Good morning and welcome to a new week of our Foundations Daily Podcast. My name is Liam, I’m part of the team here at STC and, as always, it’s a great privilege to bring a reflection from the scriptures.

Today’s reading comes from Matthew 24: 1-35. It’s a passage which you can hear read in full at the end. As we dig into this difficult and challenging text today, let’s keep in mind this fundamental question – How do we keep going? How do we last when things are really challenging?

REFLECTION:

The passage opens with Jesus and his disciples withdrawing from Jerusalem where Jesus has just done battle with the religious leaders of the day. Perhaps they were taking a break from their journey. They sat upon the Mount of Olives looking over Jerusalem and its temple building.  Then Jesus tells his disciples this–‘You see all this, it’s not going to last – it will be destroyed –it’s all going to come crashing down.’

And Jesus was of course right. Rather than accepting his kingdom of peace, he knew that the religious leaders would choose the way of revolt – putting Him to death on the cross and subsequently finding themselves at the mercy of the mighty Roman empire. In AD 70, the prophecy was fulfilled and under Titus the Roman Army led a siege upon the city and it’s temple was completely destroyed.

But, as we read through this passage, Jesus prophecy points to something much greater and much more terrifying. A time of deception, of violence, of terrible suffering – the brokenness of a yet fully redeemed created world laid totally bare…before Jesus himself returns in glory – to bring judgement, to establish his kingdom and to reign forever.

Reading from verse 12, Jesus explains: ‘Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm will be saved.’

These are challenging words to read and somehow they feel even more vivid given the place we find ourselves right now and all that we see happening in our world. In the midst of all the chaos and destruction, Jesus gives his disciples one clear instruction: ‘stand firm’. We read this phrase on many other occasions in the New Testament, all referring to an attitude of believers who are being tested, challenged and/or persecuted but who choose to persevere, to trust God and to cling to his promises knowing that in Him they will be saved.

As I prayed over this passage, I was reminded of another one. We find it in Luke Chapter 8. The parable of the sewer. Jesus word there I think can offer us some real hope in how we can continue to stand firm in these challenging days. Luke 8:15 – But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

How do we last? How do we stand firm? We guard our hearts. How’s your heart today? If I’m honest, mines a little heavy right now. I’m stuck inside again when I’d much rather be meeting with our young people, serving our schools, seeing family.  I think it almost impossible and perhaps unrealistic not to be personally impacted by what we see happening in our world right now.

Perhaps a better question might be….where are our hearts right now? What’s demanding our attention and focus? What’s driving our thoughts and behaviour?

As I read this passage again and again – to be honest I found myself getting a bit lost, sifting through various commentaries – I still don’t understand the end times! Perhaps maybe there’s something to that…. Maybe like me you find yourself asking the question….What on earth is going on right now? Typically it can feel like we lurch from one disaster, challenge or struggle to the next. My heart often feels like it’s all over the place. Like it’s pulled in a million different directions.

What we need to read in these difficult days is not yet another fatalistic headline,