Mark
1: 9-15
In the 1970s, little posters were
everywhere. One of my favorite’s was a drawing of a yellow bird, with the
saying, “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” I no longer have the poster, but I still
remember its message.
As we begin the season of Lent, we
pastors often work with a theme, to help us and our parishioners make the
Lenten journey to the cross together.
This year, I thought I’d try this: God isn’t finished with us yet.
Today’s Gospel text is short, and
the portion of it that deals with Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness is
amazingly brief. It’s two verses long, and contains very little description,
especially when compared with Matthew and Luke, which describe three specific
temptations.
Mark simply says, after Jesus was
baptized, the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was there for forty days
and Satan tempted him. The wild beasts were there, and the angels waited on
him.
Throughout Mark there are stories
of Jesus confronting someone, beginning with this episode in the wilderness.
Here Jesus does spiritual battle with the evil forces represented by Satan.
These are forces that challenge us to deny God’s right to be first in our
lives. These are the forces that tell us that God doesn’t care about us and our
welfare. These are forces that tell us that we are not good enough for God to
love.
I have long believed that what
happened in the wilderness was Jesus’ struggle to turn his entire focus to
God’s plan and purposes. Here he took the time to accept that he would often be
tempted to be the new King David, the new Moses. He took the time to beat down
those human impulses and prepare himself to be a new kind of messiah.
Here in the wilderness he must
have spent a lot of time in prayer. What would he teach? Who would he choose as
disciples? How would he deal with those who ridiculed him and tried to shut him
up? He knew that the closer he got to the cross, he would need to depend more
and more on God for the courage to do what he came to do.
When we think about it, it’s
pretty amazing 40 days were enough. But then, Jesus often went to a private
place to pray, when he could escape the disciples and the crowds.
While he was in the wilderness,
Mark tells us that the wild beasts were there with Jesus. Apparently, none of
them harmed him. Was this like a return to the Garden of Eden, where God and
humans walked among the animals and no one was afraid?
Also with Jesus in the wilderness
were the angels. Angels are God’s messengers, and they must have helped Jesus
by reminding him that he was God’s beloved Son.
Although Jesus may have been
lonely for human companionship, he was never really alone. I think he learned
from this experience that God was not finished with him, and would send him whatever
he needed to get through his assignment on earth.
When we are ill, or in despair, or
frustrated, or feeling guilty, it is comforting to know this same
encouragement. God is never through with us, just as my old poster once
declared. “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” God isn’t finished with any of us yet.
… On Blue Bloods TV show recently Vinnie
was a man who was a serious criminal, hiding in the Midwest in the witness
protection program. The detectives needed him to come out of hiding to testify
against an even worse bad guy. Vinnie refused, until his granddaughter appealed
to his sense of decency. In the end, he agreed to testify. Vinnie thought he
was finished, but there was one more thing he needed to do. In the pursuit of
justice, God was not finished with him either. (Yes, it’s just a TV story, but
it is true in the sense that God can even use bad people to bring about good.)
… I pray weekly and daily for
peace in Jerusalem and wherever there is no peace. This week, a bit of good
news began to make its way around the internet and around the world. In Norway
a Muslim teenager grew tired of all the comments declaring that Muslims hate
Jews. She sent out a message inviting her Muslim friends to join her at the
synagogue in Oslo on Saturday. While the Jews worship inside, the Muslim youth
will stand guard outside. They say, if anyone wants to get inside to hurt the
Jews, they will first have to get through over 600 Muslims.
The group says
they intend to “extinguish the prejudices people have against Jews and against
Muslim. We think that after the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen, it is the
perfect time for us Muslims to distance ourselves from the harassment of Jews
that is happening.” … And they say … “We Muslims wish to show that we take deep exception to all forms of hatred
of Jews and that we are there to support them. This is why we shall be forming
a human ring around the synagogue.”
As people around the world pray
for peace, some young people are actually becoming peacemakers. They are living
out their faith, whether they are Jews, Muslims or Christians. At times we
despair of ever finding peace, but God has a different answer. “I am not
finished with you yet.”
… Oliver Sacks is a well-known
physician, author, and professor of neurology. He wrote the book Awakenings, which was made into a movie
starring Robin Williams. He has recently learned that he has terminal cancer.
Most of us would be devastated to learn this news. Of course, this news is not
great, but Sacks’ response is so positive, it amazes me.
He has written an essay that was
published in the New York Times on
Friday announcing his diagnosis and his approach to his impending death. He
intends to live in the deepest and richest way possible in the time left to
him. While he knows he has little time left, whether it is months or years, he
knows that God is not finished with him.
… When have you felt like God was
done with you, or with the world? When have you felt like you were at the end
of your rope? When have you felt so guilty you were afraid God wanted nothing
to do with you? When have you put God close to the bottom of your priority
list? When have you forgotten that you are God’s beloved child?
Mark tells us that the angels
waited on Jesus while he was in the wilderness. In the same way, Jesus waits on
us while we are in distress. Jesus is never finished with us.
Please pray with me. Merciful God,
we need you, even when we don’t realize we need you. Thank you for being there
with us, for caring for us, for never being finished with us. Amen
