Discernment— Sermon by Rev. Bryan Biba

let us

pray Lord may my speech and my message

not be plausible words of human wisdom

but a demonstration of the spirit and of

power so our faith may not rest in the

wisdom of men but in the power of

almighty God we ask this in the name of

the father and the son and the holy

spirit amen you may be

seated I tell you

what it's days like this that I really

hate the

lectionary for those you who don't know

um part of being an Anglican is we have

a lectionary a schedule of readings

appointed for every Sunday of the year

for the most part father Craig and I

don't choose the scriptures we preach

on this has some great advantages first

it uh keeps us from preaching our

favorite passages over and over and over

again but secondly it forces preachers

to preach the hard stuff the stuff like

our Gospel reading from Mark

13 tell you what when I saw this was the

text earlier this week I was really

dreading being up here

today but uh something happened you know

as I wrestled with this scripture like

Jacob wrestling with the angel I

received blessings from the Lord

blessings from his word and I'm here to

share with you those blessings this

morning to share a bit about this text

and what blessings it has for

us both our Gospel reading and our Old

Testament reading from Daniel 12 are

examples of apocalyptic literature it's

a particular genre found in Holy

Scripture whenever we read a Biblical

book we have to ask ourselves what genre

is this the genre of the book informs

the way we read the book we don't read

for example

narrative the same way that we read

poetry and we don't read poetry the same

way that we read an epistle each genre

has its own conventions its own way of

being

read so in order to understand both Mark

13 and Daniel 12 we first have to take a

little bit of time to look at

apocalyptic literature in general so we

can understand what it is that we're

reading so what exactly is an

apocalypse the Greek word apocalypse

means Revelation or unveiling that's

literally the name of the last book in

the New Testament the

apocalypse it's an

unveiling of God's present action in the

world and what it means for our future

God's present action Among Us is

unveiled it's revealed so we can see

what it means for our future usually

apocalyptic literature has a message

from some spiritual being like an angel

often it has symbolic language that

could be cryptic and hard to understand

and indeed we get that in both of our

readings

today now in the Jewish tradition

apocalypses became popular whenever

people of Faith were

persecuted and this makes sense if you

think about it because when you're being

persecuted you can't talk openly about

your faith you have to use coded

language indeed that's what apocalypses

are doing it's coded language that

persecuted people use to talk about the

present there's a popular understanding

of apocalypses that they're about the

end of the world and I'm here to tell

you this is decidedly not true they're

not about the end of the world rather

they're about unveiling the present

World indeed a apocalypses often have

predictions about the future but the

purpose of those predictions is to

comfort the faithful people in their

present suffering to help them be

faithful now amidst

persecution if we focus on the end of

the world like so often Christians do

with the Book of Revelation right it's

all about coded predictions about how

it's going to happen right we miss the

present truth that God is speaking to us

through this word this is not just about

the future it has something for us

today but in order to understand what it

has to say for us we have to get into

the text into the context of those who

first heard it I mean all I have to do

is look to Jesus who in Mark

Mark 13:32

13:32 said concerning that day or hour

no one

knows not even the angels in Heaven nor

the son but only the father Nobody

Knows Why bothers speculating about it

it's not going to do any good we want to

see what this text says for us today in

this moment in this time with what we're

facing now so if you have a Bible or not

grab the Bible in the Pew front of you

open it up to Mark chap

13 there is a lot going on in this text

so we're going to have to look at it

carefully

together here's the context

chapters 11 uh chapter

10 Jesus is teaching in the temple and

he's being questioned by the religious

Elites of his day the Pharisees the

Sadducees the scribes they're all trying

to catch Jesus to trip him up to prove

that he's not who he says he

is in verse one after they leave the

temple the disciples remark on its

Beauty look teacher

what wonderful stones and wonderful

buildings these are and then Jesus Takes

a hard left turn in verse two says

something quite shocking do you see

these great buildings there will not be

left here one stone upon another that

will not be thrown down this is the

temple this is the place where God's

presence dwell the place where Jews

worshiped and Jesus is predicting that

in fact this Temple will be destroyed

what is he talking

about Jesus then goes to the Mount of

Olives the mountain on the opposite side

of the temple he sits down with a few of

