Apocalypse Small
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Text: Mark 13:1-8
Most of you know that for the past three weeks I have been running a course called “Reclaiming Revelation.” It’s an in-depth look at the last book of the Bible, which bears a rather fearsome reputation that it doesn’t really deserve. It has often been left to the fire-and-brimstone rants of fundamentalist preachers, and for far too long mainline churches have been content to let them spout off. Yet as those who have been coming to the course can tell you, Revelation is a work of art, giving an encouraging word to Christians facing persecution under the Romans in the late first century. In revealing whose really in control, and that ultimately the suffering that they face is not the final say on who they are, Revelation gave the early church the resilience it needed to survive a very dark time. Scholars call this kind of writing “Apocalyptic Literature” –and while Revelation is certainly the most famous, there are other places in the Bible that contain elements of it. This morning’s reading from Mark 13 is often referred to as “The Little Apocalypse” –hence my sermon’s title.
But wait a second! I might hear some of you say? Little Apocalypse? How can there be anything “small” about the end of the world? After all, isn’t that what Apocalypse means?
Actually… no… In the original Greek, the word Apocalypse means “revealing” or “revelation.” It’s an unveiling of reality, as a way to show the people what’s really going on. Yet because of all the fire-and-brimstone imagery that the word evokes, most dictionary definitions in English equate it with death and destruction. Yet somewhere along the way, we’ve lost what the purpose of apocalypse really is: the revealing of God’s hopeful presence, even in the midst of very uncertain and trying times. The assurance that when all is said and done, God is still in control, and all will be made right.
As Mark tells the story, Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem, as the story goes one of his disciples looks around with awe and wonder, “Teacher, look at these beautiful stones and wonderful buildings!”
Remember that most of the disciples were ordinary country folk, who really hadn’t been to the city. The Temple was big and impressive, likely larger than anything they had seen before.
It seems that Jesus throws water on their enthusiasm. “Are you marveling at these huge buildings? Why? They’re just buildings, they don’t last forever, they’ll be torn down, and none of this will be left standing.”
We’re a bit puzzled in this. Perhaps we take it as a warning to not become too enamored with our physical structures. Don’t worship the building. Maybe that’s good advice, but there’s something else going on here.
In what Jesus says, Mark is layering overtop of this an allusion to his own time… 66-70 AD, with a conflict known as the First Jewish-Roman War. Christians were getting caught in the crossfire between the Zealots and the Roman Army in a struggle for control of the region. Not only that, amongst those in Judea, there were also the nasty overtones of a Civil War. The Zealots saw the early Christians, anyone who didn’t hold their line, as being sympathetic to the Romans, and therefore traitors. The Romans couldn’t tell or most likely didn’t care about the differences between the early Christians and Jewish occupants of the city. It was a very dangerous place to be. Fearing for their own safety, the early Christians escaped Jerusalem before the Romans finally laid siege to the city, destroying the Temple once and for all in 70 AD.
With this great symbol of the faith destroyed, it would feed into the anxieties of the various communities of the day. They felt that the end was upon them!
In this subtle layer, Mark reports Jesus as saying, “Beware that no one leads you astray, many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For 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 birth pangs.”
Normally, when we hear something like this, it’s a scary, frightening image. It’s why we preacher types tend to avoid it… but I think we do so to our own detriment.
Yet think about these early Christians, finding themselves caught in the crossfire, in the midst of a brutal and deadly civil war. How might they hear this? Think of how early Christians living in small pockets across the Mediterranean, hearing only by word of mouth, might think about the strife and conflict in Jerusalem. In a region known for its earthquakes, in a time that famine was happening because the Romans had torched the food supply… all of this would all come together and play upon the fears of the people. Mark wasn’t warning them about a strife that was to come, he was acknowledging what was already going on!
Instead of trying to scare his community, Mark is trying to reassure and encourage them in the midst of a very real, very threatening situation. He acknowledges everything that they are already experiencing. He reassures them that ultimately God is in control, and that in the end the conflict and suffering in which they find themselves entangled does not have the final say over who they are.
Yes, there are wars going on, Mark’s gospel says. Yes, you are hearing rumours about wars, many of which are true. Yes, there have even been earthquakes and famine… BUT… Don’t let anybody lead you astray! That’s the core message: don’t let anybody lead you astray!
