A Sermon for The first Sunday in Lent
Mark 1:9-15
February 18, 2018
Every First Sunday in Lent, we encounter the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. This year, we read it from Mark’s Gospel. Now you may be familiar with Luke’s version of this temptation story, or Matthew’s. These are longer narratives which set up Satan offering Jesus three different temptations and Jesus giving wise, scripture-based answers to each question, thus thwarting the tricky tempter.
Mark’s version is much shorter. It begins with Jesus’ baptism. The Holy Spirit—uncontrollably urgent to get to Jesus—tears the heavens apart and descends upon him. This is a classic image from scripture signifying divine disclosure. Then God says to him “You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
But there’s no time for a baptismal reception or even a moment to bask in the beauty of sacred affirmation. In keeping with the Spirit’s pressing agenda, Jesus is immediately driven into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days.
It’s not a leisurely drive. This is no Sunday afternoon in the minivan. The Greek word here is “ekballo.” I don’t normally quote Greek because unless you’re fluent it doesn’t really matter but this is my favorite Greek word. Not only does it sound funny—ekballo—but it carries a tremendous intensity. It literally means “to throw out.” It is the same word used when Jesus casts demons out of people. It implies a reckless sort of flinging. That’s what the Spirit of God does to Jesus right after his baptism. He doesn’t get to relax and enjoy his blessing. He’s kicked out—catapulted right into the depths of the wilderness.
Why would the Spirit do such a thing? The wilderness of the Middle East is the desert—a desolate and dangerous place. But remember that the desert wilderness is the very place God called Moses and led the people of Israel through on their way to the Promised Land. Far from being a bad place, the desert wilderness is a holy place of divine deliverance in the biblical story.
Still, it’s not fun. I don’t even think Jesus would sign up for it. Nevertheless, the Spirit of God has hurled him out here and he must undergo arduous testing. We don’t know the details of this testing but Mark’s does give us two interesting tidbits (they both show that Jesus was not alone): he was with the wild beasts and that the angels waited on him.
This reference to the wild beasts in the wilderness is curious. It says he was “with” them and that suggests they were not eating him, which is always good when you’re among dangerous beasts. Years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had written God’s words: “Behold, I am about to do a new thing...I will make a way in the wilderness...and wild animals will honor me.” (Isaiah 43:19-20) Mark probably wrote the wild beast part as proof that Jesus is the fulfillment of this ancient prophesy.
Then the angels waited on him. You can almost imagine an angel standing there in the desert with a notepad and pencil saying, “Okay Jesus, do you want fries with that?” Joking aside, this shows that even the Son with whom God is pleased—the one whose birth was heralded by angels—needs help in times of trial. And God provides what he needs. The angels carry him through this trying wilderness experience. They keep him strong as he wrestles with temptation.
Clearly, the baptism story and the temptation story go together. There would be no surviving the wilderness if Jesus had not first been filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is because of his baptismal blessing that he is driven—ekballowed into the wilderness—where he not only survives but becomes focused, refined by fire and ready for his public ministry.
And that story is connected as well, for you see as soon as Jesus emerges from the wilderness he declares that the reign of God has come near. The time is now! The dawn of a new age, when God’s mighty power will put all that is wrong in the world right. That’s what Jesus has been called to do and his whole ministry, death and resurrection will revolve around this.
Baptism, testing and calling. These three are knit tightly together in Jesus’ life as they are in our own.
And here we are in the midst of our 40-day journey through the season of Lent with that same life-giving Spirit driving us. Has it thrown you out into the wilderness? Are you overwhelmed by temptations?
I think one of the temptations is to think that God isn’t present or powerful enough. As you know on Ash Wednesday—the start of our Lenten season—there was a school shooting in Florida in which 17 young students lost their lives. So many kids on such a holy day. It reminds us again of what a violent country we have become, how many innocent lives are lost. And though we can all agree this is tragic, we haven’t figured out how to come together to address the issue, to stop all the killing. This leaves us with the sense that we're helpless. We may feel like Jesus—out in the wilderness struggling with evil.
Because of our baptism we know, however, that we are not alone. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We may be in the the wilderness but we are we are not alone. We may even find angels waiting on us. Don’t think of angels as the cute winged figurines you find in the Christian book store. The biblical definition of angels is messengers of God. Do you know any of those? Have they helped you along your way? Perhaps you’ve been an angel to someone else.
Just last Sunday, a member of William’s congregation said, “I see a lot of hurt among the high school-age boys around here. They’re really struggling and they need a safe place where they can just talk. I think we need to start a group for them.” And he got to work forming the group. That was several days before the Florida shooting and yet he could see the need and acted on his urge to help. He used to be one of those hurting boys and now as an adult, he’s gone through more than his fair share of suffering. More than most people, this man knows how important it is for people to have a support group.
That’s just one example of how a desert experience can empower someone to find their calling and move forward in their ministry. Maybe it would actually be easy to change the world if just a few more people allowed the Spirit to drive them to find up local solutions like this.
Another way we may discern our calling is to advocate on behalf of people in need. Pushing for sensible gun law, for example—ones that don’t curtail hunting but save lives. This takes moral courage. It’s so much easier to be silent and not rock the boat. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was instrumental in setting up the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa says: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutality.”
Maybe the church has been too neutral. Too nice. Too afraid to take a stand for fear of offending someone. Our time in the wilderness can help us struggle to figure out what needs to be done, to discern where the brazen Holy Spirit is flinging us and give us the strength to do it. I encourage you to struggle with these questions, especially in this season of Lent, which is a season of repentence. How are we being shaped by our time in the wilderness to turn around and go in a new, more faithful direction? We have been baptized, we are being tested and we must continue to find our calling.
May God bless our journey. Amen.
