“When the Sky is Falling” – Mark 13:1-8 – November 8, 2009

Did you ever have one of those weeks? The last week of October was not a good week for me. First, I almost poked my eye out by a branch when raking leaves. I no sooner got all the leaves raked and the whole yard was covered again the next day. Then I had a fender/bender accident with my SUV. And, we are dog sitting and the dog kept us up half the night before I had to preach. It wasn’t a fun week. I felt like everything was caving in around me.

Have you ever had a time like that in your life? A time when you feel overwhelmed or nothing seems to go right? During those moments it’s easy to become anxious, almost to the point that the sky seems to be falling.

This was the case with the disciples. They were being persecuted by an oppressive government. They were powerless and under immense pressure. All seemed dark and hopeless, so much so that they wondered if the "end" was near. They were desperate, blinded by their anxiety and totally unable to see into the future. For them, the sky was falling.

When things are not going well around us we tend to come unglued. We get anxious and our days seem dark and gloomy. We are filled with despair and hopelessness. Some try to escape with drugs. Others become depressed and withdraw from the world. Still others become so preoccupied with what might happen they miss what is happening in the present.

Jesus told the disciples to "endure." Steadfastness is the name of the game. "Hang in there, keep the faith" is what he was saying. Of course that is not always easy, especially for someone who is faced with a terminal illness or someone who has experienced a family tragedy. How comforting is it to tell someone who just lost their job to "hang in there?"

I believe that there are times when we simply don’t feel the presence of God. We want to believe that God is with us in every circumstance but there are times when God doesn’t seem to be real, let alone near by.

Jesus’ primary concern was that his disciples would be led by false teaching. Whenever we are vulnerable we are apt to listen to messengers who are not telling the truth. "Take heed that no one leads you astray," Jesus said. Unfortunately there are many voices which mislead us. Most all have a hidden agenda. They want you to believe them because it builds their ego or worse, they use you to their personal advantage.

I recently read an article in Parade which was entitled, “What Should You Worry About?” (by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, October 18, 2009, pg. 8-9) In that article they talked about the issues of shark attacks, identity theft, diseases, global warming and even horse manure. Did you know that in 1900, New York City was home to some 200,000 horses, one for every 17 people? The average horse produces 24 pounds of it a day. It lined the streets of New York City like banks of snow in the winter. It became a fertile breeding ground for flies that spread deadly diseases. City planners didn’t know what to do. How could society survive without the horse? Of course, you know the rest of the story, the horse was soon kicked off the street by automobiles.

The media doesn’t help. They love a great story that scares people, because it sells. People tune in when they are afraid. Remember the summer of 2001? They called it the “Summer of the Shark.” How many shark attacks actually happened that year? There were actually 68 worldwide and only 4 fatalities. In the ten year period from 1995-2005 there was an average of 60.3 shark attacks worldwide and an average fatality rate of 5.9. One year there were actually 79 shark attacks, 11 more than 2001 and another year there 11 deaths. The summer of 2001 was no different than any other year.

Did you know that elephants kill over 200 people a year? How come we never hear about that? Why aren’t we afraid of elephants? Perhaps it is because elephants are currently portrayed as friends, like Dumbo while Sharks are portrayed as villains.

Every generation has a time when it seems like the sky is falling. The disciples had theirs and we have ours. Today it is the Swine flu and the economy. Who knows what it will be next year. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of voices that will try to scare the heck out of you.

Yes, tragedy and catastrophic events happen in the course of human events. They are a part of life. They were in Jesus’ day, just as they are in our day. The temple that Jesus said would be destroyed, was destroyed, about forty years later. But, it wasn’t the end of the world and the sky did not fall.

In other words, there will always be voices of doom and gloom. Jesus however was giving the disciples hope. He was reassuring them that living in anxious times is a given. Nothing is permanent. Even majestic temples that symbolize power and a faith tradition that was not open to reform or change would someday cease to exist. Newness and rebirth would rise from the ashes.

On Sunday, May 18, 1980, Mount Saint Helen’s exploded in one of the most spectacular eruptions in recent memory. The eruption sent more than 540 million tons of volcanic ash raining down over 22,000 square miles, covering Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and sending ash drifting as far away as Virginia. The 200 mile-an-hour blast flattened trees 20 miles away, killed 57 people, and sheared 1,300 feet off the peak of the mountain, leaving the a crater more than a mile wide. One hundred and fifty square miles of prime old-growth forests were reduced to a wasteland of scorched timber buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash, where fires burned for weeks afterwards.

The blast also triggered the largest landslide in recorded history, sending ash and rocks, some the size of large buildings, tumbling across a 14 mile swatch of land. The landslide also spilled into Spirit Lake, sending millions of gallons of water surging down the mountain. This water picked up debris and created a mudflow which rushed down the mountain, wiping away bridges and roads.

Amazingly, life quickly returned to the scorched earth near Mount Saint Helens. The rapid regeneration surprised most scientists, who believed that the rebirth would occur in steady, regular stages. Instead, nature ran riot, led by dozens of organisms that had amazingly survived the devastation. Moles, tiny pocket gophers, and ants survived because they were buried when the explosion occurred. And saplings and shrubs buried in the snow survived, while the taller trees were devastated.

The tiny pocket gophers turned into a major force for renewal. Their habitual digging into the soil mixed the sterile volcanic ash with the rich earth buried below. Deer mice, ants, and beetles also assisted in turning over the soil, allowing new plants, shrubs, and trees to take root quickly. Algae, plankton, and various freshwater crustaceans quickly appeared to re-colonize the ash poisoned lakes in the area, followed soon after by frogs and salamanders.

Even large animals quickly returned. Elk were seen on the mountain's west slopes within weeks of the eruption, and by the following summer, the hills near the volcano were covered with fireweed, a pink flowering plant whose seeds are carried like little parachutes on the wind. Grasses, plants, and trees quickly took root in the sterile ash.

Also, over 110,000 acres around the volcano were set aside in 1992 and turned into a park called the Mount Saint Helens’ National Volcanic Monument. The eruption has also generated an unexpected economic rebirth in the region. Mountain climbing to the summit of the volcano has been allowed since 1986. By the end of 1989, the park had hosted more than 1.5 million visitors. Today, the volcano continues to draw more than 600,000 visitors a year, and tourism has become a major economic engine for the region.

Don’t be misled by voices of doom and gloom. Make sure you get the facts. If you are worried about identity theft then hear this: The majority of identity theft victims are ripped off by people they know. Only 10 percent can be attributed to the internet. Fear distorts our ability to think clearly to the point where major threats seem unstoppable. Yesterday it was polio, today it is Swine Flue.

There are times when it seems as though the sky is falling, but there is always hope. God continues to give new life no matter how catastrophic the situation might be. Jesus is reminding us to be patient, to remain steadfast in faith, especially in perilous times. People of faith are people of hope. And we can be sure that in uncertain times, God continues to be with us, both now and in the future.

As for my eye, it has almost healed and very few leaves remain in the yard. What few are left will be used by squirrels to build their winter nests. My SUV is in the shop and will be back on the road in about a week. We are still baby-sitting the dog, but we are learning how to keep her quiet at night.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul's UCC, Sidney, Ohio