23rd Sunday after Pentecost Luke 21:5-19

General Context

If you have ever been to visit magnificent architecture – St. Peter’s in Rome, the U. S. Capitol Building, the Hagia Sophia or the Taj Mahal, you can almost hear the chatter of camera-carrying tourists commenting on the beauty and size of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a matter of esthetics, of religion and of politics and it was the center of Jewish life, thought and identity. If you spoke negatively about the Temple, you could be charged with blasphemy. If you wanted to guarantee something, you swore by the Temple. 

It was reminder of the presence of God with his people. Built by Ezra and Zerubbabel on the return from exile, it was later enhanced by Herod, who made the ornate changes more for his own glory and power than for…

1. There are things in our lives that seem permanent and immovable. What are some of those things and why do we think that they will last? When they break down, what else breaks down?

2. Why do you think it is hard to trust God’s good outcome when everything around us is in ashes?

3. It seems odd that the words that Jesus gives his listeners as the response of the faithful to disaster contain promises of more and even worse disasters. They are promised hostile repercussions because they are faithful. How do you think those words of Jesus lead to hope?

4. Describe a time when enduring hardship has resulted in a…