When Life Gives You Lemons (Luke 21:5-19)

          

sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 11/17/13

Image courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity School Library

If you have looked in your bulletin this morning you will see that the title of this sermon comes from a famous saying, one that I’m am sure all of you have heard before. Maybe you can help me finish the phrase, “when life gives you lemons………..” That’s right when life gives you lemons make lemonade.  Take that lemonade and mix some ice tea with it and you’ve got a Arnold Palmer and then your day is set.  In all seriousness though, this phrase is truly a uplifting and inspiring phrase. Whatever life seems to throw us, whatever hardships, trials and difficulties we face, we can always looks for ways to make it better, to turn that frown upside down as they say. Now I have to admit I’ve never fully understood the saying, I’m not the greatest cook, but I feel like there is a lot you can do with lemons, seasoning for seafood, flavoring for tea or for coke, but maybe that the eternal optimist in me coming out, already finding ways to use lemons. But lemons are sour and tart, most people can’t eat them the way that they are, but when you find ways to use them, such as lemonade, then you can take something sour and turn it into something oh so sweet.

            So why talk about lemons and lemonade this morning. No this is not food network show, I am not a cook here to teach you different recipes for lemons. The lesson that we learn from the saying of taking lemons and making lemonade, is a message very similar to one that we find from Jesus. But is so often the case, we shouldn’t just jump right into that point because it might not make as much sense if we do. Instead let us look at the context in which Jesus is talking. Jesus is in the Temple of Jerusalem, in fact this is very late in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus has actually already rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, being hailed by the people in the streets  as the Messiah, this is what we celebrate on palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter Sunday. After this entrance Jesus goes into the Temple and sees the money changers in the Temple and drives them all out. He then goes into speaking many parables including the parable of the widow’s mite, and all of that leads him to what he has to say in our passage today. Jesus knew the time of his death was growing close, later that week in fact, and so Jesus begins to speak apocalyptically.  Now usually when we hear something described as apocalyptic we automatically think about the end of times, we think about some amazing visions such as those that we see in the book of Revelation, and while this certainly is apocalyptic literature, not all apocalyptic speaking is like this. In fact the work from the Greek simply means a disclosure of knowledge such as a revelation.[1] Jesus words do speak some of the end of times; he talks about wars and nations rising and falling, plagues and earthquakes and so on and how all that must pass before we can truly say that the time is near.

            Many people try to focus on this aspect of this message from our passage from Luke. They try to predict when the end of times will come. There are even websites out there with articles predicting when the rapture will come and how we can be ready for it. We’ve seen this all before, the day I flew to South Africa was according to some evangelicals was the day the rapture was supposed to happen. People even bought up “fire insurance” and were left devastated when nothing happen and they had nothing left.  Last December was supposed to be the end of the world, but it looks as though we are still here.  Does the Bible tell about an end of times? Yes, it tells us there will be a new heaven and a new Earth, it tells us that all nations and tribes will gather around the throne and that there will be no more tears in their eyes, Even Jesus in our passage for today does talk about the end of times; but the list of wars and natural disasters, is not intended to be a checklist telling us when it will happen. In fact the opposite is true, Jesus is telling us that we are  not supposed to know when it happens, that many calamities will pass in which people think may be the end of the world, but it is not. The heart of Jesus’ message is much more about perseverance through difficult times.

            His apocalyptic message is about much more than just the end of times, it is in fact a revelation at some of the hardships and trials that many of those listening and the early followers would have to endure. In fact this whole speech started by addressing one of these hardships. Many who were around Jesus were marveling at the beauty and spectacle of the Temple. It’s funny this scripture comes after last week’s scripture because in Haggai people were afraid that the new Temple that was being build would not amount to much, but here we have the people in Jesus’ time admiring the completed project for its beauty.  Unfortunately, once again the Temple would become a hardship for the people of Israel. Jesus’ first revelation was, “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.”  Jesus foretells of the destruction of the Temple.  As we said however this isn’t some end of times predictions, this happened in 70 AD some thirty or forty years after the death of Jesus. This was an immediate conflict that Jesus was warning the people they would have to face.

