Yesterdays sermon Chicken Mini and the Doomed Temple Luke 21.5-19 I have a little story to tell you today and many of you may be familiar with it. It begins as all good stories do, “Once upon a time … there was a little chicken. She was the smallest chicken in the family. Maybe because of the constant torment she received from her brother and sister, this small chick, known as Chicken Mini would spend a lot of time away from the chicken coup and out in the woods. Chicken Mini loved to walk in the woods. There were flowers everywhere and huge trees. She loved the tall majesty of the forest and from the canopy of shade they produced she could hear the birds singing. It was such a sweet sound. One day, as Chicken Mini walked through the forest an acorn fell from the tree. The nut had been dislodged by Skeeter Squirrel as he chased his young cousin, Stealthy through the tree tops. It wasn’t a particularly large acorn, but it gathered a lot of momentum falling from such a great height. Without a bit of warning -- or even a yell of “Look out below” from the squirrels – the acorn hit Chicken Mini squarely on the head and nearly knocked her to the ground. It bounced off her noggin and landed in some pine needles a good distance away. “What the chicken feed!,” she exclaimed. Looking around for whatever hit her and massaging her feathered head, Chicken Mini couldn’t see the object that hurt her. All she saw as she looked up was a patch of darkened sky above her head and she determined that the sky was falling. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!,” Mini said. “I must run and tell the king.” And she ran and she ran, as fast as Chicken Mini’s tiny chick feet could carry her. Then, she came upon a hen. The hen was once known as Henny Penny, but had recently taken to calling herself Henrietta Dollar, I mean, she had to account for inflation you know. Henrietta asked Chicken Mini, “Hey sister, where you going in such a hurry?” “Oh Ms. Dollar,” Mini exclaimed, “the sky is falling and I am going to the lion to tell him about it.” Ms. Dollar wasn’t any ordinary hen. She wasn’t a bird brain. In fact, she had been known to have a lot of cents. “I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on that,” she said. “How do you know the sky is falling?” “It hit me on the head, so I know it must be so,” Mini said standing on her toes so Henrietta could see the lump forming. Convinced, Henrietta said, “Let me go with you! Run, run.” So the two ran and run until they met Providential Duck. Now Providential was a lucky duck. Originally he was known as Ducky Lucky after winning a ton of chicken feed at the poker tables – and by that I mean money. In fact, he was so good and winning so often he established something of a Duck Dynasty at the tables. He had begun to think that it was Providential that he was winning so much – you know, you’ve got to know when to fold ‘em – so he too changed his name. Chicken Mini and Henrietta Dollar stopped to tell Providential the bad news and how they planned to handle it. “We are going to tell the king.” Thinking that it was a good thing, a Providential moment, you may say, the duck asked, “May I come with you?” So all three of them ran on and on until they met Wily Willy. Wily Willy was one of the craftiest animals in the woods – and by that I don’t mean that he liked to visit Michael’s to brush up on his macramé skills. He was cunning like a fox – okay, okay, let’s just tell it plainly – he was a FOX! “Where are you three running to in such a hurry,” Wily Willy asked. “The sky is falling and we are going to the king to tell him about it,” Providential Duck said. “Well, do you know where he lives? “ Wily Willy asked. “I dont,” Chicken Mini said. “Me neither,” Henrietta Dollar said. “Ditto,” said Providential Duck. “Well, I do,” Wily Willy said. “He’s programmed in my GPS, so come with me into my den and we’ll get it and I’ll lead you there.” So the three friends followed him inside and were never seen again. But Wily Willy was and he was a few pounds heavier. And the moral of the story is? “Don’t trust a fox named Wily Willy?” No! “Name changes are nonsense?” No! “Animals are dumb?” No! It’s “Do Not Be Afraid!” THE GOSPEL Today’s Gospel lesson is not a fairy tale but it does share the moral of Chicken Mini – Do Not Be Afraid. Standing in the courtyard of Herod’s Temple one day, someone within Jesus’ entourage mentioned the grandeur and magnificence of the Temple. Herod’s Temple was the largest religious complex in the ancient world. Building began in around 20 BCE. It was built to replace the second temple in Jerusalem which was built to replace Solomon’s temple which was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. At the time of our lesson -- some 40 years after construction had begun -- Herod’s Temple had yet to be finished. Some of the huge blocks of green or white marble used in building the Temple measured 67-1/2 feet long, 7-1/2 feet tall and 9 feet wide. Walls making up the eastern front of the Temple were covered with gold plate. So pristine was the Temple that on a bright day the building gleamed white as snow. Inside were rich ornaments and memorials made to honor some of the greatest people of the day; a table from Ptolemy, a chain from Agrippa and a golden vine donated by Herod the Great himself. Despite not yet being completed, the newest Temple was immense in its wealth and it was well on its way to becoming one of the wonders of the world. (The Interpreter’s Bible) It is no wonder that the disciples (Mark tells us it was Peter, James, John and Andrew) and those gathered around Jesus that day were in awe of what they were seeing. It should be noted that just before this scene takes place in Luke, Jesus and the disciples had just witnessed the widow who placed the two copper coins in the Temple treasury. “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them all. