March 4: “See to It That No One Misleads You”
♫ Music:
Day 16 - Thursday, March 4
Title: “SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE MISLEADS YOU”
Scripture: Matthew 24:3-14
“Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Poetry:
A Song on the End of the World
by Czeslaw Milosz; translated by Anthony Milosz
On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.
On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.
And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.
Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world,
There will be no other end of the world.
Warsaw, 1944
SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE MISLEADS YOU
To be misled—to be summoned down an alternate path that diverts from a proper destination—is to suffer the human experience. History is filled with accounts of people being led away from peace to war, from cooperation to oppression, from deliverance to exploitation, from civility to intimidation. Scripture is frank about this reality and refuses to sanitize the history of the people of God as they are misled toward idolatry and corruption that resulted in Israel’s downfall.
And now Jesus speaks of another downfall that is yet to come, one that will ultimately be realized in the destruction of Jerusalem. But the disciples were asking about the signs of Jesus’ coming, a suggestion that his next appearance would be a spectacle of power for which the signs of disaster would be just a warm-up. Instead, Jesus points to pending conflicts, persecutions, and lawlessness, all signs of a world off course, a world already familiar to the disciples. Most importantly, Jesus warns his friends about voices of authority that will emerge, misleading people and immersing them in falsehoods, calling them to orient their lives around things that are not real, a form of idolatry already chronicled in Israel’s history.
The siren song of the false prophet usually appears to be packaged as orthodoxy and respectability, much like the subject in Emmanuel Garibay’s work, Alok, whose pockets hold both a text and dove—suggestions of Scripture and the promise of the Holy Spirit—but are both overshadowed by the tempting lure of the apple and the leer of the clergyman’s gaze. The false prophet instrumentalizes the sacred in order to draw followers into the netherworld of lies.
Jesus says that such people are always on the horizon and will continue to do their work, especially when fueled by disaster. They will offer reasons and answers like descendants of Job’s friends who now seek to absorb suffering people into a false narrative that promises to medicate their pain.
Such misleading can be expected because the times are often ripe for deception. “The end of the age” is, for many, a matter of perspective. Czeslaw Milosz’s poem “A Song on the End of the World” was written in 1944, five years after the German invasion of Poland and a year before liberation would come. For the people of Poland, the end of the age came in September of 1939, a time when leaves drifting in the air and the vibrant colors of autumn would be marking a pleasant change in the season. The terror and destruction of the Nazi war machine ended the world on that typical fall day, and the signs designed to mislead were planted everywhere.
Jesus’ remedy is brief and to the point: Don’t be misled. Scrutinize those claiming to be the ones sent by God. Endure to the end.
There is an utter realism to Jesus’ words. The disasters he described have always been happening somewhere in the world and will continue to do so. Pied pipers exhibiting military, political, and religious power will rise and lead the willing into oblivion. History validates Jesus’ words.
So he warns: Hang in there. And don’t be misled.
May it be so among us.
Prayer:
Lord,
Your promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace over and over until made pure. You, O Lord, will protect us when a generation of false voices seek to mislead us. Please rise up, Lord, and place us in the safety of your arms where we belong.
Amen.
(Adapted from Psalm 12)
Michael McNichols, D.Min.
Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Alok
Emmanuel Garibay
Oil on canvas
2012
The Scripture for today is a warning from our Lord to be discerning in this world. He cautions us that religious leaders may appear respectable and wise, but it is imperative to look at the fruits of a leader’s character and actions to discover their true nature. Pilipino artist Emmanuel Garibay’s work reveals him to be a masterful storyteller of satire as he grapples with themes of faith and the icons of power. In Alok, Garibay paints a man of the cloth with a beguiling smile, who offers the viewer an enticing bright red apple while firmly restraining a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) in the pocket of his snakeskin jacket.
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/satiric-stories-walang-sinasanto
About the Artist:
Emmanuel R. Garibay (b. 1962) was born in the Philippines and is the son of a Methodist preacher. He earned his B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines and his M.A. in Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary. He is known for his expressionist style and his social activism. His depictions of poor, ordinary people, often in political and religious settings, present questions about justice and social complexity. He has received awards from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Arts Association of the Philippines, and Il Bienal del Baloncestoen Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain. Garibay has had solo exhibitions in the Philippines, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, and Indonesia, and has served as President of the Association of Christian Asian Art (ACAA).
