Don't be a "Sign Not In Use"

Sermon Title: Nov. 15 -“What Will Be The Sign?” * Mark 13:1-8; 32-37

The sermon this week was on the Mark 13 passage about ‘signs’, ‘predications’ and preparation.
It’s interesting to see some ‘predications’ of the past:

Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, said in 1943:
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

Inventor of the vacuum tube Lee DeForest said -- "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." 1926

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"Who the h*** wants to hear actors talk?" -- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."

"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax." -- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.

"It will be years -- not in my time -- before a woman will become Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- Albert Einstein, 1932.

"There will never be a bigger plane built." -- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
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We humans like to try and ‘predict’ things – maybe it makes us feel like we are in control!
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Jesus’ message in today’s gospel text is “Don’t dwell on the unknowable, the uncontrollable, the unfathomable.”
Participating in the realm of God, is the role of faithful followers, not cataloging and calculating signs or apocalyptic appearances and disasters.
Jesus has called his disciples, whether in the first century or the twenty-first century, to live fully and faithfully in the time God has placed us in – in the here and now. God will take of “that day or hour” and all that other stuff that we too often get distracted by.
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Preparation Committee
I like what Donald Strobe once said about thinking about how getting bogged down in all this talk of signs and predications and apocalyticism how this really misses the mark especially in regards to Jesus’ teaching in this section.
He said:
"God did not put me on the Time & Place Committee; God put me on the Preparation Committee."
“Our job is not to speculate about times and seasons, but to make sure that we are living as God wants us to live - sisters and brothers to one another - here and now.
“Some folks are "so heavenly minded they are no earthly good."
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We are called to be God’s people – in the here and now…
The sign we need to follow is already with us – Jesus calls us to follow him and walk his path with God.
We are … To be a “SIGN” as God’s people who offer light in the darkness, hope in the midst of despair and the good news that God loves all people.
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Maybe what Jesus is trying to say to the disciples (and us)is, “live your life as if God is with you now and will always be with you – FOR GOD IS!”
And because of that ‘SIGN’, we can dare to live in faith and hope and love now; trusting God for whatever the future holds.
--Don’t be a “sign” not in use!