How Can I Watch For Hope? | Erik Luchetta and Jeremy Marrone

((music playing)) Jeremy, how you doing? I'm doing great, man. Good to be here. Awesome. Awesome. We are in chapter 13 of Mark. Mark 13. And so, if you would kick us off, what is going on in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13. Yeah, this is a big chapter and and it's it's a really important chapter um because Jesus actually um has a prophetic word for the nation of Israel, a prophecy.

The prophecy is just simply this. The prophecy is that their sacred temple will come down. Their sacred temple will be brought down. One stone will not be left on another is Jesus' exact words. And so we're going to talk about in this chapter simply what was the hope of Israel?

What is God's hope for the world? And how does the temple being brought down actually fulfill the hope of the world? Wow. So, uh, I want to I want to start there, but I I want to think about it like this. This is the question that we kind of want to answer is how can we as God's people watch out for hope?

How can we be the people who are watching to bring hope, to give hope, and to see hope in the world? That's the question I really want to land on tonight. And we'll talk about I've got some notes, but we can just get into the conversation and we may or may not stay on the notes and just have a conversation about what it means to be the hope of the world.

Awesome. Ultimately, God's desire for human beings started in the garden. That was the original temple. God's desire for in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 for mankind was to be like priests in a temple. And the garden was his original temple. And God wanted to bless all of creation through the garden.

He wanted Adam and Eve to take the garden, the order, the beauty, the the rule of heaven which was in the garden and spread it out over the whole earth so that all of creation and human beings could experience the blessing of God. And through God's rule, human beings were supposed to bring his kingdom to earth as it is in heaven so that earth would reflect heaven.

So we're going to start from that thought. That's the foundation. Yeah. Of this temple discussion. Awesome. In Mark 13, Jesus actually predicts that the temple in Jerusalem would come to the ground, that it would be destroyed. Now, we actually have evidence in AD.70 that that happened. Yeah. So Jesus is prophesying either 40 or just short of 40 years before that.

He's in this chapter in front of his disciples. He is looking at Jerusalem, the city, and saying, "This temple will will come down. Every stone will be destroyed. It will not be the same." But here's the thing. There's a fulfillment here to this part of the story. The entire scriptures are one narrative story about God and his creation and about God's rule coming to the earth as it is in heaven.

And God chose different human beings throughout this history to be the ones who bring his rule to the earth. Well, what does his rule look like? Well, his rule as started in the garden looks like abundance. provision, blessing. It looks like order and justice and beauty. Well, when Adam and Eve failed because they tried to grasp for the fruit, which is just the idea of grasping for wisdom on their own terms, we've talked about that before in the last few weeks.

Yeah. Defining wisdom on our own terms, is what human beings is where we get ourselves in trouble and we get out from under God's authority. Yeah. We try to we try to rule ourselves. Yeah. And it doesn't work. Yeah. Basically, I think we try and be human our own way.

Yes. Whereas, like you said, Adam and Eve in the garden were called to be the people who lived in the garden in such a way where heaven and earth remained connected. God lived there with them. Yes. They kept the garden ordered, holy, pure. And as they were having children, God's plan was as they would have children, Eden would expand and expand and expand and the presence of God would expand throughout the entire earth.

And ultimately, that's the plan that went sideways. And then God removed Adam and Eve as the first priests of the first temple. Yeah. And then he chose a new people, Israel. And what did he have them build? A temple. A temple for a place for God to dwell among them.

Exactly. So, we're we're right back to the plan. God never abandoned the plan. It was always a good plan. Yeah. And he wanted to stick with it. Yeah. He has not changed. And what he calls good, he's faithful to. You know, that that revolutionized our thinking. I know you and I once we realized once we saw the connection of God and humanity here in the earth in Genesis, we watched it run all the way through Revelation to the last chapters of Revelation.

And that really revolutionized our thinking. I think that's why this chapter Mark 13 is so important because it gives us an opportunity to really go over what is the Bible about? What is it telling us? What is the story? Because what Jesus says in chapter 13 is basically a well he's not basically he is directly speaking of God's original intention for creation a where where the earth would be the dwelling place of God with humanity and like you said Jesus is saying the temple the physical temple in Jerusalem is going to come down yes and God's presence will be in people throughout the entire earth and so that's why I said this is a fascinating chapter So, so when when God chose Israel, he actually wanted the temple not only to be a place that they worship and a place where his presence dwelt with them, but he wanted it to be a source of abundance.

