A Poem a Sunday

Pentecost 26

November 13, 2016

St. Luke 21:5-19 – NRSV

Commentary:  The Church of the 21^st Century has an edifice complex.  She wants to hang on to her buildings for dear life.  We worship our buildings rather than follow the mandate of Christ to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Thus the poem: Not One Stone.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

Signs and Persecutions

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and, ‘The time is near!’[b] Do not go after them.

9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Footnotes:

Luke 21:8 Gk I am

Luke 21:8 Or at hand

Luke 21:15 Gk a mouth

A Poem a Sunday

Pentecost 26

November 13, 2016

Not One Stone

Jesus left the building

long ago

yet his followers remain

inside as though

God resides in edifices

made by human hands.

Yet through the ages

stones still shout

that God is flesh

and never doubt

the Word will find

Its way out.

Despite the edifices

we build God is not defined

by human will

but free to be

despite our skill

to confine.

Idol edifices,

idle Church

has lost her vision

and found her worth

in bricks and mortar

unchanged, unchangeable.

The cries of stone

ignored…

*and the Church

must be forever building

and always decaying,

and always being restored...*

and, yet, her risen Lord

still beckons from the rubble.

*a line from ‘Choruses from the Rock’

by T. S. Eliot*

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