his disciples Peter James John and

Andrew and they ask him privately Jesus

tell us what does this mean what is

going to

happen and that's when Jesus gets real

with them in verse six he tells them

that there will be many false Witnesses

people who will come to lead God's

people astray in verse 7even we hear of

wars and rumors of wars in verse eight

we're told that Nation will rise up

against Nation Kingdom against Kingdom

there'll be earthquakes and famines but

this is just the

beginning in the middle of all these

future predictions Jesus

stops as if to remind them what really

matters in verse

9 but be on your guard for they will

deliver you over to councils you will be

beaten in

synagogues and you will stand before

Governors and Kings for my sake to Bear

witness before

them Jesus is preparing his disciples to

be persecuted for preaching the gospel

that's what all this prediction is about

he's letting them know hey you will be

persecuted for what you're about to do

don't be alarmed be prepared

now here arises an important distinction

that must be made between suffering on

one hand and persecution on the other

suffering is something all Christians

experience suffering is is the effects

of us living in the world with our own

fleshly desires and our attacks of the

evil one no Christians are absolved of

suffering but

persecution is a very particular kind of

suffering not all Christians experience

persecution persecution in the context

of Mark 13 is state sponsored oppression

based on your

faith all of us suffer for Faith but

very few of us have been persecuted for

our faith that's why every week in the

prayers of the people we pray for a

different country many of these

countries where it is illegal to be

Christian where Christians face major

challenges from those in Authority

councils Governors synagogues

a few weeks ago father Craig and I drove

up to Charleston to uh be part of the

installation of our new Arch Bishop

Archbishop Steve Wood it was a great

festive celebration a three-hour long

worship service a little too long for

me but one of the most beautiful moments

was most of the gaffan archbishops those

in the global South in the angelan

communion gathered around Archbishop

Wood and prayed for for him in that

moment I realized wow these are men

these are Bishops who lead churches and

countries where it is illegal to be

Christian where daily Christians are

dragged from their homes and killed for

their faith and we're connected to them

we're part of the same church we need

the witness of these other Christians to

remind ourselves that yes we suffer and

it is real but it is not the same as

what they go

through by any metric or any standard

Christians in America are not persecuted

we have more religious freedom than

perhaps any time in our history and

that's good news we should use that

freedom to preach the gospel and when we

do we should expect to suffer Jesus says

in verse

13 you will be hated by all for my

name's sake but the one who endures the

end will be saved

you will be hated and that's a promise

we should name and claim you know what I

mean that's a promise you will be hated

suffering is an inevitable result of

faithful gospel preaching sometimes that

suffering happens in our lives and our

families sometimes it happens from the

government but either way if we're not

willing to suffer now for our faith we

will not endure if we experience

persecution and this brings us friends

to the part I've dreaded the most

difficult part of this gospel Mark

Mark 13:14

13:14 but when you see the abomination

of desolation standing where he ought

not to be let the reader understand then

let those who are in Judea flee to the

mountains what in the world is going on

Jesus what are you talking

about first thing to notice here is the

parenthetical let the reader understand

Mark is winking at us he's telling us

hey guys this is code I'm talking about

something and you got to figure out what

the code is the only way to break the

code is to look to the Old Testament to

look and see if this phrase abomination

of desolation is used anywhere else and

the good news it is it's used in one

other place our Old Testament reading

from Daniel 12 we only read a portion of

Daniel 12 but at the very end of the

chapter Daniel writes and from the time

that the regular burnt offering is taken

away and the Abomination that makes

desolate is set up there shall be

1,290

days so the context of this book Daniel

is not talking about the end of the

world he's talking about the end of of

the temple remember Daniel is writing in

Babylon he's in Exile he's living

between two temples he was probably

there when the first temple was

destroyed by the Babylonians and he's

also looking forward to a future day

when a temple will be destroyed that's

recounted in the books of Ezra uh be

restored that's in the books of Ezra and

Nehemiah and so he's looking in between

and he's

seeing the worship of God's people will

be put to an end just as it was in the

past that's what

Abomination that makes desolate

literally means it's some kind of

egregious breaking of God's law that

desecrates a holy Place making it

