Reading the signs of the times
Betty Stroud
Year C 2025 Pentecost 10
Luke 12:49-56
Today I want us to first of all think about the second part of the reading from Luke’s gospel, then relate it to the reading from Hebrews which is set down for today, where the writer likens faith to running a race, having Jesus as our leader and pioneer.
In Luke, Jesus said to his listeners – ‘You know how to work out what the weather’s going to do, how is it that you don’t know how to interpret what’s happening around you?’
You know, I think he could well ask of us that same question – both as individuals, and as a community of faith.
Before we delve a little more deeply into this question and its relationship with the passage from Hebrews I want us to read a paraphrase of the Psalm which is set down for today. It echoes the feelings of the person who wrote the psalm nearly three thousand years ago, whilst couching it in today’s language.
As we read it, I want us to think about the questions it might be asking of us. So, let’s read it slowly and with thought.
Psalm 80:1-2 & 8-19
O God, you are the creator and the sustainer of your church.
You have protected your faithful followers
throughout the stormy and tumultuous past.
Today we are in trouble.
Listen to our cries of consternation, O God.
You were with us in the beginning, Lord.
You planted us in the midst of this world’s turmoil.
You nurtured us and watched over us.
In spite of your enemies, who sought to destroy us,
we grew until we encircled the earth.
Great shrines were built in your honour, Lord.
Magnificent institutions were established
to carry out your purposes.
People dedicated their many skills to perpetuate your teachings.
Multitudes gathered to declare your praises.
Today we are in trouble, Lord. The walls are crumbling.
Our sanctuaries no longer attract the masses.
People’s skills are dedicated to other purposes.
We no longer are making much of an impression
on this world of ours.
Renew your church, O God.
Fan the dying embers, Lord.
Give us new life and new vision that we may advance your kingdom in our disjointed world.
Renew your church, O God,
so that the whole earth may know of your love.
(Leslie F Brandt, Psalms Now. Reprinted with permission)
This paraphrase was written some 30 years ago. We might well say, ‘Things haven’t changed all that much.’
And then we might look at Jesus’ question:
‘You know how to work out what the weather’s going to do, how is it that you don’t you know how to interpret what’s happening around you?’ and perhaps update it a bit. Jesus, if he were here this morning, might well ask us: ‘Where have you been the last 30 years? The signs that the church and indeed the world, is in trouble have been there for you to see, why haven’t you worked out what’s happening?
How do we read the signs of our day?
If we do read them – how do we respond to what they are saying?
Let’s listen to the words from Hebrews, chapter eleven.
‘Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God. He could put up with anything along the way- even shame and death.’
I think in this passage we have some clues as to how we might read the signs and then deal with them
Always have Jesus in our sights and study how he did it:
fraternised with outsiders
concerned with those who were dispossessed
concerned about justice and acceptance even if it meant upsetting people
was prepared to take on the leaders of the synagogue
challenged the cultural norms of the day
Never lose sight of where we are headed:
is our church community about surviving as an institution?
is our church community about propping up what we’ve always done?
is our Christian faith solely to ensure that we have some kind of guaranteed entrance to heaven?
is our church community just about maintaining a feeling of love and care for each other? or is where we are headed, about something more?
Reading the signs of the times is about recognising what is really going on, and what is likely to happen. It is very much a prophetic role.
Today it means helping ourselves and others, probe beneath the surface of events, so we might recognise the gods and hidden agenda which drive the world in which we live.
In our passage Jesus talked about families, but the same caution applies to all other systems.
The passage calls us to reflect on the centres of powerful influence in our local and wider communities and ask, what are the gods that can, so easily, delude and ensnare us?
For some, these gods will be in families.
For others, there are gods in their workplace, or across the counters of commerce, or in the obsessions of advertising. As we look at our world we see gods who want to own what others have; gods who promote hatred and division, gods who want to always have their own way, gods who invite us to think only of ourselves.
In addressing these gods, we ultimately have to look at the bigger picture and think about a vision of justice and peace for all – not what is best for this person or that person, but what is best for communities and the world collectively.
This week I was talking with a couple of people about what the kingdom of God is, and I want to make a couple of comments that I think are pertinent to where we should be headed as a community of faith.
The kingdom of God is, I believe, not just about the future.
If we are to take Jesus’ words about himself as true, then we should understand that he was the embodiment of God’s kingdom. Through his life – his teachings and his actions – he lived God’s kingdom. Not only that, he taught what the kingdom of God is like.
And so, based on how Jesus lived, what he taught, and how he was prepared to put others before his own safety, we might say that God’s kingdom is about radical love, about acceptance, about justice, about the turning of things upside down so that those who are the least will become the greatest, and those who are great will become the least.
The kingdom of God is a place where people look out for each other and accept people for who they are – unique individuals. The kingdom of God is a place where we seek the best for society and our earth as a whole.
That means we are to live out its values in the here and now. Persevering, despite all the knockbacks and ridicule we might get.
It means keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and on what he taught and lived.
If this passage from Luke tells us anything about what it means to follow Jesus, it tells us that it’s going to be costly. It will be costly in terms of friends, and family, and as we make decisions about how we live.
It might mean that we upset people. It might mean there will be division. But that’s the way it is. That’s the race we are called to run. That’s the example we are called to follow.
The signs around us point to a world that is unsafe for some; a world that is individualistic and self-serving; a world that is – ecologically, having difficulty surviving; a world where love is often in short supply; a world where hatred and distrust of ‘the so called other’ abounds.
But there are also signs of hope – where the gospel is lived out in real and meaningful ways.
Take a moment to think of signs of hope that exist in our world.
The signs are all around us, as they have always been. Our task is to bear witness in this time, confident that the one who has been crucified and raised has, by that very act, addressed the crises of this – and every – time.
It is as we bear witness to God’s radical love in Jesus, that we, along with others, become signs of hope and love in our world.
