Sunday's Message - We’re all interested in the future

As disciples of Jesus, we've been called to follow him by claiming his example and learning from his teachings. From June to October, we're going to focus on the Gospel of Mark so that we might better understand how we might follow our Savior and live as his community. 

During the following twenty Sundays, the message will apply following passages:

June 6, 2021 - Mark 3:20-35

June 13, 2021 - Mark 4:26-34

June 20, 2021 - Mark 4:35-41

June 27, 2021 - Mark 5:21-43

July 4, 2021 - Mark 6:1-13

July 11, 2021 - Mark 6:14-29

July 18, 2021 - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

July 25, 2021 - Mark 7:14-23

August 1, 2021 - Mark 7:24-37

August 8, 2021 - Mark 8:27-38

August 15, 2021 - Mark 9:30-37

August 22, 2021 - Mark 9:38-50

August 29, 2021 - Mark 10:2-16

September 5, 2021 - Mark 10:17-31

September 12, 2021 - Mark 10:35-45

September 19, 2021 - Mark 10:46-52

September 26, 2021 - Mark 12:28-34

October 10, 2021 - Mark 12:38-44

October 17, 2021 - Mark 13:1-8

October 24, 2021 - Mark 13:24-26, 32-36

On Sunday, October 17, 2021, we looked at Mark 13:1-8. The passage, the message and the podcast is below:

Mark 13:1-8 [Contemporary English Version]

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these beautiful stones and wonderful buildings!”

Jesus replied, “Do you see these huge buildings? They will certainly be torn down! Not one stone will be left in place.”

Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. They asked, “When will these things happen? What will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

Jesus answered:

Watch out and don’t let anyone fool you! Many will come and claim to be me. They will use my name and fool many people.

When you hear about wars and threats of wars, don’t be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn’t the end. Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. There will be earthquakes in many places, and people will starve to death. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

We’re all interested in the future

Now if you’re like me and enjoy old horror movies that are really bad, you know exactly what’s going on here. But if you don’t, this is the introduction to maybe the worst movie ever made, Plan 9 from Outer Space. It was produced, written and directed by Ed Wood, and it starred Vampira, television’s first horror movie host, Tor Johnson, a Swedish professional wrestler, and Bela Lugosi. Unfortunately, Bela died before the filming actually started and so, outside of the very beginning, either he appeared in a few repeated scenes from another movie or he was played by Ed’s chiropractor with a cape over his face to hid the fact that he looked nothing like Bela. I’ll tell you, if you have about an hour with nothing to do, check out Plan 9 on Youtube.

But I didn’t show the clip, because my message is about “grave robbers from outer space.” No, instead it has to do with what Criswell was talking about at the very beginning. As you may remember, he said, “Greetings, my friends! We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.” Now, I understand that this sounds pretty goofy, still, what he said is actually right on point. I mean, we are all interested in what’s going to happen, right? And since we can’t return to the past or stay in the present, we’ve got no choice but to live in the future. I mean, dah. And so, as it relates to the future, Criswell hit the nail right on the head. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. As we continue to think about how we can live as Christians, we’re going to focus on this conversation Jesus had with his disciples as they were leaving the Temple. You see, for the next ten minutes or so, we going to use this passage from Mark to understand how we might better face that one thing in which we’re all interested, namely the future.

And you know, I think that’s a pretty important thing to do, because frankly, even though we may all be interested in it, often we’re not all that great in actually facing it. And I think Christians struggle with this just like everyone else, although some of our assumptions might be a little bit different. Let me explain. When they consider what’s coming up, I think a lot of folks drift in one of two directions. I mean, on one hand, there are plenty of people who try to avoid thinking about the future at all, and in particular about how their behavior has consequences. In other words, they assume that, regardless of what they do, certain things just won’t happen. Now that’s what I mean by avoidance. In fact, they’re a lot like my sister’s first husband, Dan. Now Dan’s mother died of a heart attack when she was in her sixties. And Dan’s father died of a heart-attack when he was in his fifties. And Dan’s sister died of a heart attack when she was in her thirties. And Dan, well, he just assumed that it could never happen to him; and so there was no reason for him to see a doctor or to quit smoking or to stop eating pork rinds. But before we judge Dan too harshly, in my opinion, Christians often do the same thing, especially when they believe that God will never let anything bad happen to them. As a matter of fact, when you listen to them, they seem to think that the big guy up stairs is actually in the business of cleaning up the messes they make so they never have to face the consequences. Now that’s what some Christians seem to believe. And as a result, for them, just like it was for my former brother-in-law, they’re really not prepared when what they tried to ignore for so long becomes a reality. You see, on one hand, there are plenty who think they can avoid thinking about the future. 

