November 18, 2007 - "Jesus Will Be There"

Title: “Jesus will be there.”
Text: Luke 21:5-19
Day: Proper 28C (Thankoffering Sunday)
Date: November 18, 2007

When I was in high school I was on the swim team. I loved it. It provided me with an opportunity to exercise. It gave me a great group of guys to hang out with. It really helped me survive high school by giving me something to look forward to.

When I first started on the team as a Freshman the coach had me swimming short-distance sprints – mainly freestyle. I didn’t mind this so much because – in my mind – sprinting would be fun and easy. You just get in the water, thrash your arms and legs around in the water as fast as you can, go to one end of the pool and back again, and you’re done! Easy! It only took about two swim meets for me to realize that this was much harder than it sounded. Swimming fast like that hurts. You can’t breathe very often because it takes too much time. And by the end of the race, you are physically exhausted. I began wishing I swam the long-distance events.

Then, beginning in my Sophomore and Junior years my coach granted my wish. He put me on the 200 yard and 500 yard events. I thought this was great. Now, I could take my time and simply glide through the water with ease. But soon I realized that these long-distance events were tortuous because now instead of swimming two lengths of the pool, I had to swim twenty! To my chagrin, I discovered that swimming long-distance events did not mean that you could take it easy; it meant that you just had to sprint farther. Enduring the pain of these long events was almost more than I could take.

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus paints a picture for his disciples of the terrible events that are to come and tells them that these events will not be short-lived; rather, the disciples will have to endure through these painful events as though they were in a long-distance race. So Jesus tells his disciples, “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place fist, but the end will not follow immediately.” In other words, there is going to be pain and torture and grief and death, but you must endure because these things will only signal the beginning of the end. Then Jesus lists off the other things that these disciples will experience: “Nation will rise against nation…great earthquakes…famines and plagues…dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.” Persecutions, prisons, beatings, trials, betrayals by family and friends, and even death. Jesus – in a way that only he can do –prepares his disciples for the long haul. These events will last for a long time, and they must be prepared to endure the pain of it.

Well, maybe saying that these things will last for a long time is the understatement of the year; because the same things are happening today 2000 years later. We live in a world where nations have risen and continue to rise against other nations, shattering our hopes and dreams of living in a world of peace and reconciliation. We live in a world where massive earthquakes swallow up cities and kill thousands at a time. We live in a world where famines and plagues still exist on an ever-increasing scale. We see persecutions of Christians all around the world. We see people put on trial and wrongly put to death for their religious convictions. We see betrayals. We see imprisonments. We see these signs all around us, all the time. It’s enough to make us wonder whether or not we are seeing the beginning of the end.

But if we hear the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel as if they were spoken to us, we would come to understand that we have to endure these events for the long haul. It is not so much like a sprint, where we have to endure the pain for only a short period; we must strain and struggle through the pain for as if we were in a long-distance race ourselves.

Now take it from me – a long-distance swimmer – that enduring the pain of a long race would be nearly impossible if it weren’t for some encouragement. I remember swimming these horrifically long events and thinking that they would never end, wondering if I should just stop trying so hard and give up. It was tempting. It was appealing to think that the pain could go away if I just stopped. But then I would take a breath and there I would see my teammates and my coach on the side of the pool, cheering me on, encouraging me with every stroke, giving me the mental strength that I needed to finish the race that was set before me.

Jesus does the same thing here with his disciples. Like a coach, he gathers his team before him and tells them point-blank how things are going to happen; but he also gives them words of encouragement. “I will give you words and wisdom…Not a hair on your head will perish.” Jesus looks into the terrified eyes of his disciples; he sees their chests move up and down as they think about the terrible events to come; he knows their thoughts are making them panic; and yet he comforts them by letting them know that he will be there through it all.

He has shown this throughout his entire life already: once he claims the disciples as his own, he never leaves them, and his presence gives them confidence to endure everything that comes against them. They are given confidence to heal, to preach the good news to all, to welcome everyone into God’s Kingdom, the proclaim justice to the oppressed. And even after the fateful event on the cross – the one painful event that none of them were prepared for – even after that, Jesus still walks with them: on the road to Emmaus, by the empty tomb, on the seashore. Jesus gives the frightened disciples the promise of his presence.

And what is our response to Jesus encouraging presence in our midst today? Thanksgiving. Knowing that we cannot endure this race of life on our own, knowing that without the constant presence and guidance of Jesus our Coach we could not withstand the pain of life, knowing that there is a glorious end to this misery that we are experiencing now leads us to praise and give thanks to God.

So, how appropriate is it that the women of our church have designated this day as a Thankoffering Sunday? Here today we will glorify God for the GOOD THINGS that we have been given. Today we will GIVE THANKS for the gift of God’s presence. Today we will OFFER PRAISE for the one who has promised to be with us always, and who empowers us to finish the race that is set before us.

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” (Eph 3:20-21)

Amen.