We Testify to Love

Luke 21:5-19

The good news of our gospel this morning and every morning, my friends, is that God is still in charge. Today’s gospel text from Luke, with its fearsome images and predictions of things to come confidently proclaims God’s faithfulness; God will bring everything to a good end. Know these things to be true.

Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem, where they have been hanging out, with Jesus teaching in the temple for some time now.

Just a few moments before our story takes place, a widow placed into the temple treasury all that she had to give, and Jesus lifted her up as an example of faith and stewardship. In so doing, he further aggravated those who have been seeking to get rid of him, those who have been challenging him, testing his Jewishness.

Jesus’ teaching has caused a divided response within Israel; the people love him and flock to hear him, to be healed by him, to learn from him, to know from his words and actions something about the inclusive and persistent love of God.

The temple leadership, on the other hand, seek to publicly discredit him. They ask him pointed questions, trying to trip him up, and his answers displease them. Jesus is messing with the status quo. He is challenging the powers of the world to come in line with God’s will for all people, and he is delivering a word of hope to those the world would like to forget. We remember that Jesus preached and predicted a grand reversal within the Kingdom of God. These things do not go over well with the established way of being.

In the gospel passage we just read, the people around him (rather than pursue Jesus’ observation about how a widow’s full-on financial commitment to God is more faithful than the showy contributions of the wealthy) distract themselves by marveling at the glory of the temple. And indeed, the temple was grand and magnificent. But Jesus tells them that the temple is a fated institution and a fated place. “…not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” Alarmed, the people demand to know more. They want details. “When will this be? What signs will we see to warn us?

It is then that Jesus gives them not what they want – a timetable, definitive warning signs of the impending doom – but instead gives them what they need - a command, “do not be terrified!”

Horrifying pictures flash through the heads of those people, inciting a sense of panic and dismay. Like Chicken Little, running around in alarm, crying, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” the people are unnerved to think about the fearful times that are coming.

And yet, still, Jesus reassures them, DO NOT BE TERRIFIED. For God is still ultimately in control – for the end, for the times leading up to the end, and for all the times in between. Trust in God. Persevere in living godly lives.

Jesus tells them, discipleship is not easy and you will be tested, but know that you are doing God’s will when you persevere in living lives shaped by the love, mercy, and grace of God made manifest in Jesus Christ. My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is speaking not only to the people who surround him that day; Jesus is speaking to us.

Today, our nation is hurting. Some of us are reeling, shocked, and fearful following the election and its aftermath. Some of us may not understand the depth of dismay and panic brought on by the results of the election, and chalk it up to bad sportsmanship. But the truth is that the divisiveness of this election has left people shaken, doubting, angry, and terrified.

Many people see the gospel passage that we read today as an end-times scriptural text. Many people see the results of this election as a sign of end-times, or at the very least of very scary times to come. Frankly, this would have been the case regardless of the results of the election.

But here’s the thing, and I know it may be hard for some of us to understand: there are people justifiably experiencing very real, visceral fear in response to the election results. Many of these are the people insulted and verbally attacked during the campaign, especially in attacks propagated by our president-elect and his supporters - certain racial and ethnic minorities, women who have suffered discrimination and objectification, as well as those who are survivors of sexual assault, persons with disabilities, individuals who identify as anything other than heterosexual, and people of certain faith traditions.

For many who live in the margins, for many who feel categorized and despised by their neighbors and by those they now perceive as having control of our country, because of the rhetoric raised over the past year, they feel as though our nation has endorsed hatred and violence that targets them. Most of us don’t live this truth, but in compassion, we need to understand that their fear is real and it is justified.

Unfortunately, events occurring in many places since Tuesday support this fear. Perhaps you might think this is an over-reaction, like Chicken Little’s cries. But for people who have fought long and hard against the establishment, to make small inroads of progress in their bid for equality, the fear is very real.

