“Reading Signs”

A Sermon Based Upon Luke 21: 5-19

By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin

Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership

26th Sunday after Pentecost, November 17, 2013

“They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” (Luke 21: 7 NRSV).

People are not always good at reading signs. 

In my first pastorate, we lived at an intersection which was about a mile from the South Fork of the Yadkin.   They were working on the bridge that crossed the river and placed a ‘bridge out’ sign in front of the parsonage.   It didn’t help.  I wish I had a dollar for every car that went past that sign only to realize that indeed, the ‘bridge was out’. 

In a “Far Side” cartoon, a somewhat nerdy-looking boy is trying to enter the Midvale School for the Gifted.  He’s carrying a book under one arm and leaning with his other arm, with all his weight, against the door, straining, trying to push open the door. On the door there is a sign in great big letters that explains his problem.   It reads, “PULL.”  That’s us.   It doesn’t matter how smart we are.  Sometimes what we think we know gets in the way of what we need to know.  We’re not always good at reading the everyday signs.

 (This sermon originates with Jeremy Troxler http://www.faithandleadership.com/sermons/coming-soon.  I have adapted it, but I take no credit for originality of this sermon altogether.  His ‘take’ on the text was that good—like cake.  I only added more icing).

That’s also how it was with Jesus and the people he had to deal with.   Throughout the Gospels, people are coming up to Jesus and asking for a sign.    One of the most obvious parts of the New Testament witness is that Jesus did perform miraculous signs, sometimes performing one wonder after another.   John’s gospel is organized around 7 of them: water into wine, healing of a dying person, healing of a cripple, the multiplication of bread, calming of the sea, opening eyes of the blind, and raising of the dead.  But no matter how many signs Jesus gave, people wanted more---always one more.   Even when Jesus is dragged before King Herod, Herod wants Jesus do a sign.

CAN YOU READ THE SIGNS?

It’s pretty much the same today, everybody wants a sign, but few know how to read one, even if they got it.  People often go through life pushing at a door that says, “Pull.”   Not long ago a person was nearly killed in an accident.  They barely escaped with their life.  That person still didn’t get it.   Their life hasn’t changed much at all.  They still don’t realize the sign of deliverance as a gift of another chance.   I know another person who got a bad diagnosis, so the doctor scheduled them for another test.  It was a scary time, waiting, worrying, and wondering if they were going to live or die.  Later, the second test came back negative.  They told her that everything is fine.  Go back and live your life!  You’re o.k.    Do you think they came back to thank Jesus?  Even in the Luke we read that 10 lepers got the ‘sign’ of healing, but only one of them came back to thank God.   People get signs all the time.  Even seeing the morning sun come up and hearing the birds sing, those are signs, signs of life, of joy and of hope, they are signs.  Hey, to look into the eyes of person who cares about you, or to show that care to another, that’s a sign. Signs are everything.  But do you think most people get it?  

At one point, Jesus is so frustrated with people not getting it, that he throws up his hands in exasperation and says, “You people look up in the sky, you see the red skin in the morning, and you say ‘sailors take warning’  “It’s going to rain!”   Or you fell the south wind blowing and realize hot weather is on the way; you put on your shorts and T-shirts, and sure enough, the thermometer goes up.   You can interpret the signs of the sky, but why can’t you interpret what it means that Christ has come!   What’s up with that?”   People are not very good at reading the signs that that matter.  We tend to ignore them, even when it comes to reading them for the sake of our health.  A person is not exercising and doesn’t have any energy or breath.  A person can’t fasten their belt in the same loop.  Someone keeps on seeing the signs of what they need to do or what they need not to do, but they just stop seeing, listening, or reading the signs.

The disciples are not fairing too well either.   In our Gospel story these disciples are sitting there opposite the massive mega-temple, gaping at the shining stones and dazzling jewels, perhaps thinking silently that this Temple building, the central pivot point of Judaism, is will always connects them to God.  Then Jesus, who is unimpressed with this man-made structure, tells them, “All of that is going to be nothing more than a pile of rubble.” The disciples, shocked, ask, “Teacher, when will this be? What will be the sign that this will take place?”  

They want to know when the Temple will be destroyed. They want a sign to look for. Maybe they’re expecting Jesus to tell them something kind of mysterious, secret knowledge like (as Jeremy Troxler suggests), “In the month of April, a crow with red eyes will land on the steeple and caw three times.  It will then be eaten by a hawk wearing a purple ribbon and suddenly lightning will strike on the north corner and crop circles will appear in the cornfield, Mel Gibson makes another movie, and then you’ll know” … or something like that.    We all want a sign, a signal, a special knowledge that only we have, that God just gives to his buddies, but is that realistic for the God of the whole world? 

