptic texts describe the human condition, what it is really like to live a full life. At some point in our lives we will hurt someone or be hurt. We will lose something or someone or become lost ourselves. Life includes suffering. It’s not what God does; it is just a part of life.
Our goal is not to avoid suffering, but to learn how to move through suffering. Because it is the moving through suffering and coming to the other side that brings us one step closer to the Kingdom of God. It is in suffering that we as humans grow in compassion and love and concern for others.
True, we could also become bitter. Suffering leaves us with choices. We can move through it, trusting that God is there with us. Or we rail against it and refuse to see any grace or hope. Suffering can make us bitter. We can come to resent God. And, suffering can leave us wondering if there is a God at all. Don’t you wonder that sometimes when you hear about all the suffering in the world? How can there be a God when things like this happen?
Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the "2013 Year Old Man". In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, "Did you always believe in the Lord?"
Brooks replied: "No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him."
Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?
Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!
Reiner: Did you have prayers?
Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don't be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.
Reiner: So when did you start worshiping the Lord?
Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, "There's somthin' bigger than Phil!"
Tim Carpenter, SermonIllustrations.com
I am always grateful when I can see, within my own suffering, signs that there is something bigger than myself, bigger than my problem, bigger than the suffering. I am always grateful when I see God’s grace at work in and through the suffering. Jesus says, “For I will give you words and a wisdom…” Signs, of God working through my life, and the lives of other people who, with care and compassion, strive to alleviate the suffering of others.
Having care and compassion for the suffering in this world can feel overwhelming. There is so much. Where do we begin? Sometimes we can become stuck, feeling immobilized by the intensity of it all.
There’s a story from one of the ancient church writers that looks at this very thing. A student asked the teacher about suffering, and the teacher told him a story. It goes like this:
A man had a plot of land that had become a wilderness of thistles and thorns. He decided to cultivate it and said to his son: "Go and clear that ground." But when the son went to clear it, he saw that the thistles and thorns had multiplied. He thought, "How much time shall I need to clear and weed all this?" and lay on the ground instead, and went to sleep. He did this day after day.
When his father found him doing nothing, the son explained his discouragement. The father replied, "Son, if you had cleared each day the area on which you lay down, your work would have advanced slowly and you would not have lost heart." The son did what his father said, and in a short time the plot was cultivated.
One Plot at a Time by Roberta C. Biondi
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3096
Moving through suffering means taking things one step at a time. Perhaps it is our own suffering we face. Then, all we can do is wake up each morning and take that first step out of bed. Or, perhaps we are working to alleviate suffering in the world by helping one refugee family at a time. We can’t fix all the problems or alleviate all the suffering. But we can help; one thing at a time.
Jesus calls us into the suffering. We are not to avoid it. We are to enter into to it. To be present with it. To suffer with the families who have lost their homes to fire, flood, war, or cyclones. To suffer with people who have been injured by the many battles being raged across our planet. To suffer with the hungry, the poor, the forgotten. Jesus tells us to not pick sides, do not justify the suffering. Rather, testify on behalf of the suffering. Examine our lives. And. Give witness to God’s desire for us to love our neighbor as ourselves, for “by your endurance you will gain your souls.”
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