33rd Sunday in ordinary time
Luke 21:5-19
Did you ever read the children’s book “chicken Licken”? An acorn drops on the chickens head which he doesn’t see, convinced the sky is falling in he sets off to tell the king. He gathers many friends into the drama and they join him on the journey to tell the king. Just as they are about to be eaten by Foxy loxey another acorn falls and everyone apart from the evil fox, realises their foolishness.
How easy it is to be swept along with someone else’s interpretation of an event. It takes a cool head, some intelligence and a heap of grace to stand back, discern what is actually true before acting. We can easily be drawn into stories of doom and destruction, perhaps forgetting we have a mighty God who holds all things in His hand.
This last year for the second time in my life, I have watched all my own “stones” be dismantled. So it is with great interest I read Jesus’ prophecy that the temple will be completely destroyed. He is talking about the temple built by Herod the great, something beautiful and adorned and built as a place of worship and for sacrifices to God.
It would be astonishing then that it had to come down, why God didn’t protect this sacred place, where He was honoured and worshipped? It was seemingly good, just as was my “temple” of ministry and service that too was reduced to rubble.
A year on, I know if there is a stone still standing we will cling to it, we hope to rebuild the exact same thing that has come down, refusing to accept that there is something new to be built. Whilst something of the old remains our attention is turned backwards not forwards, a little like Lots wife. We spend our energy and prayers on reclaiming what is lost rather than embracing what is to come.
The temple comes down because something greater is to replace it, if we only have the faith to believe it.
While the lens of our hearts refocuses it’s a time of confusion and sometimes pain that only stops when we learn to trust in His plan, remind ourselves He is a good God. That everything has a reason, and every ending is clearing the way for a new beginning.
So if you are in a place right now that feels like the end of the world, look for acorns. They aren’t the sky falling in they are the very beginning of mighty oaks, don’t let the foxes steal them.
