Divided Times – Apocalypse now!, Sunday 17 November 2019

Divided Times – Apocalypse now!

We live in a divided country……views on Brexit and politics are causing deep divisions across our nation and world, and the gospel reading today, with its apocalyptic language feels disturbingly relevant.

Jesus says “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom….you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends.”

We are in the kingdom season at the end of the church’s year, and there is a strong focus on these apocalyptic, or “end times” passages… and in a strange way we can relate to them, in this season of political uncertainty where views on the future of our nation are deeply divided.

Now this isn’t the first time we have been in this kind of divided position and it won’t be the last, but from the perspective of a 40 something year old, it seems worse than I remember in my adult life.

There is hurt and division, feelings run deep, and in many cases this has led to accusations and name calling of those with different opinions.

And the scary thing is that it is so easy to join with these voices, so easy to judge and condemn, ….so easy to say that all people who voted leave are racist and xenophobic, so easy to say that those who voted remain are traitors to their country. It’s easy to say that those who vote Tory don’t care about the poor and that those who vote Labour don’t care about our economy. Now whilst these statements may be true for some people they certainly aren’t true for all those who vote a particular way.

The media doesn’t help – views are becoming increasingly polarized. Rather than the ability to talk about the strengths and weaknesses on both sides, there is a tendency to split the ideas into good and bad, right and wrong…. nuance and middle ground is something that seems to have been lost along the way.

Recently I attended a talk by Bishop Graham called Beyond Brexit. During the talk, he said that being asked to choose remain or leave, was like being asked to choose whether Jesus is human or divine – we can’t – it’s both.

The point is, this wasn’t a fair choice – what we needed was to be able to plan for the strengths of both ensuring a strong and open relationship with other nations, and particularly Europe, as our closest neighbour, whilst also ensuring we are a nation which has a strong sense of its own identity and uniqueness.

It feels similar in politics, and whilst the 2 largest parties are also divided on Brexit, again, it seems we are being asked to choose between things we should not have to choose between. Of course we want to preserve our NHS, but is some level of reform needed to ensure we can afford to keep it going – probably…..of course we want to care for the poor and vulnerable in society – but again, how do we ensure we can pay for this without raising taxes to the extent that the wealthy simply remove their money from the UK economy?

There are no easy answers, but we are being told by the parties that they have the answers. Complexity has gone – it’s not a very good sales technique!

So how are we to live as Christians in these times? And how can today’s gospel help us?

In the gospel reading, the disciples are fascinated by the apocalyptic language – they want to know more details, they want to know when the events Jesus is describing will take place, what will happen...

Similarly for us, we want to know more. There can be something strangely addictive about the news, all the canvassing, the accusations, the promises, the name-calling…

we can get sucked into the rhetoric of politics, headlines and biased or overly simplistic analysis.

But Jesus redirects the disciples’ questions. In his answer, he shifts the focus away from signs and explanations towards the disciples’ own journey of faith. He says “Beware that you are not led astray”…

…led astray “by a useless, empty, and simplistic equating of current events with the End Times. There will be wars, there will be insurrections, there will be earthquakes, but these are not to terrify you or render you inactive.” (Ref Dirk G Lange)

And so Jesus turns to speaking about their faith – faith in the face of persecution, in the face of ruling authorities who abuse their power, he asks them to testify, to speak God’s wisdom and truth to the world. Yes, it will be shunned and hated by some, but God will impart wisdom to us, to help us see and follow his path of truth and love.

So what does this wisdom look like today? Perhaps, as in the readings from Malachi and the Psalm, it involves remembering that ultimately God is Lord of all, over and above all our current rulers and power structures, it involves worshipping the true God and following his ways…ways that lead to peace and healing.

Perhaps, as in Thessalonians, it involves not growing weary of doing what is right, never tiring of working for the way of abundance and peace God has promised.

And maybe today, that includes listening to those with different opinions to try and understand them better. Maybe it means instead of voting on the basis of what will be best for us personally, we vote on the basis of what will be the best for the poorest and most vulnerable of society (and no that doesn’t necessarily mean Labour)!

Maybe it means refusing to engage in the easy labelling and name calling of other sides, and challenging those who do so.

Maybe it involves looking for opportunities to compromise for the sake of unity and peace.

It definitely includes loving those whom we don’t agree with and treating them with the respect that all people deserve, as children of God. And it definitely involves continuing to praise God, being thankful for our many blessings, and being joyful for all the good we do see our world and for God’s love for each one of us.

I will leave you with the advice John Wesley gave on voting –he said we should:

1. Vote without fear or reward, for the person we judge most worthy

2. Speak no evil of the person we voted against, and

3. Take care our spirits are not sharpened against those who vote on the other side.

Whatever happens next month and beyond, as a nation we face a long journey towards reconciliation and healing. As a church, let’s try and be part of that healing by speaking words of love, rather than anger or bitterness, particularly towards those whom we disagree with the most.

And let’s continue to pray that God would give us the wisdom and strength to live as his beloved children in these difficult times – and to follow his ways of love and peace.