impossible for God's people to worship

we're told in Daniel 12 that the regular

burnt offering the daily prayers of the

temple will cease

what's interesting about Daniel 12 and

Mark 13 is that when you survey

contemporary Scholars of the New

Testament and you survey the tradition

how Christians have read this text they

agree and that's crazy because anyone

will tell you they usually disagree big

time but they both agree that Daniel 12

is looking forward to a future

desecration of the temple something that

actually historically happened in the 2

Century BC the reign of the Greek King

Antiochus

epiphanies it's recounted in the

apocryphal book of First macbes I know

all of you know first macbes just in

case you don't here's what happens

Antiochus he's a heir of Alexander the

Great he's given Reign Over Judea he's

one of the seusd Kings and in 168 he

launches a brutal campaign of heniz

against the Jews he forces Jews to

convert to paganism in some cases

forcing people to eat pork thus breaking

the law but worst of all we're told in

first mccabes that Antiochus entered the

temple in

Jerusalem remove the altar in all its

implements and set up an altar to the

Greek

gods that is an abomination of

desolation the place of God's people and

their worship has been turned into a

place of idolatry of

paganism so what does this have to do

with Mark

13 well Jesus is using the coded

language of Apocalypse to warn his

disciples about a coming abomination of

desolation in their own

day that Pagan worship and practice will

invade the house hous hold of God that

idolatry will be set up in the temple

and called

holy and this is exactly what

happened happened twice actually 10

years after Jesus's death in ad40 the

Roman Emperor Caligula attempted to

erect his statue in the temple of

Jerusalem and then 40 years after

Jesus's death in

ad70 the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed

the temple in Jerusalem leveled It To

The

Ground Jesus is looking at the past

seeing what happened in Daniel's day

seeing what happened during the maban

revolt and he's looking forward and

saying the same thing will happen again

be

prepared idolatry will invade the heart

of God's people Pagan worship Pagan

practices will come into into the body

into the

household so that raises a

question is Jesus just proclaiming a

prophecy for his disciples in his day or

does this have anything to say to us at

all and my answer is yes it has much to

say to us today because it's God's word

God speaks through his word and the

answer lies at the very end of Mark 13

look with me at verse 21

Jesus

writes and then if anyone says to you

look here is the Christ or look there he

is do not believe it for false christs

and false prophets will arise and

perform signs and wonders to lead astray

if possible the

elect false Messiahs are the early

warning signs of abomination of

desolation they're the canary in the

coal mine when you start seeing people

claiming to be a savior people claiming

that only I can fix the problems if you

follow me the abomination of desolation

is not far

off because of course we Christians

believe we

confess how many saviors are

there one savior how many lords are

there one one Lord One Faith one baptism

that we are brought

into Jesus of Nazareth is the only

savior the only

Messiah Jesus alone can save us from our

sins he lived a perfect life he died a

perfect death on the cross offering

himself as a sacrifice he rose again

from the dead as Victor and now he lives

as a sended king king of all he is still

the Savior amen

every knee shall bow every tongue shall

confess this is what we believe this is

what we Christians confess day in and

day out and yet time and time again we

fall for false

Messias for false saviors in every age

the church has been swept up by leaders

who claim to be the Savior that only

they can solve the problems that we face

last week Drew put it so well from the

psalm put not your trust in princes or

in any children of men this is good

advice because every human will fail us

every human will fail

you every human will break their

promises to us except for the one the

God man Jesus of Nazareth his promises

never fail because his word is God's

word

when we trust in false saviors in false

Messiahs that is

idolatry that is the sin at the heart of

the abomination of desolation because

the New Testament is very clear we no

longer Worship in temples made with

human hands you and I are temples of the

Holy Spirit God's presence dwells in us

but when there is an idol in our hearts

well then

that friends is the abomination of

desolation and we put our trust in human

leaders we fail to love God with all our

heart soul mind strength that's the

first greatest commandment it also

breaks the first commandment of the

tenth commandment Thou shalt have no

other gods before

me in every age church has faced this

temptation trusting in false saviors

they're all around us in the political

world in the business

world what should we do how do we

respond what can we do about it well the

good news for us friends is that Jesus

ends this tough text with a word of

encouragement in verse 23 look with me

Jesus

