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1 Samuel 2; 1-10
Hebrews 10; 11-14, 19-25
Mark 13; 1-8
(Mark 13;1)As Jesus was leaving the Temple one of his disciples said, “Look teacher! What wonderful stones and buildings!” Jesus answered, “You see these great buildings? Not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Jesus had previously made a similar statement in reference to his pending death and rising again and that was in answer to questions from the Temple Authorities after he’d thrown the money lenders and other traders out of the Temple. At that time he was asked; “What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?” and he replied; “Tear down this Temple and in three days I will build it again.”
Later, at his hearing before the chief priests, (Mark 14:57-58). some witnesses tried to use that statement against him. They’re recorded as saying; “We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this Temple which men have made and after three days I will build one that is not made by men.”
There’s a subtle difference between what he was accused of saying and what he actually said, and there’s a huge difference in the real meaning.
The witnesses accused him of saying, “I will tear down this Temple, etc....” implying that he would destroy the building, whereas in reality he said, “Tear down this temple and in three days I will build it again,” inferring that; “If you destroy me I will rise again within three days,” which is precisely what happened and is why we are all here today, to give thanks and praise to our risen Lord and Saviour.
Coming back to the quotation in today’s reading, I get the distinct impression that Jesus was speaking metaphorically when he told the four disciples that the great buildings would be destroyed with not a single stone left standing because he went on to warn them to be on their guard, as we still need to be, against what we refer to a “false prophets.” He made very clear statements that many men would come claiming to speak for him and many people would be deceived. How right he was - and still is. There are many individuals today claiming to be the spokesperson for God, or they have enough charismatic attraction, ability and guile that persuades others that they are today’s Messiah.
Sadly, at one end of the religious spectrum there are many false prophets with their cult-like followers, while at the other end is a growing anti-Christian attitude. Unfortunately, Christianity is also under attack by extreme elements of followers of the Muslim faith. I say ‘unfortunately’ because in many countries where the Islamic doctrine is upheld by extremists, Christians are being singled out, ostracised and persecuted, while in other supposedly Christian countries there can still be tensions between varying denominations, which is tragically sad when you consider that we all purport to worship the one same God.
You will have noticed that in our weekly news sheet for some months now, there have been suggestions for our daily prayers with one of the requests being to pray for the persecuted church throughout the world so this week I also ask that we focus our prayers on that because while we know about some of the larger, more destructive attacks against Christians and Christian facilities in many countries, information about the persecution of individuals and their families is less likely to reach our news media, therefore it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are thousands of devout Christians being subjected to all sorts of discrimination, including harassment, imprisonment, torture and often, martyrdom.
You may have also noticed that there are some articles on the side walls of the church giving some examples of the anti-Christian activity around the world.
Those of you who subscribe to the Barnabas Fund will have read many examples of persecution being meted out to our brothers and sisters around the world. I don’t want to dwell on the negative or morbid but I do want us all to at least try to understand what it can be like to be subjected to discrimination and persecution and have to live in constant fear for our personal safety.
Here are some brief quotes form the November issue of Barnabasaid;
Pakistan; Christians in District Faisalabad, Punjab Province, suffered two incidents of mob violence in which at least 100 homes were burned down and many more looted or vandalised.
Jordan; Rawan and her brother Fadi have paid a high price, literally, for their faithfulness to the Lord Jesus. By declaring that they remained Christians they forfeited there inheritance that they could have had if they had been willing to become Muslims. This followed a long and distressing controversy regarding some apparently faked papers indicating their deceased father had converted to Islam.
China; Two Christians have been sentenced for their part in helping 61 North Korean Christians flee to South Korea through China..... and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Nigeria; At least 12 churches have been burned and a number of Christians killed in anti-Christian violence in northern Nigeria...........Perhaps the most shocking element of the violence was the brutal murder of 2 Christian pastors. When asked to convert to Islam they refused and were beheaded. One of the pastors is quoted as saying; “Tell my brothers that I died well and am living with Christ, and if we all die we know that we die for the Lord.
That sounds like what we read in the Bible of the early martyrs, but it’s still happening today. There are so many countries where Christians are under attack including the Balkan states, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and closer to home, Indonesia and the Philippines, almost everywhere, even including the U.K.
Another rather surprising attack on Christianity has shocked a traditionally Roman Catholic country.
I read an article in the Dominion-Post only last week reporting that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italian public schools should remove crucifixes from classroom walls. The Court ruled that the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violated religious and education freedom under the European Union’s rights convention, so that may be an indication of some of the “hooks” in being party to such a huge collective arrangement, especially if a number of members create political, religious or secular blocs in order to out-vote or over-throw ideology they are opposed to. I can’t help wondering how Christianity would be regarded if, and/or when, New Zealand is involved in a collective group, a union or so-called free-trade area which encompasses all the Pacific rim countries including Japan, Indonesia, the Philippine etc.
Another article in the Barnabasaid Magazine tells of a young 17 year old girl, Rifqa Bary, who is the daughter of a Muslim family in the state of Ohio of the United States of America. She has had to leave the family home because she has become a Christian and now fears for her life due to threats by her father that he would kill her because she converted to Christianity.
Our faith, our real strength of faith, may not be tested in our life-time but there are millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ whose faith is tested daily so we must uphold them with the power of our prayers and , where possible, by contributing freely and gladly to their material needs.
It seems to me that, once again, there is a concerted effort being made around the world to destroy God’s Temple with not a single stone left in place; every one of them will be thrown down, but, as we heard from today’s Gospel reading, Jesus warned that; (Mark 13:8) “countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another; there here will be earthquakes everywhere and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth.”
Isn’t that another prophecy? Childbirth is the beginning of a new life and there is new life for all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Let us pray; Loving God, you spoke to us through your prophet Isaiah, telling us;
(Isaiah 41:10) “Do not be afraid, I am with you.
I am your God, let nothing terrify you.
I will make you strong and help you.
I will protect and save you.”
We thank you Father that you listen to us. We know you always listen to us and we pray to You now for the sake of all your faithful witnesses around the world who are under attack and suffering persecution. Protect them Lord and keep them safe from their enemies. Keep them strong in their faith with the firm knowledge that you are with them always. May your Holy Spirit fill them with your love and guide them in their daily lives, just as you love and guide us. Thank you for hearing us Father in the name of your blessed Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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