Sermon Series: I Am Thankful For…

I Am Thankful for the Light

November 19, 2006

Dr. Larry D. Thorson

Mark 13:1-8 1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"     2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"

5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

  As most of you know I must have had a mid life crisis of sorts when I turned 50 in October. I committed to making a distance running comeback next year after 30 years of light jogging by entering the Diamond Valley Lake Marathon to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. As a training guide I’m using the “Slackers Guide to Running a Marathon” which seems to think that one can eat, sleep and live a normal running life every day of the week…except for one when it wants me to take a really long run. 
 That day for me is usually Saturday. I do my long runs at the Diamond Valley Lake and I noticed that my palms have begun sweating with tension as I’m driving to the lake and spot the hills surrounding it. The first long run day was 7 miles which was kind of pleasant, in a sick sort of way. Then the next Saturday was 9 miles and I thought the end of the world had arrived, or wish it had. A few weeks ago it was 14 miles. At the 10th mile of that run my body started to feel different. I felt pains I hadn’t felt in 30 years and I didn’t like it. But more than the pain was the overall feeling of weakness, sort of the way one feels when you have a fever. I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to make it back to my car. I have that fear every Saturday morning when I do these long runs. 
 Life is really a marathon. It’s long and winding with difficult elevations and exhilarating descents. It’s full of hopes and dreams. Sometimes along the way we wonder if we’ll even make it to the end. 
 Today we ordained and installed a new slate of officers. Most if not all of them wonder whether they can adequately do the job they’ve been called to do. Along the way there will be difficult situations and sometimes they may feel like quitting. There will be frustrations of feeling like they’re not being heard and there will be fears that they’re making the wrong decisions. 
 I have never met anyone that when they were honest didn’t admit that they had some sort of fear. Some just hide it better than others. Jesus’ disciples were no different. When Jesus visited the great Jewish temple with his disciples they were awe struck by the size of the stones that made up that building. It was sort of like looking at the World Trade Center in New York before it was destroyed. 'Look Teacher”, they said “what large stones and what large buildings!" 
 Like the World Trade Center for us this building represented more than just a massive building. Look Teacher at this incredible place -- the place of promise – the temple of Solomon - rebuilt in glory -- the place of the Holy of Holies --the place where we know God is present -- the place where sacrifice is made for sin - the place where the dream of Abraham and the vision of Moses are made to come true -- the place where even the greatest in our land bow down -- and where the wisest in our land come to teach – Teacher - look how big it is -- how solid -- how wonderful.
 And Jesus answered them "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down".
 Just think what this temple meant to the disciples and to the whole people of Israel - the people whom scripture and history record as a people who "struggle with God" and overcome. 
 - the people through whom God has planned a blessing for the whole world
 - the people through whom comes to us the Christ and the spiritual answer for that spiritual problem which has plagued us since Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden.
 The temple was the physical representation of a dream - the dream of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the dream of Moses and Miriam - and of Eli and Samuel - of David and of Solomon - of Rachael, Rebecca, Deborah and Hannah, and of Mary and Martha. It was the dream of being God’s special chosen people. That’s what the temple represented for them. 
 So when Jesus made his prediction of its destruction that cut to the core of their security, the thing that gave their life meaning. It was their purpose for existence, to represent God in this world. Now Jesus was telling them that it was going to be gone. That’s a scary place to be.
 Everybody has something that’s important to them. Think about the most important things to you. Now imagine these things as stones -
A stone of health 
A stone of influence
A stone of possessions
A stone of accomplishment
A stone of being loved
A stone of what you consider most important
 For me the stone of health is my biggest thing. I want my body to work the way it was designed. I want to sleep well every night. I want to feel good all of the time, even after a long run. I watched so many of my cousins and aunts and uncles become at a young age debilitated by diseases, crippled from any quality of life. The fear of what they went through drives me to preserve my health. 
 What is it for you? Imagine your stones as stones in the building Jesus and the disciples were looking at. Imagine these stones representing those things we seek out, that we turn to for a sense of permanence, for comfort, for peace of mind, all built into a building that, when there is trouble in our lives we make our place of refuge, and when there is joy we make the place for our thank offering.
 
"Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." 
 For some - the question is - how could this happen?
These stones were so massive. This building seemed so permanent. Jesus’ prophecy came true in 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed by Roman forces. All those stones were scattered just like he said. How could that be?
 The things that were once most important in our lives will begin to change. Nothing has the permanence we long for. About the time we get used to something, it changes. Sometimes that change is good. More often, the change creates additional difficulties in our lives as we adjust once again. 
 
 "Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." 
 
 Fear not only for some of the old who become afraid of their own mortality but also for some of the young who look upon the world as a terrifying place where nowhere is safe for them. 
 
 "Not one stone will be left here upon another."
 
 And yet Jesus says today to all the possible fears we have as he speaks about the destruction of the temple and about the dashing down of all the stones which we so much treasure and admire and hope in.
 
He speaks and he says -- "Be not alarmed"
 
 All that he counsels for us is be aware, be watchful and to understand what is going on. "Be Not Alarmed. Do Not Worry. Beware. Keep Awake. Understand The Signs. Not one stone will be left here upon another."
 I take you on this journey into the end of things as we know them this morning for the same reason I took you and the children to the place of our fears earlier in the service.
I take you there so that you might also know about the light that is this darkness, that you might remember the warm arms that are ready to embrace us as the arms of our mothers and fathers once did, or perhaps still do.
 Fear is a terrible thing - it causes some people to freeze up and to be unable to move, unable to complete their pilgrimage upon this earth as God would have them do it.
 It causes others to do things that we can only describe as being evil - lying and cheating so that they might "get ahead" or of placing their trust in things which, in the end, really do let them down – again preventing them from completing their pilgrimage upon this earth as God
would have them do it....
 For me and for all the saints Jesus wrote a prescription for you to take. 
 keep awake,
 be aware,
 come to the light,
 give up your burden and take my yoke upon you 
 enfold yourself into my embrace
 trust in me
 obey my commandments,
 do not be anxious
 meditate on the Word -
 seek first the kingdom of God
 understand what is happening
 number your days that you might get a heart of wisdom,
 if anything is good, anything excellent, anything worthy of praise - think on these things.
 Bob Cartwright was a news personality on Channel 6 in Big Bear and major contributor to our little church in Big Bear. Bob liked to fly and often hired a small plane pilot to fly him around the area. Last month Bob was invited by his pilot Tyler Stanger on a flying sightseeing trip to New York where they were going to pick up Yankee pitcher and fellow pilot Cory Lidle and bring him home. Bob wasn’t able to make the trip due to scheduling conflicts. 
 Tyler and Cory were killed on that trip when their plane crashed into the side of a New York City apartment while on a little sightseeing excursion before heading west. Rather than letting fear paralyze him because of the crash, Bob hired a new pilot and resumed his love of flying, ever grateful that death was spared him. Last Tuesday his plane malfunctioned and crashed to the ground in Big Bear. There were no survivors. 
 Bob believed in Jesus Christ and his fear didn’t paralyze him. Face your fears, don’t give into them. What’s the worst thing that can happen to you when every stone is pulled away? You won’t fail. You’ll make it back to your car. You’ll live again. Bob Cartwright lives again but he doesn’t live with paralyzing fear. 
 Some people are paralyzed because they can’t see what’s around the next bend. Don’t worry about the next bend because you have enough light for today. Move ahead with the light Christ has given you and when you get to the next point Jesus will have more light for the next step. This Thanksgiving I am grateful for what light I have to guide me.