On the Ephemeral and the Everlasting
November 16, 2025
Rev. Traceymay Kalvaitis
Isaiah 65: 24-25
Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
Luke 21:5-8
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.”
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Today’s sermon is titled On the Ephemeral and the Everlasting
In the spring of my ninth grade year, I traveled with my classmates to our nation’s capital for a five day trip. I should have been looking forward to seeing all the sights but I remember at the time being most excited about staying in a hotel with all of my friends. You can imagine the hotel scene with 28 15-year-olds and only two adult chaperones (what were they thinking only sending two adults?). We were a loud and boisterous bunch but I remember being totally silenced when we went to the National Mall. As we approached the base of the Washington Monument, still the tallest stone structure in the world standing at 555 feet 5 inches, we were awestruck. And wasn’t that the point of constructing such a thing?
“On July 4, 1848, the cornerstone of the monument was laid: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.” The monument would not be completed until 1884 (56 years later). 36,000 blocks of stone were used in the construction of the world’s tallest obelisk. Standing at the base of it, looking up at its dizzying height, one is understandably moved to consider the commitment and determination required of two generations of skilled workers that took part in the project. And yet, the last piece to be put into place, the very apex of the structure, is a 9-inch aluminum pyramid engraved on the east-facing side with the words laus Deo, praise be to God.
When we catch up with Jesus and his disciples in the 21st chapter of Luke, they, too, are standing in awe of the temple in Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians nearly 600 years before the birth of Jesus. One hundred years later, the second temple was constructed and then, 20 years before Jesus’s birth, King Herod began extensive renovations that stretched over 40 years. The renovations would have been finished when Jesus was around 24 years old. These renovations were on a scale nearly impossible for me to imagine. The single pieces of stone were 67 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet high. The front of the temple, facing east, was covered in gilded gold, as was part of each adjoining side, so that the temple, quite literally, shone like the sun.
The temple became known as Herod’s Temple and I can just imagine what Jesus would have to say about that name. And what would Jesus have said about Herod forcing slave laborers to work on the construction? As impressive as the temple must have been, considered then as one of the wonders of the world, Jesus sees it for what it was…an extension of Empirical power, designed to awe, and to reinforce the allegiance between the Jews and the Romans. 40 years later, when the Jews had had enough of the overtaxing, the forced labor and the foreign occupation, they revolted and, just as Jesus predicted, the temple was destroyed in the year 70. The Roman forces surrounded the city, blocking all supplies for seven months. The death toll for Jewish citizens ranged upwards from 500,000.**
There would have been no way for the disciples to have an idea of the scope of the catastrophe that would occur in forty years as they stood there admiring the grandeur of the temple. Jesus had a warning for them and the warning rings true for us, today, as well. The same warning is engraved on the eastern face of the pyramid that forms the capstone of the Washington Monument: laus Deo. Praise God. Appreciate the great works of humankind but acknowledge the Source of our inspiration, our imagination, our creativity, our determination, our ingenuity. laus Deo… Praise God. Do not be misled by displays of wealth, power and grandeur. Remember where the true power lies, within us and among us, as God. In John 14:20 Jesus is quoted as saying, “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Jesus was in the long line of Jewish prophets who challenged the people to imagine a different world, a better world, even one where, as the beloved prophet Isaiah described in our reading for today, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox…they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.” What a vision of peace and equality Isaiah presents! The wolf and the lamb shall feed together…no haves and no have nots…no one group dominating and oppressing the other. The prophet Isaiah is calling us to imagine a world where the lion and the lamb share their sustenance, recognize their interdependence, and cause no harm, no destruction.
Friends, I know this seems out of our reach and perhaps difficult to imagine, but we must imagine it before we can bring it about. Jesus is warning his disciples, then and now, to not be distracted by the extravagant displays of wealth and power, especially when it is concentrated in the hands of so few. Jesus is warning of the false prophets that will come claiming to be of God. “Do not go after them,” Jesus says. Jesus’s warnings do not stop there. In the next lines, not included in our reading for today, the warnings become even more severe.
Listen to Luke 21, verses 12-20: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls. When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.”
Within days of saying these words, Jesus was arrested and, under order of the Roman Empire, he was nailed to the cross. That would not be the end. Within years, the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and laid waste to the temple and hundreds of thousands of lives. That would not be the end. Over the next 300 years, tens of thousands of followers of Christ would be put to death for their beliefs. That would not be the end. “There is a light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
Jesus was trying to prepare his followers for the intensity of the times to come and let’s not forget that he began by turning their attention away from the tantalizing display of power and influence that can so easily distract us, still, from our commitment to the common good for all of humankind that Jesus exemplified in his life and in his teachings. When asked what was the greatest command, “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Many centuries later, an English writer and philosopher, G.K. Chesterton, offered the following, very much in line with Jesus’s message: “Wherever the people do not believe in something beyond the world, they will worship the world. But above all, they will worship the strongest thing in the world.”
In closing, I am thinking about that nine inch pyramid that, for the last 141 years, has sat atop the Washington Monument with the reminder on its east face to “Praise God…laus Deo.” Jesus would have endorsed that message, I am sure. And he would be reminding us today to not be distracted by the trappings of power, wealth and the influence they falsely confer. The works of human hands are ephemeral; the Source of love we call God is everlasting. May we remember. So be it. Amen.
*https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-6/washington-monument-completed
**https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Jerusalem-70
Pastoral Prayer
In this sacred space, another world begins to unveil itself to us. Distances become irrelevant and the spaces between us are of little consequence. In these moments we are limitless…our capacity to love is infinite, for in these moments we are part of All That Is and our love and concern can reach across impossible distances. God grant us vision that sees beyond our shortcomings, vision that sees behind the violence of humankind, vision that shapes a path from where we are to where you want us to be. This we ask in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
I leave you with these words from the book of Romans, chapter 15:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”