In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I love to cook but I am not very creative - I put it down to a lifetime in librarianship - systems and order, so I tend to follow recipes, often Delia Smith's. Delia gives confidence to people like me trying out new recipes by inserting into the instructions something along the lines of 'don't worry if it looks a bit messy at this stage, this is what it should look like and the end result will be spectacular'. In other words hold your nerve, be patient and persevere - do not throw the whole lot in the bin and start all over again!
Perseverance and patience are two of the messages from today's scripture readings - messages that spoke to the communities they were written for and for all those, including us who have followed on.
Both our Old Testament and Gospel readings today are concerned with revelations, visions of the future. In Daniel we have the first clear enunciation of the belief in the resurrection of the dead. And that Israel, God's chosen people have to persevere in remaining faithful to their ancestral religion, to the law of Moses, during their current sufferings and persecutions. They should not be allured by the higher Greek culture and its threat of paganism. Daniel is concerned with reinforcing the message that God's immense power can be relied on the rescue His faithful ones from their persecutors and that at the end they will be saved - the dead shall come back to life.
Our passage this morning from the Gospel of Mark is known as the 'Little Apocalypse' - the revelation, the unveiling of what will happen - the earthquakes, the violence of war, the false prophets, all these things must happen. Predictions such as these were nothing new for the community that this gospel was written for; the Old Testament prophets had foretold of these calamities many times.
And perseverance is what the disciples are being called to display. Jesus chooses four disciples - Peter, James, John and Andrew who were the first disciples called by Jesus, and who with the exception of Andrew were with Jesus at the restoring to life of Jairus's daughter, who were with him when he was transfigured and who, in the days ahead, would be with him when he went to pray privately at Gethsemane.
Jesus takes these close companions to the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and the Temple, sits down with them and teaches them, as is his practice - they are to receive special instruction and they have the opportunity to put their questions to him.
It may be that this is the first time that the disciples have seen the Temple, that grand and richly adorned symbol of God's presence with His people. The Temple that the disciples must have looked at in wonder before Jesus spoke of its impending destruction. They must have been amazed and even devastated that this holiest of holy places was to be destroyed but they didn't ask why they asked when, when will this happen and what will be the warning - the sign? Isn't that what we all want to know - when and what?
But Jesus doesn't give them a straight answer - only further revelations - of further distress - not only will the Temple be destroyed much more will happen, much more must happen 'all these things' must happen for God's plan to be fulfilled.
Jesus tells them that they must not be alarmed but they must persevere in watching for the signs - the violence of war, the destruction of the Temple, the perilous existence of the Church under persecution, the enticing voices of false prophets - these will be the beginnings, the birth pangs of the approaching end - before Jesus will return. And Jesus will be with them, and with us, in the task, God's grace supports those who persevere.
As we know from the letters of Paul, and others, that the early church were confident that Jesus would return soon and Christians, down the ages, have tried to calculate the time of His coming again - but it always was and always will be 'in God's time'.
Anyone who has been following the BBC Four series 'A History of Christianity' with Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch will have had a flavour the turmoil and chaos that the Church as experienced, survived and for much of the time grown through as it has watched and waited for the return of Jesus. And Perseverance features large in our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews with the Christian Jewish communities being called on not to abandon their Christian faith in the face of persecutions and temptations; that the worship of the old covenant has been superseded by the sacrifice of Jesus.
Rather, they are, and we are, called to be confident, to be bold in faith and in behaviour, even if the behaviour seems incomprehensible to the outside world. God has already fulfilled many promises, the greatest being the resurrection of His Son; He can be relied upon to fulfil the promises that remain. Holding fast with confident expectation, with hope, is what matters.
As is the necessity of meeting regularly as communities for worship, instruction and encouragement of each other as the 'the Day' - the time of Jesus' return approaches.
They are being encouraged to meet as this community of faith here in this place does, gathering for worship week by week, being part of the body of Christ, sharing in Christ at the Altar in the bread and in the wine. As many of this congregation did thirteen years ago today - gathering to worship and welcome Father Jonathan as he was instituted Rector here.
And so to the message of patience, easy to urge others to have but no so easy to practice ourselves. Gregory the Great urges that as Christians we should not be concerned with the appearance of patience, but with a patience that is rooted in the heart - that kind of patience is what connects with God that God bestows grace to accomplish.
Jesus cannot tell the disciples when the end time will come, they must have patience to hold on and see it through. It must have been a huge challenge to have patience even for the early church who didn't think that they would have long to wait. And for us today, the challenge may seem greater as the timescales are very different and we live and work in a hurried and anxious world where there is an expectation of quick solutions and instant responses.
Our challenge is to, as the disciples were encouraged to - to take the 'long look' - the calendar is in God's hands and in spite of what happens we and the Church must be hopeful that out of the chaos will come birth of new life - that sufferings will not lead to despair but to hope - to the anticipated dawn of God's new day.
And there is one final message from our readings - that of encouragement to stir up one another with love and good deeds, not through manipulation but as being living examples/ models to follow. St Margaret of Scotland, wife of King Malcolm the third and whose feast day we celebrate tomorrow, was one such example. As a founder of churches, monasteries and for her care of orphans, the sick and the poor it has been said that she 'seemed to influence for good all with whom she came into contact'.
God's love is what sustains us in our sufferings, shares in our joys and underpins our lives; God's love that is expressed so vividly in the cross.
As we persevere with patience in our waiting and watching for the fulfilment of God's promises, striving to be worthy disciples, we can hold onto the words of Julian of Norwich, the 14th century mystic who was so convinced of the love of God that she wrote - 'All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.'
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Sermon by: Christine Barclay