God's Got You JUMC 11-13-2022 Sermon

26th Sunday after Pentecost

Johnston United Methodist Church

November 13, 2022

God’s Got You

Luke 21:5-19

Key Text Verses: Luke 21:13-19

We live in a world where we are inundated with news and information all the time. There was a time when our television news for the day came between 6:00 – 7:00 PM with first 30 minutes reserved for local news then national news for the remainder of the time. National anchors such as Walter Cronkite would report without editorializing, and we would be up to date for the day. Now, news is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With this total access into our homes, the media outlets must work harder to win audience share. These outlets realized that fear drives up ratings, and, to use a quote from the 70s about television news, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

Our reading this morning takes place during the week we have come to call Holy Week. After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus spent several days teaching in and around the Temple during the day. Matthew and Mark have parallel passages to this. Immediately preceding our reading, Jesus witnessed the widow give her small amount of money to the Temple treasury and the rich people giving their offering.

Very likely, this was not the first time He and the disciples had been to Jerusalem, but this visit must have held some significance that caused one of the disciples to make the comment on the beauty and magnificence of the Temple.

The Temple was the focal point of the Jewish people and their lives. This was the 3rd Temple and was finished by Herod fewer than 50 years before this event. The disciple was showing/exclaiming his excitement about being in the presence of such a marvelous structure. I don’t know what he was expecting Jesus to say, but I am sure that Jesus’ reply was not what was expected. To say that one of the world’s greatest buildings would be so completely destroyed that one stone would not be left on top of another would be utterly mind-blowing. Less than 40 years after Jesus said those words, Roman armies conquered and destroyed Jerusalem and the beloved Temple. In fact, the only parts of the Temple that were left were the foundation and the floor. Stones from the Temple still remain on the ground where they fell. Part of the foundation is now the Western Wall where Jews and others offer prayers. Jesus’ prediction of the Temple’s destruction was fulfilled in 70 AD.

Of course, the disciples were full of questions. “What??” “When??” “How will we know when this is going to happen?” We are just like the disciples. We want to know what and when. We want information. We crave information. If someone came up to you and said that your favorite restaurant was closing soon, you would question that person just like the disciples did.

Jesus’ answer to the disciples was just as puzzling as the prediction of the Temple. Instead of saying a particular date or time, Jesus gave several admonishments and promises. Let’s look at some of those.

Don’t Be Deceived

Jesus first told the disciples to not be deceived. He said that many would come along and claim to be the Messiah. Several would try to forecast the exact date for the end of the world. Even as I said those words, our minds think back to examples of people who thought they knew exactly when the end of time was. Many thought it would happen when the calendars turned to January 1, 2000. The Doomsday predictors were very busy trying to convince people that Y2K was the end. There have been people who forecasted a particular day that time would end based on a Mayan calendar or some other prognosticating tool. A quick search of Google and Wikipedia show that at least 200 predictions about the end of time have been made since Jesus’ resurrection. All of them have one thing in common – they were WRONG!!

One thing is certain. NO ONE knows the date or the time of Jesus’ return or the end of the world. God is the only One who knows when the time is. Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, “But about that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, NOR THE SON, but only the Father.” I don’t know when Jesus is coming, but I know He is coming. HOWEVER, we should live each day as if He was coming tomorrow, but plan and work each day as if He was not coming in our lifetime.

Another deception which we need to be aware is that of people claiming to be the Messiah. Again, over the centuries, many have claimed to be the Messiah and have drawn unsuspecting people to their ranks. If we take a second and think, we can recall several, even in our recent history. Jim Jones, Charles Manson, Sun Yong Moon, and David Koresh are just some examples of people who deceived others to believe they were the Messiah and should be followed. Each of these “messiahs” gave people the impression they were the real Messiah come back for them. However, rather than a true messiah sent from God, Satan infested these people for his purposes. Satan loves to deceive God’s people and lure them away from God. Social media – Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and the like – can be a great platform for Christian witness, but it can also be a haven for false prophets and counterfeit messiahs.

Our task is not to point out the deceivers – God will do that – but we need to be aware that deceivers exist – even in the holiest of places. We should test what we are told to make sure it measures to God’s standards. Is what is being said congruent with the Bible? Is someone twisting what the Bible says to meet their purposes? In Ephesians 6 Paul describes the Armor of God. Every piece of the armor is defensive except one – the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. When we have God’s Word in our hearts and minds, we can stand firm against deception. Jesus used God’s Word against Satan. Satan tried to use scripture to trip Jesus up, but Jesus countered effectively with scripture. Recognizing false prophets and countering with scripture will keep us from being led astray.

Don’t Panic

Jesus told the disciples, and us, not to panic. He said there would be wars, rumors of wars, insurrections, famines, earthquakes, and pestilence, but even this would not be the end.

Wars have been happening since the dawn of time. One nation gets angry with another and starts a war. Another nation wants the land or territory that someone else has and invades starting a war. A country commits atrocities on another group of people, and another country steps in to rein in the aggressor.

