Sermon Preached
at St. Mark’s
Lent 1B – Mark 1:9-15
Lent 1B – Mark 1:9-15
“Show us your ways, O LORD and teach us
your paths. Lead us in your truth and teach us, for you are the God of our salvation.”[1]
Amen.
After Jesus was baptized the Spirit drove him out to
the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Both Matthew and Luke share some
detail about the nature of the temptations Jesus faced but not Mark. Mark’s account of that wilderness experience
is very sparse: “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he
was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”[2] That’s it.
And, as I’ve said before, I really like the gospel of Mark for its lack
of detail because it allows us to enter the story with our own details - in
this case, details drawn from our own wilderness experiences. Because while the specifics of the temptations
Jesus faced in the wilderness are important to the story of salvation and our
understanding of the nature of messiah-ship, I don’t think that they preclude
us from also seeing the point that as we
experience the wilderness, so too has God experienced the wilderness. God has been and is with us in that
wilderness.
Now recently I heard a colleague say that those of us
living in the Great Lakes Region of the United States – and perhaps this year,
we might add those living in New England – that we don’t need a season of Lent
– after all, we have Winter. For many, a
wilderness period in its own right one that can begin in early November and
last until late March! Isn’t that Lent
enough? You all know how much I love
winter, so that comment made very little sense to me; but, I take the
point. In our lives, we experience a LOT
of wilderness – relationships that end, careers that leave us feeling empty,
violence in the world, and battles with mental and physical illnesses. Our wilderness lists could go on and on. We know what the wilderness looks like. So, why would we want to spend 40 days of
Lent focused on the wilderness, entering more deeply into the pain and
suffering of that wilderness? If our
lives – our world – is already reminiscent of that wilderness, do we really need
to be even more intentional about entering the wilderness during the season of
Lent? My answer: No!
Jesus entered the wilderness for 40 days after his
baptism before he began his ministry. But
the gospel reading for this first Sunday of Lent does not end there. It ends with Jesus arriving in Galilee, “proclaiming
the good news of God, and saying ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”[3] Perhaps there is in this final verse of today’s
gospel reading a different direction for our Lenten observance. Perhaps our invitation to observe a Holy Lent
doesn’t need to be about going deeper into the wilderness but could instead
be about becoming more intentional about participating with God in breaking
free from that wilderness, in joining God’s redemptive work, of
proclaiming God’s good news in our church, in our neighborhoods, in our homes,
our schools, and our workplaces. Perhaps
this Lent could be a time when we, like Jesus, emerge from the
wilderness, intentionally focusing on our ministries. Could Lent be a time when
we arrive in our own Galilee and proclaim the good news of God? What would that look like? What might it look like to intentionally
break-free from the wilderness with God?
Within the community of St. Mark’s I think there are several fabulous
options (and you will no doubt think of others):
Perhaps you are a parent who has lost your compass
amidst the joys, challenges and responsibilities that parenting brings. When is the last time you focused on
self-care as a way to keep yourself – and, as a result – your family headed in
a positive direction? Beginning next
Sunday morning and for four weeks, Beth Johnson and I will be facilitating a
group for parents because taking care of ourselves is a way to
participate in God’s redemptive work, to break free of the wilderness of exhaustion,
imbalance, and built-up resentments.
Or perhaps you could use some time constructing or
reconstructing your relationships with others – friends, co-workers, a spouse
or partner, a neighbor. Beginning
Tuesday, March 3 and continuing for four
weeks, Lisa Montgomery and Andrea Nowack will be facilitating a group foranyone who wants to learn or re-learn what it means to support, love, and
communicate with others in healthy ways because being in relationship is another
way to participate in God’s redemptive work and to break free of the wilderness
of social isolation.
Or is God calling you to participate in proclaiming the
good news by joining a Tuesday evening team in making sack lunches for our
homeless neighbors or joining a Wednesday mid-day team in serving those lunches?
There is a sign-up sheet in the parlor to get involved or you can speak with
Jacqui Zeng or myself for more information.
God’s redemptive work involves feeding the hungry, breaking free from
the wilderness that divides the haves from the have nots.
Might
God be calling you to add your voice to the choir for the season of Lent – or, perhaps
even longer? Michael Hawn, Director of
the Master of Sacred Music program at Perkins School of Theology, rightly reminds
us that “music is more than a vehicle for personal expression. . .[m]usic
making becomes a way of shaping prayer.”[4] Singing
in the choir is a way to support and enliven St. Mark’s worship as we remember
that whenever we gather for worship we are present with worshippers across “the
church of all places and all times.” Music in worship today, for example,
connects us peoples from the 4th century to the present day and
spans the globe from China to Italy ,England, Scotland; from Libya to the
United States. Singing as part of the choir then is a way to break-free of the
wilderness that puts up boundaries between peoples and nations and to participate
in God’s redemptive work through praying with and for the church and the world.
Volunteering in the Sunday School, participating with
the outreach and social justice ministry team, spending time each day praying
intentionally for members of the St. Mark’s community, praying for the wardens
and vestry leaders of St. Mark’s, praying for your clergy leaders . . . all of
these are ways to break free from the wilderness and proclaim the good news of
God. Beyond the walls of the church,
what might it look like to intentionally break free from the wilderness, to
intentionally focus on our neighborhoods, our homes, our schools, our
workplaces as areas in the world in need of the good news of God? What might God be calling you to do? What
might God be calling us to do? When we pray the words of this morning’s psalm:
“Show us your ways, O LORD and teach us
your paths. Lead us in your truth and teach us, for you are the God of our salvation.”
When we pray these words, can we leave room for God’s response, for God’s
invitation to us to break free and participate in God’s redeeming work? When we
make room for God’s response, what might we hear and what might we be moved to
do?
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