It’s funny, and serious, how Jesus answers.    He tells them what kind of sign they will have when it all comes down.  It’s kind of silly because it’s so obvious. The sign is not secret, hidden or mysterious at all. Basically Jesus tells them, “Well, when you see an army tank come into town, or soldiers marching by this big Temple about to take over, and they have really big guns, well, that’s when you’ll know they are going to tear it down.”   That’s your sign, Jesus says, and now here’s my advice: “When you see a great big angry-looking army about to take over the city, don’t be patriotic, prideful or brave. No, what I want you to do is not complicated: ‘Tuck your tail and run!   Don’t stay for the gun fight, get out of Dodge!  ‘Don’t be a hero,  clear and simple: head for the hills!”

There’s no mysterious sign here.  It’s a very obvious sign.  Even disciples who aren’t very good at reading signs, who are always pushing on doors that say “Pull” can get this one.  It’s like Jesus says, “Trust me, you’ll know.  It’s not complicated.  The sign will be obvious as the nose on your face, It’ll be right in front of you and everyone else.”   And sure enough, around the year A.D. 70, about 40 years later, before ‘this generation’ fully passed away’,  a large Roman army encamped around the Temple, and eventually raze it to the ground: and figuratively speaking, if not also very literally, “not one stone was left on another; every one of them thrown down.   When Jesus gives a sign it could be trusted.  There was no doubt. 

THE SIGN WE CAN ALL SEE

In the next breath, though, Jesus goes on to speak of other signs.  Jesus moves from describing the signs of the destruction of the Temple to describing the signs that will be seen when he returns, when he comes again in final victory.  And again, his message is that this final victory moment will be obvious.  They won’t be secret, mysterious or hidden.  He says, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, the roaring of the sea, people fainting, the powers of the heavens shaken, the Son of Man coming in a cloud” (vs. 25-27).

It’s as if Jesus is saying, “In my first coming, I came in hiddenness, born in a manger, cloaked in human flesh, visible only to the eyes of faith.  But when I come again in fullness, it will be in power and glory.” It won’t be hidden. As Revelation says, “He will come with clouds and every eye will see him…!”   It will be obvious to all, like when you go to the eye doctor and they ask you to read the largest line of the eye chart first. The signs will be that clear to see.  

And again, we need to understand what Jesus is saying here is that when the kingdom comes, when the coming age finally arrives, and Jesus returns to rule as the world’s prince of peace, the sign that we see can be trusted.  There are no secret messages.  There are no hidden agendas.  There will be no opposing enemies that stand a chance against him.  God’s rule will come once and for all, and it will be clear for the all the world to see.   The message of God’s power will be clear and plain.  No one will be left out.   No one will be ‘left behind’.

If tomorrow, we see some crazy stuff happening in the sun, in the and moon, and in stars; and then we see the Son of Man surfing on a stratus cloud way up at the sky, you won’t need any kind of preacher, prophet, or doomsday expert to tell you something’s going on. Jesus makes it absolutely clear: the signs of Kingdom come, the final victory, and the fulfillment of the Revelation (the unveiling)…whatever you call it and however it looks, it will all be so very obvious, you won’t even need Fox News, CNN or Al Roker to inform you.  You also won’t need C.I Scofield Notes, Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye,  nor Ouija boards nor any other prophetic key.

Here’s the sign that matters most:  In a sense, the sign of the end is always near.   Like I heard someone say a few weeks ago, “I left home without kissing my wife and kids, and then suddenly I realized, hey, I might never come back.”  The end is always near to any and all of us.   And when it comes, Jesus says, “Trust what I’m telling you---you’ll know it.”  You don’t have to be like the little kid on the long car trip who keeps asking every ten minutes, “Are we there yet?” “Are we almost there yet?” When we get there, we’ll all know.  This is what Jesus keeps trying to get across to his disciples.  Stop wondering, quit your worrying, and get back to work…when it’s time to quit you’ll know.  We’ll all know.   If everybody can’t see it, then you better realize you’re probably seeing things.   As Governor Sarah Palin, once told Senator Joe Biden, “It’s just ain’t so, Joe!

In early American history, a bunch of Baptist got all hyped up thinking they could figure out when the end would come.   They all followed the teaching of a man named William Miller who used a man-made scheme of numbering in the Bible to figure out when he thought the end would come.  It just happened to come out to 1833 New England.  I guess that’s a good a time as any.   People were so convinced that he was right that they all sold everything and even got on their roof tops to wait on the moment.  People said they were all crazy.  Other’s didn’t see it.   They should have realized that what Jesus said is true.  If everybody doesn’t see, then you don’t see it either.   But they didn’t think it through.   They were all fooled.   But do you know what they did anyway.  They didn’t go back to church and ask for forgiveness, but they started a new denomination.  The denomination of Jesus is 'coming soon'.    

People still don’t realize that there is no sign unless everybody sees it.  You, nor I, nor anyone will have an inside scoop.  Hey, Jesus didn’t even say, you needed your Bible to figure it out.   When it happens, ‘they will see’, or ‘you will see’---and we all will see.   It will be that clear. 

THE SIGN JESUS WANTS US TO SEE

So what do we do ‘in the meantime’?   Are we almost there?   That’s the wrong question because the ‘last days’ started 2000 years ago.   Jesus gave us signs that the new age had come close when he performed signs that the Kingdom of God had broken in among us.  God’s future is not something we have to wait on in the future, but God’s future has already entered into our present.  Jesus says, “It is at hand,” which means it’s come as close as the hand at the end of our arm.   It is “at hand” (Mark 1.15).  

