The pain we each experience in this life testifies to the fact that the world is being reborn. That’s the message Jesus has for us this Sunday in our Gospel lesson, Luke 21. His message is simple: during the turbulence of life, don't turn around, move ahead. You can't go around or over or under the pain; you must go through it. There is life on the other side of death.

Indeed, the whole of Scripture is eschatologically oriented like this. What you’re looking for is in the future, so move ahead. Don’t go back to Eden. Don’t go back to Egypt. Don’t look back at Sodom. Put your hand to the plow, the Celestial City is just ahead.

But that’s not the whole story, of course. Before Adam and Eve taste of life fully again, they have to die. To get to the Promised Land, Israel has to follow God’s appointed leader down to a watery grave. To experience resurrection, we have to do the same; we have to take up our cross.

We walk on ground shaken by earthquakes, but the tremors are productive; they’re bringing about a world-made-new, one the meek will inherit. So, re-gather your balance and keep walking forward.

I know something of the pain and turmoil many in our congregation are experiencing. Moving through the pain seems impossible. If that’s you, I particularly hope you will be able to join us on Sunday. You may recall the spies whom Joshua sent into Canaan before God’s people took possession of it. They brought back fruit from the land so all the people could see it, and eat it, and have their spirits buoyed by it. What they had in part, they’d one day have in whole.

The Holy Spirit will do nothing less for us on Sunday. In the Eucharist, He’s bringing the fruit of New Creation—in glimpses, in tastes—to strengthen us, to remind us of where we’re headed, to sustain us as we sojourn. Have hope, Christian; it is nighttime, but the day will soon break.