Monuments or Missions
Read Matthew 24:1-14.
I have been privileged to walk through some of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. They knew how to build church buildings to last! These buildings, built from large stones and decorated in ancient art, have stood the test of time. Some of the architects and those who began the building never lived to see the finished product. These were no quick-build McDonald's-style cathedrals. These were meant to testify to the eternity and beauty of God.
The Temple in Jerusalem was just such a "cathedral" style building. Built to last. Meant to glorify God. The pride of the Jewish people. In fact, in Jesus' time, it wasn't done yet. This second or third Temple (depending on how you count them) was started by Herod the Great and there was still work going on until just a few years before AD 70. When Jesus was there during one Passover, it had already been under construction for 46 years (John 2:20). In 70, the Temple was destroyed during a rebellion of the Jews against the Roman Empire. Rome tore it down, stone by stone, and burned what they could. Today, the "Western Wall," also known as the Wailing Wall, is all that is left of that ancient structure.
But in Jesus' day, the Temple was a source of pride, and so the disciples are like everyone else when they marvel at this huge building. They point it out to Jesus (he must not have been sufficiently impressed, in their minds), and Jesus basically says, "See that huge impressive building? It'll be gone soon." Now, notice Jesus does not say anything about the end of time or his return, and yet the disciples jump to that conclusion. The only thing they can imagine that would destroy the Temple would be such cataclysmic events. And so they ask Jesus about signs of the end, and while Jesus goes through what a lot of us would think as "clear signs" that the end is near, Jesus calls such things "mere birth pangs." What will signal the end, he says, is when the Gospel is preached to the whole world. Then, and only then, he says, the end will come.
One of the things that always strikes me about those cathedrals I've toured is that, by and large, many of them are monuments now to the past rather than living, breathing, active congregations. They survive as pointers to what once was rather than outposts for the mission that is. In some ways, I think Jesus was warning the disciples of that in this passage. "The building? It's nothing if it's not a mission outpost. Such things will be destroyed. You stay focused, because preaching the Gospel to the whole world is what matters."
Is your church a monument or a mission? I think it's clear which one Jesus prefers.
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| 1st century Temple (model at Israel Museum, Jerusalem), 2012 |
I have been privileged to walk through some of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. They knew how to build church buildings to last! These buildings, built from large stones and decorated in ancient art, have stood the test of time. Some of the architects and those who began the building never lived to see the finished product. These were no quick-build McDonald's-style cathedrals. These were meant to testify to the eternity and beauty of God.
The Temple in Jerusalem was just such a "cathedral" style building. Built to last. Meant to glorify God. The pride of the Jewish people. In fact, in Jesus' time, it wasn't done yet. This second or third Temple (depending on how you count them) was started by Herod the Great and there was still work going on until just a few years before AD 70. When Jesus was there during one Passover, it had already been under construction for 46 years (John 2:20). In 70, the Temple was destroyed during a rebellion of the Jews against the Roman Empire. Rome tore it down, stone by stone, and burned what they could. Today, the "Western Wall," also known as the Wailing Wall, is all that is left of that ancient structure.
But in Jesus' day, the Temple was a source of pride, and so the disciples are like everyone else when they marvel at this huge building. They point it out to Jesus (he must not have been sufficiently impressed, in their minds), and Jesus basically says, "See that huge impressive building? It'll be gone soon." Now, notice Jesus does not say anything about the end of time or his return, and yet the disciples jump to that conclusion. The only thing they can imagine that would destroy the Temple would be such cataclysmic events. And so they ask Jesus about signs of the end, and while Jesus goes through what a lot of us would think as "clear signs" that the end is near, Jesus calls such things "mere birth pangs." What will signal the end, he says, is when the Gospel is preached to the whole world. Then, and only then, he says, the end will come.
One of the things that always strikes me about those cathedrals I've toured is that, by and large, many of them are monuments now to the past rather than living, breathing, active congregations. They survive as pointers to what once was rather than outposts for the mission that is. In some ways, I think Jesus was warning the disciples of that in this passage. "The building? It's nothing if it's not a mission outpost. Such things will be destroyed. You stay focused, because preaching the Gospel to the whole world is what matters."
Is your church a monument or a mission? I think it's clear which one Jesus prefers.
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