There seem to be two concepts of the End of the World. Some will say that the “signs of the times”–war, poverty, a general overturn of the common good–are playing out right now, so get ready! Others think that the End will never come, that God’s gone on vacation and that business will grind on as usual. Scriptures looked at this weekend call the faithful to look beyond What Seems to Be to affirm that God is yet in control, however our human calendars try to confine the process of Creation.
The Old Testament is LONG, I Samuel 1:4-20-2:1-10. Many lectionary schemes suggest that the second part, the Song of Hannah, replace the Psalter. However you do this, each is important in seeing the usual order of things overturned. In the first chapter, Eli the Priest sees Hannah’s spoken prayer for a child as drunkenness. (Besides, everyone knows she’s “too old”.) However, Samuel (“Asked of God”) is born, and the normal order of things is overturned. And then, in a song copied by Mary in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46ff), Hannah announces this turnabout: “bows are broken, but the feeble gird on strength….[God] raises up the poor from the dust; [God] lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.” The Kingdom continues to grace-fully unfold.
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (10:11-25) continues to emphasize the permanence of Christ’s saving power. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” We can assume that the readers of this letter were quite sure that the Second Coming/End of the World was literally tomorrow. Even if there’s a delay, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful….all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Look beyond appearances and trust God.
Although Mark’s Gospel (13:1-8) sets this scene in Holy Week, it pertains to almost any time. The Disciples from the rural North are impressed by the apparent durability of the Temple, but Jesus cautions them that even that massive pile can soon be rubble. There will be a lot of charlatans trying to cash in on the Second Coming scare–can you say “Jonestown”? Jesus displays much less concern about the Last Days than some believers who crave the gnosis of “I know something you don’t know!” He urges us, though, to look beyond appearances, “wars & rumors of wars”, to that which is unfolding in God’s Good Time.
Michael Pasquarello III sums it up nicely: “As we near the end of the Christian year, God’s people are given a fresh vision of the new world that is on its way, a world that is not dependent up[on human efforts, plan, or strategies, but a world that is God’s gift.” (FEASTING on the WORD, B 4:299) Today is not Doomsday, but another instance of God’s durability ‘midst the scrabble of human dust! Thanks be to God!
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My encounters with scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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