March 14, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 13:1-23

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 45:1-20, 24-28; Mark 13:1-23

And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Mark 13:7-8)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. War is so terrible that even a rumor of it brings a particular anxiety. This is no less true today, when a threat of war between nuclear powers brings the dread of annihilation on a scale the world has never seen. We can turn on the news and see war fully underway in various parts of the world, from Europe to the Middle East, and calls for world peace seem like a cliched punchline to a bad joke. For much of the world, war is a constant part of daily lives, causing suffering that is physical, economic, and emotional, and so it can in a very literal sense feel like the end of the world. 

Since the 1980’s a certain type of false teachers took to reading the Bible as a sort of code to decipher world events, and each new outbreak of war would be a signal to them that the end was coming. At times it felt a little like apocalyptic prophecy BINGO: after a certain set of criteria would be hit, that was it, it meant Jesus was coming any day now. Of course, all these prophetic declarations fell short because there are always wars and rumors of war. They’re ubiquitous in a world stricken with sin and death. Jesus here isn’t giving us a roadmap, so we know how close we are to arriving at his second coming. Instead He is telling us that the trouble in the world doesn’t happen outside of the knowledge or power of God, but the trouble is part of the pathway to the joy of His return. It’s no accident He uses the metaphor of birth pangs—labor is hard, it’s messy, it can feel like death is approaching, but it is the approach of new life entering this world. Similarly, our trials are far from the approaching drumbeat of death but are the signs by which we can know that true, full, and abundant life is making its way into the world. They remind us to look to the glorious appearing of our Lord, who promises to return and, in the words of Tolkien, make all the sad things come untrue. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Jesus Christ, do not delay, But hasten our salvation; We often tremble on our way In fear and tribulation   O hear and grant our fervent plea: Come, mighty judge, and set us free  From death and ev’ry evil. (LSB 508:7)

-Deac. Eleanor Corrow, Higher Things Board Member and coordinator in LCMS Missionary Services. 

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

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