Yeah. The temple was like a food bank. Yeah. It was providing for people for the nations. It was not only providing for Israel, but they would actually bless other nations with the food that they would store up in the storehouse. This is Malachi. This is Malachi's indictment. The prophet Malachi actually says to Israel, "You have not stored up the things in the storehouse the way God desired you to.

You've robbed God." Yeah. Because he wanted this to be a place of blessing for the nations. Yeah. So, Adam and Eve fail to order this first temple in the garden the way God desired. And then he chose Israel. And through Israel's history uh from about 950 BC to about 586, you have a couple hundred years here where Israel fails.

Yeah. They fail to order the temple the way God desires. They're actually bringing into the storehouse for their own gain. The rulers of the temple were taking the money. They were taking the food and they were enriching themselves and their people were suffering. So, the temple basically wasn't what it was supposed to be.

No, it wasn't at all what it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be a sign of hope. It was supposed to be the place where not only did heaven and earth come together and and Israel worship God and where they sacrificed animals and for the sins of the nation and all of that, but ultimately the sign of the temple is that it's a hope to the world.

Yeah. That's what it's supposed to be. And they failed. Yeah. And so uh the first temple comes down in 586 BC and then 500 plus years later uh we see a second temp temple has been rebuilt after 70 years they started rebuilding it um in 500 BC. But then in Jesus day when Jesus comes on the scene it's the second temple.

It's Israel's second temple. Yeah. And again, the rulers of the temple have gone sideways and they've enriched themselves through this process. And now they're almost in cahoots with Rome through their temple. Yeah. And what God's original purpose for this temple was to be the place where his presence dwelt and his abundance was experienced.

It's the healing presence of God himself. and his abundance and provision. This is what we mean by flourishing. If you want to say the word in Matthew chapter 5, we use the word flourishing. Yeah. This was God's desire for human beings to flourish. And the temple was the sign that God was Israel's God.

Yahweh was Israel's God. And they were the chosen people. And he said, "I want you to be a light to the world. I want you to be an abundance to them. I want you to help the world flourish as human beings through this building, through the provision, through the the money, through the food, through all of it.

And they failed. And so now we're in Mark 13. And Jesus through the gospels is actually confronting the temple. All the way through all four gospels, Jesus is confronting the temple. And we get right here to this is the very first gospel that was written. We believe Mark was the first one.

And we get to chapter 13 and Jesus is now saying to the temple, you have failed again. But it wasn't just that Jesus was pronouncing judgment on this temple in this chapter, which he's doing. It was that he was saying, "I am now the fulfillment of this temple."

Yeah. So, it's not needed anymore. Right. Right. It's going to go away because the substance and the the true temple which is himself, God himself is here. So when when Jesus returns, it is a prophetic all the way through the prophets. They say God is going to return.

He's going to return. He's going to return to his people. After the first temple in Ezekiel chapter 10, Ezekiel says that God's glory, his presence left the temple from Israel. when they rebuilt, they believed God was with them, but they really had they really didn't feel like God's presence was there the same way.

And there was there was no place in scripture that said he returned. You think about like when he first filled Solomon's temple, the first temple, right? When he f when God's presence entered, when his glory entered that temple, all the priests fell out, they got knocked out by the Holy Spirit.

I mean, his presence was so strong. It was it was a cloud, they couldn't even stand. So when that second temple is built, there's nowhere in the scriptures, you can't read it in Malachi or anywhere else where it says, "And God filled the temple and people could," you know, so you're right.

I think that they were in a sense waiting for God to come in a fresh way. Even though they had the physical temple, they were waiting for God to be among them once again like he was with Solomon. Which is why Jesus comes and his name is Emmanuel which means God among us.

This is this is God coming. Thi this is God's very person. Yes. Coming in the person of Jesus. So he's the true temple. And this is the fulfillment of their hope. Yes. Yeah. And Jesus in this chapter and this is where I want to land. Jesus in this chapter tells them look out.

