Don't Panic. a sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 21.5-19

5 Some people were talking about the temple, how it was decorated with beautiful stones and ornaments dedicated to God. Jesus said, 6 “As for the things you are admiring, the time is coming when not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? What sign will show that these things are about to happen?”

8 Jesus said, “Watch out that you aren’t deceived. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ and ‘It’s time!’ Don’t follow them. 9  When you hear of wars and rebellions, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen first, but the end won’t happen immediately.”

10 Then Jesus said to them, “Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other. 11 There will be great earthquakes and wide-scale food shortages and epidemics. There will also be terrifying sights and great signs in the sky. 12 But before all this occurs, they will take you into custody and harass you because of your faith. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will provide you with an opportunity to testify. 14 Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance. 15 I’ll give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to counter or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed by your parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends. They will execute some of you. 17 Everyone will hate you because of my name. 18 Still, not a hair on your heads will be lost. 19 By holding fast, you will gain your lives.

Let the words of my mouth
    and the meditations of my heart
    be pleasing to you,
    Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

μὴ πτοηθῆτε

Got it?

Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be startled. Don’t be frightened.

μὴ πτοηθῆτε

It’s okay. It’s Greek to me, too.

You know how when the angels say, “Don’t be afraid,” to the shepherds; or when Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room and tells them, “Don’t be afraid”?

It’s like that. Close. But not quite. Probably close enough that it wouldn’t usually make a difference.

For the record, the difference is this:

Luke uses this word, πτοέω. Nobody else does. And he uses it here and in one other place.

The more common word is φοβη. Like a phobia. But that’s not what Luke chooses here.

The passage starts in the aforementioned cloistered gathering. For Luke, Jesus appears first to a pair of people on the road to Emmaus, who go tell their friends in, again, the aforementioned sheltered party of terrified Jesus-followers. I suspect it doesn’t make them feel a lot better.

So, in Luke’s remembering, Jesus tells them: μὴ πτοηθῆτε.

Don’t. Panic.

The old buildings you thought would stand for generations are falling to dust?

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

People are claiming to be Messiah (which is different from people claiming they’ve found a messiah)?

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

Wars and rebellions? Insurrections and protests?

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

Earthquakes? Food shortages? Epidemics?

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

We have got to hear those words. We have got to take them to heart. We have got to change our behavior.

Because, y’all, we spend a lot of time and a lot of energy freaking out about stuff. Stuff that usually has nothing to do with us personally.

That’s a problem I have to remind our kids of all the time. You don’t need to worry about what your brother or sister is doing. That’s their problem. Mind your own business.

But as we age, when we don’t learn as children to mind our own business, the degree to which we stick our noses into other people’s business becomes greater, and the way we react to the smell of their business becomes more dramatic.

Really, folks. Let’s just stop.

It’s not like our business smells sweet, either.

Let’s stop freaking out about things. I mean, all sorts of things.

Have you noticed the kinds of things that get people’s attention? Look at our headlines. Gosh, go into the bookstore, even the Christian bookstore, and see what’s out in front because it’s what sells. Apocalyptic, disaster, end-of-days, judgment. It’s either that or a tell-all story of the rumors of somebody you never really wanted to know about in the first place.

I don’t care what the Kardashians are doing.

I care what I’m doing.

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

Let’s mind our business. Our own business.

Let’s stop panicking about what’s going on around us. If it’s really something that’s going to make a difference in your life, or maybe in the life of someone for whom you’re responsible, not just someone whose business you want to explore with your Pinocchio honker, then maybe you should do something novel: Stop talking about it and do something.

Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ and ‘It’s time!’ 

Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples to go out and talk about the false prophets. He just says:

Don’t follow them.

When you hear of wars and rebellions,

freak out and make sure every Sunday School lesson ties back into how bad the world is getting and how Jesus is going to wipe out America and turn us back into God’s Chosen People…

which we never were.

No, Jesus doesn’t say that. He says,

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

The things we get upset about are not the things that Jesus got upset about. They’re not even the same kinds of things.

Jesus got upset about the Temple authorities twisting the Law into something only the wealthy could follow. Jesus got upset about moneychangers taking advantage of folk who could barely afford to make the journey to Jerusalem, let alone pay the exorbitant costs of purchasing Temple-raised livestock for the sacrifice.

Jesus got upset when powerful people stepped on people who had no power.

And Jesus still gets upset about that today.

There’s room for righteous anger. But it’s best left to God. Unless God is giving you a prophetic voice, it’s best not to voice wrath in God’s name.

And it’s best to leave to God what God has planned.

If an end comes today to all time and space, to humanity as we know it, or even to the community we love, that’s in God’s hands, and God will give us the tools to respond, and God will nurture us into whatever God has planned for us.

μὴ πτοηθῆτε. Don’t panic.

God has this under control.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.