We can all probably think of hardships occurring in the world and in our country: whether that is to the environment, with crime, politics. And we can think of local problems: with neighborhood disputes, difficulties at school or among our families. And IT ALL seems like a mess.
Moreover, it sounds like Jesus is confirming the messiness of life in the gospel. The readings at the end of the Liturgical Year always sounds like “gloom and doom.” But the first reading and the gospel are using symbolic language of apocalyptic images, colors, characters to describe what is going on currently for the people.
I like to say, “Yes, the world is going to end. But it is NOT when/as we blow ourselves up or destroy everything.” Instead, I believe that the world will end, or a better concept is when Jesus will come back again . . . when there is peace in the world, when our rivers are unpolluted, when people treat all others and all creation with respect. Jesus will come when we return to the image of the Garden of Eden.
It’s like the image Jesus presents in the gospel of the fig tree. Even amidst hard springs or draughts the buds on the fig tree begin to appear. Growth is occurring. New life is happening.
So, your challenge is be a bud of hope in a world that seems all stressed and burdened. Or another way of saying it . . . if Jesus is coming back WHEN things are better (as we say in the Lord’s Prayer: “thy kingdom come.”), what are you doing to make the world better? How are you contributing to hope?
Well, this weekend is Pledge Stewardship weekend I have asked a parishioner to share about their experience of seeing hope:
5:00pm: Phil Johnson
8:30am: Kathy Hafften
10:13am: Dave and Tori Badger
[After the testimonies, I instruct how to fill out the pledge card]