“Here We Go Again”

Mark 1:9-15

Providence United Presbyterian Church

March 1, 2009 (Lent 1B)

Rev. Dr. Mary Jane Hitt

&= nbsp; So here we go again. It’s Lent. Seems like just yesterd= ay it was Advent, and we were on a journey to Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph, ant= icipating and then celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus. But now we are walking to Jerusale= m with the grown up Jesus, and we know that the road in front of him leads to a ve= ry dark and deadly place. ItR= 17;s a place we would rather not go.

&= nbsp; What comes to your mind when you think of Lent?= What is your experience of this time of the church year? Perhaps, if you are really honest,= it doesn’t make much difference to you whether it is Lent or not. Or maybe the arrival of Lent is a = sign to you that Spring is almost here (finally!). But the fact is that lots of folks= find Lent a bit depressing – all this talk of repentance and fasting and self-deprivation! Not exactly= our cup of tea, is it?

&= nbsp; But every year, on this first Sunday in Lent, the scriptures remind us that immediately after he was baptized, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 da= ys, where he fasted and where he encountered the wild things of life and where = he was tested. And while it may = seem counterintuitive that this dark and difficult time in his life came right a= fter the amazing moment of his baptism, the two cannot be separated. It was the same God who spoke from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” who then drove h= im out into the wilderness.

&= nbsp; That word is important: The Spirit= of God drove Jesus into the wilderness. It didn’t blow him like a ge= ntle breeze. It didn’t take = him by the hand and gently lead him. It’s as if the dove that descended on Jesus at his baptism turned into a bird of prey with strong wings and powerful claws.= It got behind Jesus, still dripping with water from the Jordan River, and shoved him along until he found himself in the wilderness. Because that dry and lonely and dangerous place was precisely where Jesus needed to go to dry off. It was precisely where he needed t= o be to discern just what that voice from heaven meant. “You are my Son, the Beloved,” the voice had said. But what did that mean? How would Jesus live into that truth? He needed some wilderness time to figure it all out – to “process” it, as we might say.= He needed to engage in deep listening to the voice of God, so that he might live into the identity that had been revealed at his baptism.

&= nbsp; And that is true for us, as well. In our own baptism, we are given an identity as sons and daughters of God. The Apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Galatian church: In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized in= to Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. But, as Martin Luther once said, w= hile baptism takes only a few minutes to do, it takes a lifetime to finish. The Spirit of God drives us, like = Jesus, into the wilderness where, in our own dark and dangerous and lonely times, = we struggle with our own identity as sons and daughters of God. In his commentary on the Gospel of= Mark, Lamar Williamson puts it this way: <= /span>Commissioning means conflict; sonship = means struggle.

&= nbsp; But that conflict – the struggle – leads us to the fullness of life= for which we were created. And that’s the point of Lent. For these forty days, we go with Jesus into the wilderness, where we heed his c= all to repent and believe in the good news.&nb= sp; Repent and believe. They go together. Repentance isn’t just about turning away from things we should not do, but also about turning toward the God who made us and toward the identity we received at our baptism. Repent and believe.

A story is told of a see= ker after truth who went to a saint for guidance.
"Tell me, wise one, how did you become holy?" he asked.

"T= wo words," said the holy man.
"And what are they, please?"

"R= ight choices," was the response.
The seeker was fascinated. "How does one learn to make the right choic= es?" he asked.

"O= ne word," said the saint.
"One word! May I have it= , please?" the seeker asked.

"G= rowth."
The seeker was thrilled. "Then tell me,” he said. “How does one grow?"

"T= wo words."
"And what are they?" he asked.

"W= rong choices."

[Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes at Crossmarks Christian Resources]

= ; Our time in the wilderness of Lent can lead us to holiness as we allow ourselve= s to repent of our wrong choices, not to wallow in guilt, but rather to receive God’s forgiving grace and then to grow into the sons and daughters of= God that we are. But the Spirit o= f God does not drive us to this place. It is ours to embrace or not to embrace. It is up to us. <= /span>

I conclude with an Ann Weems poem = that speaks of both the challenge and the promise of this season of Lent. [“The Walk,” from Kneeling in Jerusalem]<= /span>

Those = of us who walk along this road

do so reluctantly.

Lent i= s not our favorite time of year.

&= nbsp;

WeR= 17;d rather be more active –

planning and scurrying aroun= d.

All th= is is too contemplative to suit us.

Beside= s we don’t know what to do

with piousness and prayer.

&= nbsp;

Perhaps we’re afraid to have time to think,

for thoughts come unbidden.<= o:p>

Perhaps we’re afraid to face our future,

knowing our past.=

Give u= s the courage, O God,

to hear your word=

and to read our living into = it.

Give u= s the trust to know we’re forgiven,

and give us the faith

to take up our lives and wal= k.

&= nbsp;

Amen.

<= /o:p>