Moving Under Fire – Luke 21:5-28

One of the first things we were taught in the military is how to maneuver under fire so as to be able to get close enough to an objective to accomplish our mission.  We learned three basic techniques which are used for varying degrees of danger. 

The first technique we learned is called the three-to-five second rush.  This technique is used when cover and concealment is available, and the person is not under direct heavy fire.  Essentially, the soldier will emerge from a covered position and run for no more than three-to-five seconds, then throw themselves down behind the nearest piece of cover.  This is repeated over and over until the soldier gets to the desired location.  The theory is that when not under heavy, direct fire, you can more quickly move closer to the objective while not allowing an enemy shooter the time required to take aimed shots at you. 

The second technique we learned is called the high crawl.  This technique is used when cover and concealment is available; however, the person may be under direct fire.  When using this technique, the soldier will use a half-crawl to move from covered position to covered position.  The soldier’s hips are prone to the ground while he moves, but he is able to support his upper body on his  elbows and forearms and maintain his head in an erect posture so that he can see where he is going.  Movement using this technique is slower, but it affords more protection to the person. 

The last technique is called the low crawl.  This technique is used when the person is under direct, heavy fire and cover and concealment is scant, if present at all.  This technique involves the soldier laying in a completely prostrate position so as to minimize their profile to enemy fire.  Hips, chest, arms, and even his face are in the mud.  Head down, the soldier propels himself with one foot a few inches at time.  The only thing he can see is the few inches of ground in front of his face.  When under fire in this manner, movement to the next covered position seems to take an eternity.  This is the movement technique when the excrement hits the fan. 

I bring up this description, because in this week’s gospel lesson, Jesus is describing the kind of situation used in the last movement technique. 

In today’s lesson, it is Wednesday of the Passion week.  In less than forty-eight hours, Jesus will be arrested by the Jewish and Roman authorities, tried, and publicly executed. 

As Jesus and his disciples are walking along the temple mount, the disciples marvel at the beautiful temple complex around them.  Jesus jolts them with a startlingly casual remark, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 

The disciples’ reaction is immediate, and it sounds something like this:  Wait, what?!?  Jesus had just told them that the equivalent of what would be the combination of our National Cathedral, Capitol Building, and White House would be completely destroyed.  Understandably they seek clarification, asking, “Teacher, when will these things be and what will be the sign that these things are about to take place?”

Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat his answer to their dismay.  He tells them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences.  And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

He further tells them, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.  Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing in those days!  For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against his people.  They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all the nations, and Jerusalem be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and foreboding of what is coming on the world.”

As if these warnings are not frightening enough, Jesus tells the disciples that they will be personally affected by all these things.  “But before all this they will lay their hands on YOU and persecute YOU, delivering YOU up to the synagogues and prisons, and YOU will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake…YOU will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of YOU they will put to death.  YOU will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”

In other words, turn on the fan, cue the excrement.  Things just got real.  Our natural reaction is to assume the low crawl position, face in the dirt, making ourselves as small and unnoticeable as possible, and try to avoid the fire that will come our way. 

And though this word was written long ago, the warning still stands.  We see echoes of its fulfillment today.  We live in a world where tolerance and acceptance are the mantra of society.  Social pressure and even government coercion are brought to bear to compel the Christian that sin isn’t sin, that we don’t really need a savior, and that Jesus is not the one and only savior of the world.  The pressure to assume the low crawl, and try to escape notice, to not have to confess our faith can be exceedingly powerful.

And yet, that is not what Jesus tells his disciples to do.    

Jesus tells the disciples, “This will be your opportunity to bear witness.  Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.” 

Jesus tells us, that in the midst of enemy fire, we are not to lay prostrate, making ourselves as small a target as possible.  He tells them to stand up in the face of the fire and walk forward in faith.  We are instructed not to fear, but to remain faithful to Christ in our response.  Even though the disciples may be persecuted or killed, they are to remain faithful.  The veteran in me recoils at this instruction. 

How can Jesus ask us to remain faithful in the face of such opposition and danger? 

Even though the disciples face and may even taste death, Jesus offers them the following hope.  “But not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your lives…Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”   

Jesus reminds the disciples that though they may die, they will not perish.  Their redemption is drawing near.  Christ our redeemer has conquered death.  Christ has conquered the world. 

