Mark 1: 9-15

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit who gives us life. Amen

For those of you who grew up on baseball you should know the name of Yogi Berra. Not only was he a great catcher for the New York Yankees in the 1950s, but he is also remembered for malapropisms known as “Yogisms”. For those of you younger than us OTD folks, you would probably recognize Yogi on an AFLAC commercial where he extols the virtues of disability insurance. Some of the more famous yogisms are: “A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore”; “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical”; “Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours”; “I never said most of the things I said”; “I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house”; “If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else”; “You can observe a lot by just watching”; and my favorite, "It’s like deja vu all over again." I get the same feeling after reading our gospel lesson for today. It’s like, haven’t we read this before?

Well in fact we have. We heard verses [1-8 last December 7th],] 4-11 on 1/11 and verse 14-20 on the 1/25. It seems the only section we have skipped is verses 12 and 13. In essence what we have here is a recapping of Jesus baptism and of Jesus starting his ministry in Galilee. And as we have noted before, the writer of this gospel is very succinct in his details about the life and ministry of Jesus. Some commentators have likened this book to a narrative of the passion with a long prelude. So when we hear this lesson this morning, we are not given a lot of details, unlike the other gospels where it seems that Marks skeletal-like gospel is fleshed out. Since we have already talked about Jesus baptism, and the Kingdom of God has been explained, what is it about these two verses that have been neglected? Why are they included here and now as opposed to some other time in the church year? Although I cannot prove anything, I suspect that it is because Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and that Lent is also forty days long. So lets dive into these two verses.

“And the Spirit immediately drove him (Jesus) out into the wilderness.” The first question that comes to mind is why would this happen? It’s not like this would be some sort of mission trip. This is serious stuff, to be sent out into the wilderness. Imagine if you will a place like the Mohave Desert. Civilization as we know it does not exist. There is little food. There is virtually no water. It is lonely. It is cold. It is empty. It can be overwhelmingly frightening. Why would this happen? We get very few clues from reading this verse, although the next verse then says that Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan, that he was with wild beasts, and that there were angels waiting on him. Again there is not a lot in this verse to indicate what exactly is going on. And although there has been much speculation, I think that Mark is making a connection with the wilderness journey of the Israelites and Moses. They too were in the wilderness for a period of 4o years. They too were without food or water. They too were ministered to by God in the pillar of flame and light. And they too were tempted, maybe not by Satan, but tempted nonetheless, to not trust God. Think about the golden calf incident. Or consider all of their whining about how much better it was in Egypt, even though they had been slaves.

Remember that Jesus has just been proclaimed as the Son of God the beloved, with whom God was well pleased. If you remember from last week we heard these same words. The thing is that the intended audience was different. In the Transfiguration, God declares, “This is my Son the beloved”. But God adds this qualifier: “listen to him”. In our text today we have no qualifier. The intended audience is Jesus himself. But the effect is the same. In both stories nobody stays on the so–called mountaintop. Last week we heard that the disciples went back into the valley, but accompanied by Jesus. Here Jesus is driven out into the wilderness, but accompanied by angels. And though both stories suggest that God is with us in these experiences, don’t we still sometimes question that fact?

I believe that we all have our own wilderness stories or even adventures. What are your wilderness stories? Where are the dry and dusty places you have been? What wild beasts have you encountered in your lives? Maybe some of you are encountering those situations right now. For some of you, you are facing the wilderness of unemployment, or the possibility thereof. Others of you are encountering the wild beast that represents death and loss. This is not only the physical death of a friend or a loved one, but also the death of friendships or relationships. There is the loss of some physical or mental capability. And then there are the temptations. I’ll bet that the youth that participated in the 30 hour famine felt tempted. Maybe they were tempted to sneak some food when no one was looking. Or they were tempted to leave before the famine was over. Or quite possibly they were tempted to think of themselves rather than those who are truly hungry. But beyond this one example, there are the temptations to participate in activities or pursuits that could lead to addictions. And then there is the temptation to put your self ahead of others, or the temptation to self-sufficiency. I don’t need anyone’s help, or even yours God. Lord knows that I have been presented with that one many times in my life! Are we not in effect questioning who really is in charge here? Is it God or is it I?

In fact I wonder if the season of Lent is precisely to invite us (or even possibly drive us) back into the wilderness. Is it not so much to deprive of us of those things that bring us satisfaction, but to remind us of our dependence upon God? In these two verses we do not know what the outcome of Jesus’ meeting with Satan was. We do know however what happens immediately afterwards. Jesus leaves the wilderness, and goes to Galilee, to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of God has come near. That is, the rule of God is being brought to bear in the present world. No only that, but Jesus says to repent and to believe. In other words turn away from that which leaves you dry and dusty, that which frightens you, and that which tempts you. Turn to me, Jesus says, he who has living waters to slake your thirst. Turn to me who overcomes the fear of death and loss. Turn to me who binds the strong man, that is Satan, and I will pillage and plunder his home. Turn to me and believe that I am here. This Lenten time is not for us to think that we can give up material or religious things in order to be closer to God. It is not a time to win our spiritual brownie points. It is a time of preparation, to remind us that in the time of our wilderness, in the facing of our wild beasts, in the fighting of our temptations, that all of these things are ultimately met on a Friday afternoon at the cross, and then defeated three days later with the revealing of an empty tomb. And we should be reminded of that every time we reflect upon our baptism. We are reminded of that each week here in this place, when we receive the bread and wine and we are forgiven of our sins. It is, in the words of Yogi Berra, deju-vu all over again. Amen.

And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and mind on Jesus Christ. Amen