Watch for hope. Mhm. the hope of your of your story, Israel's story. Look out for the fulfillment of it. Because here's the thing, God keeps his promises. And God promised that he had chosen a people and that they would bless the world and that he would be with them in blessing the world.

Well, he left. And now they're like, "Well, if he comes back, then we can be who we're supposed to be." Yeah. Israel's purpose was to be the kind of people God desired and to dwell with them in order for them to be those people. So their hope was God, we need you to come back so we can be the people you've called us to be.

And when Jesus returns, he actually says, I'm this is this is that fulfillment. This is that hope coming alive in a human being. I am the embodiment of Israel's God. It without saying it in so few words. Yeah. He is the embodiment of Israel's God. And then he comes to the temple and says, "Now, now that I've come back, now that God has returned to his people, what are we going to do about this temple that has gone completely corrupt and sideways?

Mhm. I'm going to deal with it." Mhm. And so Jesus basically in Mark 13 says, "This temple's going to come down because now I'm the temple." See, when Jesus came on the scene, he started forgiving people of their sins. He started healing people. He started multiplying fish and bread.

And they were going, "What what is happening?" That is a sign of what the temple was supposed to be. The temple was supposed to be the place of healing. The the the presence of God and the presence of God's healing and the presence of God's provision. So all these miracles Jesus was doing was not just to prove he was God.

It was actually to show what the temple was supposed to be. Yeah. And when Jesus pronounces in Mark 13, this entire chapter is him saying, "The temple has to go bye-bye." Yeah. Because I'm here. I'm the fulfillment of it. All of the provision, all of the healing, all of the presence of God is now in me.

Yeah. And they were like, "We go to you for forgiveness now." Yeah. And Jesus said, "Yes." Yeah. You come to me. John the Baptist said it. You go to him for forgiveness. Right. He is the lamb of God. Yeah. He is the new temple. And so we get down here into Mark chapter 13 and I want to read uh verses 32-37 in Mark chapter 13.

But the exact day and hour, no one knows that. Not even heaven's angels. I'm reading from the message. No one knows the time or day that this is going to actually happen. Jesus is predicting when the temple will come down. Mhm. Okay. In this chapter. But what Mark is saying is nobody knows the time or day, right?

Nobody, not even the angels, not even the son, only the father. So keep a sharp lookout for you don't know the timetable. It's like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch.

So stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, or morning. You don't you don't want him showing up unannounced with you asleep on the job. This is Jesus's indictment against the temple. They were asleep at the wheel. They weren't doing what they were called to do.

They had failed in their purpose. And then he says, I say it to you and I'm saying it to all. Stay at your post. Keep watch. Because Israel was waiting. This is the hope they had been waiting for was for God to return. And they felt like when God returns, we can actually be the people.

We can be the nation he chose us to be. We can fulfill the purpose. And then when Jesus shows up and says actually this whole building that has been, let's call it what it is, the center of their culture. Oh, is everything. It's everything. It is the sign that God that they belong to God was the fact that they had the temple.

They were it was the sign that they were special. They were unique in the world. And so when Jesus said this is going to come down, you can only imagine the emotional response of they've been waiting for God for centuries at this point to return. And you can imagine the emotional response when Jesus says, "It's going to come down."

But here's the thing. What he was trying to get them to understand is he was now the fulfillment. And now what Jesus is doing, he not only cleanses, but a generation later in 70 AD, the temple actually came down just like he said. Just like he said. But hope was not lost because now Jesus is saying, well, the hope is in me, right?

I am the substance of this temple. Yeah. I'm the very presence of God. Where the presence of God lived in a building, it now lives in a human. And he's about to give that presence to other humans and make them temple people. And make them temple people. That's the next stage in the scriptures.

In the book of Acts, we see at the beginning, God pours out his spirit. It's a prophecy from Joel chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, God pours out his spirit and he says, "I poured out on all flesh and those who would follow Jesus are now from the inside out.

The spirit comes to live in them and they become temple people." Yeah. And this is quoted in 1 Peter 2:9 where pastor Peter, one of the original pastors, actually says, "You are living stones being built up into a temple together." So it's not that the temple went away.