On the other hand, though, there are also a lot of folks who become almost obsessed as they consider what’s ahead. In other words, their lives become centered on what hasn’t happened yet. It’s all they think about. And it shapes everything they choose to do. The future has become their obsession. And I think it’s interesting, people tend to take this in one of two directions. I mean, some folks seem to think that they need to worry about problems that haven’t happened yet. They’re like fans who are sure the Steelers are going to blow it before the game even kicks off. My goodness, healthy people worry because they might get sick. And well-off people worry because they might face some kind of financial issue. And men and women who should be happy look, sound and act miserable, because something bad might happen. You see, they’re pessimists. They expect the worst. They live in the “what if.” And that’s a problem. But I’ll tell you, I know plenty of Christians who seem to take this obsessing on the future in a completely different direction. I mean, instead of worrying about what might happen and allowing that to shape their actions and attitudes, they’ve become consumed by something that they sincerely believe will happen, namely, by getting into heaven. Man, that becomes their single focus, even though it might not happen for years, maybe decades. And so rather than simply believing the Bible and trusting God, they become obsessed with doing enough to make the grade. That’s what they do. And sadly, when this is the case, man, that can also have really unfortunate implications. For instance, have you ever heard the saying, “He’s so heavenly-minded, he’s no earthly good”? Well I think that can happen, especially when people devote so much effort and energy trying to figure out how to reach those  pearly gates that they totally forget that Jesus spent far more time talking about how we should treat our neighbors and how we should care for the less fortunate and how we should share with others the love and grace of God than about how we can stamp their tickets to the sweet by-in-by. You see, even though it may sounds spiritual, if we become obsessed with a heavenly future, well, that’s not great either.

But you know, in this passage, I think Jesus offers another way to face the future, both for his disciples back in the day as well as his disciples right now. I mean, just think about what he said. On one hand, Jesus was crystal clear about what was going to happen. Remember, as they were leaving the Temple and the disciples were praising it’s architecture, “Jesus replied, ‘Do you see these huge buildings? They will certainly be torn down! Not one stone will be left in place.’” [Mark 13:2, CEV] And a little later in the same conversation, according to Mark he said, “Be on your guard! You will be taken to courts and beaten with whips in their meeting places. And because of me, you will have to stand before rulers and kings to tell about your faith. But before the end comes, the good news must be preached to all nations. Brothers and sisters will betray each other and have each other put to death. Parents will betray their own children, and children will turn against their parents and have them killed. Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.” [Mark 13:9-10, 12-13, CEV] Now, that’s what he said, not something you’re going to see on any Mother’s Day card. No, Jesus sure didn’t want his disciples to believe that avoiding the future was an option. But on the other hand, I don’t think he wanted them to obsess on this future either. And that’s why, in the passage we read, after they asked him when the bad stuff would start, “Jesus answered: Watch out and don’t let anyone fool you! Many will come and claim to be me. They will use my name and fool many people. When you hear about wars and threats of wars, don’t be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. There will be earthquakes in many places, and people will starve to death. But this is just the beginning of troubles.” [Mark 13:5-8, CEV] In other words, even though this stuff was coming, it wasn’t coming today. You see, in this story, I think Jesus challenged his disciples to avoid the two extremes we’ve been talking about and to face the future in a different way.

And I’ll tell you, I think that applies to us as well. You see, first, instead of trying to avoid the future, we can chose to accept that it’s coming, whether we like it or not. In other words, we can choose to recognize that what we do now may shape what we’re going to face later but also that sometimes, for no apparent reason, bad things just plain happen to good people. Now this we can accept, but to do it, man, I believe that’s going to take courage, because let’s get real, the future is a mixed bag. It’s like the writer of Ecclesiastes said: Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping, for killing and healing, destroying and building, for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing, for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting. There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving, for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking. There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace. [Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, CEV] Now that’s the future we’re called to face, and to face it, man, that takes courage. But it also takes faith, you know, trust; I’m talking about a confidence that hovering over and under and around those scattered Temple stones is God: the Father who loves us and the Son who saves us and the Holy Spirit that enables us to feel and to believe. You see, on one hand we can face the future by simply accepting that, ready or not, it’s coming. That’s the first thing we can do. 

And second, if we apply what Jesus was saying, instead of obsessing on the future, we can decide to live in the present, and I mean, to live as followers of Jesus right here and now. In other words, we can decide to live in the world we have even if it’s not the one want and to live with our feet on ground but not with our heads in a cloud. Of course to do that, we’re going to need wisdom, and I’m talking about the wisdom to recognize all the distractions that surround us. In other words, we may need insight to tune out all those well meaning people who challenge us to fix our sight on heaven even though that means ignoring the world in which we live and all the neighbors Jesus told us to love. Man, we’re going to need wisdom and we’re going to need insight to resist these voices that can distract us from being the people we were created to be. And then, we’re going to need focus so that we can do what God has called us to do within all those places that God has placed us and with all those people God has led into our lives. You see, each one of us has been given the abilities and the opportunities to do some remarkable things for God. And today is when we can start doing them. I’m telling you, second, we can face the future by living right now in the present.

Now, when Criswell did his little speech in the beginning of Plan 9 from Outer Space, I doubt that he realized just how profound his words were. I mean, he was spot on when he said about the future, “....that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.” And you know, even though some try to avoid it while others become obsessed with it, Jesus points us in another direction. You see, as we face the future, we can decide that we’re going to accept whatever lies before us and we’re going to live the very best lives we can right here and right now. That’s how we can face the future. And why would we even want to do this? Man, that’s easy. I mean, this must be important to all of us, because let’s face it, “we're all interested in the future,” right?