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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,

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O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

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Amen.

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One of my favorite storytelling devices is when a story begins at the end.

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When a story begins with sort of a flash forward to the final scene.

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So imagine a novel or a movie opening with an action-packed scene where the protagonist

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finds themselves on the brink of disaster.

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You are immediately drawn into this story wondering how in the world did they get themselves

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into that pickle.

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But just then the screen goes black or the chapter ends and a new scene emerges that

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says three years ago the ecumenical group of people who decide what readings we read

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on Sunday, the lectionary writers, must have had this technique in mind when drafting

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the lectionary.

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Today on the first Sunday of Advent, which marks the first Sunday of the church year,

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happy new year, we begin the story near the end.

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This year in year B of ABC, we begin with Mark's Apocalypse.

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We begin the story of Jesus near the end of his life as he anticipates the destruction

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of the temple in all the buildings in Jerusalem, this apocalyptic scene of the destruction of

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Jerusalem.

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Jesus tells his followers that it is only a matter of time, not even a generation, he

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says, until the temple and all the buildings of Jerusalem are leveled.

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The temple, remember, was the center of Jewish life.

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For the Jewish people, the temple was the meeting place of heaven and earth.

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It was where they went to meet God.

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So now imagine the most sacred place in your world and now imagine someone lit a match

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and burned it to the ground.

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Jesus is there in the place of ruin and destruction where the story of Jesus begins.

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So how did we get there?

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Well let's go back 3,300 years ago on the eastern bank of the Red Sea.

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The scene opens with laughter and music and celebration.

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Miriam, Moses' older sister, sings a song of God's decisive victory over Pharaoh's army

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when he crushes them in the Red Sea.

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This is when God begins to follow his people around in a cloud, the original helicopter

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parent, so to say.

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But he wants to dwell with them more intimately.

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So God instructs Moses to build a tent or a tabernacle where he can move around in a

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more intimate way.

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This arrangement works well for the most part.

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God does get them to the promised land.

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However, King David decides he wants to build God a house, something grand and grand where

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God can dwell more permanently.

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I imagine the conversation went something like, look dad, you've been driving around

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with us in that RV for quite some time now.

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It was cool at first, but now it's an eyesore.

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We don't live in the back country anymore.

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We're in prime real estate now.

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You can't have an RV parked in the front yard like cousin Eddie did back in Canaan.

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It was a Christmas vacation.

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God replied, David, my son, I don't want a house.

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Old RV is working just fine.

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I just took it to the mechanic.

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Got a tune up.

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It's got at least 100,000 miles left in, left inner.

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Plus, I don't want to be boxed in.

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The flexibility of being able to get up and go.

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You know as well as I do, the cousin Eddie's going to need my help early and often.

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David goes on to say, listen dad, the real reason that I want to build you a house is

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because you've done so much for us.

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You've delivered us from Pharaoh's hand.

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You sustained us in the wilderness.

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You brought us to this promised land.

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It's time for us to do something nice for you.

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We want to honor you.

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What do you see?

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Eventually, God gives in and allows a house to be built for him.

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While David begins on the initial plans, God will not allow David to be the contractor.

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David's head is getting too big for his own good.

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But God does promise David that an everlasting kingdom will come from his line.

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David's son and successor, King Solomon, gets to build God's house, which becomes known

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as Solomon's temple.

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Solomon however, decides to have other gods over in God's house all because he's trying

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to impress a girl.

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It doesn't take long for conflict to arise in the house of the Lord.

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God says to Solomon, look, if you don't kick those other gods out of my house, you're

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going to be sorry.

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Solomon doesn't listen and civil war breaks out in the land.

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Israel is now a kingdom torn in two and becomes vulnerable to foreign occupation, to outside

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the ways.

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And after ignoring God's advice to kick out those other gods, Jerusalem is run down by

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the mighty Babylonian Empire.

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Solomon's temple is destroyed and many of the Jewish people are forced into exile.

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After nearly a century, the Israelites are allowed back into Jerusalem by the Persians

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who now control the area.

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Under the direction of Nehemiah and Ezra, the people of Israel begin to rebuild the temple.

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They have a few detours along the way.

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But they finally complete it and they gather to dedicate this temple.

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And so for the first time in decades, imagine that, for the first time in decades, the people

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gather as a community to hear the word of God once again.

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So after the scriptures are read, the Jewish people can be heard weeping for their sins.

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They are filled with remorse over their actions and the actions of their ancestors.

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But Nehemiah tells them not to weep but to celebrate.

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The Lord has not abandoned his people forever.

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The Lord has heard your cry for mercy.

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He has come to your help.

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So for hundreds of years, the people of Israel gather in this new temple, this second temple,

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to remember the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one who saved

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them from slavery in Egypt, to remember the one who saved them and brought them home from

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exile.

