Please read this passage before reading the homily.
In some places in Florida, people buy four-million-dollar homes and tear them down to build ten-million-dollar ones. Every building project involves the destruction of what was to make way for what will be.
Autumn turns leaves colorful; frost drops the leaves, and winter comes. When the trees put forth bids, however, we know that summer is near.
We plow and plant and when the shoots break through the soil, we expect a harvest to follow eventually. The hard labor that precedes the harvest is like the practicing that precedes sport contests. Preparation is hard, but the celebration is magnificent.
Practice, hard work, destruction prepare for the ending. If we look at the labor beforehand, we may quit before the harvest, game, or victory comes. The death of Jesus is a prelude to his resurrection and glorification.
In the process of planting the word of God, heaven and earth may pass away, but the word of Jesus will not pass away. The passing away of the heavens and earth is merely a prelude to the full coming of the kingdom of God. Heaven and earth are like the four-million-dollar homes that will be replaced by the ten-million-dollar ones.