Troubling, Tempting Times

Mark 1:9-17

As most of you know, the season of Lent is now upon us. Last Wednesday, known on the church calendar as "Ash Wednesday," was the day we held the Service of the Ash, a service wherein we remembered that we are mortal, fallible, human beings, in need of God's gracious gift of forgiveness and life. Those of us who came here for the service that night received the mark of the ashen cross upon our foreheads, a mark which reminds us that it is by the death of Christ upon the cross that we are empowered to live.

Lent is also the season wherein we Christians will now begin to look at Christ's journey that led him to the cross. And as we look at that journey we will remember several things about Jesus that are very important. First, we will remember that Jesus willingly accepted that journey which would lead him to the cross. Secondly, we will remember that Jesus certainly was faced with temptations as he went on that difficult journey toward the cross. And, finally, we will remember that following Christ is directly tied to repentance and belief in the Gospel.

Our Gospel lesson for today talks about these three important facets of Lent. And, indeed, as we hear that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, we are reminded that this, in and of itself, was something that he willingly accepted in order to save humanity. We are told that as Jesus began his ministry he submitted himself to baptism. In fact, Jesus Christ's entire life was a submission; his entry into the world, his incarnation into human form was God's complete acceptance of us. Whatever the Son of God had to endure as he became flesh and dwelt among us was a submission on his part, something that he had to endure if humanity was ever to be redeemed.

As Christians we believe that something marvelous happened at the birth of Jesus. In his love, God sent his Son into the world. In so doing, Christ the Perfect lowered himself to our level so that we might know God.

Perhaps one of the best ways of understanding this would be to consider the life of the typical ant. Have you ever watched ants crawling in and out of an ant hill? It is facinating. But, certainly, it would be impossible for us to communicate with ants. If, for instance, we were going to dig a hole in the ground where an ant hill was, if we had any concern for the ants, at all, we might want to give them an eviction notice a few days prior to our digging. If we were ant lovers, which most of us aren't, (but if we were) and wanted to save the ants from destruction, how would we do it? Sure, we could get down on our knees at the opening of the ant hill and yell down their little hole, something like, "Hey, you little guys! You'd better move, or you're going to get it!" But, of course, those little ants wouldn't understand a thing we said. We could yell at them all day and they'd just keep doing whatever it is that ants do.

But, what if we could somehow become one of those ants? I mean, certainly the very thought of becoming an ant would be pretty gruesome to most of us. I don't think I'd want to become an ant. But, if you really wanted to share a message with ants, if you really loved ants that much, that would be about the only way to do it. You'd have to become an ant and go live with them. And what a submission that would be! Imagine how much you would have to love ants to do such a thing as that!

But that's pretty much what God did when he became flesh and dwelt among us. That's how much God loved us! And, yet, perhaps that is one of the things we sometimes forget as we consider the life of Christ and the cross that he bore for us. Should we not be moved (emotionally and spiritually) when we think of the love that motivated our Lord to submit himself to human form, even to submit himself to death upon a cross? What wondrous love that was!

In many ways, that's what we Christians are asked to do as disciples of Jesus Christ. Take the word, "empathy" for example. The word "empathy" literally means "to share someone's pain." As Christians we are often asked to be empathetic with the needs of the homeless, with the suffering, with those who have lost a loved one. We share their pain or their burdens. We identify with them. And when we do so willingly, when we begin to love one another in such a way, it is then that we begin to know the meaning of the word, "Christian."

Our gospel lesson from Mark clearly states that when Jesus began his journey toward Jerusalem, the first thing that happened to him was that he was tempted. Now, the gospel according to Mark doesn't go into what those temptations were, but the other gospels tell us that they were temptations for Jesus to take short-cuts. For instance, as Jesus was fasting in the wilderness, he was tempted to turn stones into bread. But Jesus didn't want to make his fasting easier. He refused to take any shortcuts on that journey to Jerusalem. So he quoted the scripture passage out of Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man cannot live by bread, alone." That's how much he loved us. He refused the temptation to compromise with evil, knowing that in doing so he could never be the Savior of the world. He knew that there was no other way than the way of the cross. That's how much he loved us!

And, yes, times often come in our life that we are tempted, as well. Even as we try to serve God (or perhaps especially as we try to serve God) the temptations come to take short-cuts. Our own membership in the church is sometimes laden with such temptations. Having vowed to support our church with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service, how many of us haven't caught ourselves saying, "Well, three out of four (or two out of four, or one out of four) ain't bad!"? Or, knowing that our Christian profession requires us to love one another, have we found that "ignore one another" is actually a much easier thing to do? The temptations to take shortcuts are there. The temptations to stop short of complete discipleship are there. The temptations to be able to follow Jesus until the going gets rough are there. But, the message of today's gospel lesson tells us that it's okay. It's okay because Jesus was tempted, too. He knows what it's like. He took our form, remember? And because he did there's strength to overcome the temptation and grace and forgiveness and a new beginning when we don't.

Finally, our Gospel lesson tells us that when Jesus started his journey toward the cross his message was, "Repent and believe the gospel." I am reminded of the story of the old preacher who decided to paint his church. The only problem was that he only had one gallon of paint and was so stingy that as the paint was running lower and lower in the bucket he would simply add thinner to the paint. As he was painting along, getting almost to the end of his project, it suddenly started to rain. And, low and behold, the paint with all the thinner washed right off the church. And as the old preacher stood there in the middle of the rain, a crash of thunder sounded and he heard a voice from heaven say, "Repaint and thin no more!"

The problem is that as we live our lives, even as we try to do good, we may often find ourselves taking short-cuts, taking the easy way out, when, all along, Christ is asking us to walk with him to Jerusalem, to join him in the way of the cross.

Those of us who don't think we need the introspection of Lent, are probably the very ones who need it the most. The journey through Lent to Easter is not an easy one. But, it is one we should all consider well. Jesus walked that journey of trouble and trial. Walking that road with him makes us honest with God, true to ourselves, and faithful in our life together.

Amen.