• Opportunity to Tell,  Luke 21:5-19    (see below)
  by Rev. Randy Quinn
   

• In God We Trust? Luke 21:5-19, Thomas Hall  
   

• Happily Ever After,  Isaiah 65:17-25, Rev. Randy L Quinn
   

• Partners in Ministry,  Thessalonians 3:6-13, by Rev. Randy Quinn               
   

• Grace Flying Up Isaiah 65:1-7, Thomas Hall    

______________________________________________________________
 

Opportunity to Tell
a sermon based on  Luke 21:5-19
by Rev. Randy Quinn

  It was in the fall.  That much I remember.  I know I was in High School – maybe it was my junior year; I don’t remember the exact year.  But I do remember the place.  It was at the Pioneer United Methodist Church in Walla Walla, Washington.  I’d never been there before and when I first entered the sanctuary, I was awe-struck.  Somehow that empty space had the ability to inspire me, filling me with a powerful sense of God’s presence.

When I left, I knew deep in my heart that God wanted me to become an Architect.  So when I graduated from High School, I enrolled in the School of Architecture at the University of Washington.  My hope was to design churches that would instill a sense of awe and mystery when people walked into the sanctuary – much like what happened to me on that September day.

Although I had to change my major before I graduated from college – because the Architecture degree took five years to complete and my scholarship required me to finish in four – I did stay in the School or Architecture, graduating with a degree in Building Construction.  I thought if I can’t design that church, I can at least build it.

(The truth is I now know that the church is not a building – but my calling still seems to be about helping to build or develop a church that inspires people.  But that’s getting a little off track.)

I tell you that because it was in college that I really began to acquire a love of Architecture – both old and new.  And it was that love that led me to a lecture about Architecture from an Anthropological framework – in other words, how buildings express and reflect the culture.

One clear example I remember from that lecture was an imaginary tour of European cities of the 15^th and 16^th Centuries where Cathedrals towered over every other building.  Then we continued the tour by thinking about the small towns we’ve seen where Courthouses and Libraries are the most recognizable buildings.  In some places, it’s the schools and universities that architecturally inspire us.  In some industrial cities, the factories give the skyline their distinctive flavor.  And in many cities of North America today, it’s the banks that attract our attention.

Anthropologically, those facts tell us what may well be the most important part of a given society.

In Jesus’ day, it was clearly the Temple that took center stage.  From all contemporary accounts, the gleam of the Temple was recognized from miles away.  The marble stones reflected the sun’s rays so that it sometimes looked like gold, sometimes looked like fire, but always instilled a sense of awe.

That Temple, Herod’s Temple as it is referred to, wasn’t actually finished until several years after Jesus spoke – but then it was totally destroyed by the Romans before the end of the 1^st Century.  In a clear fulfillment of what Jesus says in our text for today, not one stone was left on top of another (Lk. 21:6).  The central feature of early Jewish life – the most prominent feature of the city where Christianity began – was demolished.

In our text for today, that Temple is the backdrop for the discussion (Lk. 21:5).  From a distance it was impressive.  Up close, it was imposing.  And to those who saw it, it looked permanent.

But Jesus seems to be unmoved.  It’s only temporary, he says.  In fact, nothing of eternal value can be seen or touched; it is the eternal things that Jesus sees.  It is about the permanent things that Jesus speaks.

And what is permanent is God.

What is eternal is God’s love.

What will never change is God’s grace 

Fires.  Earthquakes.  Floods.  Tornados.  Hurricanes.  Tsunamis.  Drought.  Disease.  Famine.  War.  Persecution and oppression.  Prejudice and greed.  Political and economic turmoil.

All of them are present in life, and each will take its toll on our lives.  Some of us will experience more of the pain than others will.  But through it all, God will remain present.  God will bring salvation.

Jesus is telling us we don’t need to live in fear of these events.  He isn’t telling us to hole ourselves up and shut ourselves off from the world.  Nor is he telling us to pretend they’re not real.  Disaster will strike.  Death rules in this life.
[continue]