Jesus' Wake Up Call

For Many Orthodox Christians, Christmas Is Just Beginning : NPR: Some of you may be already packing up your decorations, but many Orthodox Christians are just getting ready for their Christmas
celebration. That's because many Orthodox churches follow a different calendar, the Julian calendar, and for them, Christmas falls on January 7th.

The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE (Before Common Era) and replaced the Roman calendar. The Gregorian calendar is today's internationally accepted civil calendar and is also known as the "Western calendar" or "Christian calendar". It was named after the man who first introduced it in February 1582: Pope Gregory XIII.

We use calendars for a wide variety of reasons. One, of course, is to mark the seasons. Based upon the time of the year we assume it will be cold and snowy or hot and humid. So we make plans accordingly.  Jesus' disciples were concerned about more than the weather when the Lord told them that Herod's majestic temple was soon to be torn to the ground.

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"  - Mat 24:1-3 ESV

Herod's Temple

With these words Matthew opens the fifth and final chapter of his account of Jesus' life and teachings. Jesus and his disciples are on the Mount of Olives, the hill that overlooks the city of Jerusalem. Below them are the majestic buildings that make up the temple that Herod built for the Jews. The historian Josephus said that much of the exterior of the Temple was covered with gold that reflected the fiery rays of the sun. Moreover, he said that from a distance the Temple appeared like a mountain covered with snow. This was probably because those parts not covered with gold were made of white stone.

Gazing down from the Mount of Olives upon that Temple, Jesus' disciples accepted Jesus' prediction about the Temple's destruction, but his prophecy raised two vital questions:

• "Tell us, when will these things be?" 
• "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 

Jesus knew that the temple would be torn down by the Romans in 70 A.D, but he did not supply that information to his disciples. He did not give them a specific date. Nor did he answer their second question directly. He wanted them—and us—to remember that the LORD God is ever and completely in control of the events of history in every age. What Jesus supplies in these next verses is a solemn reminder of that. What concerns him are the false prophets who will arise as his disciples await his second coming. He must warn us about what to expect in this age or eon and about the false prophets' interpretations of those events leading up to his return. In my next post we will examine in more detail Jesus' response to the second question and why he refuses to supply a specific and concrete answer to the first. His overarching concern is stated in these words:

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. - Mat 24:42 ESV

Reporting Again For Active Duty

Today brings us an entire week into a new year. A week before the new year began my grandson and I were discussing the calendar. I pointed out to him that we operate with the Gregorian calendar rather than the Julian. He had never heard of this. So I told him to Google it. He immediately grabbed his iPhone, went to the Net and came up with some kind of answer. When I pushed him, he indicated he was not that interested in the topic and we left it for another.

We Christians have also entered the wonderful season of Epiphany, that time when we remember the coming of the Magi from the east to worship the infant Jesus. Thus, at the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and the New Testament, we are reminded that the Good News of Jesus is for all men. It is not reserved merely for the Israelites, as important as they are in the history of God's grace.

So I personally find it significant that tomorrow I will be meeting with a group of leaders from a new congregation of Lutheran Christians in Montgomery, Texas. We will be discussing my role as a temporary or interim pastor in assisting them with the task of spreading the Gospel in that part of this vast world.

Yes, you heard me right. I'm temporarily moving back into more active pastoral ministry after being retired, if you will, for the past eight years. Like the world around us, we pastors (presbyters, priests, clergy) have adopted the term retirement. It is not a Biblical term. There's no Biblical record of prophets, priests, apostles or pastors ever retiring. What does the term mean then? Here are a few current definitions:

• retire - go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position; "He retired at age 68"
• retire - withdraw: pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew"; "The limo pulled away from the curb"
• retire - withdraw from circulation or from the market, as of bills, shares, and bonds
• retire - adjourn: break from a meeting or gathering; "We adjourned for lunch"; "The men retired to the library"
• make (someone) retire; "The director was retired after the scandal"
• retire - dispose of (something no longer useful or needed); "She finally retired that old coat"
• retire - lose interest; "he retired from life when his wife died"
• retire - put out: cause to be out on a fielding play
• retire - cause to get out; "The pitcher retired three batters"; "the runner was put out at third base"
• retire - go to bed: prepare for sleep; "I usually turn in at midnight"; "He goes to bed at the crack of dawn"

I haven't been put out at third or even second base during this time. I'm too old for baseball anyway. I haven't been sleeping. I haven't withdrawn completely from the battle. I certainly was not forced to retire. I did retire from full-time, remunerated ministry at the age of 67. Sylvia and I did begin to draw from funds set aside for both of us by the organizations we served and by the U.S. government (e.g. Social Security). Consequently, I did not spend all my time in the service of a local or national church. I began to pursue other interests, like writing this Blog. But now I'm returning to a more active role in a local congregation. Does that mean I'm "un-retiring"? You decide.

So check in from time to time. In this new year I plan to chronicle what that means for me, for Sylvia and our family, and for the people I'll be serving. Perhaps we can all learn some things together.