LENT 2016 – GOING TO JERUSALEM

Wednesday, March 2

The Desolating Sacrilege: Matthew 24: 15 – 29

            “The desolating sacrilege.”  “The monster of desecration.” “The abomination.” “The awful horror.”  “The destructive and disgusting thing.”  These are a few of the unpleasant ways that various Biblical translations have tried to capture the meaning of the words that open this part of our text.

            Sounds like something you’d hear on a trailer for a scary, horror movie, doesn’t it?

      

            Generally, the term has been used to describe actions of appalling and outrageous disrespect of an other religion, due to brazen, arrogant, atrocious acts of blasphemy. Specifically, it seems to refer to actions by foreign invaders who enter the Temple and destroy or remove or replace the holy artifacts of faith. For example, before Jesus’ time, it is believed that Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the mid-2nd century BC set up an altar to Zeus in the Temple, and sacrificed pigs on it around the year. This would be, of course, extremely sacrilegious and highly offensive to any Jew.

         
            But how do we, in today’s culture, get our heads around this stark imagery and the rest of the text?

            I know that, on the rare occasion, when vandals have broken into a church and done great damage, written graffiti, stolen stuff, and left a mess behind, we are outraged and feel violated. But I don’t think we are ready to head for the hills and leave it all behind.

           There are those who think contemporary Christian music and worship are an abomination, or anything new or different in the life of the church is tantamount to blasphemy, but that doesn’t cut it either.

           So, I am thinking that the ‘desolating sacrilege’ in modern times is anything which tears and rips apart the fabric of God’s good Creation.

It is the horrible violation of humankind by humankind through acts of war, poverty, terrorism, domestic violence, torture, and all other form of cruelty.  

It is the use of fear and power to intimidate and subdue others.

It is the blasphemous use of religion to tear apart and divide, belittle and demean. It is the consumptive attitude toward our environment that despoils, pollutes and destroys.

It is the promise of false hopes, inauthentic love, and shallow ideals.

It is the exploitation of the human spirit, by taking advantage of our desire to hope or to strive for good or to share in the common good. It is an evil spirit which wants to erect itself on the altars of our minds, hearts and souls.

            So let us heed Jesus’ advice. Have nothing to do with such negative and hopeless hoopla, no matter how enticing it seems. Avoid this nasty piece of business. Don’t believe a word of it. If it is not truly of God, from God and by God, don’t touch! It is not worth it! It stinks! It has nothing to do with Jesus and the world he is building.

            But don’t give up either. Hang in there! We’re about to turn a corner.