Resurrection-Shaped Imagination
(Free Version) Twenty-third Sunday After Pentecost- Isaiah 65:17-25; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19
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This Sunday, we are compelled to imagine a new world, a world centered on Christ, in the reality of his resurrection. We find ourselves moving towards Advent. We see the destruction of our world, we long for restoration, and we do not yet see it in fullness.
In our Old Testament reading (Isaiah 65:17-25), the prophet captures our imagination with God’s promise of a new world. It is a new heavens and a new earth. This new world is in the future, but we can rejoice in it now. Because God promises it, it is as good as done. Is this not, after all, what we celebrate each Sunday? In God’s new world, God will delight in his people. They have always been his delight, but in the new world they will know it fully. There will be no more crying, tragic death, or hurdles to everyday living and flourishing. Even the “circle of life,” defined by predators and prey, will be suspended and there will be nothing to fear.
But what are we to do in the meantime? Paul responds to such a question in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 3:6-13). Our hope for a new world, which could dawn any day, ought not lead us to be idle or lazy. We are not merely to focus on prayer or preaching without putting our hands to physical work. This is serious business because the Church is a family and if we are not willing to do the practical work—making money and producing goods—we are not operating in Christian love. When we are not busy, we are just busybodies! The call is simple: never tire in doing good.
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus hits his disciples with a stunning prediction (Luke 21:5-9). The temple, the center of the life of God’s people, the place where heaven and earth meet, this beautiful sign of God’s presence in their midst, will be utterly destroyed. The implications of such an event will be cataclysmic. It will feel like war, earthquakes, and signs in the heavens all wrapped up into one. Things will be especially difficult for disciples of Jesus. Even their own family and friends will turn against them because of Him.
Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled with the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem itself. It was indeed apocalyptic. Yet, through it all, those who follow Jesus have a greater hope. The temple was temporary, but we have the hope of resurrection. Jesus tells his disciples “But not a hair of your head will perish,” which is strange because many of the disciples died as martyrs. The reality is that those who are connected to Jesus do not need to fear death. Resurrection is real. New creation is real. As difficult as things could get, our hope is sure.