September 5, 2015

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:28-31

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” The civilization of antiquity was the whole world; and men no more dreamed of its ending than of the ending of daylight. They could not imagine another order unless it were in another world. The civilization of the world has passed away and those words have not passed away. In the long night of the Dark Ages feudalism was so familiar a thing that no man could imagine himself without a lord; and religion was so woven into that network that no man would have believed they could be torn asunder. Feudalism itself was torn to rags…had passed away, and the words did not pass away. The whole medieval order….wore out gradually in its turn; and here at last it was thought that the words would die. Today it stands once more in our path; and even as we watch it, it grows.” The Everlasting Man G. K. Chesterton
(1874 – 1936) “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 789)

The words of Jesus continue to stand against the world with power — though there are so many who want to think that it should carry no more weight than another discarded parchment found in a cave. Recently I read a blog posting from a woman who had decided in her mid seventies to end her life because she had “done” all that she had wanted in her life, and though her health was still relatively good, she did not want to grow into a burden to her children in the remaining years. Here is a quote from her blog:

“I do not promote this action for anyone who does not want it. I do not want the right to euthanize the mentally ill or physically handicapped. I ask that the Lawmakers should listen to, and respect, the views of people like me, and I am not alone in holding this view. We are being ignored by the law, which originates from a god in whom we have no belief, and which is upheld and enforced by people who have no proof of the existence of any god at all and yet still seek to impose their views on everyone else.” (Bovvering Books — My Last Word, by Gill)

Though her lack of faith is apparent, I ask you this question: “Is it that we are “imposing” our Christian views on everyone else, or is it that the words of Jesus continue to stand against an increasingly faithless world?” I believe that we are seeing signs of change, as the parable of the fig tree reminds us we will see, but to what end those changes will take us, I have no idea. But I trust in one thing, that the words of Jesus will continue to stand for all time.

Pastor Dave