"Aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan Philippines" by moelzcore, on Flickr

Malachi 4:1-2a
See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Luke 21:5-19
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] 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."

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Today is another one of those mornings when, after our readings, it feels strange and even difficult to respond “Thanks be to God!”

Our readings this morning certainly point to a particular reality: the end and destruction of all things. This isn’t by accident. Today is the second to last week of the church year. The end of the church year points us toward the end of all things, when Christ will come in glory to reign over heaven and earth. Next Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, when we celebrate this king for whom we wait, and then the very next week, we begin Advent, which is the very season in which we wait for the coming of Christ to earth, Christ who came not as a whirlwind or earthquake, but as a tiny, helpless baby.

So in the turn of the church seasons, today is the beginning of the end. Our readings reflect that. Malachi warns of the impending day of the Lord, when good and evil will be judged by fire. Paul in Thessalonians urges believers to stay vigilant and not to remain idle as they await the return of Christ. And Jesus, in today’s gospel, paints for the disciples a bleak picture of the destruction of the temple, the fall of Jerusalem, and the persecution of his followers - pointing both to a historical reality and to a larger metaphor for the eventual end of all things.

There are many questions that arise from today’s readings - questions about what the end of the world will look like, questions about Christ’s return, questions about good and evil, chaos and order, questions about whether the day of the Lord is one of destruction or peace.

But the question that is on my heart today, the question raised and answered, however briefly, by Malachi and Jesus, is the question, “What does life look like on the far side of the end of the world?”

Now let’s be clear for a moment. When we talk today about the end of the world and the far side of the end of the world, I am not channeling Harold Camping or Hal Lindsay or any volume of the Left Behind series. It is neither helpful or appropriate for us to look to today’s readings as predictions for when and how The End - capital T, capital E - will happen. Nor is it particularly useful to use texts as these to interpret natural disasters, wars, insurrections, and persecutions as proof that we are living in some apocalyptic end time.

When I raise the question, “What does life look like on the far side of the end of the world?” I am really asking what hope there is for us and for our world on the far side of griefs and pains and disasters that feel insurmountable; on the far side of those times when it looks as if evil triumphs and all is lost.

This question, “What does life look like on the far side of the world?” is no more pressing in my heart right now than when I look at what has happened over the last week in the Philippines, with the arrival of super-typhoon Haiyan and the recovery efforts that are now being made.

You might now know the name Bruce Reyes-Chow, but he is a leader, teacher, and influential voice in the Presbyterian Church(USA). He arrived in the Philippines back at the beginning of this month to take on a month-long university teaching assignment. It was only a few days after his arrival that warnings about the typhoon started rolling in.

The area of the Philippines where he is serving was mostly spared from the damage, but late this last week, he had the opportunity to travel with a relief convoy to Tacloban City on the island of Leyte, one of the hardest-hit areas of the country.

He shared some play-by-play of his journey on Twitter, in a series of haunting, 140-character at a time updates:

• Approaching Leyte and no lights to be seen anywhere on the island. Kinda eerie.
• 15 vehicle convoy ready to take off. A mix of military, police, relief workers, and supplies.
• Starting to see some typhoon damage: fallen trees, downed power lines, abandoned homes.
• Hard to describe what we're seeing. Villages wiped out, but people living in the ruins as they try to rebuild.
• About 30 kilometers out (of Tacloban) and we are beginning to see bodies on the side of the road.
• Entering Tacloban City.
• Lots of garbage and debris still on the streets.
• In comparison to other places in the Philippines, Tacloban is a relative ghost town. Few people on the streets.
• Standing in the middle of all the destruction, I'm not sure I can say it's better or worse than I had expected - but it is bad
• Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread...

Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread.

This sentence might just be the answer to the question, “What does life look like on the far side of the end of the world?”

Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread.

Jesus says, "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified...by your endurance you will gain your souls." And later, in the verses following today's gospel, Jesus goes on to say, "when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Malachi says, “for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.”

Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread.

I imagine that Bruce, standing there at the edge of the road, felt as if he were standing right at the edge of the world, that fine line between despair and hope, that thin space between the brokenness of the world as it is and the hope of the world as it will one day be.

This is what faith does to us.

It puts us at the edge, always. It thins the boundary between this world and the next. We live with one foot here and one foot in God’s future. Because we live in this mixed-up “already and not yet” space. Christ has been raised from the dead, so our redemption has been won and God’s kingdom has already begun, on earth as it is in heaven. And yet Christ’s return has not yet happened, and the new Jerusalem has not yet descended to earth, and God’s new creation has not yet been fulfilled.

In this space, we wait for the salvation that has already been given to us. And in this space, we have the unique ability to look at death and yet hope for life, and to see destruction and yet hope for redemption.

Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread.

The assurance in our readings today is that God offers grace, hope, and healing even at the far side of the end of the world; God will not abandon us; we will emerge triumphant.

And so, like the Thessalonians to whom Paul writes, we are not called to idleness but to action. We are called, every day, to defy the despair around us by living out God’s hope and staying in motion as we live lives of service and work for justice and peace.

Even in the midst of the destruction around us, there is grace in standing along the side of the road breaking bread.

We are called to stand at the edge of the road and to break bread with our neighbors in pain.
We are called to stand at the edge of the road and to break bread with our groaning creation.
We are called to stand at the edge of the road and to break bread with troubled souls and warring nations.
We are called to stand at the edge of the road and to break bread with the poor and oppressed.
We are called to stand at the edge of the road to break bread for the healing of the world.

My friends, it is a joy and privilege to stand here today with you at the edge of the road. For whatever fear or destruction plague us, there is yet grace to be found here, in the breaking of the bread, in our fellowship together, as Christ nourishes and strengthens us with his own body and blood. For even in the midst of whatever destruction befall us, there is yet grace to be found.

May you trust, this day and always, that God has counted you among his faithful, and will not let one hair of your head perish outside of his grace. May you find in Christ the strength to endure. May you feel the Spirit refresh your soul, this day and every day.