Mark 13

Jesus speaks of end things as a way of contextualizing all the other things in life that feel like endings.

Keep awake, Jesus says, for God’s new world is coming.

Advent amid the rubble of 2020

In Advent, we expect the unexpected.

Climate science is apocalyptic: it reveals fundamental truths.

Jesus has the prophet’s double horizon in view.

Sometimes we need a good old-fashioned swig of bracing disillusionment.

The Gospel reading speaks of the world ending. For some people in the pews, it is.

Even before my first cup of coffee, I often turn the radio on to check the weather report for the day: will I need an umbrella? Should I take an extra jacket? Looking around for my coffee cup, I barely hear the voice in the background: "The sun will be darkened; and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken."

Really? Maybe I should just go back to bed.

The unnamed disciple in Mark 13:1 would have been impressed not only by the temple’s splendor, but by what it represented: God’s presence with Israel. Jesus’ reply must have astounded him.

No one likes the thought of an angry God. It's hard enough to deal with an angry person.

I entered parish ministry with a fair amount of idealism, particularly liturgical idealism. Inconveniently, the liturgical proclivities I picked up in seminary were not especially popular with my first congregation.

This became clear as a sleigh bell during our first Advent season together.

This Sunday’s texts from Daniel and Mark (and, perhaps, Hebrews) are quite apocalyptic in their outlook. This may lead most preachers to focus their attentions elsewhere—though post-election, many U.S. partisans may be feeling fairly apocalyptic themselves.

Apocalyptic visions generate fear. Fear needs its antidote: love.

There they all stood, gaping at the blinding wonder of the temple wall and thinking about how magnificent it was. That is, until Jesus stunned the group by blurting out, "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

End times call for tall towers of hope. They tingle with expectation.