It's that the fulfillment of why the temple was there had had run its course and now the people of God were returning to be the temple that they should have been altogether uh from the beginning. But Israel had failed. But now it's not like Jesus said, "Okay, Israel's out and it's anybody else."

No, no. Israel can still be in if you're willing to follow me, the Messiah. You can still be the temple people, but you have to follow me. And now I'm including the Gentiles in this and they're becoming part of this new temple humanity. So here's where I want to land to finish.

In Acts chapter 2, the very end of Acts chapter 2, God pours out the spirit. And in the last five verses, verses 42-47, we see the people of God doing what the temple should have been doing all along. They're feeding people. Yeah. They're spending time in the presence of God together.

They're teaching doctrine and the teachings of God. Mhm. They're blessing. They're healing. They're they're doing what the temple was called to do. Yeah. So, the temple hasn't gone away. The temple has just become a group of humans. Yeah. Who are now living stones acting out the blessing and the hope of what the temple should have been all along.

So we see from Genesis and Adam and Eve to Israel and the and the tabernacle and the temple to Jesus who is the fulfillment of the temple now to his people who all of us who have the spirit of God inside of us have now become part of that temple.

So why do we need to watch out for hope and how can we do that? Well, I think this is a very practical chapter. It sounds like it's a prophetic chapter about the destruction of the temple in AD70 in Jerusalem, but it's really actually a practical summoning to us.

It's a calling to us to say, you're now part of the human temple that God has created through Jesus. That's why the Bible says in Ephesians 1, we've been blessed with every blessing in Christ because we're now part of his temple movement. It's no longer a building. It's the spirit being poured out on anyone who would receive and to be the kind of humans God desires.

So we've joined in in this human temple. We are the temple of God and the blessing flows from us. And so this is this is God promising. What is what is Israel's hope? What is the hope of those who are following Jesus? The hope of Israel and the hope of those Messiah people who decided to follow Jesus is this.

Will God do what he said he would do? That's the question. Do we have confidence? The Greek word for hope just means confidence in Hebrews 11:1, a very popular verse. It is the confidence that we have in God that God will do. Romans 4:20 through uh 21 where it says, "Abraham and Sarah, patriarchs from way back.

They were old, but God promised them a human child. Even in their old age, when they were past the childbearing years, God said, "I'm going to bless you with a child as a sign that you are my people." And Abraham said, "My body's as good as dead and her her womb is barren.

How are we going to make that happen?" Right? And God said, "Trust me." And the Bible says in Romans 4:20-21 that Abraham believed God and he believed that God could do what he promised he would do. So that's the test for us in this chapter. It's the test for us to walk in hope.

Do we believe that God will do what he said he would do, and that is to make wrong things right? to order his world through his rule the way that he wants to bring peace and prosperity to bring hope and healing to the nations. Do we believe that God can do that?

The answer is yes. And we're partnering with him in that every single day. That's what it means for us to be the temple. So, I want to leave it right here and we can finish the conversation here. What does it look like for us? How do we watch out for hope?

How do we be a conduit of hope? How do we actually be a channel of hope for other people? How do we be a channel of healing for other people? How because the the spirit of God lives in us, it he flows through us to all the nations, to anybody who's around us.

So the question is, how can we be that? And so I throw that to you. I'm going to share something real quick, but how can we be that to somebody else? Um, I think it's I was reading a study the other day uh from from the national um the national uh board, excuse me, bureau, the national bureau of economic studies and research and they did this study that said how how much do human beings have to make?

How much money do they have to make to be happy? And they did this study over the last couple deca decades and they've shown that in order for human beings, the vast majority of human like 99% of human beings to be truly happy is to have their basic needs met.

Mhm. Well, if that's the case, and they they did studies past your basic needs, all the extras, all the luxuries, all the, you know, the the the um jet skis, the extra car, the extra vacation home, extra stuff, clothing, you know, money, yachts. They're like, how much happier does do those things make human beings in this research study?

And they said, almost none. Wow. past the point of a human being having their basic needs met. Now, some of us listening and watching might go, "Yeah, I need more than the basic needs." I I'd like I'd like to try that out. I'd like to test me, Lord.