            Yet this was only the beginning of the hardships that the followers of Christ were going to have to face.  “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.  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. Jesus tells his followers that the life of a Christian is not going to be easy; especially for the earliest of followers. He tells them that many will be arrested, many will be betrayed by friends and loved ones, even by parents and siblings, and that yes even many followers would be killed because of the name of Christ. Once again Jesus is telling the people of hardships that they will have to endure, and once again these hardships came true quite quickly. We see many of the plights of the early Christians in the book of Acts. Jesus says many will be arrested in his name, and lo and behold we read about Paul and Silas and countless others who are arrested. We see Peter and John arrested in Acts chapter 3 and when asked in what name or by what authority the carried out their ministry, they replied in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul who had previously been known as Saul, a persecutor of Christians, was searched for by many of the people he used to work with and probably called his friends. And yes, many were persecuted in the name of Jesus including the martyr Stephen.

            So why would Jesus foretell of all of this pain and agony? Does Jesus enjoy the pain and the misery of others? If Jesus is trying to get more followers than why would he tell them about all of the pain and scrutiny they are going to face? Isn’t that kind of detrimental to evangelism? Jesus words here are not meant to draw more people in but to prepare those who are already following. Jesus does not enjoy the pain and misery of others, instead he wants to warn them, prepare them, and most of all to give them hope. Because in a few years these followers will be faced with the dilemmas that Jesus talks about: betrayal, imprisonment, persecution; and at that time it would be easy for them to question their faith, to doubt what Christ had taught them, to truly wonder why they are doing this.  But at that time they would be able to reflect back and remember, that Jesus told us this would happen, and that Jesus told us that this was only the beginning. Most importantly they could remember the words of courage that Jesus offered them on that day when he said, “But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Jesus gives his followers hope, that in spite of all of the dangers and toils that they are facing, that there is hope. That through their endurance, through their perseverance, through their courage, their souls may be strengthened.  

            Jesus doesn’t stop there.  Jesus’s words to his followers are not just words to help them endure their hardships until they are through; it is not simply a message of if you are able to persevere though these times then heaven awaits for you after you are gone, but instead these words give hope and purpose to his followers in the midst of their troubles. They tell them that one does not have to wait until death to see rewards of the perseverance, but that their courage can pay dividends here and now. Jesus says, “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.”  Jesus says that the courage and the perseverance of the early followers would in fact be an opportunity to testify to the name of Jesus Christ, and once again Jesus was right.

            We see in the book of Acts, many of these figures that we mentioned earlier as being betrayed, arrested, and persecuted used their plight as an opportunity to witness and evangelize. We see Stephen, the first Christian martyr as he is being prepared to be executed use that time to witness to his faith.  ““You stubborn people! In your thoughts and hearing, you are like those who have had no part in God’s covenant! You continuously set yourself against the Holy Spirit, just like your ancestors did. ⁵² Was there a single prophet your ancestors didn’t harass? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and you’ve betrayed and murdered him! ⁵³ You received the Law given by angels, but you haven’t kept it.”  Stephen speaks harsh prophetic words to the people, and yet he exemplified the Christian precepts of humility and forgiveness with his last words, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!”  We also see stories of Paul in prison giving him an ability to evangelize to the centurion guarding him. One night while Paul and Silas were praying in prison, there was an earthquake and the doors to the prison opened.  Knowing that the blame would fall on him, the centurion prepared to take his own life, when Paul and Silas summoned him and showed him that no one had left their cells. This act struck the centurion so much that he and his family were baptized.

            Jesus’s words rang true for the early followers of Christ, that through their persecution they would able to be witness to the glory of God, and that witnessing is still happening each and every time we read one of those stories from the book of Acts. Jesus’s words of encouragement are not limited to the early Christians, but can speak just as much to us today. Many of us face trials and tribulations. And yet Jesus tells us that we can persevere; not only because there is a hope of eternal life after this life is over, but that our lives, not just despite of troubles, but actually because of our troubles can give us the opportunity to witness to the glory of God. We see this at work in churches all around nation and the world.  Many who have suffered from addiction have gone on to help others who face the same difficulties they have.  Those who have experienced the pain and heartbreak of divorce now lead divorce care classes for those going through the same problems. Many churches now have special Christmas services for those who have recently lost loved ones where those who may be lonely during the holidays can join in fellowship with others who know their pain.  When I was young, my church used to participate in a community based charity in which churches would house and feed the homeless in their facilities, and I remember meeting a man one year, and then seeing him a few years later again, this time not as a guest, but as a staff member for the organization. The stories turning trials in to ministry could go on and on. Do not misunderstand me, God does not put obstacles in our way, God doesn’t make these bad things happen to us, but God gives us hope that even in our trials we may be able to witness to the glory of God; hope that when life gives us lemons, we are able to make lemonade.

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[1] wikipedia