Bible Text: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Mark 13:24-37 | Pastor: Pastor Jason Bryant |   The last end of the world flick I watched was several years ago now, if memory serves…if often does not.  It was called 2012 and it was based on the belief that the world ended when the Mayan calendar ran out.  It was a fairly typical movie of that genre.  And while that genre is not as much in style today as it was in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, I’m sure there’s someone out there penning the next great “end of the world” movie. 

  After all, they’re not hard to plot out or write even.  Start with an impending “end-of-the-world disaster.  Throw in tons of special effects, add a measure of melodramatic, gut-wrenching storylines and cap it all off with a select number of people alive and set to rebuild things in the new future at the end.  Hope amid the burning embers of destruction. 

  But the more and more I think about it, I think these movies appeal to us for two reasons.  First and probably most importantly, I think we all recognize on a near-daily basis that this world desperately requires revamping.  But second, and not to be missed, the payoff is always that human ingenuity and derring-do will somehow manage to allow disaster to avert the end of the world.

  Disaster flicks appeal to our human awareness that something here is dreadfully wrong and that we’re the exact people to change it all.  All that to say, it’s an appealing fiction. 

  The fact of the matter is that in neigh over 6000 years of human civilization, we haven’t made a whole lot of improvements. 

  “Now hold on a second,” you might say.  “Pastor Jason, of COURSE we’ve gotten better.  And, to be sure, in some ways, we’ve made some slight improvements through the years.  But make no mistake about it, many of us mistake technological progress for honest-to-goodness improvement.  And, believe me, to some degree, I completely understand. 

  After all, in this Brave New World, I can get my groceries delivered, have access to more entertainment options than you can shake a stick at delivered speedily to the comfort of my living room.  Virtual reality machines can transport me to distant planets or in a 3-d replica of the Notre Dame cathedral.  Better still, we’re enjoying longer lives, greater access and awareness to how to manage our bodies and their illnesses.  Heck, compared to life in 1980 where there were maybe 5 channels on TV and a call to a grocery store to have something delivered would’ve seen you laughed at like some relic from the 1950’s, the 2020’s should be a virtual paradise. 

  But are they?   Maybe not so much, right?

  I read a story recently about a young girl, a fourth grader who came home from school one day and rushed up the stairs.  “It was obvious to her mom that she was both angry and sad. Her sobs failing to drown out her footsteps as she stomped up the stairs.

  When her mom went into inquire about what was going on, the little girl responded “It was an AWFUL day.”  She went on to say, when she looked for her homework, she realized she’d left it at home.  The normally delightful teacher snarled at her for this oversight and made her visit the principal.    The choices for lunch were all of her least favorites.  When they broke for recess, her BFF decided to play with someone else.  On the bus ride home, an older boy picked on her the whole way.” 

  These kinds of days still happen, right?  They do to me and I certainly don’t feel like the saddest sack in the world so I’m sure they do to you, as well.  This world is still as heartbreaking at times as it ever was.  Just as it was to that little girl on that day, long ago.  

  But, after a period of sobbing, the little girl’s resolve strengthened, and she told her mother she was all right.  Mom, having other things to do left and went back downstairs.  But then, after having it be “too quiet” for too long, back up the stairs Mom went.

  Much to her amazement, the little girl was on her knees praying.  When it appeared as though she was finished, the mother asked what the prayer was for.

  The little girl candidly responded.  “Mom, I’ve decided I don’t like this world, so I’m praying for a whole new one.”

  In a way, that little girl had found the core cause for Biblical Hope.  Biblical Hope isn’t based on the idea that this world gets better.  Rather it is focused upon the belief that one day, through the return of Jesus Christ, this world will be drawn to a close and merged with heaven.  God’s space and our space will be once space yet again.