Mark 1:9-15
I
want to take the sermon in a different direction than this, but I found a story
I just have to share.
"The
Road to Holiness."
A seeker
after truth came to a saint for guidance. "Tell me, wise one, how did you
become holy?" "Two words." "And what are they,
please?" "Right choices." The seeker was fascinated. "How does
one learn to choose rightly?" "One word." "One word! May I
have it, please?" the seeker asked. "Growth." The seeker was
thrilled. "How does one grow?" "Two words." "What are
they, pray tell?" "Wrong choices."
We began our Monday morning Sunday’s Coming Bible
study by considering a question. How would you feel if you were driven into the
wilderness as the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness? (Invite responses)
My first response was that my idea of camping is
Holiday Inn. In reality, as long as I had enough to eat and a decent bed, a few
days in a wilderness could provide an abundance of time to take stock of my
life and give God a chance to work in my heart to reshape me. I could probably
handle being alone in the wilderness for about a week really well.
Forty days would be quite a stretch for me, and for
most of us, even assuming all our health care needs would be met. In forty
days, we have time to realize how much we depend on the company of others to
amuse us and distract us; there is time to allow God to work on us and show us
how sinful we are, and how dependent we are on God for forgiveness; and there
is time to recognize the many times in our lives where God was present with us
even though we were not aware of God’s presence.
What I noticed especially this time in reading the
Gospel text is verse 13: “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with
the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” Mark gives us no details of the
types of temptation Jesus faced. He was in the wilderness long enough to be
sure he could follow God’s plan and long enough to develop a sense of how it would
all play out.
I noticed in this text that Jesus had company. He
had all of creation with him in that wilderness. Gerbils, owls, foxes, snakes,
beetles, hyenas, grackles, and lizards all were Jesus’ companions. They would
have shown him where the water was, and where to escape the heat of the sun,
and perhaps kept watch over him as he slept.
I notice in this verse that unlike in Matthew and
Luke, Jesus did not fast for 40 days. He must have eaten whatever he could find
– locusts and honey, seeds, plants and their fruit, and all sorts of things
Andrew Zimmern (from Bizarre Foods TV show) would know about.
I also notice in this verse that the angels waited
on him. There is nothing in this text that says the angels came to him at
the end of the 40 days as Matthew reports. Mark just says, “and the angels
waited on him.” So, in addition to the beasts of the wilderness, Jesus was
accompanied by the angels – God’s messengers.
Mark says the angels waited on Jesus. When we
go to a restaurant, the server waits on us, takes care of us, makes sure we
have enough iced tea, makes suggestions for meal choices, takes away our empty
dishes, offers us dessert. The servers in fancy restaurants even put the napkin
on our laps for us. Servers do everything they can to make us comfortable,
except perhaps for raising our forks and wiping our lips.
We don’t know just what the angels did for Jesus –
the text doesn’t say – but it’s easy to imagine they did everything they could
to make him comfortable, except they couldn’t make his choices for him. I
imagine the angels (remember angels are God’s messengers) giving Jesus plenty
of encouragement, helping him believe that he is able to accomplish what he has
been sent to accomplish, helping him resist the temptations Satan offered him.
I take comfort in knowing that the angels were with Jesus,
because we surely need angels with us, too. It’s reassuring to believe that the
angels watch over us as we have surgery, travel, raise our children, make
decisions about our future, and so forth.
We hear stories of miraculous events, humanly
impossible events, and believe that the angels were somehow involved – waiting on
us. I certainly trust that God’s angels are everywhere, protecting us from at
least some of life’s dangers, and accompanying us as we journey through life
and in the moment of our death.
I believe the angels were with Whitney Houston as
she lay dying in her tub. Unfortunately they were not able to protect her from
her choices and her addictions. But I believe they never left her alone.
I believe the angels were with the journalists
killed last week in the besieged city of Homs, Syria, and remain there with all
the people of Syria and Afghanistan and Yemen and Somalia as they face the
dangers of war and oppression and violence.
I believe the
angels are with all who struggle to pay their bills, face homelessness, and
joblessness.
I believe the angels are with all of us as we face
various health crises for ourselves and our loved ones.
Angels are God’s messengers who sometimes perform
miracles. Mostly, they accompany us and watch over us on God’s behalf. As they
watched over Jesus and waited on him in the wilderness, it’s good to know that
they are also watching over us and waiting on us in our times of testing and
our times of learning to trust in God’s plan.
This week, I
suggest you intentionally create a wilderness experience for yourselves.
Intentionally take some time away from all distractions. Find some silence and
some solitude. Not just five minutes, but an hour, or a morning, or a day, or
more.
In your time in this wilderness, imagine you are
like Jesus, and seeking to learn about God’s plan for your life right now.
What temptation is God telling you to resist? What new challenge is God calling
you to do?
Remember, too, that as you spend this time in the
wilderness, you will not be really alone. The angels will be watching over you
and waiting on you. God’s Holy Spirit will be with you, too, guiding you, and
helping you make choices, and perhaps even helping you make the choice to enter
the wilderness.
Please pray with me. Lord Jesus, you entered the
wilderness to pray and listen, to be encouraged, and to fulfill God’s plan and
purpose for your life. Be present in our lives as we seek to serve you. Send
your angels and your Holy Spirit to be with us in our time of prayer and
discernment. Amen