https://www.omsc.org/artistgaribay
https://imagejournal.org/article/recognizing-the-stranger/
About the Music:
“Sonata Op. 47 for Piano, Flute, Clarinet, and Oboe (1918): Tranquille” from the album French Connection
About the Composer:
Darius Mihaud (1892–1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six and one of the most prolific composers of the twentieth century. His compositions were influenced by jazz and Brazilian music, which make extensive use of polytonality. The invasion of France by Nazi Germany forced the Milhaud family to leave France in 1940 and emigrate to the United States. He secured a teaching post at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he composed the opera Bolivar (1943). Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck became one of Milhaud’s most famous students at Mills College. In a 2010 interview with JazzWax, Brubeck said he attended Mills College specifically to study with Milhaud, saying, “Milhaud was an enormously gifted classical composer and teacher who loved jazz and incorporated it into his work.” In 1947, Milhaud was among the founders of the Music Academy of the West Summer Conservatory, where popular songwriter Burt Bacharach was among his students.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Milhaud
About the Performers:
Emmanuel Pahud, Éric LeSage, Paul Meyer, and Francois Meyer
Emmanuel Pahud (b. 1970) is a Franco-Swiss flautist. Pahud is most known for his Baroque and classical flute repertoire. Born into a non-musical family, Pahud was captivated by the sounds of the flute. From the age of four to the age of twenty-two, he was tutored and mentored by flautists such as Francois Binet, Carlos Bruneel, and Aurèle Nicolet. Classically trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he leapt into the international orchestral and solo music scene when he joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992. Pahud plays diverse musical genres including: Baroque, jazz, contemporary, classical, orchestral, and chamber music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Pahud
https://www.pahudemmanuel.com/
Éric Le Sage (b. 1964) is a contemporary French classical pianist. After finishing his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, Le Sage went to London to study with renowned pianist Maria Curcio. Le Sage is best known for his interpretations of romantic music and for recording the complete piano music of French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc. His love of discovering unknown works led him to play concerts of rare works by Dvorák, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Britten, and others. He has been a guest of renowned groups such as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Dresden Philharmonic. In 1993, he was co-founder of the Festival International de Musique de Salon-de-Provence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Le_Sage
Clarinetist Paul Meyer made his debut in 1982 by winning the prestigious Eurovision Competition at just seventeen years old. Shortly thereafter he began an international solo career with performances in major venues with world-renowned orchestras and alongside the world’s finest musicians, such as Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Yehudi Menuhin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emmanuel Ax. After founding the Orchestre de Chambre d’Alsace, Meyer has been in great demand as conductor. Appointed Associate Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2006, Meyer conducted over three seasons there and contributed to the establishment of an Orchestral Academy aimed at preparing young musicians for the orchestral discipline. In 2018, he became Principal Conductor of the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra. His reputation as a conductor, anchored in his profound understanding and experience of orchestral work, rapidly led him to conduct major chamber and symphony orchestras. Passionate about chamber music, he has founded the ensemble Les Vents Francais and is co-founder with Éric Le Sage and Emmanuel Pahud of the Festival International de Musique de Salon de Provence. Meyer has been awarded France’s highest cultural honor, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, for his contribution to the Arts in France and throughout the world.
https://www.paulmeyer.fr/biographie.html
Joining the Le Sage/Pahud/Meyer Trio for this recording, oboist Francois Meyer lends stunning musicality and color to the piece. Meyer is currently head of the oboe program at Le Conservatoire de Musique in Menton, France. He has released a solo album with Éric Le Sage of works for oboe and piano by composers Britten, Poulenc, Saint-Saens, Dutilleux, and Hindemith.
About the Poet:
Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) was a Polish poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He ranks among the most respected figures in twentieth-century Polish literature, as well as being one of the most respected contemporary poets in the world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980. Born in Lithuania, where his parents moved temporarily to escape the political upheaval in Poland, Milosz left Poland as an adult due to the oppressive Communist regime that came to power following World War II. He lived in the United States from 1960 until his death in 2004. Milosz’s poems, novels, essays, and other works were written in his native language, Polish, and then translated by the author and others into English. A witness to the Nazi devastation of Poland and the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe, his poetry deals with the central issues of our time, including the impact of history upon a moral person and the search for ways to survive spiritual assault in the world.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/czeslaw-milosz
About the Devotion Author:
Michael McNichols, D.Min.
Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
Mike McNichols is a former pastor and served as Director of Fuller Seminary’s regional campus in Irvine, California, for over thirteen years. McNichols currently teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary as an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies. He and his wife, Emily, live in Orange County, California.