On the cross, Christ took on the worst that the world in bondage to sin, death, and the devil has to offer.  He experienced the humiliation and pain of crucifixion and death.  He experienced the weight of bearing the sins of the world upon his shoulders.  On Good Friday the world thought it had won.  And yet, on Easter morning Jesus rose from the dead and declared his victory over the world. 

Christ died that the claim of sin over us might be paid, and he rose that in him we might live eternally.  He bought us back, or redeemed us, from the power of sin and the grave.  This is the simple gospel message: the declaration of Christ’s victory for us, received by faith. 

Just as Jesus was raised in glory in his body, so shall we be when Christ returns. 

As fellow disciples in Christ, what are we called to do when the excrement hits the fan?  Jesus tells us to rest in the certain knowledge that though we may die, we shall not perish.  He tells us to stand in the hope that our redeemer is drawing near.  We are to hold steady to the confession of faith that we maintain in Christ. 

As believers we are baptized in the promise that in Jesus we died to sin and have been raised to new life in Christ.  We gather together to hear God’s word, which forms us in the faith, gives us comfort in the gospel, strengthens, and sustains us in our daily walk with Christ.  In Confession and Absolution, we receive the gift of forgiveness that we might go forward as forgiven witnesses for Christ.  In Holy Communion we celebrate Christ crucified and our sinful nature with him, and Christ raised to everlasting life and us with him. 

It is these things that give us strength in our confession.  Death holds no threat to us because we know that though we might die, we shall not perish.  Our redeemer is near, and he already stands victorious. 

In ordering our lives around the Word and Sacrament that Christ freely gives us through his Church, we bear witness to the world that Jesus lives. 

Let us remain faithful in the certain knowledge that Christ, our redeemer, will give us the strength to raise our heads and walk forward in faith.  This is our opportunity to bear witness to the world that Christ the redeemer has overcome sin, death, and the devil.   Amen. 

The Spoiler Alert – Revelation 7: 9-17

My kids and I are huge fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  We have been ever since they started the movie franchise back in 2008.  For over ten years we have been watching as new installments were released in theaters, waiting for the culmination of the Avenger’s franchise.  Two years ago, the moment had finally come.  The first of the two-part Infinity War movie series was finally hitting the theaters, and we were overwhelmed with excitement to go see it. 

The kids and I went to watch Part One, Infinity War, on opening weekend.  We had our popcorn, candy, and sodas.  We were ready.  In the movie, the main adversary of the Avengers, Thanos, is battling with the Avengers to assemble the Infinity Stones.  The movie ends with a climactic battle between the forces of Thanos and the Avengers.  There is a moment where it appears that the Avengers are about to thwart Thanos, when Thanos turns the tables.  He obtains the last of the Infinity Stones, and with the snap of his fingers, half of all life in the universe vanishes.  The movie ends with the disappearance of half of the Avengers and their apparent defeat. 

My kids were aghast that the movie could possibly end this way.  Characters we had watched for ten years, whom we had come to love, just vanished.  How could this be?  We sat there in the theater, my kids dumbfounded and upset. 

At this point, I turned to the kids and said, “Spoiler Alert:  the Avengers are going to win.”  My kids looked at me with confused expressions.  How could I possibly have that kind of confidence?  I said to them, “Because there is a part two to this movie.  I don’t know the details of how its going to go down, but I know the Avengers win.”  In that one statement, my kids were encouraged, and we patiently waited to see part two of the movie series. 

I submit to you today, that John is presenting us with the same kind of spoiler alert in today’s text.  To understand what John is doing we need to enter his world.

According to tradition, the Book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John in the year 95 AD.  John had witnessed the ministry of Christ, and the ascension of our Lord into heaven.  He heard Jesus promise that he would return, and his instructions that first they must make disciples of all nations.  He would continue his ministry as apostle and later Bishop of Asia Minor, in what is now modern-day Turkey. 

However, over sixty years later, the Christian community was still waiting on the Lord’s return.  They were stuck dealing with sickness and death.  They continued to see natural disasters such as famine, earthquakes, and even the eruption of Mount Vesuvius near Pompeii. 

