The One Who Endures to the End Will be Saved

Mark 13:1-13 Caroline and I have a picture of us in High School on our senior trip to New York and there in the background are the twin towers of the World Trade Center.  If you had told me back then that they would one day be reduced to rubble—I wouldn’t have believed you—but it happened.  That is just exactly the kind of astounding news that Jesus tells his disciples in our Gospel lesson today.  St. Mark writes that:

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 

            The temple was their identity as a nation.  It united them as Jews.  It connected them to the greatness of their past.  It was the place where they met God.  It was inconceivable that it wouldn’t exist anymore—stone upon stone thrown down.  And yet that is exactly what happened in 70 A.D. as the prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled.

The World Trade Center in New York and the temple at Jerusalem were much more than just buildings—they were symbols of a culture and a people—and with their destruction, the Americans in our day and the Jews in their day, had to re-think the cultural and societal foundations that their lives were built upon.

These foundations of what we knew to be true and constant and enduring-- have shifted in ways that we could never have imagined:  marriage as one man and one woman united for life—safe neighborhoods were kids can play outside unattended—public schools that not only teach academics but morals and good citizenship.  These building blocks of our culture have crumbled into the dustbin of history.

And what Jesus told his disciples back then-- and what he tells us today-- is that these seismic changes are not unrelated accidents—but signs of the end of the world itself and only those who endure steadfast in faith unto the end will be saved.    

But how is it possible for frail human beings to endure in faith when mighty edifices such as the Twin Towers and the Temple are brought to rubble?  When the cultural foundations of our way of life can be brought to an end in a generation?  When terrorists murder the innocent at will? 

Endurance to the end begins with believing what Jesus says about what we see in the world around us.  Mark writes that Jesus:

…sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, [and] Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.

            As unfathomable as it must have been for them to think that the largest structure in their world would be reduced to rubble—the disciples believed what Jesus said and wanted to know the signs that would precede its destruction.

What about us?  Do we believe the words of Jesus that what is happening on the world stage (with wars and terrorism and ethnic violence) and what is happening in nature (with tsunamis and earthquakes and famines) and what is happening in our culture (with marriage and sexuality being turned upside down) and what is happening in the church (with a wholesale departure from God’s Word) are all signs of the end?  Do we believe Jesus?

Or have we listened to false prophets who deny any ultimate meaning or connection between these events and would lead us astray by their lies?  And there are plenty of false prophets --just like Jesus predicted.  There are:

False prophets within the church who tell us that the Holy Spirit is doing a new thing when it comes to sexuality.  False prophets within the scientific community who deny the existence of the God of creation.  False prophets in the political realm who assure us that lasting peace apart in a violent world will be reached.  And they all claim to speak with the authority and certainty that can only truly be said of God. 

To endure unto the end and be saved we must first of all believe what Jesus says—that there will be an end.  We need to believe that what we see in the church and among the nations and in nature are not disconnected, random events-- but SIGNS of a systemic sin problem in the very fabric of creation. 

That we believe Jesus and know these events for what they are is the first step to enduring in faith unto the end and being saved and the second step is trusting that Jesus is using these events to bring forth a new world.  Jesus says:

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. 

            Twenty four hours a day—on station after station—we can see the wars and earthquakes and famines going on throughout the world.  We are eyewitnesses to the blood that flows in the streets of Paris.  But to all of it Jesus says:  do not be alarmed.  Do not be alarmed—all this must take place.

Not only has Jesus let us know beforehand that the world we live in will be filled with violence and war, he has also promised that his almighty, loving, wise hand is guiding it to a new beginning—to a new heaven and a new earth unstained by sin where his people who have endured to the end in faith will live in peace.

Believing that what we see in the world are signs of the end and trusting that our King is in control, we do not have to be alarmed but can see these events as the necessary birth pains of a new creation when Jesus comes again in glory-- and rejoice that Jesus has given us a part to play in God’s mission of saving others.  Jesus says:

“Be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.

            It’s time for us to come to grips with the fact that we live in a world where much of the visible church and our own government and certainly the other nations of the world do not want to hear what Christians have to say and when we do speak out we can count on mockery and marginalization and even murder if we live in the Middle East. 

Jesus said that this very thing would happen and that his saving purpose would be fulfilled in the midst of it:  so that we could bear witness to his salvation.

That salvation has already been accomplished for us in our Lord’s death on the cross and his glorious resurrection-- and our unshakable confidence in a rapidly changing world is the enduring covenant God has made with us in his Son’ blood shed on the cross and given to us in Holy Communion. 

When the world’s foundations are crumbling and the earth is moving towards its end, that message must be heard --for God desires the salvation of all people.  And that we have a part to play in that-- radically changes how we view what is happening around us and to us.

No longer do we see ourselves as being at the mercy of forces beyond our control-- but we see ourselves as God’s people with a mission to fulfill, courageously bearing witness to Jesus as he provides us with opportunities.  Jesus says that:

The gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.  And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

This Gospel witness is our baptismal vocation, that we would declare the wonders of him who called us out of darkness into his glorious light-- and it lifts up our gaze from the hardships and difficulties of life and refocuses our vision to where it ought to be:  on our Great High Priest, seated at the Father’s right hand, lovingly ordering the affairs of heaven and earth for our eternal good. 

How necessary this vision is when we discover that opposition will not only come from those who are far removed from us—but also from those closest to us.  Jesus says:

Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

            In many ways this last hurdle to enduring to the end is the greatest of all for it comes from those closest to us.  We have already seen it in our lifetimes in places like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union as family members turned against family members.

But it is present among us right now as members of our families abandon the faith- and others make sinful lifestyle choices- and others exchange the truth of God’s Word for the lies of false prophets.  It’s going on right now in the lives of Muslims who convert to Christianity only to be murdered by their own families.

The Christian who takes their stand upon the Word of the Lord (and clings to it without compromise in the world and church) is truly hated by all—even by those closest to them.

And that is a heavy burden to bear and we could never endure it to the end and be saved if Christ had not already borne it for us—in our place. 

During his earthly life, his family largely abandoned him.  The religious leaders of his people wanted him dead-- and the political leaders of the world put him to death.

But Jesus faithfully endured it all to the end, giving up his own perfect life as the sacrifice for us all.  It is his faithfulness unto death and the resurrection that is our hope for our own endurance and victory.  It is with his shed blood that our names are already written in the Book of Life—assuring our steadfastness to the end.  Amen.