I don’t know about you…but I can’t remember the last time I’ve experienced a plague here in Belton.  And I don’t ever recall an earthquake bringing down the Kyle Hotel over in Temple.   Nor have I experienced being torn out of my house and threatened to be put to death because I am a Christian.  Really none of these catastrophic predictions given by Jesus in this gospel today seem to be a reality in our lives in Belton, Texas in 2013.  In fact…in considering this gospel I’ve struggled because wars…insurrections…famines…destruction…they all seem so far off…on the other side of the world or far back in the history pages of history books.   The catastrophic events of our time run their course on CNN and FOX and we take note and then they’re gone…at least on our TVs…so we switch over to Sportscenter or the Food Channel or HG TV.  The more I think about this the more it seems that we’ve really embraced Great American Fantasy.  Remember I spoke about this a couple of weeks back…fantasy versus reality.  So much of our time and the place in which God has chosen to put us seems to have little connection to the reality that rings true across the globe. 

I wonder…what would it be like if we could step out of our perfect little town…out of the hallmark thanksgiving specials and the touching Christmas movies ready to run over at Grand Avenue Theater…out of the everything’s perfect vision at Macys and Dillards and LL Bean catalogues…if we could then we might realize that this gospel is actually much more accurate than we realize. 

So I thought I would offer us this morning a reality check.  You may be surprised to know that while there are 7 Billion people living on this planet today and 1 Billion don’t know where there next meal is going to come from.  You may also be surprised to know that at any given moment of any given day there are 200 million Christians on this planet who will be persecuted for their beliefs.  In places like China, Saudi Arabia, and even in the Holy Land where Jesus himself lived.  One of the great ironies of all is the fact that in the very country where almost all of our Christmas decorations are manufactured…China…Christianity is forced to exist underground for fear of punishment.  You may also be surprised to know that in the 200 years of Christianity there have been 70 million martyrs.  And of that 70 Million…45 Million…gave their lives for their faith in the 20^th century…within the last hundred years.  Nazi Concentration camps…Stalin’s Totalitarian Communism…Franco’s Spain…The Armenian Genocide by Turkey…The Mexican Socialist Revolution in the 20s.  Nuns and Bishops in Central America in the 70s.  All of these places have one thing in common…Christians were executed because of His Name.
 
So, the reality is that this reality…this seeming outrageous vision that Jesus gives us 2000 years ago…is every bit as real today as it was for the Early Christians.  And the more we look at it…although different in its expression…Christians are actually persecuted right here beneath our very noses our very towns and cities.  Not as extreme or as obvious as in other countries…we are persecuted by modern secularism…a world view that values the individual over the whole…things over relationships…careers over families…subjective opinions over objective Truths.  Our society may not execute Christians but we do martyr babies and at the same time we even martyr the elderly.  We manipulate stem cells and build prison cells.  We text constantly and then wonder why we’ve lost the ability to have a face to face conversation.   This is the calamity of our time. The media…the Politicians…the Internet…The entertainment industry…professional athletes and their celebrated antics…all of it purvades the very core of our souls and we naively believe that our lives can be satisfied by treasuring the things of this world rather than treasuring the things of God’s eternity.

So what do we do?  How do we live in the face of the destructive elements of our world today?  How do we have faith that God is even present when chaotic things continue to happen to us good people?  That’s what this passage is really about.  Faith in the face of calamity. 
We have to wake up and live as I said a couple of weeks back in reality not fantasy.  We have to see what is most True about life.  And then we have to become Truth Tellers.  Each one of us in this room right now must choose to become a prophet…to call it like it is…to stand up for what is true when our society presents something false.  The fact remains life is wonderful and terrifying all at the same time.  But right at the center of that duality God is present.  In the midst of the anxiety of the human experience we must wake up and see that God is trustworthy even though everything might be telling us the opposite.  Listen to the words of Jesus in this gospel, “Do not be terrified and do not me misled…your perseverance will secure your lives.”  We shouldn’t believe that we’ll have no worries…or that we won’t make mistakes…or that tragedies won’t occur…or that we and our loved ones won’t fall victim to accidents…addictions…illness or even death.  If everything was perfect there would be no need for faith.  Faith tells us that God is present in the very midst of the mess of our lives.   God won’t forget us…and even though it might not seem so…God is still solidly in charge of this universe.  That is reality.  Our world wants us to think that we control our own destiny…our own safety…our own happiness.  That’s impossible.  The reality of this life is quite precarious.  And because of this…our ability to prioritize what is most important over and against what is not so important becomes the number 1 task of the human person. 

There’s a wonderful essay I came across this week…originally written by a pastor from Seattle…and many times referenced by preachers, politicians, and even the great comedian George Carlin once in a stand-up routine.  The essay is called the Paradox of our time…it reads…Our time has taller buildings but shorter tempers…wider freeways but narrower viewpoints…things cost more and you get less…we have bigger houses but smaller families…we have learned to make a living but not a life…We’ve been all the way to the moon but can’t seem to cross the street to meet the new neighbor…we’ve conquered the atom but not prejudice…we build more computers and still can’t answer the mysteries of God…nowadays we have two incomes and yet more divorce…fancier houses but broken homes…we plan more and accomplish less.   This is the calamity of our modern age.

So remember…purify your perspective and spend time with your loved ones because they won’t be here forever…say a kind word to someone who looks up to you because that little person will soon grow up and take care of you…say I love you and mean it to those who need to hear it from you…Give time to love…give time to speak…give time to share…give time to worship God who has so generously shared himself with you.  And above all Trust in God’s goodness that he will not leave you to face your perils alone.