11-19-95	Tearing Down the Temple	Isaiah 65:17-25

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Luke 21:5-19

Our Old Testament lesson that was read this morning tells of a wonderful time in the history of God's people: a promise made by God to Israel about the creation of a new day: a new heaven and a new earth. And this new day will be so wonderful that it will make anything that has come before pale so much in comparison that it will even be forgotten. And, certainly, Israel needed something like that. For at the time of Isaiah's writing Israel was in the midst of Babylonian exile. The people of God were, again, a people without a home. But Isaiah saw Israel's salvation coming. The Kingdom of Persia was waging war against Babylon. And Isaiah knew that when Cyrus, king of Persia, won the war he would allow the Israelites to go back to their homeland, once again. And when that happened, Isaiah proclaimed that there would be a restoration of God's people so blessed by God that Israel would be a utopian paradise. It would be a place where no one would ever weep in sorrow or in mourning. It would be a place where there would be an extremely low infant mortality, a place where living to a hundred years would be common place. Israel would be a land of great productivity where there would be no poverty. It would be a place where God would be constantly with God's people, a place of peace and harmony.

It is good for us to have visions and goals for such a life. And as we look at Isaiah's prophecy we may think it a bit unrealistic, even for our modern times, for such a place to exist. Indeed, we know that when God's people finally did go back to resettle Israel things didn't turn out to be as utopian as Isaiah told them it would be. Nevertheless, it was this utopian vision that gave God's people hope; that gave them a goal to strive for; and that gave them the courage each day to live just one more day in expectation of such a vision being fulfilled.

In many ways the Pilgrims who founded our nation had such a vision in mind when they stepped aboard the Mayflower and headed west across the Atlantic Ocean towards America. It was such a utopian vision, as unrealistic as it was, that drove those first settlers to this country to step out upon a rugged, untamed, wilderness. It was such a vision that helped them survive the winters and the starvation. And it was such a vision that spurred them to do so much more than they might have otherwise accomplished.

You know, one of the things that plagues our nation is the lack of such a vision. And perhaps one of the reasons for this is that many people believe that we have already accomplished the promises of the vision; that we have already made it to utopia. Indeed, there are many persons living in our nation who really do have just about everything they could ever want. In fact, as we go Christmas shopping this year, there are many who will be confused and perplexed about what to buy for the man or woman who has everything. Indeed, over the next few weeks you can go to some department stores and ask, "What do you have for the person who already has everything?" And if the department store is worth anything at all, the salesperson will be able to show you numerous gadgets and interesting things to fill the bill.

And not only do many Americans already have everything, but life as gotten to the point that boredom, itself, is about to become a thing of the past. Through the miracles of modern computer technology the day is quickly coming when if we want to take a quick trip to Florida, for example, all we'll need to do is start a computer program, put on a virtual reality helmet and we'll suddenly find ourselves walking down a beautiful, three dimensional beach, with the stereo sound of ocean waves hitting the beach and sea gulls circling overhead. Looking around, we'll find interesting men and women to talk to and even relate to. And when it's time for us to come home, all we'll need to do is take the helmet off.

So, indeed, perhaps there are many who believe we have already reached utopia. Nevertheless, ours may be more a utopia of our imagination, an escape from reality, rather than a shaping of reality. And, with time, if more of our energies are spent dealing with virtual realities than with actual realities, then our culture, society, and the structures important to our survival, may be at risk. And when every dream we ever had comes true before we even dream the dream, how can anyone ever have a vision like Isaiah did? Nevertheless, how important it is for us to have visions, as unrealistic as they may seem at the time.

When you think about it, we wouldn't have as much to be thankful about if it hadn't been for those who had visions. Those Pilgrims who came here had a vision for the future. Certainly, we can be thankful for that vision, even though what we have today is probably quite a bit different from what the Pilgrims had in mind. And we can be thankful to those dreamers and visionaries who came after the Pilgrims: thankful for persons like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Thomas Paine and John Locke. For each of these persons, in spite of the hardships often involved, lived their lives as a quest for their dreams, sharing their visions with others, working to make those dreams come true. And we are thankful that they did.

And, yet, we don't always welcome the dreamer with open arms, do we? For with any dreamer there comes a dissatisfaction with things as they are, the struggle for change, so that there may be room for the new reality.

Jesus faced this problem in our Gospel lesson for today. In fact, Luke tells us that as he was passing by the temple some of his disciples were talking about how wonderful the temple was with all its beautiful stones. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left upon another; a time when every one of them will be thrown down." As beautiful and good as the temple seemed to be, Jesus knew that the time would come when something greater, something better would come to take its place. And, of course, that would be the Church, otherwise known as the Body of Christ. But, Jesus knew that such an undertaking would not come easily. Thousands of Christians, bearing with them the vision of the Gospel, would be persecuted and even die as they sought to share the vision. And are we not thankful to those who did?

And, now, this Thanksgiving, we need to resist the notion that we have reached utopia. There still are dreams left to dream and visions to share. And, God calls us today to dream those dreams, to have and share visions of what God wants us to be. And its not easy. And yet that's life. For when the dreams stop, when the visions cease, when there is no more change, when we abhor the new, when we turn our backs upon the new God's new Temple for the sake of the old rotting one, that's death, or at least the beginnings of death. But when we embrace the freshness of God's Spirit, hear God's call, and see God's vision, and share it and live it – then there is life that knows no end.

Amen.