Whether we understand it, or agree with it or not, our mandate as Christ-followers is to testify to the love of God manifest in Jesus Christ, to acknowledge that all are created in the image of God, and that they are loved and treasured not only by God but by us as well. As disciples of Christ, it is up to us to bear healing balm with our words and actions.

My friends, I know from our conversations and from having worked and worshiped with you over the past several years, that you don’t endorse racism, misogyny, or the hatred not caused by, but certainly revealed in this election. I know that you reject such things. We live in the hope that those in leadership of our country also don’t and won’t endorse these things, despite anything that may have been said during a long and hard-fought campaign.

So I ask you now, brothers and sisters in Christ, to commit yourselves to constant prayer for our country, our church, our neighbors, our world. We need to pray for the most vulnerable, and for those who today feel unsafe in their own home, neighborhood, and land, and to reach out to them with love and hope for a better tomorrow.

Let us hear again and remember, what Jesus says in the middle of this passage: “Do not be terrified.”

In this text, Jesus redirects folks to the fundamental declaration that God has made: I have created you, and claimed you; you are mine. I am in charge. For this reason you have nothing to fear.

Now let us use this opportunity to testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus, to put aside our differences, to testify that, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Let us be the beacons of light that drive out darkness. Let us reveal and testify to the love that drives out hate. By the grace of God, let us use every occasion to declare that nothing in heaven or on earth, nothing in all creation, no created building or institution can keep us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Last week we heard the words of Jesus, “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

“If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:27-31)

In times of trial, Jesus bids us to testify. We testify to the greatness of God when we meet the frustration, fear, anger, feelings of betrayal, and hatred in our world with the love of Christ.

To testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus for all people, we acknowledge first and foremost that God has created us all in God’s image, and that God loves and cares for the welfare of all people. God cares for and loves our neighbor, whoever that might be.

One of the most distressing things about the divisiveness of the past year is the way our differences were driven out in front of us and then used to further divide us. Testifying to God’s faithfulness, we reject such division.

Instead, we raise up the value of each human being, created in God’s image, as worthy and demanding of our love and our care.

We testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus when we defend every woman who has been objectified, harassed, or molested. We testify to who Jesus Christ is when we respect the disabled and feed the poor and look out for the welfare of the child.

We testify to the equality with which we are all created by our maker when we embrace every man, woman and child of color and declare that it is unacceptable for them to be demeaned, discriminated against, oppressed, or for their homes, churches, businesses or person to be used for target practice. We testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus when we defend the rights of our LGBTQ neighbors and friends and speak up where we see injustice taking place.

We testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus when we ensure that our Muslim neighbors are able to walk down the street, or go to work, or ride mass transit, or attend temple or mosque without being disturbed or molested, and when we walk with them.

We testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus when we pray for our president-elect, and all our newly elected and re-elected officials who will shape policy and law of our country for the next few years.

We testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus when we listen, respectfully and lovingly, to our neighbor who holds an opposing viewpoint, or who is fearful because she or he believes their freedoms may be lost.

The presiding bishop of the ELCA, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, addressed the aftermath of Election Tuesday in this way:

“We had an election on Tuesday,” she began. “Many of us woke up the next day with a sense of joy, many of us woke up the next day with a sense of sorrow. After this long and divisive campaign, many of us woke up feeling weary. But we all woke up in the same country.

“No human candidate can guarantee our life or our future,” she goes on to say. “That is work that God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And in Baptism we are joined to Christ in that same Baptism and Resurrection.

“So what do we do, Dear Church? Three things: Remember that all human beings are created in the image of God, even the ones who didn’t vote for your candidate. Pray for our country, for those elected, for understanding. And then we get back to work doing the things the church has always done. Welcome the stranger; feed the hungry; clothe the naked; visit the sick and those in prison; work for justice and peace in all the earth.

“[We do this} All in the name of the one who is our hope, our life and our peace, Jesus, who has set us free to serve our neighbor.”

 May it be so.  Amen.