What Do You See? - Lent 1B Sermon

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?

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached Feb. 18, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran, Jacksonville, FL 

The Beginning - Sermon on Mark 1:1-8 Advent 2B

Listen to sermon here.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 

Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This is Mark’s nativity story.  There is no decree for census.  No overcrowded motels.  No journeys on a donkey.  No stable. No animals, other than the locusts John is eating.  No shepherds, wise men, or angels.  Nothing that resembles our childhood Christmas pageant.

It’s a far dispatch from the scene we’re familiar with this time of year.  On Wednesday, when I was hanging out with my new friends in preschool chapel we talked about manger scenes.  I showed them one of my favorite scenes, which is made of knitted snowmen dressed to match the parts of a classic nativity.  For Mark, there is none of that, at least not in a sentimental “once upon a time” scene.  

No for Mark, it’s much more “to the point” …”straightforward.”  For some it might feel rushed.  For Mark’s nativity moment he begins with a bold statement.  A title for his writing.  A declaration really.  Verse 1, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.” Full stop.  The beginning, the starting point, the foundation, the origin.  Everything that follows then must necessarily fit within this declaration.  The events and experiences, the lessons and miracles, even the grief, deceit, death, and denial that are about to take place are, in fact, within the framework of good news.  Specifically the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

I dwell on this because we’re going to be in Mark all year long, and this is a significant theme for his writing.   And to that point it becomes a significant theme for us today.  

Mark’s gospel is a short 16 chapter proclamation of prophecy fulfilled.  He roots his Jesus narrative in the prophets of old, and points us to Jesus, the fulfillment of those prophecies.  In Jesus we find our hope, our salvation, our future.  

After 16 short chapters, Mark’s gospel will end rather abruptly with Mary and others visiting the tomb early in the morning, only to be told by a young man in white that Jesus is not there.  He is risen.  Go and tell others that Jesus will be ahead of you to meet you.  And with that they Go and the story ends.  

That is the “to be continued…” of Mark’s gospel account.  “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, son of God…” and “He is risen, go and tell.”

For Mark, Jesus’ arrival, life, death and resurrection, is the beginning of the good news. The good news of God in Jesus does not find its culmination in the resurrection dawn, Rather the resurrection serves as a beginning, a foundation, a starting point, an origin for a new way of life in Jesus Christ.  

The beginning of the good news that is longer narrative of God’s salvation.  

That is the significance of today’s text.  It is only the beginning.  From now, to Easter, and beyond it is only the beginning of the good news….and Advent, this precious blue season of anticipation and waiting reminds us that we live and participate in the kingdom of God within God’s time.  

God’s reign of salvation, the new and heaven earth find their beginning in Jesus Christ, and we are gifted the opportunity to be a part of that something new, part of the fulfilment..

...

Isaiah 40, our Old Testament lesson for today, is the start of second Isaiah.  In this new section of Isaiah, the prophet looks for God’s intervention to restore Israel from Babylonian Exile.  The prophet calls for courage and confidence that God reigns.  

“See the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him; and his recompense before him.  He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”

In a time of great uncertainty, persecution, and exile, Isaiah prophesies the promised reign of God.  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Isaiah prophesies about a voice crying out of the wilderness. “Prepare the way of the Lord...for the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…”

As much as Isaiah spoke to a people in great need of hope, a people tired of persecution and feeling lost, a people desperate for a savior, Mark speaks a similar message in a similar setting.

For Mark’s community in that day there is war and rebellion.  Some radical Jews found their breaking point and revolted against Rome.  Jerusalem was under siege and falling.  People were divided. Neighbor against neighbor, friend and friend.  They were lost. They were desperate for a savior, and he had not yet returned.   They were a people in need of hope.   

Enter John the Baptist.  I should note that I often like to refer to him as JTB.

But since moving to Jacksonville, JTB has taken on a new meaning for me.   

So, in all likelihood if I refer to JTB, I mean the burly, camel-haired, locus-eating, leather-belt, baptizing, proclaiming person who emerges from the wilderness...not State Road 202.  

In seminary we call that knowing your context.    

For John the practice of confession and forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation was central to preparing the way for the Lord.  In their world of broken relationships, rebellion, siege, uncertainty, and hopelessness John preaches that hope is rooted in confession and forgiveness.  

And ultimately, he points to the one in whom all hope is found, all reconciliation is possible, Jesus the Messiah.  Prepare the way of the Lord, for he is coming, and it will be the start of something new.

I think there are parallels throughout our texts today, they resonate perhaps too close to home for us.    Isaiah prophesies to the people of God who feel lost, tormented, and exiled in the world.  They are hungry for something or someone to believe in….the promised Messiah.

John proclaims to the wandering crowds in the midst of political chaos, siege and war, rebellion, civil unrest, mass uncertainty.  The crowds find themselves lost, damaged, discarded, or anxious in their world.  They are hungry for something or someone to believe in...the promised Messiah.

Could scripture possibly resonate with us today?  Civil unrest.  Political uncertainty.  Rebellion.  Foreign occupancy.  War abroad and the threat of war at home.  Natural disaster.  Neighbor against neighbor. Tension between world powers. Exploitation? Greed?

After all, one needs not look too far to find an awful lot of darkness in the world.  A world of people who daily experience loss, uncertainty, exile, anxiety, voicelessness, persecution, oppression.  Could it be that some 2000 years later we too are hungry for the message of hope?

Often the temptation is to think of waiting as only for the Lord’s return.  And the frustrating part is that everyday that passes by is another day waiting on the Lord.  Another day spent preparing for his arrival.  

...Here’s the good news.  And honestly, it might sound a bit frustrating, but it is good news none-the-less.  And good thing we have the freedom in Christ to wrestle with it.  

Friends, we live in the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. In God’s time, we participate in, live in, experience and witness to the beginning of the good news.    

2nd Peter pierces through the parallels, “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.  The Lord is not slow about the Lord’s promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”  

Peter writes to say that we are in God’s time, not our own.  Worry not that God will return, but rather worry about leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God...we wait for new heavens and a new earth, That IS the culmination.  That is where righteousness is at home.

In the meantime we participate in the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.  Every day in the promise of the Lord is a new beginning.  Every new day we are gifted with the opportunity to witness to hope in Christ, to proclaim the good news of Jesus.

And perhaps the long delay in Christ’s return is really God’s gracious way of demonstrating patience; saying to us, wait in penitence and hope.  Strive to be found by the Lord in peace, without spot or blemish, and regard patience of our Lord as salvation.

Our call this day and every new day is to be people of God, people washed in the water, people who witness to hope.  People who exude hope in the promise of God.  To shine a light in the darkness of the world.  To give voice to the voiceless.  To act for justice and peace, and defend and advocate for the oppressed.  

Sometimes waiting even looks like confession and repentance for the forgiveness of sin.  Hope empowers confession and forgiveness.  Repentance reveals hope.

So Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, For in God’s time, this is only the beginning.

© Pastor Daniel Locke Dec. 10, 2017, St. Mark's Lutheran Jacksonville, FL