Sermon, Proper 28B, Mark 13:1-8

Road maps. The very first time we drive somewhere, chances are we use a road map. Whether it's a map scratched out on a piece of paper to someone's house showing a left turn at the big tree and four houses down on the right, or a Rand McNally Road Atlas showing which spur and loop to take to avoid a big city, we use road maps to get us from here to there. Not only do we use them to get us from here to there, but we use them to figure out how long it will take us to make the trip - a few minutes, a couple of hours, several days? We use them to plan our journey and get there on time.

I have found that having a map on a road trip with kids has the ability to lessen the cries of, "How much longer?" and, "Are we there yet??" I could give my daughter a map and say, "Here's where we are, here's where we're going; have fun keeping track of our journey." Granted, it didn't always work, but it helped. Besides, I could always fall back on my old reliable, "You can be there right now if you really want."

And sometimes it's nice to have a map handy so you don't get lost. In the summer of 2003, I worked at St. Paul's in Walla Walla, and my daughter spent the summer with friends in Spokane. When it was time for us to go back to Chicago, I picked her up and we did some cross country father-daughter bonding. I let her set the agenda. We stopped in a variety of places, and, in general, had a ball. We talked about our summers, the upcoming year, where we might end up, and learned a little bit more about each other. It was a great trip; and yes, I had the map just in case.

Maps are our friends. Sometimes, though, we can get too dependent on them. Sometimes we get too focused on where we've been and how long it will take to get to where we're going. Sometimes we need to slow down and spend some time where we are.

Scripture can be our spiritual road map. It tells us where we've been and it tells us where we're going. We began our journey in the Garden with the tree of life; we will end our journey in a new heaven and a new earth with the same tree of life. And on our way will be many places for us to stop and explore.

But unlike a road map that tells us how far we've come, how far we have yet to go, and exactly when our journey will end, Scripture does no such thing. Scripture may give us guide posts along the way, but it doesn't give us mile markers. The road map of Scripture is more like the trip with my daughter; we know the end destination, but the trip is more about spending time in certain places.

We need to remember this about Scripture: it's like a road map, but it is not a road map.

Today's gospel passage is from Mark 13, otherwise known as the Little Apocalypse. Jesus talks about the end times, false prophets, the destruction of the temple, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. Peter, James, John and Andrew want to know when these things will be. They want a road map. They want to know exactly when their journey will end. But Jesus can't tell them. All he can say is, "When you see these things taking place, you know that he is near."

And this is the problem with people who make a living out of giving more meaning to apocalyptic literature than it was intended to have. How many times have we heard that the Antichrist is among us and the end of the world is near? From the Vandals at the gates of Rome, to Martin Luther, to Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, the Pope (any Pope), Ronald Reagan and Barak Obama, people spend more time looking for the Antichrist than they do looking for Christ.

Sometimes people are so convinced that the end of the world is imminent - the Millerites of the 1800's, Y2K, 2012 - that they stop doing the work we have been sent out to do. People stop working to make thy kingdom come and simply sit around waiting for things to happen. They sit around waiting for the Second Coming so they can glory in being right.

But Scripture isn't a road map. Nowhere does Jesus ever say, "After Israel is at war with Egypt for six days . . . after five earthquakes in the land of Cana . . . you will have three months until the end of time." What he does say is that when we see these things, the Son of Man is near.

These things happen all around us every day. Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes . . . that's the world we live in. And it would behoove us to remember that we are the face of God incarnate, we are the representatives of Christ in the world.

When we see those things and respond to them - our transient military ministry, supporting ERD, helping the hungry and homeless - then Christ is very near indeed.

Scripture is not a road map given to us to sit back and count down the events until the end of the world and the return of Christ. Scripture is more of a guided tour. It's our journey with God where we stop at various places and explore. It's where we learn more about God and where we share more of ourselves with him. It is a recognition that we are already living in the last days. We are living with wars and rumors of wars and natural disasters of all kinds. And because of that, because we are living in the last days, it is up to us to reflect the nearness of Christ to a broken and hurting world; it is not up to us to sit on our rear ends waiting for God to come clean up this mess.

So let's spend less time trying to read the road map to figure out exactly how long we have, and spend more time reflecting the nearness of Christ as we live in the moment.