In my rather humble estimation, Paul Tillich was one of the finest theologians I ever read. I kind of grew up on him and his writings.
One of his writings in particular seems to speak especially to our day and our time. He called his work “The Shaking of the Foundations.”
It was about “the discombobulation” of all that seems to be so solid and so strong. Sometimes, things seem to start unraveling and everything comes a part at the seams. What was once thought to be permanent is no more.
We kind of deceive ourselves…and set ourselves up for a fall….sometimes…
So therefore the question: What holds you together when the walls that surround you start to come tumbling down? Where is your safety net.
Wars, famines, earthquakes, death, diseases all these are typical fare in apocalyptic literature. When these things occur – “things” start to unravel. And sometimes, they unravel very quickly.
We like things to be well-ordered, working and running smoothly. Predictable… Predictable is good. We do not like things that are beyond our control…or out of “our” control.
The recent bombings in “the City of Lights” – in Paris, is a good case in point.
It has shaken a lot of the foundations. It has made a lot of things uncertain. In a sense, it has shaken foundations – all around the world. We are unsure. Things are not so neat and not so orderly. Questions exist without answers.
A plane blows up leaving from Egypt – heading for Russia, and “foundations are shaken.” You don’t mess with Russia.
People do not know what to make of it. There is denial. Things seem to be tenuous, at best. People quickly become scared in uncertain times.
And people look for scapegoats. We have to identify our enemies. We have to make them less than human. If we can see them as being “below us” “less than us” all the better. It is something that replays itself over and over again throughout the course of human history.
That’s what happens when the foundations are shaken. All of a sudden the world becomes very black and white. There are no shades of gray. It is “us” against “them.” Good against evil.
We may even turn it into some kind of self-righteous campaign – God is with us! They are “heathen, barbaric, less than human.” They need to be eradicated…they all need to be eradicated. And we are the ones to do it.
“Fear” is a great motivator. The “unknown” is a great motivator.
All you need to do is to listen to the present day rhetoric…and listen how it plays upon people’s fears.
I tell you the foundations have been shaken.
Jesus’ choice of words were very apt. The conflict of nation raised upon nation and kingdom upon kingdom” could, again, refer to any time, but they also spoke to the particular anxieties of people living in the first century.
They still speak to us, today!
Jesus’ words in Mark chapter 13 are not about an “end” but rather about a time of “new beginnings.”
His words were meant to be words of hope in the face of great suffering and tribulation.
Every generation lives with an uncertain future…there are no exceptions. Jesus was attempting to replace “the shaken foundations” with something much more stable.
Where does your trust reside?
Who do you trust?
Where is your safety net?
What or who holds you up when everything around you comes crashing down?
God is bigger than our life experiences. God is bigger than our problems. God is bigger than our fears. God is bigger than the rhetoric we hear…and sometimes buy into…
Jesus came that we might have “abundant life” – and as far as I know, he never said “this life” was going to be a picnic for any of us.
But he did have concern about us having a good strong foundation on which to build our faith.
A good solid foundation on which to build our trust…
According to Jesus, that foundation begins and ends with God.
So when your world comes tumbling down around you, where is your safety net?