Welcome to Pastor Jack Buckley's weekly blog and podcast.
You have three ways to hear his weekly message:
- Read Pastor Jack's GODblog.
- Listen now to an audio of the scripture reading and Pastor Jack's sermon.
- Listen anytime. You choose the time and place. Download Pastor Jack's GODcast to your MP3 player.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Trust God in Hard Times
E. L. Doctorow wrote a novel years ago called Welcome to Hard Times. Now that's the kind of greeting I'd say "No thanks!" to.
The title's "hard times" refers both to the town name of an 1800s settlement in the Dakota Territory and to the kind of existence its settlers had to endure out there in the middle of nowhere.
I suppose most every community, family, or individual goes through its own hard times at least once in a while. I know that the past couple of years have made life harder for all of us than we'd been used to. And some of us have endured the real hardship of lost jobs, barely payable bills, loss of homes and health insurance and retirement security. On top of that, around all that, the proverbial wars and rumors of war chill our hearts and darken our minds.
Though our 21st century technology multiplies our capacity for destruction (including self-destruction) and accelerates our communication for better or worse, these kinds of woe are really nothing new.
In Mark 13, Jesus shocks his disciples and us by stepping out of character to prophesy gloom and doom and mass destruction. We're so used to him telling human interest stories to embody lofty values and gracious attitudes. And here he is whamming and bamming the world with apocalyptic warnings.
Well, that's the first part of his Mark 13 message. It's as if he's saying, "Now that I have your attention..." For the rest of what he says assures us that God knows all about, and has a purpose in, the hard times of prophetic "last days" and the hard times of everyday life as well.
That's the keynote of apocalyptic literature, which was so popular around the time Jesus was born. The writers described nightmarish visions of cosmic warfare, not to promote scream-fests as slasher movies or vampire romances do, but to assure believing people that their faith in God was worth believing with all their hearts and minds and strength.
The thematic thread through all their horrific visions was: Trust God even in the hard times; Trust God especially in the hardest of times.
To hear what I had to say about that on Sunday morning...
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
6:06 PM
<< Home
|
|
 |
|
|
