Birth pangs

Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] 19-25; Mark 12:38-40; Mark 13:1-8

I want to start with a bit of last week’s Gospel reading. Mark 12:38-40 says:

As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” NRSVUE

I have been struck this week by the phrase “devour widows’ houses.” Anyone want to explain this? It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it. The scribes – who know the scriptures about taking care of widows and orphans – use their greater training to take advantage of widows.

According to Gotquestions.org, “The phrase devour widows’ houses means “greedily cheat widows out of their property.” In ancient times widows held little or no power in the courts. It was not uncommon for a husband to appoint in his will a Jewish legal expert—a scribe or Pharisee—to be the executor of his widow’s estate. Essentially, this gave the executor authority to oversee the widow’s finances and assets. It would not be hard for a corrupt lawyer to find legal ways to trick a widow out of her house and other property—and this is precisely what the religious leaders were doing.” So, without their homes and people to care for them, widows were poor and unsheltered.

Just a few verses after this comment from Jesus, the disciples point out the grandeur of the temple. To be sure, it is an amazing sight: the stones, the building blocks, of the temple are the size of semi-truck trailers. Today, we can’t imagine how the builders were able to create something so huge with the technology of the day. The disciples are amazed; but Jesus throws cold wet water on them, saying, “The scribes, who collect the funds daily to run the temple complex, steal widows’ houses.” But the disciples don’t hear the criticism, even when they watch a poor widow drop her offering in the receptacle.

Today, we might accuse Congress, or the Governor, or the County Commission, or even the HOA (home owners association) of cheating us. For example

… About 20 years ago, I was talking with a member of a church in Chicago. She was lamenting that the congregation was once much larger. But the powers-that-be decided to build the Dan Ryan Expressway through their neighborhood. Those who owned homes were forced to accept the price offered, or lose their house outright through the process of eminent domain.

It’s telling that the neighborhood was lower income, and mostly people of color. Though the residents and business owners protested, they lost the fight, and the highway split the neighborhood and the geographical parish in two. With limited access to the “other side of the highway” the congregation lose many members. The “powers-that-be” in Chicago found it easy to devour widows and poor persons’ houses.

… Back to our scripture. Jesus warns the disciples that before long, this temple will be destroyed, not a stone left on stone. Jesus continues, this will be the beginning of the birth pangs.

This comment is often interpreted negatively – That the birth pangs issue in a time of destruction and terror. It is seen to imply that the birth pains bring a time of chaos and fear. Wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes, fire, flood; natural disaster after natural disaster. We remember that in this nuclear age, we can destroy entire nations and the world with the touch of one button by an angry leader.

But, what if Jesus meant the idea of birth pangs in a positive sense? Many of us have experienced or at least observed birth pangs. After more than 8 months of carrying a baby in our bellies, women look forward to the pains of childbirth, because a child, a tiny human, will be the result. Babies are good news, bringing joy and hope of a better future.

I regularly check Facebook for pictures and news of my grandchildren. Especially, I look for pictures of my new great-grandchildren. Aiyanna at 6 months is learning to blow raspberries, and George looks handsome at 3 months in his new sleeper. Birth pangs bring good news and hope.

… Jesus promised that good things would come out of bad news. Even as the temple walls were crumbling, the numbers of those who believed in Jesus were multiplying all around the Mediterranean Sea. The Good News about Jesus was carried by those who fled the destruction, and within 300 years, there were believers in Britain and Spain and Libya.

The Good News announced a new way of living, a new way of believing. The author of the sermon for the Hebrews puts it this way. With the current plan of temple sacrifice performed by the priests, forgiveness is not fully effective, so it needs to be repeated daily. The forgiveness of the priests grants temporary access to the Divine, to God.

But with Jesus, his offering of his life makes forgiveness perfect, complete. We receive this forgiveness through our baptism. We can trust in this promise of forgiveness and never worry about it again. Further, through baptism, we are made holy, sanctified, and granted permanent access to the Divine, to God.

For individuals, this access to God’s forgiveness is the good news that results from the birth pangs of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We live in the knowledge that we are loved and forgiven; we are God’s beloved.

For communities like the Chicago neighborhood affected by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway, the good news is that their congregation is still there, sharing the good news with those around them.

And for congregations like Gloria Dei, there is work to be done in our neighborhood, too. How can we meet the needs of widows and orphans and foreigners in our midst? Is there a new ministry to pursue, especially in partnership with another congregation? Where, or how, are we feeling birth pangs today? How will those birth pangs bring good news, new life, to those in need?

This week, I wonder how will you see good news in the bad news. And I hope you will talk with someone about your ideas. It could be God’s Holy Spirit sent them to you. Amen