Ignoring Stones and Alarm
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 13:1-8
We are easily distracted by human achievements and the stoking of our insecurities. We marvel at the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, skyscrapers in Charlotte, New York, or Mumbai, and the Great Wall of China. We are discomfited with uncertainty, with something new, with experiences that take us unaware. We jump to fight or flight when we are not certain what we are seeing or something shocks our sense of security. It can be hard to remain focused on what God calls us to amid the distractions. How do we look past them to focus on what really matters?
Five years ago, I was looking at Matthew's version of today's passage with a church closing its doors and merging with another. There was a lot of emotional turmoil over the prospect. Parishioners looked to the history of their ministry, events held over the years, consequential life events in that place, and its familial ties. There was a lot to process as they were facing the reality that their time in this place was coming to an end. It was a reality they could have seen coming. When I had first arrived, I was asked if I had been appointed to shut down the church. They had been clinging to their identity and traditions tied up in their brick and mortar, though they knew it just could not last much longer.
Jesus' disciples had no such foresight. They were looking at the enormity of the stones used in the construction of the Temple and marveling at the strength and power required to set them in place, as well as their seeming indestructibility. This was a construction designed to last for millennia. It was no brick facade on a wood frame structure with limited durability. The walls and foundation were of quarried limestone, shaped into two and a half ton blocks. Limestone may not be the strongest of stones, but blocks of limestone that big are very impressive, especially when arranged into a temple edifice. They are not going to be knocked over in ...
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 13:1-8
We are easily distracted by human achievements and the stoking of our insecurities. We marvel at the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, skyscrapers in Charlotte, New York, or Mumbai, and the Great Wall of China. We are discomfited with uncertainty, with something new, with experiences that take us unaware. We jump to fight or flight when we are not certain what we are seeing or something shocks our sense of security. It can be hard to remain focused on what God calls us to amid the distractions. How do we look past them to focus on what really matters?
Five years ago, I was looking at Matthew's version of today's passage with a church closing its doors and merging with another. There was a lot of emotional turmoil over the prospect. Parishioners looked to the history of their ministry, events held over the years, consequential life events in that place, and its familial ties. There was a lot to process as they were facing the reality that their time in this place was coming to an end. It was a reality they could have seen coming. When I had first arrived, I was asked if I had been appointed to shut down the church. They had been clinging to their identity and traditions tied up in their brick and mortar, though they knew it just could not last much longer.
Jesus' disciples had no such foresight. They were looking at the enormity of the stones used in the construction of the Temple and marveling at the strength and power required to set them in place, as well as their seeming indestructibility. This was a construction designed to last for millennia. It was no brick facade on a wood frame structure with limited durability. The walls and foundation were of quarried limestone, shaped into two and a half ton blocks. Limestone may not be the strongest of stones, but blocks of limestone that big are very impressive, especially when arranged into a temple edifice. They are not going to be knocked over in ...
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