Eternal Gratefulness
After reading the 13th Chapter of Mark, sometimes called the “little apocalypse”, Episcopal Priest Sarah Brewer made this comment…
I can almost hear preachers around the country sighing and pondering whether it would be better to just preach on the collect. Of course, this is the collect for this Sunday:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Doh!
3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
At a minimum we should not remain silent when we see religious fraud. We should name it for what it is. We can all learn and reflect upon some of the signs that religion has become evil and that evil has become religious. Here are ten warning bells.
· Fanatical claims of absolute truth. I don't mean the belief in absolute truth(s), which I think is both tenable and admirable, but rather the doubt-free and uncritical confidence that one has understood absolute truth absolutely.
* Identifying the Gospel with nationalistic ideologies, partisan politics, state power, and ethnic identity.
* Blind obedience to totalitarian, charismatic, and authoritarian leaders, personality cults, or views that undermine moral integrity, personal freedom, individual responsibility, and intellectual inquiry.
* Ushering in the “end times” in the name of your religion. For a very painful illustration of these first four points, watch the film Jesus Camp.
* Justifying religious ends by dubious means.
* Any and all forms of dehumanization, from openly declaring war on your enemy, demonizing those who differ from you, construing your neighbor as an Other, to claiming that God is on your side alone. Do you believe that God loves Iraq and North Korea as much as America? There shouldn't be the slightest hesitation or qualification in the answer—God does.
* Pressure tactics of coercion, deception, and false advertisement.
* Alienation, isolation and withdrawal from family, friends and society, whether psychologically or literally (eg, David Koresh's Branch Davidians).
* Exploitation and all forms of unreasonable demands upon one's time, money, resources, family, friendships, sexuality, etc.
* Oddball, sectarian interpretations of Scripture that have little or no support from the broad, classical Christian tradition, or that disregard the best of historical-critical scholarship. The wildly successful Left Behind books (60 million copies sold) are a prime example of such Scripture-twisting.
Many will come my way and say, “I am he” and they will lead many astray. While I think Clendenin’s ten warning bells against false Christianity are important for our discernment.. I doubt that Jesus was talking about Christian leaders to come. Despite popular opinion, Jesus was not in the fortune telling business, or predicting the future business – Jesus of Nazareth was living in the moment, a moment on the eternal scale, but a moment none-the-less. I wonder if the many who will come in Christ’s name… or come in the name of the truth… are the very people Jesus was in Jerusalem to criticize – the people who ran the Holy Temple.
13As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
It is only with a sense of the eternal that we can begin to honestly look at where we are right now. So much around us is temporary… so much of who we are is temporary.
I was reminded of this by Tony Juarez. We spent a few hours together in the county jail – he leaves for prison next week. Without breaking confidence, I can tell you this.. we talked about the past and about the future, but when it came to talking about the right now – a Disciples pastor in meaningful conversation with an Evangelical prisoner – and how we somehow developed this strange bond… well for that there was only one word – gratitude.
Eternal gratitude… thankfulness for the moments that really are part of the eternal timeline… moments when our concern is not on things that are temporary, but on the things that last. Eternal gratitude for the one thing that is truly eternal – our ultimate concern – God – and God is Love.
And as Christians we apply this stuff of eternity in three ways… Loving God, Loving our Neighbors, Loving Ourselves.
At our family dinner today, and at the dinners to come… let us be a people who moves from gratefulness for temporary things to eternal gratitude.
We give thanks for this year’s harvest – but moreover, we give thanks to God who moves life through cycles and circles. Moreover, we give thanks for God’s good earth that supplies the needs for life.
We give thanks for the things we have, the things we have been given, the things we have been given the opportunity to earn. And we give thanks for the food on our plates and the table where we sit. But moreover, we get to look into the eyes of the souls in our midst – people who we can love and people who can love us – and there, if we prayerfully consider it -- we can find eternal gratitude.