Listen along here.
Mark 1:9-15
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
What do you see in this text? Or better yet, what does this
text help you to see?
I have mixed feelings when reading the book of Mark. Mark is so
beautifully written, and it is often that he says so much by saying so little.
His rhetoric is perfect in that he gives one liners almost prompts for us
to create some kind of image, some kind of picture, allowing us some freedom to
make the connections ourselves. To fill in the blanks and bring the canvas to
life. Mark draws us into the mystery of his Gospel account and then leaves us
there with the palette and brush to create our own images.
When I read texts like this I interpret them with images in my
mind. And as hard as I try on my own, I want Mark to help me color in the
details. Mark says Jesus came up out of the water and saw the heavens
being torn apart...but what does that look like? The spirit descends like
a dove into him. What an image that is! The Spirit drives
Jesus into the wilderness where he’s tempted by Satan, and the angels wait on
him. What does that look like? This text is so theologically rich
and significant, yet Marks seems to withhold so much detail. In this
moment Jesus is baptized, the heavens are torn, the Spirit descends, God speaks
and declares Jesus as God’s son, Jesus is driven to the wilderness and tempted
by Satan. AND ALL of this in 4 verses.
That’s to say nothing of Jesus proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of
God.
Mark’s gospel is often full of mystery. One line set-ups that demand more depth. More detail. More discovery. More understanding. Mark’s
stories leave us wanting more.
When I was in high school my dad served as a seminary intern at a
local congregation in our hometown. That summer it was time for Vacation
Bible School and dad invited me to attend. So I did. There weren’t
too many high school students so I accompanied the middle school stuents that
week. One evening were assigned an arts and crafts type task. The task
was that they were going to give us a text related to the theme that night, a
pack of markers, and a poster board.
And on this poster board it was our job to take the text and
depict it in some creative way.
To fill in the gaps of the story in some creative color-filled
way. To give some artistic expression
and interpretation to the assigned text. So my partner and I were given a slip
of paper with a few verses and we began to review it over and over, painting in
our mind.
Putting pencil to poster we began drawing our interpretation and
image of the text. It just so happens it was this passage. Mark 1:9-15.
We started with a big dove on the top of the page. The dove
had broad off-white wings and face of determination as it burst through a cloud
of fire. With some shading we made it
seem as though the dove was descending, not in a slow, casual way, but rather forcefully.
With a purpose. The face of the dove approached a basin of water
and the intensity of the dove’s descent was forcing ripples in the water.
When then depicted the water’s ripples spilling over the basin as the
dove was targeting a chalice and paten.
They chalice was full of red wine and the paten was struggling to
contain an enormous loaf of bread.
Now I was only in high school, but I thought our depiction looked
awesome. I haven’t seen that poster in almost 15 years but I sometimes
wonder after going to seminary if it’s still as awesome as I remember. I
wonder if it is hanging on the wall of the basement in the church. Eh, it’s probably in the back of some closet.
But this can be the power of the gospel when we take time to dwell
within the spacebar moments of Mark’s stories. We’re invited to imagine
the stories of the gospel in our mind and give life to the subtleties of Mark’s
brief but rich moments. And with the
final brush stroke of today’s text we read on and the beauty of Mark’s gospel
begins to truly shine through the page:
“Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in
the good news.”
Friends, in this moment Jesus offers us a vision and picture that
we no longer have to create for ourselves. It isn’t a picture we have to draw or connection
we’re forced to make. The Kingdom of God is present here and now and the
canvas is laid out before us in everyday walk of life in faith. The Kingdom
of God is not a distant place or land, or even one dreamed up in our
imagination. It’s not a specific historical event or
occurrence to study and examine. Rather, the Kingdom of God is present.
God draws us into
God’s kingdom through Jesus. In this moment, as Jesus emerges from the
wilderness unwavered by temptations, he proclaims the breaking of God’s kingdom
here and now.
Kingdom of God is something remarkable. Something
beautifully created. It doesn’t need markers and poster board to be seen.
Kingdom of God is around us. It is at hand. It is near.
