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Morning Devotion for the Season After Pentecost

June 23, 2023

The Invitatory

The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: O come, let us adore him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them.

‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, sorrowful, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet. It was an introduction to a tale of end-times.

It has always aroused my curiosity, that so many people are attracted by tales of the end times. I only happened to read Station Eleven because it was a book selected by members of my Book Club. I suppose as the genre goes, it was a rather easy introduction. Published in 2014 Station Eleven seemed quite topical by 2020 and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The massive loss of life in Station Eleven goes beyond losing people. Characters grapple with loss of love, loss of security, loss of mobility, loss of items, and loss of memories. Thankfully, the novel offers beauty and hope to offset all the loss and sadness.

Both this novel and Matthew’s Gospel anticipate an historical event that would mark the end times. There will be no such event. With no date specific it appears that there will be an indeterminate period of waiting. The disciples seem tied to an historic event - the destruction of the Temple. There seems to be a lack of considering a much larger conception of time and one not necessarily marked by human or earthly events. The tumultuous anarchy and confusion among nations and natural upheavals extend indefinitely. beyond the current moment. The Second Coming seems still distant, its timing not susceptible to prediction or speculation. Far more than an event, it will be a remarkable reversal of all we know.

This matter of timing is more a matter of God’s realm. We pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. There probably is no preparation or readiness that we might make. It is beyond human capabilities. We must wait for what we need to be given to us by God. It is the resurrection to which Jesus points and for which we wait in hope and faith. There will be cosmic expressions that will announce the approaching kingdom of God. We should expect that it will be a moment that God chooses.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.