The Birth Pang of Apocalypse - Pentecost XXIV--Year B--November 15, 2009 - The Reverend David R. Williams

From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in everyplace incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.  Amen.

“I do not know how I can cope,” a woman recently-widowed says to me. “My world has come to an end.”

Apocalypse. 

Any one of us facing the loss of a loved one faces apocalypse – a dark and painful end of a chapter in life.  The scripture themes today point to “apocalypse.” 

What a disturbing theme for a joyful Rite 13 Sunday – a Sunday when we celebrate the Christian form of Bat Mitzvah for two teenage daughters of this parish.

The church season is the overriding guide for us in the liturgical theme of “end-times.”  We are coming to the end of the long Pentecost season reminding us of the birth of the Church and the Church’s relationship to the living Christ. As the Pentecost season ends next Sunday with the celebration of Christ the King, we move into the season of Advent. We prepare for the coming of Christ. 

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines,” Jesus ominously says.    A dark Day of Judgment looms.

Goodness!  Claire Hansen and Sara Behnke cross the aisle on their Celebration Sunday-- and all of this explodes– earthquakes, famines, nations against nations?  Claire and Sara, you just did not realize how influential you are. 

Let us begin with the deeply-moving story of an ancient woman of the Old Testament.  Her name is Hannah.  Hannah, a lovely young woman, is pious, devoted to her God. 

In her adulthood, Hannah wants to be a mother.  She very much wants a child, but she is convinced she is no longer able to have children.  Hannah’s future seems bleak.  Hannah feels bitterly the end-time, the  apocalypse, in her yearning to bear offspring. There is no way.  Hannah is terribly lonely as she tries to move forward in her life.

On one final journey to her priest Eli, she begs for one more opportunity to conceive a child.  At first, Eli is not sure of Hannah’s purpose and determination, accusing her of being intoxicated. 

“Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman,” Hannah replies. 

God does grant to Hannah her wish.  From her pangs of birth is born one of the most influential priests and prophets of the Old Testament.  We know him to be Samuel. 

Hannah’s story has a happy ending, but her life has known deep solitude, desperation, and loss of faith in a future. Apocalypse.

Yet through apocalypse we may better appreciate the disclosure of a mystery.  It is revelatory.  Apocalypse may offer vision. 

Jesus startles his followers with his frightening language of the Day of Judgment.  As Jesus talks along with his disciples, they walk in the shadow of a grand wonder of the Roman world, the great temple in Jerusalem. Massive pillars of carved marble, grand artwork and beautiful architecture inspire this tabernacle home of God’s presence on earth. 

“Do you see these great buildings,” Jesus says.  “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down. “

Apocalypse. 

Duke Divinity School professor William Willimon shares a story of apocalypse from his personal past. 

“When I was serving a little church in rural Georgia, one of my members had a relative who died,” Willimon writes “The funeral was in a little, hot, crowded, off-brand Baptist country church.  Well, I had never seen anything like it.  They wheeled the coffin in; the preacher began to preach.  He shouted, fumed, flailed his arms. ‘It’s too late for Joe,’ he screamed.  ‘He might have wanted to do this or that in life, but it’s too late for him now.  He’s dead.  It’s all over for him. He might have wanted to straighten his life out, but he can’t now.  It’s over….’”

“‘But it ain’t too late for you!  People drop dead every day.  So why wait?  Now is the day of decision.  Now is the time to make your life count for something.  Give your life to Jesus!’the Baptist preacher screams.”

“Well, it was the worst thing I ever heard,” Willimon says.  “Can you imagine a preacher doing that kind of thing to a grieving family?”

“I talked to Patsy, the parishioner of my church, on the way home. ‘I’ve never heard anything so manipulative, cheap, and inappropriate.  I would never preach a sermon like that,’ I said.  She agreed ‘Of course,’ and added, ‘The worst part of all is that what he said was true.’”

Apocalypse.

