Malachi 3:19-20a; 2
Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19
Jesus said after many were commenting about the temple, "All that you see here - the days will
come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be
thrown down."
And
this is exactly what happened to the temple and the city of Jerusalem about 40
years later. The city fell to the Romans armies in year 70 after a desperate
siege in which people of Jerusalem were actually reduced to cannibalism. The
historians give different numbers of people who died during this horrific
event. The estimates of number of people
who died runs from several hundred thousand to over a million. Titus, the future Caesar and the one who
commended Roman legions, reportedly
refused to accept a wreath of victory,
saying that the victory did not come through his own efforts but that he had
merely served as an instrument of God's wrath. Luke, the writer of today's gospel, seemed to believe that Jerusalem’s destruction was somehow connected with Jesus’ death. In his eyes by not accepting Jesus’ message of nonviolence, the city’s inhabitants created their own fate. Instead of changing the tension-filled environment that existed between them and Romans by giving themselves in love to their enemies as Jesus taught, they chose again and again the means of insurrections and violence.
The Temple was the center of Judaism. Its heartbeat. The
most cherished possession. But God allowed it to be dismantled. Why? Is it because
in the eyes of God His most cherished possession was His people? But his own
people lost sight of it and cherished much more other things?
What is the most cherished possession of the church, of our
own community?
I would like to share with you the
story of Deacon Lawrence who died about year 258.
Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the
material goods of the church and the distribution of alms to the poor. When
Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor,
widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling
even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of
this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure.
He sent for Lawrence and said,
“You Christians say we are cruel to you,
but that is not what I have in mind.
I
am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in
silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services.
Now,
your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his.
Bring
these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces.
God
does not cause money to be counted:
He
brought none of it into the world with him—only words.
Give
me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.”
Lawrence replied that the church was indeed rich.
“I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to
set everything in order and make an inventory.”
After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame,
maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the
prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the church.”
What answer would we give to the prefect of Rome? What are
the most precious possessions of our community which we cherish?
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