Sermon For The Twentieth Sunday Of Ordinary Time 2025
Luke 21:5-19
It was unexpected, even shocking. It is among the world’s most beautiful buildings, and certainly those of France, and of the Church. An edifice that has stood for nearly a millenium, surviving the French Revolution, hosting the crowning of Napoleon, outlasting the Nazi occupation. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris, or, more commonly, the cathedral of Notre Dame, is a symbol of French culture, of medieval architectural beauty, and of the continued existence of the Church in one of the best known cities of Europe. After all it had been through, who could think anything could happen to this marvelous piece of history, this symbol of Christian presence? Then, in 2019, the unthinkable happened: the fire. The cause is still unknown, but likely due to an electrical short, and destroyed the spire, major portions of the roof, and some of the leaded glass. Fortunately, most of it was saved and has been renovated, and stands today. However, this unexpected close call serves as a powerful reminder to us that the witness of the Church is found in its people who testify to the Gospel of God. Cathedrals burn, wars destroy, nations fail. But the Gospel persists, and it does so in the hearts and mouths of God’s people.
The disciples were glorying in the Temple of Jerusalem. And it was likely quite impressive; as one of the major building projects of Herod the Great, it was meant to rival the beautiful temples of the classical pagans while also preserving and carrying on Jewish religious observances to God. As they admire the beauty of the building, however, Jesus tells them “the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
Now this is often taken to be a passage about the end times, the return of Jesus. Largely, that is because a portion of this chapter is about that, specifically vss. 25-28. But the section we have today has a different purpose that foreshadows and connects with that great day at the Coming of the Lord, but is not it. This passage is about events that would happen shortly after Jesus ascended, and indeed, the most likely dating for the writing of Luke places the events before someone would be reading this. For in A.D. 70, the Temple was destroyed. The city of Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman legions, and because of their militant rebellion, the city was razed and the people killed, enslaved, or driven out, and the great Jewish diaspora began.
Luke is a very sophisticated writer, and is using this passage to teach us about God’s faithfulness and the reliability of Jesus. The words of a prophet are only as good as their accuracy; a prophet had two jobs, to speak as a mouthpiece for God, and as a part of that, to often predict what would happen in the future. Here, Jesus speaks of a future event, the destruction of the Temple and the City, and the scattering of Israel; he speaks also of his people’s persecution, and that they would testify to him before rulers, be betrayed by even their loved ones, and hated for following Jesus.
All of this came to pass, and even in Luke’s own writings. In Acts, the 2nd volume of Luke’s two-volume history, we see persecutions; we see the disciples arrested and persecuted; we see them standing and speaking without planning, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and even dying. But by that coming to pass, Luke is telling us that Jesus’ is to be trusted, that he spoke of things that were to come and did. Indeed, the Gospel of Luke’s writing was conservatively between A.D. 80-90, so even the destruction of Jerusalem had occurred. Jesus said it would occur, and it did, a judgment on Israel for its continual rejection of God, culminating in the crucifixion of Jesus being heartily supported by many in the city of Jerusalem.
Conflict continues to tear through the world. We should not be surprised, and we should not trust any edifice that is not the Gospel of God. We should not count on cathedrals to continue standing. We should not rely on the United States to be here forever. We certainly cannot count on our government to take care of the most vulnerable, as it too often actively harms them. We cannot count on having this building, or on St. Aidan’s. We cannot count on something as simply as our jobs tomorrow. If the Holy Temple and the Holy City can burn, so can anything in this world that we rely on, other than Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and the life that we are guaranteed as those who believe and proclaim allegiance to the Kingdom of God, which is not built with hands, which does not take land by force, and which eschews violence and avarice in favor of mercy, charity, and love, even towards our enemies.
Faithful living may be a thorn to others. Rejecting violence and greed and consumption might just be too subversive for others. When we live self-sacrificially and proclaim the freedom of God’s Gospel, we threaten all that the world holds dear. But here is the thing: America can end, cathedrals can burn, and you can lose all that you have, and God can say “But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Trust in God. Trust in Jesus. The witness of the Church is found in its people who testify to the Gospel of God, and everything else is just extra. Trust, and live expectantly for the coming of Jesus again, when all will be restored and made well. In union with the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.
