Tag Archives: Mark 13

Standing firm

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..Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.. “I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed… In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He… was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and those of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

(Dan 7.2,11,13-14)

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back.. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone, ‘Watch!’.”

(Mk 13.32-37)

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Rom 15.4-6,13)

It is good for us, living in the prosperity and peace of western Europe in the 21st century to give thanks and rejoice in the freedoms we enjoy. It is not good however, to presume that these are remotely normal or common experiences for humankind. History – if we will pay attention to it- tells of centuries of struggle against poverty, famine, war, and oppression. If we will listen today from all around the world, we hear the ongoing cries of those in bondage in modern slavery, those dying of hunger and disease, those whose lives are being bombed and raped into shreds, those who have no freedom of faith, those who are so desperate that they have enslaved themselves to evil in order to survive.

The human heart is incurable, apart from the salvation and transformation offered by God in Christ Jesus, and from that heart comes the pollution and pain of our planet. We should not be surprised by the latest upsurge in aggression and violent nationalism; by the strengthening of control by totalitarian states; by the enthronement of ‘self’ in our culture; by the naked greed of capitalism and the dreadful implications of its free expression. All these things come about because human beings are fundamentally broken. It is foolish in the extreme to believe that education, improved healthcare, or any other intervention can actually make a lasting change to the root causes. As followers of Jesus, we share the good news that there is hope – and ultimately that there will be a new heaven and new earth, where all that our spirits cry out for – justice, beauty, freedom – will be fully realised. But we also know that until Jesus returns, the powers of darkness will continue to exercise their violent dominion and wreak havoc among us. This is not pessimism, or defeatism, it is a realistic and biblical understanding of history. The visions of men like Daniel are a glimpse given by God to his servant – and thus to us – of the pattern of history until God winds all things up and makes them new.

The visions are wild and frightening, Daniel is often left weak with terror and bewildered, but they show the ultimate realities which are at work and which we forget at our peril. Daniel’s visions appalled him, and rightly so. We too should be on our knees as we acknowledge the grim realities around us. But, we also know that Daniel got up from his knees, and went on to serve his community faithfully, prayerfully, and effectively for the remainder of his days. He took the revelations as motivation for persevering in the work to which he was called – not a reason to curl up and hide from life. He had reason to hope, to stand firm in the face of threats and trials, to live as one accountable for his use of time and talents to a supreme Lord. So do we!

You are the Living God and you endure for ever; your kingdom will not be destroyed, and your dominion never end. You rescue and save; you perform signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. Have mercy on your servants as we live in the midst of time, that we might be faithful in spite of fear or threat, and might have peace as we trust in you. We know and believe that you are on the throne, and at the right time, you will return and make all things new. We are on the winning side, Lord, let us trust this truth when we cannot see it, and when the powers of darkness are at their height. Let us, like Daniel, get up and go about the work which you have given us, holding forth the gospel of Christ to all who will listen, and fearing nothing because we fear and worship you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

I believe…

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The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him…Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

(Ps 89.5-7&14&15)

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no-one deceives you…when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines..

(Mark 13. 5,7&8)

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.

(Rom 1.18,19&28-32)

I believe in the wickedness and depravity of the human heart….in greed, selfishness, malice, violence, pride, callousness and hatred.

I believe in the brokenness of the physical world..the cruelty of nature, the destructive powers of fire, wind, earth and water.

I believe in the powers of evil, ranked in implacable opposition to Almighty God, willing to use and abuse every beautiful part of his creation against him in order to thwart his purposes.

I find it easy to believe in these things, because I live with human beings – and more pertinently, I am human. I find within myself the seeds of all those appalling fruits which Paul lists in his letter to the Romans. The human heart is fatally flawed, and it makes no sense to me to advocate education, meditation, mediation or any other kind of self-help as a means of dealing with that flaw. Our brokenness goes so deep that we cannot make ourselves whole again.

I live in a physical world which demonstrates great cruelty, where disease, and death, neglect and violence rule. Not all the troubles that we see are the result of human exploitation and abuse of God’s good gifts, but rather come from within creation itself. This wonderful world, this incredible universe and the galaxies beyond, all somehow warped and stained and not what they could and should be.

And so I believe in the evil with which our race chose to align itself when we rebelled against God as King and Lord, and deluded ourselves into thinking that we knew better, that we couldn’t trust our Creator to be good. We fell straight into slavery to that darkness, within our hearts and in the world around us, powerless now to break free, and often blind to the reality of our chains.

We live today under judgement – our plight is the result of our own choices down the generations – and still we refuse to recognise the truth about ourselves, about our slavery to sin, and the reality of our desperate need for God’s salvation.

When I consider the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, I believe in the reality of God’s love and of his plan to save us and make all things new. If any other way had been possible, then the Son of God would not have died. But he did, and in the mystery of mercy and justice meeting at the cross, he achieved our complete rescue from evil, and offered freedom to the slaves.

I believe in the hand of God to gather all things together in his perfect time, to keep his  people through turmoil of every kind as the end draws near, and to deliver us into the new creation when Christ returns in glory and every knee – willing or reluctant – bows before him as Lord.

I do not understand why so much agony must be endured as we await his coming; why famine, war, abuse and neglect, slavery and exploitation, genocide and terror continue to afflict so many. But I believe in a God who is great and good beyond my puny comprehension, and with his help, I will trust and persevere.

I accept with humble joy his daily gifts of love and beauty, I worship him in his power and majesty, and I pray for his will to be done and his kingdom come.