Luke 21:5-19

5When some were speaking about the temple,

how it was adorned with beautiful stones

and gifts dedicated to God,

he said, 6“As for these things that you see,

the days will come

when not one stone will be left upon another;

all will be thrown down.”

7 They asked him,

“Teacher, when will this be,

and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”

8 And he said,

“Beware that you are not led astray;

for many will come in my name and say, ‘

I am he!’

and, ‘The time is near!’

Do not go after them.

9“When you hear of wars and insurrections,

do not be terrified;

for these things must take place first,

but the end will not follow immediately.”

10 Then he said to them,

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;

11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues;

and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12“But before all this occurs,

they will arrest you and persecute you;

they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons,

and you will be brought before kings and governors

because of my name.

13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 1

4 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance;

15 for I will give you words and a wisdom

that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.

16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers,

by relatives and friends;

and they will put some of you to death.

17 You will be hated by all because of my name.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish.

19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Text: Luke 21:5-19

Theme: Is it well with your soul?

Date: November 18, 2007

Assembly: Zion Lutheran Church

How do we take seriously how worn thin we all are…

(well, maybe not you, but it’s the rest of us)

so much so that it makes it hard to strive for our ideals

(a speaker I recently heard was belittling herself

for not always writing to a congress person

whenever an issue came up that she cared about

—and I sunk lower in my chair

—and my heart sunk heavier in my chest thinking

—are you serious?

—I have a hard enough time

just getting the recycling to the curb on time…etc etc

You know the Bible lets multiple voices speak

—one place will say, you are saved by grace alone

and in another place that you better do works…

It’s because the Bible is approaching something complex

so there is not just one side to the reality about it…

So, like the Bible, I figure preaching needs to lift up different things at different times

so that we might approach truth in the most real way

So, on other days, I’ll say, write a letter

(and today I’m not saying, “don’t”)

But today I am saying,

lets look more closely at this phenomenon

of how much stress we’ve come to accept as normal

and let’s see if we can take seriously

taking care of our souls for a bit

—and care for our community’s soul

Sometimes it seems to me that the American dream is no longer so much the house and the car

as it is the idea that we can do it all

-this fanciful notion that you can

exercise and pray and cook healthy meals

and see a movie with your friends and watch your kids play basketball

and write letters to our Congress people and go the concert downtown

and make Thanksgiving place settings

and write real notes to your friends who have moved away

and read and clean so that anyone could come by anytime

and ponder and have meaningful employment

and smell the roses —and, oh, did I mention sleep—8 hours.

I’m sure that each of you have other specific ‘shoulds’ to add to this general list

Please go ahead and name those for yourself

Do you ever wonder that you’re tired?

It should be no wonder.

We, Americans, admire people who “do it all.”

Busyness almost equals importance in our day—and why?

WE are making ourselves spiritually unhealthy

by this pursuit of a façade

—for noone “does it all”

—it is not possible

—and what are we so busy with?

Are they the things of eternal value?

We are pursuing facades

that may be able to front—but that cannot fulfill

We are admiring beautiful stones and adornments

But, Jesus quickly reminds us that not one stone will be left upon another

Our faith better not be caught up in these gems

For the more we depend on this being stacked neatly upon that

The harder it is for us to say it is well with our souls

If we’re intent on cultivating souls, with which it is well

Then we have to commit ourselves at least to being able to differentiate

Between God—the source of meaning

And stones we stack up to give our lives meaning

And this means prioritizing our relationship with God and others

Over some of our other busy ventures

For these other things cannot hold ultimate value

They cannot give the promises to which they allude

They usually do not call us to rest—but to achieve more

But God calls us to Sabbath

Knowing how to provide rejuvenation

As we recline and rest

in God’s comforting care

Our faith must depend on God

for when our faith depends on how things are stacked

Oh how quickly faith crumbles when those stones topple

Faith is not in a façade

Faith is in a God

Faith is in a God who Horatio Spafford knew as he wrote

It is Well With My Soul

A God who was with him after the death of only son 1871

A God who was with him after the Chicago fire ruined him financially

A God who was with him after his 4 daughters drowned

and as he crossed the ocean to join his grieving wife

There was no longer a façade for him as he sailed near that spot

where his daughters’ ship went down

There was no blessed busyness aboard that ship as he went by

But God was there, and Horatio wrote,
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.”

How can someone write this in the throws of extreme sorrow?

But that God the Creator remains

when the facades of ideals and dreams are broken

that the Spirit is still praying when our hands are at weary rest

and that Jesus always reaches the depths with us

It is when every stone has been thrown down and we realize we can’t do it all

That we can have wisdom beyond contradiction

It is when no cornerstone of our plans seems to remain standing and we need rest

That the endurance of our souls shines through

So, is God primary in all of that stone-stacking busyness that you attend to?

For God was not content to reside only in a temple

So, it was really ok that those stones were thrown down

For God was not in the stones

But do you see that when our faith gets caught up in the facades we build

Then our hearts crumble when those stones fall

For our faith had become attached to a building instead of God

But if we could stay centered in a faith in God

Then as the stones fall/when dreams may be dashed

We may realize that God is active far beyond the confines of our wildest dreams

And then we may know it is well with our soul.

(can you place your faith in God rather than the structures we build to hold God?)

A faith like this gets us through life.

Now, it is one thing to know it is well with my soul

in the deepest squalls of a watery voyage

—it is quite a different feat (neither greater nor lesser)

when the minor tone turns to a major key

—as Christ in splendor is descending

to name it again—“it is well, it is well with my soul”

-to name it again to the judge decsending

—a resolute confidence

in the face of our Savior’s redemptive option

(can you name your sure and certain faith as Jesus comes again?)

A faith like this, gets us through death.