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.” (vs. 3-4) Whether Jesus was still concerned about the disciples understanding the significance of the woman’s gift, or whether something else was on his mind is unclear, however the fact that they are now standing in awe of the magnificence of the new Temple was another teaching moment for Him. As they talked about the wonders of the Temple, Jesus made this bold prediction. “As for the things you are admiring, the time is coming when not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished,” he said. (vs. 6, CEB) Perplexed by what they were hearing the people asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? What sign will show that these things are about to happen?”(vs. 7) Isn’t it just like the disciples, and us I dare say, that we so often want to know the ending of the story without having even experienced the beginning and middle? Often times we are better off not knowing the future. For whom in their right minds would want to know about the death and destruction that awaited the followers of Jesus or awaits we who claim the same Messiah?! We want to skip right past that hard stuff and get to the good stuff – where God comes to our rescue. Jesus was sharing a prophetic vision with them about a time when the Temple would be destroyed. But he was not some soothsayer or fortune teller. He simply glossed over their question with another warning about those who would claim to know the future. “Watch out that you aren’t deceived,” he said. “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ and ‘It’s time!’ Don’t follow them.” Truer words of warning could not have been spoken to the disciples than these at this moment. Years later, false prophets such as Theudas and Judas the Galilean would claim to be the Messiah and lead armed rebellions and would be killed (Acts 5:36-37); or the Egyptian terrorist mentioned in Acts 21:38 who led an armed revolt of 4,000 people in the desert. All these amounted to nothing. Jesus’ words weren’t just meant for the disciples, but for those who followed them and even speak to us today. “When you hear of wars and rebellions, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen first,” Jesus says in verse 9. But even then that’s not the ending of the story. Far from it. “The end won’t happen immediately,” he says. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other. There will be great earthquakes and wide-scale food shortages and epidemics. There will also be terrifying sights and great signs in the sky. “But before all this occurs, they will take you into custody and harass you because of your faith. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” (vv. 10-12) The message of Jesus in Luke was written years after His words were spoken. In the intervening years there had been wars and rumors of wars. Mount Vesuvius had erupted and destroyed half of Pompeii. Earthquakes were said to have ravaged Greece, Asia Minor and Palestine. The reigns of Claudius and Nero were marked by pestilences and famines, as well as the murderous torture of Christian believers. Each generation to hear the Messiah’s words have treated this scripture as if it was written especially for them. We are no exception. Who can look around us and deny that Jesus’ message is still relevant to us? School shootings, mass murders, terrorism, violence against Christians and giant storms like Katrina, Sandy and Super Typhoon Haiyan make headlines today leaving many of us to wonder are we in the midst of times that Jesus himself predicted would happen before his return. Jesus’ message to us is again the same as to His disciples. “Do Not Be Afraid.” In times such as these it’s not easy to be unafraid. But, Jesus tells us that’s the way we are supposed to be. We are to be brave. But how? The answer is found in his next words. These times of persecution will “provide you with an opportunity to testify,” he says in verse 13. And then, “Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance. I’ll give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to counter or contradict.” Jesus is right here beside us in the best of times to be sure, but believers know that Jesus will also be there too when times are at their worst. In sending out His disciples in what we call the Great Commission in Matt. 28.19-20, Jesus sent them out with these words, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” And we are to continue to teach what He commanded, especially in the face of persecution for that is when His words need to be heard the most. And in sending them out, Jesus promised “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And that is something we all need to hear, especially when faced with the persecutions He predicted would occur for his followers and most likely will occur for us in the future. “You will be betrayed by your parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends,” Jesus says. Do Not Be Afraid, I will be with you! “They will execute some of you.” Do Not Be Afraid, I will be with you! “Everyone will hate you because of my name.” Do Not Be Afraid, I will be with you! By staying truthful to Jesus, by showing our faith, by standing by that faith and ultimately standing by Jesus, He will stand by you and “still, not a hair on your heads will be lost,” he promises. “By holding fast, you will gain your lives.” Unlike Chicken Mini in my silly story earlier, we are to be unafraid and to have faith in Jesus Christ. In doing so, Jesus promises we will be greatly rewarded when His kingdom finally comes. In the meantime, Do Not Be Afraid! For He is with you! Amen!
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 03:15:19 +0000
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