The Twenty Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

In this week’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus and his disciples are in the Temple in Jerusalem. The disciples took all of what they could see before them, the grand and ornate Temple complex, as a sign and symbol of the presence of God’s Kingdom – a Kingdom they believed would be grand and powerful – much like the Kingdoms we build.  But Jesus was unimpressed saying, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  Jesus is not anti-building per se.  Rather, he understands and wants us to remember that our facilities, our programs, our ministries, all the institutional stuff of Church, they are a means to an end and never the end itself.  The signs of the Kingdom Jesus is looking for are not grand buildings or flashy programs but lives transformed by love.  Jesus calls you and me to follow him closely and to be living signs that point to God’s  Kingdom of love, righteousness, and peace.