says be on

guard I have told you all these things

beforehand so Jesus knows everything he

knows what we're going to face he knows

every challenge we have and he tells us

about it beforehand and he encourages us

He commands

us to be on guard the Greek word here is

blepo it can mean be on guard it can

also mean keep watch but a better

translation that you see in other places

in the New Testament is discern

Jesus is calling us to

discern what is

discernment discernment is seeing things

rightly seeing God rightly seeing our

neighbor rightly seeing ourselves

rightly the problem with sin is that it

distorts our

perception none of us see things as they

really

are none of you see things as as they

really are none of us see things as they

really are each and every one of us is

wrong about

something each and every one of us has a

blind spot somewhere we don't know about

that's what it means to be a sinner what

we need is

discernment discernment to see things as

they really

are and the key to discernment the thing

that unlocks it for us is wisdom

wisdom wise people discern they see

themselves they see others they see God

rightly not through the lens of sin and

death the World the Flesh and the devil

but Through The Eyes Of God through the

mind of

Christ where do we gain wisdom three

places we receive it from God that's

what James says anyone who needs Wisdom

ask the father he will give it we also

get wisdom when we reflect on our lives

when we look at the past see how God

acted Faithfully in our

lives but thirdly we get wisdom when we

listen to others in community there's a

lot of wisdom in this room a lot of life

that has been well-lived we need to

share that wisdom with one another we

need to help each other discern

wisely discern is an essential part of

the Christian Life it's all about

embracing reality with all its

complexity and holding together all

these tensions and stepping out in

faith this is what our world really

needs some have called This Moment a

posttruth moment and there's truth to

that we desperately need wise Christians

who will Faithfully discern especially

when there are leaders of all kinds who

claim to be our

savior now there are many Abominations

of desolations today many ways that

Pagan worship and practice idolatry is

infecting our hearts infecting the

church expressive

individualism

technology gender ideology all kinds of

stuff but I want to focus on one and

close with it because of the moment

we're

in I want to talk about a particularly

dangerous abomination of desolation and

that is political

partisanship I mean the elections

actually just only ended this week if

you think about it we only actually know

who's elected

now political

partisanship is the unwavering and

unfailing support for any one political

party or

leader and this friends is the opposite

of

discernment political partisanship is

Blindness partisans are blind they're

blind to The Faults of their own side

and they're blind to the virtues of the

other

side everything our team does is good

and righteous everything the other side

does is evil to be

resisted and if we discern with the mind

of Christ we see the truth that all of

our leaders are humans sinners just like

you and me and every human leader in any

area does some things that are good and

does some things that are evil can you

hold that

together or are you going to do the easy

thing the easy thing is to say my team's

always right that team's always wrong

that's not

discernment that's not wise because

that's not true of us we're not always

right we're not always wrong we're

both When leaders do something good this

next Administration whoever it is right

When leaders do something

good we should give thanks to God praise

him for his work through them and when

evil and leaders do something evil we

should lament and we should hold them

accountable for what they've done hold

them accountable to God's law that's

what discernment looks like

it's much easier to be a

partisan you know the hard work the work

of

wisdom is Discerning what God is up to

through these people how he's bringing

about his

kingdom how the World the Flesh and the

devil are at

work my greatest prayer for us is that

in this next season we would be people

who discern wisely because that's what

the world desperately needs the only

only way to

discern is to guard the Temple of our

hearts to cleanse it of all the

idolatries that infect our

hearts only Jesus is the savior only

Jesus shed his blood so that we might be

cleansed only Jesus gives us his spirit

so that we might discern with the mind

of

Christ and if Jesus Is Our Savior and

Lord then we should be people who

relentlessly seek his kingdom his power

his

glory we must remember that as we sang

just a moment ago Jerusalem is our happy

home not this

world where the kingdom can come in this

world with any leader we need to join

in but when a leader fails to measure up

to the standard of Heaven to Jerusalem

to the coming

Kingdom need to speak truth call evil

for what it

is so let us first stop and ask God for

wisdom because we need it desperately

let's ask him to give us the wisdom we

need to be people who

discern for