I think too often, we have left passages like this to those who would lead us astray… who use fear as a weapon of control…
Yet in Mark’s telling of this “little Apocalypse” he is revealing something to the early church. He is providing them with the tools of survival, that they might be able to look beyond the present strife and conflict with hope. He warns them of anyone who might take advantage of their fear and anxiety, reminding them of who really is in charge.
For us, some two thousand years later, Mark’s message of hope is lost. We become so focused on these destructive images as the wrath of God. We don’t hear the words of encouragement that rings out of the gospel. Somewhere along the way, the subtleties of hope amidst darkness, have been lost, and we are perhaps more easily led astray with fearful imagery. This is ironic, considering one of the major points that Mark tries to make with this gospel.
For most of us, we have been raised with the idea that Doubt is the opposite of Faith. We have learned that skepticism somehow undermines our relationship with God. Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn’t, but for Mark, doubt is not the opposite of faith… fear on the other hand is. Read the gospel of Mark all the way through, and there is this underlying theme. Do not fear, only believe. If this is the case, then Mark would not be using these words to instill a sense of fear in the early Christian community. Do not fear, only believe.
Mark was acknowledging and identifying the fears of the people. He cautioned against false prophets who were capitalizing on the growing conflict, preying upon people’s fears and manipulating them for their own gain. His little apocalypse was meant to try and overcome people’s fears, and reveal to them of who was really in control, encouraging them to remain faithful. Even though many of them would experience suffering or persecution firsthand, Mark’s words gave them the ability to survive a very dark time by relying on their faith.
Maybe the message for us is to concentrate less on the fearsome imagery, and try to see how Mark’s words of encouragement work… It acknowledges reality, it acknowledges the very real struggles that people were going through, and the fears they had to face. Apocalypse is not about fear, but a revealing of hope in the midst of fearful experiences. It may require us to change the way we think about it, to learn more about what these early Christian communities experienced. Maybe the struggles of these first-century Christians can help us as 21st Century Christians, to be able to find the light shining in whatever darkness we might experience in life. It is no mistake that we hear this passage as Advent draws near. The approaching season is all about the coming of God… yet instead of it being a season of fire-and-brimstone; the words we use are hope, peace, joy, and love. In the end, the little Apocalypse is about what our faith is supposed to be about... truly our hope in God, no matter what we are experiencing.... and thanks be to God for that.
Amen.
Text: Mark 13:1-8
Most of you know that for the past three weeks I have been running a course called “Reclaiming Revelation.” It’s an in-depth look at the last book of the Bible, which bears a rather fearsome reputation that it doesn’t really deserve. It has often been left to the fire-and-brimstone rants of fundamentalist preachers, and for far too long mainline churches have been content to let them spout off. Yet as those who have been coming to the course can tell you, Revelation is a work of art, giving an encouraging word to Christians facing persecution under the Romans in the late first century. In revealing whose really in control, and that ultimately the suffering that they face is not the final say on who they are, Revelation gave the early church the resilience it needed to survive a very dark time. Scholars call this kind of writing “Apocalyptic Literature” –and while Revelation is certainly the most famous, there are other places in the Bible that contain elements of it. This morning’s reading from Mark 13 is often referred to as “The Little Apocalypse” –hence my sermon’s title.
But wait a second! I might hear some of you say? Little Apocalypse? How can there be anything “small” about the end of the world? After all, isn’t that what Apocalypse means?
Actually… no… In the original Greek, the word Apocalypse means “revealing” or “revelation.” It’s an unveiling of reality, as a way to show the people what’s really going on. Yet because of all the fire-and-brimstone imagery that the word evokes, most dictionary definitions in English equate it with death and destruction. Yet somewhere along the way, we’ve lost what the purpose of apocalypse really is: the revealing of God’s hopeful presence, even in the midst of very uncertain and trying times. The assurance that when all is said and done, God is still in control, and all will be made right.
As Mark tells the story, Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem, as the story goes one of his disciples looks around with awe and wonder, “Teacher, look at these beautiful stones and wonderful buildings!”
Remember that most of the disciples were ordinary country folk, who really hadn’t been to the city. The Temple was big and impressive, likely larger than anything they had seen before.
It seems that Jesus throws water on their enthusiasm. “Are you marveling at these huge buildings? Why? They’re just buildings, they don’t last forever, they’ll be torn down, and none of this will be left standing.”
We’re a bit puzzled in this. Perhaps we take it as a warning to not become too enamored with our physical structures. Don’t worship the building. Maybe that’s good advice, but there’s something else going on here.