One of my favorite movies is August Rush. The movie centers on an orphaned child named August. His parents, who are both musicians, one a rock star and the other a world-renowned cellist, meet at a party. Through some unfortunate happenstance August is removed from his parents at birth and neither parent is even aware that August is alive. The movie opens with August listening...to the winds, the trees rustling, the cars driving by, the sounds of nature. In his mind he hears a symphony. August is convinced his parents are out there and so he goes in searching for them. Along the way it becomes apparent that he is a musical prodigy and eventually it is his music that leads his parents back to him and one another. The movie closes with same sounds it opened and August speaks, “The music is all around us, all you have to do is listen.”
Now August talks about Listening, but I think the lesson is the
same, albeit a different sense. I once read that those who have ears to
hear should listen and those who have eyes to see should see and I think this
phrase is applicable to today’s text. We
might say that the Kingdom of God is all around us, all we have to do is look
and listen.
Friends, this is the section of the sermon where I was going to
launch into a list of examples
about
how incredible the Kingdom of God looks. How beautiful the colors of God’s kingdom
canvas are painted. I was going to lift
up all the ways in which I see God’s kingdom present here and now, affirming
our various ministries, and empower you to do the same.
On Wednesday we gathered for Ash Wednesday a day when we ponder
our mortality and our own brokenness. We
confess to God, a bit more intentionally than usual, that we are in need of
God’s grace and forgiveness. We placed ash on our forehead as a reminder
that all we have is God’s and we are solely dependent upon God. It is God
that gives us a glimpse of the canvas of the Kingdom in the first place.
That service was a noon.
At 3:10: CNN Breaking news “Authorities say they are responding to
a shooting at a high school in Southeastern, FL.” The next hour, “breaking news, Multiple
fatalities…” The next “at least 16
dead…” The next hour we had another Ash Wed service at 7pm.
That afternoon the reminder we are created from dust and to dust
we shall return was a reality for 17 people. For Alyssa, Scott, Martin,
Nichols, Aaron, Jaime, Chris, Luke, Cara, Gina, Joaquin, Alaina, Meadow,
Helena, Alex, Carmen, Peter, and their family and friends. They were forced to
confront the ash Wednesday confession of our own and mortality in a way that I can’t imagine.
And it’s terrifying to say, but this is a common experience for
far too many of our brothers and sisters. And if we look beyond school
shootings and senseless violence we can think about the damage of war. For those who are called upon to fight and
decide someone else’s mortality. For loved ones in a hospital bed
processing a new, unexpected diagnosis. For refugees displaced. For
homeless siblings who don’t have a place to rest their head or know where their
next meal might come from.
Maybe it was because it was in our Florida backyard, but Wednesday
was an alarming reminder that not all people hear the arrival of God’s Kingdom
as good news. And for many of us, our ability to see and embrace the
beautiful kingdom comes from a position of comfort and privilege and blessing.
But Wed. warranted a late edit to this sermon. To only speak of the beauty diminishes the
stories of our siblings whose canvas is distorted as they are made victims to presence and oppression of sin in their lives.
For them the presence of the Kingdom doesn't sound like good news. It doesn’t look like a Bob Ross painting with
happy trees and content rocks. It’s not vibrant colors.
The honest
truth is that I don’t necessarily have all of the answers for us this
morning. But here is what I can offer:
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The Kingdom of God is something remarkable. It is something
beautifully created. I believe it is all around us. It is at hand.
It is near. And I can proclaim confidently that it is good news. For we are made colors, filled with the beauty of the Holy Spirit,
bursting onto the canvas of creation. And
I suppose through the waters of baptism then, we might consider the Kingdom of
God to be a watercolor.
But I think the good news this day is that while the Kingdom of
God has come near in Jesus we also confess that not yet fulfillment of the
Kingdom. There is work left to be done. And for those who
mourn I pray they hear that as hope. For those who see with comfort and
privilege, may we walk with those who mourn.
Until the one day when the fullness of the kingdom is realized and
hope is fulfilled.
When beauty and intrigue are more than hoped for or sought after,
but seen and embraced. When we we might all consider ourselves unique
colors on the bristles of God’s paint brush.
So, what do you see? Or
better yet, what does the gospel help you to see?
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