Ruins

Living in the Spirit
November 17, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 13:1-8

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’—Mark 13:1-2

I do not know what is so mesmerizing about ruins. I have stood among many with large stones some broken lying about suggesting the possible shape of a building that once was. Sometimes the stones have the remains of pictures or words in languages I cannot read. Parts of the words are worn or broken off. As I walked down the path at Ephesus, I tried to imagine how the buildings looked when they were new. I had a very real sense that I was walking in Paul’s steps and remembered the trials and experiences he described as occurring in Ephesus. That was two thousand years ago.

I went to graduate school in Denver during the late 1970’s. Loved the city. It did not take long for me to acclimate. I returned a couple of times over the next few years and noticed some change, but it was still the same basic place to me. In the late 1990’s, I flew to a meeting in Denver landing at the then-new airport that seems many miles away as I took a taxi to my hotel. Looking around as I entered the city, I recognized nothing except the capitol dome. It was a bit of a shock; different but still a great city.

Thousands of Californians have lost everything they had in recent fires. People are missing, and many are dead. We must do all we can to help the survivors deal with their losses. As was true two thousand years ago, God’s love never changes and our call to serve in his name does not change either.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For

‘All flesh is like grass
   and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
   and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.’
That word is the good news that was announced to you. –1 Peter 1:22-25

Prayer: Help us to love each other as you love us. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.