The kingdom has come and it’s still coming.  The train of God’s final redemption has already left the station, and we can hear its far-off whistle.   Don’t you remember what it was like when you first visited Tweetsie as a child, with your children or with your grandkids?  You enter the theme park and you can hear it coming.  You can’t help but feel the excitement.  That’s how close God’s kingdom is.  It’s coming around the mountain.  Scripture defines it as ‘close’ and ‘soon.’, but ‘soon’ could mean tomorrow, it could mean a thousand years from now, but soon means it’s really coming.  Soon means we are one day closer to it today than we were yesterday.   This is where Jesus takes us in this text: One day it will be fulfilled, and when that day comes there will be no doubt, no hidden messages, but it will be plain and clear. 

But there is one final sign:  This is the ‘sign’ that Jesus is looking for and wants all to see, more than anything else.  Jesus is much more interested in the signs to be seen here on earth, than the signs to be seen in the heavens -- not signs in the sun and moon and stars, but signs in me and you, and in us.   Jesus says, in these final verses, that we’re not so much looking for signs, but WE are signs. We are the Signs of God’s kingdom. We are the sign before the signs. We live the heavenly life here on earth, signs pointing to God’s good future and final victory.

The theologian Karl Barth had a painting of the crucifixion in the wall of his study that was painted by the artist Matthias Grunewald. In the painting there is an image of John the Baptist, his extra long finger raised this way, directing and pointing the onlooker to the cross of Jesus in the center of the painting. It’s said that when Barth would talk with a visitor about this work of great art, he would direct them to the image of John the Baptist in the painting, and he would say, “I want to be that finger.” I want to be a sign pointing to the victory of Christ.  It is a victory already present in me, but it is coming for us all and for the whole world.  Could that be what the football player might mean when he scores and points to the sky.  A bigger victory is coming and the victory begins with me?

Now, do you see how Jesus tells us, not only how to read the signs, but how to BE a sign—a sign that the kingdom has come near and will be fulfilled.  Jesus says to them and to us: “Be on guard that your hearts are not weighed down…..  Don't be constantly drunk with wine or with worry, but stay prepared (vs 34)---now that’s a good sign: staying sober and sane because you have purpose.   Then, Jesus gives another sign:  “Be alert at all times and pray to escape all these things because you are ready to ‘stand before’ the Son of Man” (vs 36).   Along with staying sane and sober, be a person of constant prayer in hope---now that’s another good sign.  When we are people who know the Lord now, who read the book, and know how the story ends, knowing in our hearts that in the end, God wins;  when we know how God has already won our hearts, and we are living a life of love, grace and hope, so hopeful that we are not running away from God, but we are staying with God and standing hopeful in the world, because he is in us, and we ourselves are a sign.  When 'we' are a sign, we don’t have to stand on a street corner holding a sign that says “The End is Near”, but our life is a sign saying: “Lift up your head, Redemption is Near” because God is as close as me to you.  We are the beachhead of the kingdom.  We are like the preview or trailer of the movie that makes people look forward to seeing the full show.  We're the warm-up act that gets people pumped up for the concert.   We're the appetizer that makes people hunger for the full feast -- like the moment we were before supper, Teresa gave me a taste of that new ice cream called Chunky Monkey, and then later she gave me full cup.  People don’t have to gaze into a crystal Bible ball to look into the future. They can simply look at the life of the faithful, loving Christian who is sober, alert, ready and hopeful.   This is the sign Jesus wants us to be, and the world to see, right now.

It was a wet summer and the leaves remained green longer than normal.   But if you looked around in early September, even though the trees were still very green, you might have seen a maple somewhere, with a one bright leaf that had already fallen in a yard.   Maybe that leaf is was bright yellow, brilliant orange, or if you’re lucky, a vivid red that looked like it’s on fire.  It’s only one, but it looks so different from all the others are green or already turned brown.  That one single leaf has a story to tell, doesn’t it?  It’s says: “More leaves will be turning and following after me, so get the rake or leaf blower ready.” It says: Fall is coming. A change is in the air.  Beauty is coming.  Believe it will happen.” “Look at the fig tree…”So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near” (vs. 29-31).  We are that leaf.  We are ahead of time.  We are the sign that change that is coming, of the beauty that is about to follow. We can shine some color now and be beautiful. We don’t wait for the world to change, or for everything else to change its color. We can go ahead and be changed.  We can point others to what is coming and live the heavenly life now. We can be a sign of God’s peace and purpose for the world.

This world will set up all kinds of signs for people, telling them -- us -- which way to go. Some tell people to push when the door really only opens with a pull.   Most of them are stop signs.  Most of them say that the road we are travelling on is a dead end.  There is no other way you can go.  But the church of Jesus sets up another sign in the world: “Coming Soon.” We are a sign.  A ‘soon’ sign.  And we are the only ‘soon’ sign Jesus gives that can be trusted.   Amen.