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Isaiah 65:17-25
Luke 21:5-19
Have you ever heard the old fashioned phrase – steady the buffs; my dad would use it
occasionally. The Buffs were an English army regiment who wore buff coloured leather coats.
Steady the buffs means –, stand firm –keep your ground; hold your position –the Dictionary of
Catch Phrases calls it an expression “of self admonition -- or self-encouragement”. Well, steady
the buffs might need to be our motto in these strange days.
Todays gospel helps us
It concerns the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD. Just imagine the shock the
news of its destruction must have brought to the Jewish communities throughout the world –
and not only the Jews for this was one of the most famed landmarks of the ancient world.
God’s temple in Jerusalem – completely thrown down; the Jewish capital utterly destroyed, its
huge population put to the sword – it must have sent a paralyzing shock wave through the
world. Just think how we were shocked by the sudden destruction of Christchurch. These
cataclysms put everything in question.
We think Mark wrote in the period shortly before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem; Luke we
think composed his gospel when Jerusalem’s massive spiritual trauma was still news – and
when the questions it raised – is the end times here - pressed upon the church.
so Luke goes back to what Jesus himself taught about this Jesus had come on his last journey to Jerusalem, under the shadow of the cross. He taught
every day in the temple under increasing pressure of the authorities; one day, some of his
disciples couldn’t help but admire the massive stately beauty of the Temple; and Jesus said –
every stone here will be thrown down. There will be a cataclysmic destruction.
Imagine his disciples hearing that back in 33 AD – how shocking, how frightening a prophecy –
no wonder it was remembered – when; how; what will this mean; will the judgment of the
temple mean the end time, God’s judgment of the world.
Jesus reply is very significant
Watch out that you are not deceived
When things fall apart – when the familiar landmarks go down – when fear is rampant – then
watch out that you are not deceived
When a society becomes highly insecure, it becomes morally vulnerable to false solutions; it
looks for someone to blame – migrants and minorities usually; it looks for strong leaders and
doesn’t care too much about their character or strong arm methods; it grabs at offers to
restore the past glories, or for someone who promises to control the future - a kind of
perverted Messiah.
Watch out that you are not deceived says Jesus – there are plenty of others who will be
deceived – let it not be you. Steady the buffs. God is with you. Keep hold of Christ and his way
Israel was a frantic disintegrating society in the 50s and 60s AD. Factions violently contested for
control of Jerusalem. Number of false messiahs arose and led fanatical armed zealot supporters
into the desert, much as Isis has done recently.
Jesus said, many will come in my name claiming I am the one, and the time is near. Do not
follow them.
You see, even when something as shattering and ominous as the destruction of God’s Temple
in Jerusalem happens, don’t think the end has come. Christians, don’t be deceived or
intimidated by fears or omens. Steady, the buffs
Jesus had made provision for just this time – he says, the end is not yet. When you see even
convulsions among the nations and in the natural world, the end is not yet – there is still a work
to do for God and God is still with us.
Christian faith had to make its way through severe persecutions at its beginning – persecutions
in Jerusalem and Rome where the apostle were martyred; fierce persecutions in the roman
empire where many were put to death for their faith. And so even to this day; the roll of
Christian martyrs. In Cambodia there were only about 10,000 Christians when Pol Pot came to
power in the 1970s – and 8000 were killed. Their church has now grown to 200,000.
Jesus told his followers that they would be persecuted, and tried before the powers of this
world
But this would result in their being public witnesses for Christ. In fact that is word the word
martyr originally meant – a witness. It is Christ’s loudest appeal to the human conscience –this
man this women is willing to die for me, die not fighting but simply bearing witness – to me; for
I gave my life for them –hear their words now
Yes in times of great trouble and tension, the world takes its chance to turn upon the church.
Everyone will hate you because of me says Jesus. In fact sometimes the church itself turns from
light to darkness and becomes instead the persecutor of the individual Christians.
You will betrayed even by relatives and friends he said.
Hard words – but what goes with them
Jesus says, don’t worry about how you will defend yourselves. I will give you words and wisdom
that none of your enemies will be able to contradict. And by standing firm you will gain life.
Don’t focus on fears and negatives –steady the buffs – we should focus on positives and
opportunities of this time, especially our opportunities to represent Jesus. In fact Jesus says lift
up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.
And so if you heart is heavy, if you are cast down by troubles in the world, in your life, in your
body or soul – lift up your head – Christ is near you; stand firm and steady. Do not be deceived
by discouragement – God is with you.
We Christians shouldn’t be thinking, what in the world is going to happen to us – we should be
trusting to God our father for that – and all the time, not just when the world goes awry - we
should be thinking, what do you have for me to do right now lord; how can I represent you in
my world – what behavior, what acts, what attitude, what sympathy, what plans, what words
do you have for me to give to your world.
We have not come to a time of active persecution – yet - in which our job is to bear witness to
Jesus before the powers. But in what things today will I be Jesus witness?
I said last week we need to be sustained by the heavenly vision, by the resurrection faith. Those
first Christians saw Jesus risen from the tomb; they experienced the mighty outpouring of the
holy spirit at Pentecost; yes they were privileged – but they still had to go on living by faith,
faith in God the Father of whose love they had assurance, faith in Christ that no matter how
discouraged they were by their own failings and sins, they could always find in him grace and
forgiveness and new strength to do better, to follow him closer and more loyally.
Our Isaiah passage takes us back to one of the great foretellings of the Old Testament. It is the
vision of the peaceable kingdom.
Isaiah, living long before Christ, could only see partially – his vision is of Jerusalem is partly of
this world, partly of the next – so the heavenly blessings for him are that all in that city will live
long and full lives – he still imagines those lives as coming to an end; as the days of a tree, so
will the days of my people be; but he sees in vision a human world where everything is as it was
meant to be, where no one will labour in vain, no children be born doomed to a life of misery,
no longer will people build houses and others live in them;. But even so his vision of new
heaven and new earth breaks the frame of earthly existence – for the wolf and the lamb will
feed together and the lion will eat straw like an ox; and the sound of weeping will be no more.
We Christians should not have our eyes exclusively on this world – we should and especially in
hard times be sustained by the heavenly hope. Jesus Christ has come. God with us, has taken
human existence, saved us from within our human life; he has offered his perfect human
service to God even to death upon the cross for us; and because he is risen for us we through
grace are joined to him by faith and risen with him. He lives – whatever we experience of earth,
he lives with us; whatever we go though, and especially as we go through aging and sickness
and suffering and loss, he is our Lord in heaven and he is going to take us to himself.
Don’t be hypnotised by the news – by the rumours – by the conflicts in the world – by fears of
the end. Steady the buffs. Eyes on Christ – hearts in heaven – the great reward - Christ’s reward
for his labours which he shares with us.