What impresses you? Take a minute to think about it. And don't answer as you think you should, because you are in church, or because God might be listening in. Just be as honest as you can. Nobody else is going to know your answer, and God already knows anyway. What impresses you?
I'm impressed by lots of things, things as disparate as a former parishioner who had 3 holes in one; to the red Maserati parked out front here one Sunday; to the heroism under fire of Sergeants Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd during the tragic violence at Fort Hood. I am impressed by the now-famous photograph of an African-American woman sitting in the street, cradling the bleeding head of an injured Ku Klux Klansman in her lap, and protecting him as best she can from the hovering mob trying to do him further harm. I'm impressed that all of you make the effort to come to church on Sundays; and I'm also impressed by other things, things I keep to myself. And I wonder if it isn't these things that impress us, that we prefer to keep to ourselves, that are ultimately the most telling.
Jesus' disciples were impressed by the massive stones and magnificent buildings of the temple complex in ancient Jerusalem. And if you've ever seen a rendering of what the temple complex looked like at the time, you can understand why. It was impressive.
And since the disciples were provincial fishermen and the like, this urban magnificence was all the more impressive. Despite Jesus' warnings not to be taken in by appearances of wealth, the disciples were awed by the massive Herodian masonry and the extensive buildings that were part of the Temple complex. (Pheme Perkins, NIB p. 685) And despite Jesus' warnings not be to taken in by appearances of wealth, so are we.
Monuments are meant to impress. Good looks, expensive clothes and cars, grand houses, limos, private jets, and meals at exclusive and expensive restaurants are meant to impress. Trophies and trophy rooms are meant to impress. Titles are meant to impress. Ornate churches and pipe organs are meant to impress, and so are matted and framed degrees from prestigious universities, credit cards of a certain color, and trendy, expensive electronic devices.
What's a powerful person without her or his titles, accomplishments, network and influence? What's a nation without monuments? What's an important person without an I-phone, Blackberry or laptop? What's success without an impressive address in an impressive neighborhood? What's a sports franchise without championships? What's a church without a large staff and impressive buildings? What's a preacher without vestments?
How is your list of the things that impress you coming? Aren't we all impressed by money, power, prestige, titles, and all the wonderful worldly trappings that go with them? It's human. It's natural. And it's the antithesis of who God wants us to be.
I guess that's why Jesus answered the awe of his disciples with the disturbing fact that the magnificent buildings with which they were so impressed would be torn down and destroyed. And Jesus followed this startling announcement with a discussion of the end of time.
We naturally have difficulty with prophetic oracles like this, because we tend to think of them in terms of predicting the future, but while experts and pundits happily offer their opinions, Biblical prophecy is very different from statements about the future. Biblical prophecies mostly diagnose the moral or spiritual health of a people, with prophetic words of judgment intended to promote repentance and reform. Destruction only occurs because the words of warning go unheeded. Thus prophetic speech is a form of instruction, not fortune telling. (Ibid., p. 686)
Jesus' words must have been unbelievable to the disciples. I doubt that they could have imagined the huge stone blocks before them being torn down; how anything so massive and awe inspiring could be destroyed. But Jesus saw beyond the appearance of things to the reality of things. Jesus SEES beyond the appearance of things to the reality of things. He knows what impresses us.
How's your list coming? Are we impressed by lots of things that God doesn't find impressive, and insufficiently impressed by the things God does find impressive?
In case we've forgotten, here are the things that impress God. It's the list I read two weeks ago for All Saints Sunday:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
When we encounter the poor in spirit, we mostly urge them to see a doctor and get something for it.
We have little patience for those who mourn, because mourning strikes us as a kind of weakness. "Get over it, we counsel. Get on with it. Be strong. We will be impressed by that, but not by mourning."
We have even less patience with the meek. We perceive them as weak, as victims. And why wouldn't we? What is impressive about meekness? Where will meekness get you besides the end of the line? We forget that the last will be first and the first last.
Politics and policies too much define who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, rather than content of character and the witness of a person's life. Righteousness is measured on something of a sliding scale.
The merciful and the peacemakers are widely considered to be naïve and weak. And the pure in heart? Should Mr. Smith really come to Washington? Can he even get here from there?
My grandmother had a little plaque in her kitchen that read, "Kissin' don't last. Cookin' do." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is trying to remind us that neither monuments, nor any of the others things that so impress us, last, but that the things of God do. God seeks to modify our behavior, to transform our minds and hearts, and to promote repentance and reform, not in the wide world, but in us.
We cannot be God's people, or God's church, or accomplish God's work in the world, until we are genuinely impressed by poverty of spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. It is these who possess the kingdom. To these belong comfort, the inheritance of the earth, fullness, mercy, and the blessed fellowship of God incarnate.