Test me. You know, I always say is, "Yeah, people say money won't make you happy, but everybody's trying to find out for themselves." I know, right? That's so true. But, but I think the point is just simply this. It's um so many people that I've seen, famous actors, famous people have said, "Man, I I thought that I would be happy when I had all this fame and this money and it's actually made me miserable."

And and so I think it's one of those things that, man, let's make it really practical. How can we bless other people if we are now the temple? Jesus is is condemning the temple here and saying, "You failed to do what you were supposed to do and the rulers of the temple.

You've brought it in all for yourself. You've not given it out. You've not been a source of blessing and abundance for others. You've taken it and hoarded it for yourself. And that's why Proverbs actually warns us, don't hoard everything for yourself because it'll come to ruin. But the more you bless, the more God has to bless you back.

The more you give out and give away, the more God will multiply it cuz he's found a source that he can work through. You are a source that he can work through. I am a source that he can work through. So now he's got to keep dumping in because we keep shoveling it out to other people.

And so this study was fascinating to me because they basically showed through research that humans were honest and said, you know, I'm not that much happier with more than my basic needs. So if that's the case, if if joy and flourishing and real joy in God is what we're looking for, then maybe blessing others with the extra could be an answer.

Yeah. It might be the answer for what did Jesus say? It's better to give than receive. Right? So if we're now the living temple where God wants to bless humanity through us right now, boots on the ground today, today, what can we do today? What can I do today to be a blessing?

Then in the study they said past the basic needs of the human being met the basic physical needs air, water, food, shelter, all of that. The second and third things were social connection, community and relationship. And then the last one was a purpose. The last one was a purpose.

So for you and I, if we're the living temple, and I want to hear your thoughts on this. If we're the living temple and I have a little extra, I I can bless somebody's life. Or even if it's a sacrifice, even if I don't have a lot of extra and I can bless somebody with what I have, that's a financial blessing.

But beyond that, what if we blessed somebody with a friendship? Mhm. Time, attention. Yeah. A listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, some somebody's going through something and we're there. We're just there. We're we're present. Yeah. Like God is present with us. we're present with them. That costs zero dollars for us to be there to listen to be a part of somebody's solution of hope to give them confidence.

What about the third thing? The the purpose. So the first is basic needs being met. The second one is a social connection relationship and the third one is purpose. Well, that doesn't cost anything either. For me to call out the purpose in you as a human being. for me to remind you and encourage you and give you hope and to by my words to fill your cup.

So, how can we be a a source of hope? How can we watch out for hope? Jesus said this in this chapter. He said, "There's going to be a time in the future here soon where this building's going to come down, and I need you to pay attention.

I need you to stay keeping watch. I need you to be aware of the signs of it because it's not that it's not that the blessing of God is going to go away. It's that this building is no longer going to be the source. You're going to be the source.

And I need you to keep watch. I need you to join in. I need you to partner with me in this journey is basically what Jesus is saying. Stay with me cuz we're going to fulfill the purpose of this building that will come down. We'll fulfill the purpose as humans.

We don't need a physical building for this. We can go bless the nations. This is Acts 2:42-47. We can give to each one as each one has need. We can pray. We can be a healing presence. We can listen. We can feed. We can house. We can clothe.

Like we can do all of that. And I think this is the point to Jesus saying this in this chapter is prophesying that the building would come down is not the end. It's actually the beginning of something that God wants to renew, restore, and bring hope to the world.

And I think that is the most important thing about this chapter. Um, to be a prison I like the way Pastor Joel says it. To be a prisoner of hope. Yeah. Yeah. To be a prisoner of hope. To be a place where you can bless your neighbor when they don't have food.

To be a place we just had somebody recently in our kids life ministry. Unfortunately, her house burned. And we came together as a team and we we pulled money. We pulled resources. You know what? You know what the one thing she wanted was? She wanted all of her Lakewood t-shirts.

Wow. All of her Lakewood. She's been here for 25, 30 years. Long time. And all the years of working in kids life, she had collected all of these special Lakewood merchandise. And she said, other than money, which is great, a blessing to me and my family, she's like, I want my collection of merchandise back.