And now, under Emperor Domitian, the first empire-wide persecution of Christians had broken out.  Many bishops and priests were arrested.  Some such as Clement of Rome were martyred for their faith.  House churches were subject to raids by Roman soldiers.  Articles used in worship were confiscated.  Copies of the scriptures were burned.  To add insult to injury, John, the last of apostles, had been arrested and exiled to a penal colony on the island of Patmos. 

In John’s vocabulary, first century Christians found themselves amid a Great Tribulation, or time of trial. 

Under these circumstances the Christians to whom John had been bishop were beginning to question their faith.  They asked themselves when is Jesus going to return?  Why are we suffering as we are suffering? 

The Book of Revelation is God’s answer through John to their questions. 

John speaks to their reality in his vivid descriptions of the Great Tribulation they were facing.  He describes Satan as a fearful dragon raging against the Christian community.  He describes the trials that Christians in his day faced such as war, famine, sickness, and death, as four horse-mounted riders of the Apocalypse.  He describes violent persecution of the Church. 

And yet, in the midst of the chaos and Tribulation, John’s message in Revelation is a message of hope. 

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, ‘Amen!  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!  Amen.’

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’  I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’  And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

‘Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ 

John’s message to the Church of his day is a Spoiler Alert to them:  God Wins. 

But this Spoiler Alert isn’t just for the First Century Church.  This Spoiler Alert was written for us also. 

When we read Revelation today, we are tempted to think it doesn’t apply to us.  We assume it is addressing a future reality.  Or perhaps only the reality of the Church in John’s day.  We don’t see ourselves in his description of the Great Tribulation. 

The fact is, the Tribulation is going on right now, even as we speak.  Satan is actively raging against the people of God, and using his tools of war, famine, sickness, and death right now.  John’s description is as true today, as it was 19 centuries ago. 

Millions of Christians around the globe live under persecution.  In places such as China, North Korea, Iran, and others, Christians today are jailed and even killed for their faith.  For them, the Great Tribulation is alive and well. 

But even in places where Christians do not face persecution, Christians are no less subject to the ragings of Satan. 

To the mother who has miscarried or given birth to a stillborn child, to the loved one taking care of a mother or father suffering from Alzheimer’s, to the man or woman suffering the ravages of cancer, the rider of the pale horse mentioned by John is a distinct reality. 

To the person who has lost a child in a senseless school shooting, or to the person grieving a family member lost to violent crime, the rider of the red horse who takes away peace from the earth is bearing down on them. 

To the inner-city single mom trying to find a way to feed her children, the rider of the black horse who brings famine is alive and well. 

The power of sin, death, and the devil to attack God’s people and his creation are still at work in the world today.  We need to see ourselves as part of the story that John describes in Revelation because we still live in that reality. 

Amid all of this we may be tempted to question our circumstances just as John’s followers did.

And yet, John’s Spoiler Alert applies to us also.  God Wins.  Victory is assured.  We are those who have made our robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

The day that Satan conspired with men to nail Jesus to the cross, he guaranteed his own defeat.  Every crack of the whip that scourged his flesh, every hammer strike on the nails in Christ’s hands and feet, every drop of blood that was shed made Satan more the loser. 

Through his death, Christ defeated the power of sin, death, and the devil over us and over creation.  By taking our sin upon himself and paying the penalty that we owed, Christ destroyed any claim that Satan has over us and over creation.    

On the cross, Christ guaranteed victory for us through his blood to be received through faith.  God made us who were enemies and strangers into a multitude of nations rejoicing before the Lamb who is seated victorious on his throne. 

And though victory was gained on the cross, its assurance was revealed to us on Easter morning through the resurrection.  This John whose Revelation we read today, walked into the empty tomb.  He placed his fingers in the nail prints in the hands of Jesus.  He ate and spoke with the risen Lord and declares to us today the certain hope we have in Christ. 

As Christians we order our lives around this hope.  When we were baptized, we were made white with the blood of the Lamb.  When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we declare, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” in the sure and certain knowledge that God’s victory has come to us through faith.  When we receive the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion, we rejoice with all the hosts of heaven in the presence of Christ himself.  When our neighbor suffers, we speak God’s victory to them and offer them the comfort they will receive when Christ wipes away their tears. 

May you all go in the peace of knowing God’s Spoiler Alert.  God Wins.  Christ is victorious.  Amen.