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They also gather to anticipate the coming of another who will save them, the coming of

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a Messiah from the line of David who will establish an everlasting kingdom, the one

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who will make a house of prayer for all nations.

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So over the course of the next 400 years, the Jewish people, as every year goes by and

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the Messiah doesn't come, they begin to lose hope.

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They start to split off into several different political factions.

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Just as their ancestors learned, a house divided cannot stand.

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The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, to name a few, all have a different idea on

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how to remain faithful to God, especially in light of Roman occupation.

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The Romans are now in charge of the area.

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Some think the best tactic is just to buddy up with Rome.

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Some think the best tactic is to kill the Romans.

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Others just want to stay out of it completely.

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But so the temple, again, becomes a place of corruption.

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It becomes a place where other gods are worshiped.

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It becomes a place where the poor and vulnerable are taken advantage of, not by all, but by

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some.

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Using religious lingo, the temple, the house of God, is defiled and it starts to be used

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for purposes not intended by God.

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And so this is where Jesus comes into the picture, embodying the everlasting kingdom,

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the kingdom of heaven promised through David.

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Both literally and figuratively, Jesus' arrival turns everything upside down, sets off a chain

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of events that will lead to his death and ultimately the destruction of this temple.

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The good news of the kingdom brought to us in Christ isn't good news for everyone, especially

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those who like kingdoms just as they are.

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Before this heavenly kingdom, this everlasting kingdom can be installed, the existing kingdoms

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are going to have to be brought down to the studs.

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If you already like the way the house looks, you're going to do everything you can to stop

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this renovation and a lot to do.

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If you don't like the way the house looks right now, you're going to gladly endure the

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rubble in order to see the new product, to see God's house established forever.

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Like his ancestor David, Jesus wants to build a new house for God, a house that will last,

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a house that will endure, a house that is stronger than stone.

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But unlike his ancestor David, Jesus does not want to build a house made out of human

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hands.

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At his trial, Jesus is accused of saying, I will destroy this temple that is made with

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hands and in three days I will build another, but not with human hands.

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In other words, Jesus' body, his own being becomes the new temple.

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Jesus will build this house from a heart of love, a love that is embodied through his

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acts of compassion and mercy, a love made known to the whole world on the cross.

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In this house, there will be no room for other gods.

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There will be no room for corruption and evil.

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In this house, all the outside noise that we are vulnerable to in this world that's

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trying to pull you in a million different directions will be muted.

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The house of God embodied by Jesus will be the only house left standing once disaster

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comes.

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Jesus embodies this truth we hear today.

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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

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Jesus is the Word.

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Jesus is the Word made flesh.

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Jesus quite literally becomes the place where God dwells.

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In the flesh of Jesus, not only do we see a God who desires to dwell with us just as

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he dwelt with Israel and Tabbernacle, but we see a God who wants to dwell in our very

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being, in our very flesh.

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But before we can fully dwell with Christ, this body of Christ must be broken open.

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The temple doors of Christ's body must be opened.

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And on Good Friday, the day when the story of Jesus seems to end, it begins when the

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temple doors of Christ's body are broken open for the world, for you and me to enter.

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And each and every Sunday, we have a discipline to make when we approach this altar for Holy

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Communion.

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After the priest's host is broken, after we say Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for

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us, we make a decision to enter into that body that is broken.

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We make a decision to enter into God's holy temple.

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We make a decision to leave behind a life where we seek our own glory and claim a life

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where we seek Christ's glory, no matter the cost.

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Now these lesser gods, the gods of entertainment and power and control and wealth and comfort,

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all these lesser gods that we've allowed to take up residence in our lives don't want

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us to go into that new temple because their life depends on us.

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These lesser gods are trying to convince us to avoid that pain and suffering, trying

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to convince us to seek our own fame and glory because these lesser gods only survive because

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we continue to feed our ego.

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These lesser gods are only as powerful as we make them.

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But at the end of the day, these lesser gods crumble before God Almighty, before the God

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of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before the God of Israel, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Our survival depends on this God, the God who delivered the people from slavery into

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the land of promise, the God who called the people of Israel back from the brink of extinction

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and exile, the God who raises Jesus from the dead.

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So during this Advent season, we are called to worship a God who is preparing a home for

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us through Jesus Christ our Lord, the one who was born into this world without a home,

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the one who invites us into his home in his body that is broken.

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The one who's home endures because of the love that raised him from the dead on the

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third day.

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So I pray your worship of God, of this God during the Advent season, gives you permission

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to kick out all those lesser gods so that when the temple doors of Christ are open in

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your life, you are awake.

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Keep awake.

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You are free to enter into the glory of the Lord's house, a house that is impervious to

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the fires of this life, a house that is built with an unshakable strength of love, a house

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where you can dwell in the house of the Lord forever, a house where God can dwell at last

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with his people forever.

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Amen.