In what Jesus says, Mark is layering overtop of this an allusion to his own time… 66-70 AD, with a conflict known as the First Jewish-Roman War. Christians were getting caught in the crossfire between the Zealots and the Roman Army in a struggle for control of the region. Not only that, amongst those in Judea, there were also the nasty overtones of a Civil War. The Zealots saw the early Christians, anyone who didn’t hold their line, as being sympathetic to the Romans, and therefore traitors. The Romans couldn’t tell or most likely didn’t care about the differences between the early Christians and Jewish occupants of the city. It was a very dangerous place to be. Fearing for their own safety, the early Christians escaped Jerusalem before the Romans finally laid siege to the city, destroying the Temple once and for all in 70 AD.
With this great symbol of the faith destroyed, it would feed into the anxieties of the various communities of the day. They felt that the end was upon them!
In this subtle layer, Mark reports Jesus as saying, “Beware that no one leads you astray, many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For 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 birth pangs.”
Normally, when we hear something like this, it’s a scary, frightening image. It’s why we preacher types tend to avoid it… but I think we do so to our own detriment.
Yet think about these early Christians, finding themselves caught in the crossfire, in the midst of a brutal and deadly civil war. How might they hear this? Think of how early Christians living in small pockets across the Mediterranean, hearing only by word of mouth, might think about the strife and conflict in Jerusalem. In a region known for its earthquakes, in a time that famine was happening because the Romans had torched the food supply… all of this would all come together and play upon the fears of the people. Mark wasn’t warning them about a strife that was to come, he was acknowledging what was already going on!
Instead of trying to scare his community, Mark is trying to reassure and encourage them in the midst of a very real, very threatening situation. He acknowledges everything that they are already experiencing. He reassures them that ultimately God is in control, and that in the end the conflict and suffering in which they find themselves entangled does not have the final say over who they are.
Yes, there are wars going on, Mark’s gospel says. Yes, you are hearing rumours about wars, many of which are true. Yes, there have even been earthquakes and famine… BUT… Don’t let anybody lead you astray! That’s the core message: don’t let anybody lead you astray!
I think too often, we have left passages like this to those who would lead us astray… who use fear as a weapon of control…
Yet in Mark’s telling of this “little Apocalypse” he is revealing something to the early church. He is providing them with the tools of survival, that they might be able to look beyond the present strife and conflict with hope. He warns them of anyone who might take advantage of their fear and anxiety, reminding them of who really is in charge.
For us, some two thousand years later, Mark’s message of hope is lost. We become so focused on these destructive images as the wrath of God. We don’t hear the words of encouragement that rings out of the gospel. Somewhere along the way, the subtleties of hope amidst darkness, have been lost, and we are perhaps more easily led astray with fearful imagery. This is ironic, considering one of the major points that Mark tries to make with this gospel.
For most of us, we have been raised with the idea that Doubt is the opposite of Faith. We have learned that skepticism somehow undermines our relationship with God. Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn’t, but for Mark, doubt is not the opposite of faith… fear on the other hand is. Read the gospel of Mark all the way through, and there is this underlying theme. Do not fear, only believe. If this is the case, then Mark would not be using these words to instill a sense of fear in the early Christian community. Do not fear, only believe.
Mark was acknowledging and identifying the fears of the people. He cautioned against false prophets who were capitalizing on the growing conflict, preying upon people’s fears and manipulating them for their own gain. His little apocalypse was meant to try and overcome people’s fears, and reveal to them of who was really in control, encouraging them to remain faithful. Even though many of them would experience suffering or persecution firsthand, Mark’s words gave them the ability to survive a very dark time by relying on their faith.
Maybe the message for us is to concentrate less on the fearsome imagery, and try to see how Mark’s words of encouragement work… It acknowledges reality, it acknowledges the very real struggles that people were going through, and the fears they had to face. Apocalypse is not about fear, but a revealing of hope in the midst of fearful experiences. It may require us to change the way we think about it, to learn more about what these early Christian communities experienced. Maybe the struggles of these first-century Christians can help us as 21st Century Christians, to be able to find the light shining in whatever darkness we might experience in life. It is no mistake that we hear this passage as Advent draws near. The approaching season is all about the coming of God… yet instead of it being a season of fire-and-brimstone; the words we use are hope, peace, joy, and love. In the end, the little Apocalypse is about what our faith is supposed to be about... truly our hope in God, no matter what we are experiencing.... and thanks be to God for that.
Amen.
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