Mark 13:1-8 The Folly of 2012 Grace 11/15/2009

Have you heard? Hollywood says we have three years left until the apocalypse.

Hollywood, always a reliable scientific and spiritual source, is basing its prediction on the ancient Mayan long-count calendar. This is a calendar which correctly predicted an astonishing number of other astrological and mathematical events. Unfortunately for the Mayans, even the best math couldn’t factor in and figure out some highly unexpected variables – like their own demise. This ancient and powerful Mayan culture didn’t foresee the arrival and ultimate invasion of a bunch of Spanish soldiers of fortune — soldiers bearing weapons the Mayans had never seen and bringing diseases their bodies had never encountered. The then advanced Mayan technology that had carefully calculated “the end of the world” on 21 December 2012, was unable to perceive that “the end of THEIR world” was only a few decades away.

Regardless of the fact that the Mayans couldn’t foresee the end of their own civilization, the Mayan prediction of 2012 as the end of human civilization has captured the imagination of popular culture. The fact that the 5,125 year Mayan calendar comes to an end on 21 December 2012 is giving bad dreams and bad thoughts to a whole new generation.

Of course, there are dates that speak volumes just by their numbers. Here are a few of them:

1776
1789
1066

We process time and give it meaning by dates. But the date that you’re going to be hearing more and more of us 2012, the alleged end-of-the-world date.

People who claim US citizenship have always been particularly entranced by end-of-the-world scenarios. Maybe it is because our own national history is so relatively short. Maybe it is because our roots are less deeply planted, making uprooting less intimidating. Think here of the Shakers, the Amana society, or the Millerites, all of whom lived all their lives preparing for the end.

Those that jumped on the apocalyptic bandwagon have often been those who have the least to lose in the event of a widespread materialistic meltdown. Recent immigrants, already uprooted, sometimes decide to send their hopes heavenward instead of sinking roots earthward. The poorest, the disenfranchised, those pushed to the edges and margins because of race, education, disabilities or just plain poverty, have always been rich soil for the germination of apocalyptic angst.

From the ancient Mayans to Nostradamus to Y2K and now 2012, there has never been any shortage of end-of-the-world scenarios. Apocalypticism is all about attitude – and it’s a bad attitude. That was Jesus’ message in today’s gospel text. Don’t dwell on the unknowable, the uncontrollable, the unfathomable. Jesus reminded his disciples that “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). Did you get that? Even Jesus doesn’t know. Here is something kept hidden from Jesus himself . . . and that something is the very thing that some people profess to know, even if Jesus didn’t: “that day or hour.”

There are some who are curious about the end of days, as the book of Daniel calls it, and others who are just plain obsessed. I think the latter live with that in real fear. And I think that fear is a playground for the devil. Or maybe his battlefield, Either way, it’s not hard at all for me to imagine some devilish imp whispering in the ear of those who are afraid, fanning the fire of fear about the end. (whisper loudly) It’s going to be bad! There’s not much time left! You’re going to be left behind! We might call them Satan’s talking points.

But Jesus has talking points in today’s reading in Mark

- Do not be led astray by others who come in my name saying I am he!

- do not be alarmed – these things must take place.

Participating in the kingdom of God is the role of faithful followers of Jesus, not cataloging and calculating apocalyptic appearances and disasters. Jesus has called his disciples, whether in the first century or the twenty-first century, to live fully and faithfully in the time God has placed us in. God will take care of “that day or hour.” Focus on the day at hand and live in it. The day will come – one day – some day – but we do not know when. That day was expected by some in the first century. Let us live in the day we are given and make the most for God in this day.

With that in mind, and as Owen and his family gather up front for his baptism, I invite you to join me in drowning out Satan’s Talking Points that would capture our imaginations with Armageddon anxieties by singing a song that puts our minds at peace and our hearts at rest: “How Great Thou Art.” M-31