There are NO 1-800 Numbers Heaven

Pentecost 26, Proper 28B

Mark 13:1-8

November 18, 2018

St. Matthias

           This week I was fooled for the first time in a long time.  My cell phone rang.  It was an area code 205 number with a prefix of 757.  That’s close to my cell phone number and so I thought it was someone I knew calling me from their cell phone.  AND then I heard it.  A recording telling me I can get a new VISA card.  I hung up.  I like my United VISA card just fine.  And I don’t buy anything over the phone.  I generally don’t even listen to ROBO calls whether its VISA, Tickets, or politicians.  Use to you could tell because SALES calls used 1-800 numbers or some number from someplace that I knew I didn’t know anyone who lived there.  I’d ignore it.  The calls would go away.  But now it's not that easy.  They are using local numbers – and I answer because it could be one of you calling or one of the folks I work with Monday through Friday.  What if Phyllis is calling me from a different phone because her cell phone battery has died.  Then I answer and it’s not you or Phyllis but another recording.  The rules have changed, and they are not playing fair.

           The same thing was going on at the Mount of Olives.  Instead of cell phones and ROBO Calls – it was false prophets claiming to be the Messiah.  There were a lot of these guys in Jesus’s day.  The people were looking for hope.  They were poor.  Israel was ruled by the Roman Empire and taxes were high.  So, when someone came along claiming to be their Savior and they were going to take over the throne of King David, drive out the Romans, and everybody would be healthy, wealthy, and wise – well people started listening and buying the message.  The problem was – as we know happens a lot – these so-called Messiahs were good Salesmen and not very good leaders.  The people would hear the message – start to believe – and then nothing would happen except that everything stayed the same.  Its hard to be hopeful when you don’t know who is who.  It just doesn’t seem fair.

           So, the disciples come to Jesus and want to know what’s going to happen.  The people had heard all this Kingdom talk before – but this time it was different.  This was a message of LOVE not HATE – of PEACE not WAR.  Jesus came as the Savior who healed the sick, cured the lame, and fed the hungry.  Here was a Messiah who was real and the One everyone had been waiting for and who the people could believe in.  Hope had come in Jesus of Nazareth and for the first time, those who believed like the Disciples heard a message that was real about a Kingdom of Heaven that was coming.  BUT WHEN? Jesus doesn’t say – the scriptures tell us that only God knows – and instead Jesus tells the disciples that there will be many more false prophets with false messages.  And Jesus tells the disciples to keep believing – keep the faith – for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming.

           I think what we may find in this Gospel lesson is the first example of Fake News.  Somewhere I’ve read or heard that we never really come up with anything NEW these days – we just keep making the same OLD mistakes over and over AGAIN.  Certainly, there are lots of false prophets in our world today.  TV Evangelists who fly on private jets and yet ignore people left homeless by tragedy. Politicians who misquote scripture to serve their own purposes rather than the good of the people they are elected to serve.  And then there are any number of false prophets who on the one hand declare that people who are different should go back from where they came while waving an American flag in the other.  Yet in all of this there are the people of Christ who feed the hungry and help the lame and share the love of Christ with a world searching for a message of hope – for a Gospel to believe in.  

           And it can be so simple.  Yesterday there were many of us who gathered to share Beans and Rice.  It is one of my favorite times of the month.  We’ve gotten to know some of the people who are regulars.  They know us too.  I was directing traffic because Malcolm was not here.  Many of you know that he is laid up at home with a hurting foot.  I don’t really know what is wrong, but it must be pretty bad because Malcolm never misses Beans and Rice.  He greets each car and asks how we can help.  There are old folks and young families with children.  There are folks that look like me and folks that look like you.  Some folks look different from all of us.  Malcolm just sees people who need a little help and we get to offer it to them.  Yesterday, Sister Carr pulled up to pick up 8 bags for families who don’t have transportation.  She picks up the beans and rice from us and delivers it to people in need.  She asked – “Where’s that cute little guy with the ponytail.”  You tell him Sister Carr says God Bless You!”  Sister Carr says God Bless You.  That’s the Messiah talking.  Today we will pack food boxes for more hungry people who will feast on a Heavenly Banquet this Thanksgiving from St. Matthias.  And someone will pray God Bless You!  Say it to someone this week.  It is a message of a New Kingdom – a message of hope that we can believe in.  And it comes not from TV preachers or politicians.  This is a message from The Messiah.  With all the false prophets we hear every day – the simple truth of the Gospel shared with one another and through a car window shines with a light far brighter than any – God bless You!  God loves You!  You can say it over and over again.  Call someone on the phone and tell them God bless You.  Send Malcolm a card.  Who knows – you may be just the prophet – the believer – with a message the world needs to hear this week.  And you won’t need a 1-800 number.  AMEN.