Again, since the beginning of time, people have been attacked by disease. It is a function of a fallen world. When we disobeyed God, we were thrown out of Eden, and we became subject to the whims of the world. Disease and pestilence are part of that world in which we live. We can name some of the major plagues over the years – Black Plague, Bubonic Plague, Spanish Flu of 1918, and, most recently, COVID-19.

Look at what has been going on in the world over the last couple of years. Perhaps some of us took out our Bibles and began studying these and other relevant passages in the Gospels and even in Revelation to see if this was the beginning of the end. The images that Jesus bring to our minds can be very disconcerting, almost to the point of being downright scary!

God tells us through scripture more than 360 times (yes, one for every day of the year) to not be afraid and not to panic. God knows when things go wrong or are out of our control, we panic. Panic is one of those “wasted” emotions. Panic is paralyzing fear. When we are afraid, our “fight or flight” response kicks in, and we can only focus on the issue that is the cause of the fear (threat). There is nothing inherently wrong with this response. It is a physiological response to a threat, and this response is what will keep us alive when we have a threat like when a bear is chasing us, or we are in the path of a tornado. But when fear turns into panic, this panic can paralyze us to the point of inaction. When we panic, especially long-term panic, this emotion can literally eat us from the inside out. We hear about people having “panic attacks.” These attacks can manifest themselves with symptoms like heart attacks or strokes. When we panic, we begin to swirl in our problem, and we forget the One who is right beside us and will get us out of the problem. Look what happened to Peter when he panicked while walking to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. He took his eyes off Jesus focusing instead on the waves and wind, and he began to sink!! As the old hymn puts it:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

Then the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of his glory and grace.

When we look to Jesus, our panics disappear!

Don’t Worry

Worry is Panic’s cousin. We worry about almost everything. We worry about what we eat, what we don’t eat, what we will do, what we won’t do. We worry about things we can’t control. We worry about who is in the government and about what they will do for/to us. We worry that we will not have enough money to make it through the month, or sometimes we worry that we might have too much money!!

In verses 12-17 Jesus tells us that we as His followers will be hated, betrayed – even by our own family – and handed over for persecution and possible execution. We will be interrogated and perhaps tortured for our belief in Jesus. We will be hauled in front of accusers, government officials, and leaders to tell “our side.” This could be a cause to worry!

Mere days after Jesus said this, He was betrayed by one of His 12 closest friends, beaten, dragged before the High Priest, King Herod, and Pilate, the Roman Governor and interrogated. He was further beaten to within inches of His life, and finally crucified. Paul, on several occasions, was persecuted, stoned, beaten, questioned by several Greek and Roman officials, and finally killed for Jesus’ sake. Time after time throughout history, followers of Jesus have faced betrayals, persecution, and even martyrdom for Jesus. In parts of the world today, Christians face these same trials. In many cases, the Christians are interrogated. Jesus said that this is an opportunity to testify. Paul used this opportunity to testify to King Agrippa about Jesus. Agrippa asked if Paul was trying to “persuade him to be a Christian.” Paul affirmed that.

Jesus tells us something that I find strange in the following sentences. He tells us NOT to prepare a defense in advance. This seems odd to me. The Boy Scouts’ motto is “Be Prepared”, so I would think that we should have what we would say firmly in our minds. Certainly, if you were subpoenaed to testify in court, you would prepare your statements and most likely practice with the attorney. So why would Jesus tell us not to prepare a defense? Wouldn’t this alleviate our worry?

Here is where Jesus makes a promise to back up an admonition. He says that HE would give us the answer we needed. He said that the words and wisdom He gives us would not be able to be refuted by anyone. With Jesus giving us the words we need when we need, why would we worry about what to say?

Someone who had been a teacher in the past shared with me about a parent who was railing at this teacher because of a child’s misbehavior in class. The teacher took a breath, quickly prayed for help, and the words that came out were completely foreign to the teacher. The teacher asked the parent about a puppy and whether the parent had bought a puppy. This was completely out of the blue! The parent broke down and wept. The parent apologized for HER behavior. A while later the parent approached the teacher with appreciation and love.

John, in his Gospel said that Jesus told His disciples, and us, that a lot of bad things will happen, but He said to not worry because “I have overcome the world.”

We as Christians are called to be patient and be able to discern what is going on. Present times can be very scary. The future can be absolutely terrifying. But this is not the end. We are called to be patient and not panic about current or future events. We need to keep our eyes and minds open so that we will not be deceived, and our hearts open to hear God’s Word.

Oswald Chambers wrote “No wonder Paul says nothing is ‘able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:39). Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is done only through the superb Atonement of Christ.” Chambers is right. When we are one with Christ, NOTHING can hurt us. Remember, when everything is crashing down around us, when it seems we are in a constant battle, and when it seems like we are being eaten alive by the world, God’s got us.