South Roanoke United Methodist Church

All three passages of Scripture today witness to the truth of what God can do.  The Word of God clearly proclaims this morning that God is active, alive, and doing things among us.  God is doing it right now in each of us, in our community, and in all creation.  God is in this very moment restoring life as it was originally created, life as it was always intended to be--a life of fullness, provision, peace, justice, and love.  And people of God brought this every year—even the lean years.  Sometimes the world in which you and I live doesn’t seem so full of that life.  Too often our world seems to have so much more sickness, poverty, war than fullness, justice, and peace.  Sometimes we just have to believe this truth despite the evidence around us to the contrary.

No one knew this more than our Lord Jesus.  In the 21^st chapter of Luke, Jesus is on his way to do just that:  redeem creation for fulfillment and to empower all of life as God intends it to be.  He is on his way to Jerusalem to accomplish that redemption and he overhears people speaking of the temple—the beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God.  The temple--the very sign itself of the presence and activity of God among them.  And he says to them,

As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.

He went on to talk about wars and insurrections, nations rising against nations, earthquakes, famines, plagues.  All these occurring before the ultimate fulfillment of creation or even signs that that fulfillment is right on course and inevitable.  Jesus says sometimes we just have to trust in the absence of clear evidence of God’s presence.

The ageless message of the bringing of the first fruit every year (whether it looked like the harvest was going to be plentiful or not) and the timeless truth expressed by Jesus here is this:  don’t ever put your ultimate trust in the earthly evidence of God’s presence among us.

Jesus said the temple is not forever and it was destroyed within a generation of the time Jesus spoke these very words; only God is forever.  Now in our day we put our commitments, place our hopes, and express faith life in the church, but this earthly institution itself which represent our life in God are not permanent.  The temple wasn’t forever, the United Methodist Church is not forever, South Roanoke Church is not forever, only God is forever.  These are all temporal gifts of God for the earthly living out of our faith.  We give ourselves to them as appropriate, meaningful, and empowered vessels of the activity of God among us but they are not the only places where God is active in creation.  We do not put our ultimate trust in them.  Jesus reminds us our ultimate trust is in God.  That way our trust in God does not rise or fall with the successes or failures of the Church.  God is always there whether we rise to the occasion or not.  Sometimes God works in the culture despite us, thanks be to God!

Jesus says the temple is not forever; only God is forever.

Jesus shared another reason why we cannot depend upon outward evidence to assure us that God is active and alive among us—that evidence is sometimes lacking, but more often it is misunderstood.  Wars?  Insurrection?  Famine?  Earthquakes?  Plagues?  What kind of evidence is this but the sign that God is losing and losing badly day by day?

Jesus says the temple is not forever.  But Jesus also says the principalities and powers of this world are not forever—only God is forever.  Jesus surely knows this even as he makes his way to the cross; he knew that all these things are but the final death throes of a culture that has already been defeated.  Evil, pain, death—all these things are on the way out, they will all ultimately lose in the end and pass away but they do not go quietly, do they?  Jesus understands these hard and tragic realities of life to be the last desperate attempts of the forces and powers of this world to stave off their inevitable defeat at the cross of Christ.  The resurrection will not be stopped; all things will become new.  But we Christians know that the way through the resurrection is the way of suffering and Jesus goes with us all the way through.  Jesus says indeed,

Not one stone will be left upon another and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

The temple is not forever; the principalities and powers of this world are not forever.  We cannot put our ultimate hope in the evidence around us of God’s presence.  Our hope, you see, in the end is not in    always having our health and avoiding disease; managing to hold off death as long as we possibly can;         the political victory of one position of moral values over another in a divided nation; the growth or fading away, rise or fall of the United Methodist Church or even of South Roanoke Church. Our hope is in God.

Yes, sometimes we just have to trust that God is active and alive and doing things in creation despite the evidence to the contrary.  And when things get tough, when evil and pain and death seem to press so hard upon us, we have to trust that Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about when he said things may well get a lot worse before they get better.  That’s why Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians urges them to stay away from those who live in idleness and to not grow weary in doing what is right.  Whether times are good or times are bad we are called to work, work hard, give ourselves fully to this life and faith that is before us. 

The gathering of the very first fruit at harvest time—is a sign of what God can do.  The people brought the first fruit to God at harvest time even in the lean years for they came in thanks and they needed a sign of what God can do always before them, often despite the evidence to the contrary.  Don’t ever underestimate what God can do.

Sometimes you just have to believe God is active and alive among us despite the abundance of evidence around us to the contrary.  Yes, sometimes the glimmer of God’s presence shines brightly for all to see.  In either case we never ultimately trust the evidence.  We trust the God.

This hope and promise is boldly envisioned by Isaiah.  As I conclude with his words focus your attention on these truths as pictured before us (painting of lion and lamb together). 

I love this time of year.  And it is announced whenever the people of God begin to gather the first fruits of the harvest—a sign of what God can do.  Brothers and sisters, God is active, alive, and doing things among us.  God is doing it right now in each of us, in our community, and in all creation. All creation is moving toward that promised fulfillment in God—life as it was originally created, life as it was always intended to be—a life of fullness, provision, peace, justice, and love.  God will do it—don’t ever underestimate what God can do!