How
many of the early signs of Christmas have you spotted? They begin in the shops
with displays of Christmas gifts from early autumn while, at work, the
Christmas meal or party is being booked. Into November, and the displays of
Christmas decorations and foods begin appearing. Then the Christmas displays in
shop windows go up and the Christmas lights are put up in Town Centres. Before
long the first Christmas decorations go up in a home near you triggering the
annual competition to see who can cover their house in the most lights or have
the largest illuminated Snowman. Bets begin to be taken on whether we will have
a white Christmas and you are given the name of a colleague to buy a Secret
Santa present for. Before you know it there are children on your doorstep
singing the one carol that they know and people start saying there only X
number of days to go. These are some of the signs that
Christmas is coming and we all recognise them, probably with dread!
In
our gospel reading today (Luke 21. 5 - 9) Jesus told his disciples to watch out for the signs of
their times. He wanted them to watch out for what God was doing in their world
and it was of vital importance for them because it spelled disaster for
Jerusalem as well as vindicating all that Jesus had said and done.
Jesus
had told his disciples, the crowds following him and the religious leaders that
the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed because the people of Israel had not
fulfilled God’s plan for their lives. The kind of place that Jerusalem should
have become had been set out in Isaiah 2; a place that all nations could come
to to hear from God:
“Many
nations will come streaming to it, and their people will say,
‘Let
us go to up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel’s God.
He
will teach us what he wants us to do;
we
will walk in the paths he has chosen.
For
the Lord’s teaching comes from Jerusalem;
from
Zion he speaks to his people.”
Instead
of that vision happening, the Temple had become a symbol of Jewish identity
with all sorts of people excluded from worship at the Temple unless they
conformed to the detailed requirements of the Mosaic Law. The Temple and the
worship in it was actually preventing the free access to God’s word that God
wanted to see for people of all nations. Therefore, Jesus prophesied that the
Temple would be destroyed and told his disciples that they had to watch out and
be ready for when this disaster would come about.
They
had to be watchful and ready because Jesus did not tell them when this would
happen, only that it was going to occur. They had to be watchful and ready
because this act would vindicate Jesus; would be the final sign that in Jesus
God had been acting to defeat evil and bring in his kingdom and rule. To those
people who had not encountered the risen Christ, Jesus of Nazareth looked like just
another failed would-be Messiah who had died a shameful death. The destruction
of the Temple, however, would be the sign that Jesus had been right and that
what he had said was true.
Tom Wright, the former Bishop of Durham has said that when they saw this sign, the
vindication of Jesus, for themselves, they knew they were to get on with the
task of implementing what Jesus had achieved. Jesus believed “that Israel
functioned to the rest of the world as the hinge to the door” so “he envisaged
his followers becoming … Isaianic heralds, lights to the world.”
As
Christ’s followers today, we inherit that task of putting into practice what
Jesus has achieved through his life, death and resurrection. We are the people
today who are called to work towards that Isaianic vision of nations streaming
to learn what Israel’s God wants them to do, settling disputes among the great
nations, hammering swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks, and
never again preparing to go to war.
How
can we do that? Well, here is a story of a father and a rock band who have
tried to do just that:
“Gordon Wilson held his daughter’s hand as they lay trapped beneath a mountain of
rubble. It was 1987, and he and Marie had been attending a peaceful memorial
service in Enniskillen, when a terrorist bomb went off. By the end of the day,
Marie and nine other civilians were dead, and sixty-three had been hospitalized
for injuries.
Amazingly,
Gordon refused to retaliate … He knew that the terrorists who took his
daughter’s life were anything but remorseful, and he maintained that they
should be punished and imprisoned … [but] he refused to take revenge.
‘Those
who have to account for this deed will have to face a judgement of God, which
is way beyond [my] forgiveness,’ he said. ‘It would be wrong for me to give any
impression that gunmen and bombers should be allowed to walk the streets
freely. But … whether or not they are judged here on earth by a court of law …
I do my very best in human terms to show forgiveness … The last word rests with
God.”
On
the evening of the Enniskillen bombing, in Denver, Colorado, the Irish band U2
and playing a gig on their world tour. Their lead singer Bono asks, “Where’s
the glory in bombing a remembrance day parade of old age pensioners, their
medals taken out and polished up for the day? Where’s the glory in that? To
leave them dying, or crippled for life, or dead, under the rubble of the
revolution that the majority of the people in my country don't want.” And he
leads the crowd in a shout of “NO MORE!” before launching into the song Sunday
Bloody Sunday. This is a song which ends:
“The
real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On a Sunday bloody Sunday …”
To claim the victory Jesus won
On a Sunday bloody Sunday …”
Eleven
years later, in 1998, U2 are playing another concert. This time it is in
Belfast and it is a concert to draw support for the national vote on the Good
Friday/Northern Ireland Peace Agreement four days later. In the concert, Bono
is able to bring on stage David Trimble and John Hume, leaders of the
traditionally opposing Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour
Party, respectively. The political leaders stand on each side of Bono as he
raises their arms together in a show of unity. Four days later, the Peace
Agreement is approved overwhelmingly by voters in both the North and South.
We
all know that there are still many difficulties in living with the legacy of
terrorism in Ireland and of making and keeping peace. But these are two stories
of Christians in very different situations who were looking out for God at
work in their world, looking for the signs of peace, and seeking to claim the
victory that Jesus won.
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U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday.
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