Bible Reading: Mark 13:1-8
Take a moment now to reflect on the changes in your life, and the wider world at the moment. Which of these are most dramatic to you? Just sit with those thoughts in the stillness for a minute or two… [Hold a silence / quiet, make notes or draw your feelings and responses if appropriate in your context]. If its helpful to share it, do find someone you can trust this week – it could be your pastoral visitor, your minister, a close friend or family member – to talk about the changes you’ve seen. It can be helpful to be intentional about recognising the change in our lives and how it shapes and shifts us.
How do you feel about change? Is change something you find scary, or do you have a more positive attitude towards it? If we think our time is full of social turmoil and change, we can see some of those same themes in the gospels, can’t we?
Jesus is born into a population living through occupation, with all the challenges, uprisings, oppression and confusion that brings for the Jewish people at the time.
Although there is much change afoot, as with all societies, there are lots of people in First Century Palestine who are personally invested in the status quo. They do not want to see radical change, because the system as it is suits them. What are the symbols of oppression we need to tear down?
In Mark’s gospel we hear about Jesus reflecting on the possibility of the very stones that make up the temple coming apart. Of course, we know that at least one of the things happening in this reading is a foreshadowing of his own death – Jesus’ body as a kind of temple.
What I am particularly interested in looking at today is – what are our temples? If the temple is the institution of ‘status quo’, of keeping things as they are, of preserving the world as it currently is…if the temple is ‘anti-change’, then Jesus invitation to imagine it coming apart in a matter of days is a huge political (with a small p) point. He is inviting his listeners, and he is inviting us today, to imagine a world in which we tear down the systems and structures that are only interested in preserving the status quo, keeping the rich rich and the poor poor, exploiting the many for the benefit of the few. Those systems are still at work in our world today. They might not be as inherently religious as they were in Jesus’ day, as faith groups have become more marginalised (in Western Europe, anyway), but they are still out there. You might like to reflect, make notes, or speak to a friend about your response to this question: what are our ‘temples’ today?
What are the symbols of oppression serving the existing social structures that we might want to tear down, or at least radically rethink? You can think about big political, national or international ones, or focus on something much more local. What are some of the forces, individuals, organisations and systems at work in our community that only work for some, and not for others? Where do we look for inspiration and courage to change the social order? Finally, we come to an important emphasis when thinking about radical change – which comes from reading the Jesus stories together, from not taking any one verse of the Bible out of context, from understanding something of what Jesus’ whole ministry is about. In this month of remembrance, when we think about conflict, and pray for peace, it is perhaps more important than ever to remember Jesus’ emphasis on peace.
In the midst of all the social unrest of his context, Jesus’ resurrection had the potential to spark full blown riots, a political revolution, the total overthrow of the social order with violence and counter-revolutions springing up all over the Middle East. However, in that moment after his return, the first thing he says to those closest to him is ‘peace be with you’. He could have said: ‘lets get revenge’ or ‘this will show them’ or ‘lets go get ‘em boys!’ but instead he insists on peace. Yes, Jesus is a radical, he’s transforming the social order even today, thousands of years later. But its not a violent act, it’s not a bloody guillotine, or Molotov cocktails, or acts of terrorism that will bring about the Jesus-kingdom. Rather, it is the way of peace, the absolute commitment to non-violence, the work of building community, of sharing love.
love and prayers
Revd Sara
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