sermon twenty fourth sunday after pentecost 2009

8/14/2019 Sermon Twenty Fourth Sunday After Pentecost 2009

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Notes for a Sermon on Mark 13:1-8 preached by Pastor Bill Roen on November 15, 2009 BWhatNext, Lord?

In the Gospel lesson for today Jesus warns his disciplesBAWhen you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the endis still to come.@The Lord be with you. AND ALSO WITH YOU.

Boy Howdy! They do keep coming at you, don=t they? So many shocks. So many little emotionalfender-benders. One thing after another. Most of time we can absorb them pretty easily, and then

every once in a while a particular story comes as a body blow that knocks the wind right out of

us. The shootings at Fort Hood last week did that for me. Maybe it was the proximity of it all to

Veterans=DayBthe irony of that--but the story of that Army psychologist who entered a crowdedroom and with a shout ofAGod is great!@opened fire on an innocent crowd, shook me up.Its wrong, I know, but at distance violence doesnt seem so devastating. People get blown up and

shot in markets an Gaza and Iraq and Afghanistan all the time. But when an attack happens herein the States, when it could just as easily have happened here in Savannah, we are all shaken by

it. An when the shooter, Maj. Hasan, is a army doctor, someone whose life=s business it is toheal and not to kill and wound, that only serves to make the story more shocking. Of course, we

didnt=t need more proof that things have gone haywire. We knew that. And we didnt need freshevidence of the presence of evil in the world? We knew it is here among us. But after something

like this happens we just have to wonderBWhat next? We are almost afraid to ask that questionout loud for fear you may find out--What next? That was certainly the question that was on the

minds of the people in the little church for which St. Mark writes his gospel. They were hearing

stories that stunned and frightened them, stories of famines and earthquakes, of wars and rumors

of wars. There were false prophets around who were speaking with the authority of Jesus, just

like today, crazies who we sowing fear and trying to cause trouble. And people were confusedand askingBWhat next? Is the world about to end? Just like today. All these movies about the endof the world--2012BIndependence DayBThe Day After Tomorrow. The end is on people=s mindsand heartsBlike a weight. The is a problem is overloading, beloved. We have so much stress andtension in our own lives. We all have worries about our families and anxieties about ourselves

and concerns about our financial future. So when the economy is bad, and the nation is at war,

and the whole fabric of society seems to be coming apart, that adds to our personal stress and

anxiety, we are in danger of overload. There is all this stuff out there we cannot control or even

anticipate. And then comes that one more thing that threatens to overwhelm us and we

wonderBIs this the end? If not, what next, for heaven=s sake? That=s what the disciples cameaskingBThe destruction of great temple in Jerusalem which Jesus had predicted seemed to them

the ultimate trauma. But was it a sign that the world was ending? Is this it? But the risen LordrepliesBDon=t be misled by the crazies. Don=t let your own fears get the best of you. The end willcomeBdon=t be misled. But it isn=t coming yet. And the risen Christ is saying to us right now--Listen, there is confusion all around you, but don=t you get caught up in it. It=s like my mamaused to say to meBABilly, hold fast to your detachment.@Now I realize that was a peculiar thingto sayBa contradiction of termBHold on to your letting goBlike it is your treasure. But my mamawas a wise lady, and the Book of Daniel saysBAThose who are wise shall shine like thebrightness of the sky@(13:3). And her advice still shines for me like the stars--Hold fast to your


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detachment.

Because detachment, not letting yourself get too caught up in the confusion that surrounds your,

is the secret, beloved, of finding peace in this world of flux and change. Detachment is indeed a

treasure. Last week my wife and I were on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, walking next tothe ocean, watching the waves breaking on the sandy shore, and listening to the breathing of the

sea. The day was bright and warm for November. But the wintry sea churned and brewed like

caldron, and the surf was high. The sun shown through each wave as it crested; there was a brief,

brilliant flash of Coke-bottle green, before it broke on the sand and retreated, leaving behind a

line of sea foam which the wind tumbled along the shore and piled into grey phantoms.

Watching the waves breaking on the shore has a bewitching effect on the mind. I=ve noticed itbefore. It is possible to get so caught up in the motion of the waves that you forget about

everything elseB the person next to you and the others on the beach. You can even forgetyourself. The only thing that seems real any more is the confused motion of the waves and the

roar of the sea in your ears. And it is like that with the confusion of our lives, beloved. Watching

the changes that compose the visible universe can transfix our minds and absorb our wholeattention to the point that we forget everything elseBeven who we are. And where we are. Andwho we are with. We forget what is really Real, what really matters. And it takes the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit to realize that the motion of the sea is not all that is. It isn=t you, it isn=t theperson next to you, it isn=t the beach upon which you are walking. It is just the spectacle ofmovement and change. (Samsara.) We all find ourselves asking--What next?--these days.

You don=t have to read the newspapers or watch the news on televisionBmany people don=tBinorder to share in the general sense of worry and unease that is abroad. Anxiety is a tang in the

air, a leaden taste in the water. No one seems to have a satisfactory answer to that quest ion BWhat next? No one, that is, but the risen Lord Jesus, who says to his anxious followers and to

usBDo not be alarmed. And to the questionBWhat Next?--the Lord gives the only right

answerBMore of the same. More of the same is coming. Every wave is always followed byanother. And another. And another. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the beach, upon which we stand,

the continent beneath usBhis care for us is more real, more reliable than our consciousness ofourselves. And his love will outlast every change. So don=t get too involved in the spectacle,don=t mistake it for that is really important. Hold fast to your detachment, beloved, which is yourtreasure. The words to the hymn number 346 AWhen Peace Like a River@were written in 1873by a man named Horatio G. Spafford., who wrote it, having experienced a series of life -

shattering tragedies. Spafford was not a poetBhe was a wealthy businessman; then came theGreat Chicago Fire of 1871, which dealt him a financial from which he never recovered. Then

shortly afterwards his wife and four daughters were crossing the Atlantic when their ship struck

another ship. All four daughters were killed in the collision, and Spafford=s wife sent him a now

famous telegram with just two wordsBASaved alone.@Several month later Spafford=s own shippassed near the spot where he daughters had perished and he was moved by the Holy Spirit to

write the words to the hymn we know and will sing this morning--AWhen peace, like a river,attendeth my way; When sorrows, like sea billows roll: Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to

say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.@The shocks of life can be truly devastating. No one should sellthem shortBthe can overwhelm us. The sea billows cannot only bewitch our mindsBthey can alsofrighten and threaten to drown us. But wellness in our souls comes from a detachment only the


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Spirit of Christ can give. ADo not be alarmed,@he said to his disciples and to us. ADo not bealarmed, for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be

earthquakes; there will be famines.@And yes, there will be terrorist attacks, stories of horrific

violence and all kinds of evidence that there is a great and conscious force of evil present in thisworld. Who can deny it? But the risen Christ is with us, the one who died rose again from death,

and lives to give life to the world, and his Spirit has been saying to us in a difficult time BThings are never as bad as you think if you can hold on to the detachment which is your treasure,

In the name of the Father. . . .Amen.


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sermon twenty fourth sunday after pentecost 2009

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