Hm. These are memories to me with the kids. These are memories of all the people I've worked with. These are memories. And when her apartment burned, how could we bring hope to her, we we got together and collected a bunch of merch, those of us that had t-shirts from all the all the events that we've ever done in kids life, and we donated like four.

Wow. And I think that's a simple way to to to watch to stand on the post as Jesus said. Yeah. And to be a source of hope to be a place where the healing abundance of the temple can come out of us. And instead of having to do it in a building, we can just be the temple.

We can be the people of God. We can be the chosen Messiah people and bless the people around us. So, I guess my question would simply be this. How can we watch out for hope? How can those listening tonight watch out for hope? Because Jesus said it. I like it.

I like the way it says it in this passage in the message. It says, "Some of us need to organize a watch party." Yeah. We need to We need to organize a watch party. And we need to bring people together and say, "How can we be a blessing to our community, our street, our neighborhood, our church, our schools, our civil leaders?

How can we be a blessing to those around us? How can we be the temple people out in the world? See, here's the thing about the church. We come together and worship God on Sundays. Awesome. Or on Saturdays, depending on how you worship, we come together at different times to worship.

But that's not the only place we're worshiping. Every single day is worship to God. Every single day is an opportunity to honor him with our lives and to bless those around us. Yeah. So, I guess my question would be, how are we being the healing presence of God for those around us?

How are we being a source of hope? How are we using our words and our actions, our money? How are we use being a listening ear to other people? How are we watching for hope and joining in to be the source of hope? That's essentially what Mark 13 is about.

Amen. Wow. Yeah. That's fantastic. I love the idea of how we are the temple, the indwelling, the place where God dwells to be people of hope, meeting people's needs, encouraging people. Yep. Because it's ultimately God's God's desire is that his will in heaven is done here on earth.

And in the present, his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in h heaven happens through us, his temple people. We are the the the the the means by which God's abundant provision of heaven comes through. And I think that's um an honor and a challenge.

And it's something that we should ask ourselves really every day is what is something that I could do to to meet people's needs? And I think that one of the things that I found is maybe sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be. And the example that I always give is this.

If you know somebody who's struggling, maybe they're discouraged, maybe they got a bad doctor's report and now they're afraid, maybe they lost their job or they could lose their job, whatever it is, if they're scared and anxious, why not give them a call or at least shoot them a text message and says, "Hey, I know what's going on.

I heard about it. I want you to know I'm praying for you." Let them know that they are not alone and that you are praying for them. And then sincerely pray for them. That's right. I think that it can be so simple and it's it's sometimes it's the simplest things that make the biggest difference.

I think of like, you know, it wasn't that long ago where, you know, um I got some news and I was like, "Okay, well, what are we going to do about it?" And I had somebody eventually reach out to me and they just shot me a text and said, "Hey, I heard about what's going on.

I want you to know I'm praying for you." That my response was, "Thank you so much for praying and for reaching out." Yes. That that reaching out is provided significant hope for me. And so just to be as God's temple people, the place where God's love and provision goes out into the world, I say keep it simple.

Yes. Jesus said the two greatest commands. Love God and love people. Yeah. Love your neighbor is the exact language. Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, the the Jewish people, the Israel Israelites at that time that Jesus was talking to in that place in the Gospels, he's they're actually were asking him, "Well, well, who's my neighbor?"

Right? that was they were stuck on this wool. Who define who that's supposed to be? Who are we supposed to bless? And Jesus basically comes back with a question. He goes to to whom are you being neighborly? He basically said, "Bro, look around." Yeah. Pick a human within arms reach that you can bless.

Like I think Yeah. I think it's sometimes we we get so concerned with, well, how can I do it and where can I do it and who can I It's like Yeah. I mean, open your phone and go, "Okay, A. Let's start with A and text somebody in your A category and then text somebody in the B category and like Yeah, you're that's that's so good.

That is awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing that. Mark chapter 13. Fantastic uh discussion that we had and I'm looking forward to next week, Mark 16." Mark 14. That's right. Mark 14. And then we're only a few away from 16 and we wrap it up. But uh thanks again, Pastor Jeremy, and we'll be back next time.

Appreciate it.