Key to Jesus’ apocalypse and surely to Hannah’s experience are the pangs of birth.  No conclusion of faith--theological, liturgical--ends in void.  A new chapter begins.  Alpha, Omega, and back to Alpha.  We may have no earthly promise of how that new chapter will appear.  But life does begin anew in the foretelling of Advent.

A new baby comes into a family.  The configuration of Mom and Dad or Mom, Dad, and one child ends – a triangle becomes a quadrangle; or a twosome becomes a threesome. 

The day of graduation means saying goodbye to the comfort zone of familiar classrooms, teachers, classmates.  For parents, graduation means letting go – the old standards change. 

A Rector retires.  One chapter of a lively church ends, and we experience the birth pangs of new life, new ministries.

An elderly person loses her automobile license because the macular degeneration in her eyes diminishes her ability to drive safely.  She seeks other opportunities of transportation.

In these apocalyptic dark times, we feel profound despair, even trauma. “How?  Why?  When?  My world feels like it is coming to an end.”

Our Journey to Adulthood ceremony recognizes the changes of our maturing children’s lives.  Rather than understate these changes, the Journey to Adulthood program highlights and gives perspective in a theological context.  The story of Jesus’ growing-up is signified in Jesus’ departing from the security of life with his parents. Jesus is curious and sits in the temple to learn all he can from the Hebrew teachers.  In the dread of panic, Jesus’ parents frantically search for him. Apocalypse. 

Sara Behnke and Claire Hansen, this is your day, your time to symbolically cross the aisle from the security of your parents and adult mentors to the class of your peers, your friends.  We celebrate with you this beginning, and remind you of the new responsibilities which come with growing independence.

Claire, daughter of Elizabeth and goddaughter of Curt and Donna Odem, you have come a long way.  As you began your life-journey, your Mom made a trip all the way to the other side of the world to China to find you and bring you to your new home in the United States. 

Not long after arriving in Burlington, we held a joyful church service of welcome and Baptism for you.

As a little girl, you would often sit up in the choir stalls as your mom served as a chalice bearer and head of the layreaders. You were there for your mother when she needed a page turned, and you held her book as she read to the congregation. At the end of services, you processed with choir and clergy and your mom to the back of the church.

You have been more involved in leading church worship than most children your age, and you now serve as a conscientious acolyte, ready to substitute for your friends. You have already moved on from the Rite 13 class to Journey to Adulthood; however, you have the chance today to celebrate your young adulthood by crossing the aisle. 

Sara, you, too, are already a part of a growing Journey to Adulthood class, as you have already been a part of two years of Rite 13.  Today, we catch up with you in celebration of your crossing the aisle into new maturity.

You, Sara, were baptized here in this church only four or five years ago.  You may be able  to remember that special day when you, your sister Lea and your mother were all baptized together.

Sara, you have a most inquisitive mind, asking thoughtful questions about worship and other aspects of church life in your Rite 13 and now J2A classes.  And you are a dedicated and vital member of this parish, a dependable and confident acolyte showing the way to younger acolytes.

Sara and Claire, please stand! We’re so proud today we recognize your emerging young adulthood. As you cross the aisle from your family to your peers, some words of advice, if you will indulge me:

Do not be overly-concerned about those times when you run up against a wall in this journey, often so difficult, that we embrace as life.  However challenging, such moments may hold the promise of Advent, new opportunity, fresh perspective.

Sometimes it’s best to wait, watch and listen for the unexpected, the voice that speaks from within,  “Yes, Sara. Yes, Claire. You can do it.”

Always check yourself: am I considering the other persons, my family members, first, and then my friends, and always the stranger--the person whom I do not understand or may think that I do not want to know? As children of God, we are called and privileged to be servants of God’s people. What does it feel like to be in the shoes of the Other?

As life takes you forward and you begin to take more charge of that gift, also take courage. Face the wildernesses in good faith – asking questions, be curious and perhaps risk-- with faith informed by our Lord as we know him in Jesus the Christ. 

We are proud of you both. Godspeed, in love.

Amen.