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Journey Through the Waters
Journey through the Waters: Finding New Purpose in Christ
Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.
That’s the mantra in our house, anytime we need to leave. Trying to get the kids out the door – all three of them, fully dressed, a diaper bag, my pocketbook, the keys, the cloth bags to use at the grocery store. It’s always a sense of urgency. There are places to go, people to see, jobs to do, errands to run. Like many of you with families and jobs and responsibilities, life can feel more like a 100-yard dash over and over again than a leisurely stroll through the park.
The Jesus we meet in the gospel of Mark understands urgency. One of the Gospel writer’s favorite words is “immediately” or “at once.” Jesus’ words and actions are motivated by a desire to get on the go. Jesus is a man on the move. You can almost hear him say to his disciples, “Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. Get your cloak and your sandals. Peter, stop dawdling. We’ve got places to go and people to see. Daylight is burning, let’s get a move on.”
I’ve wondered if Jesus was always like this – focused, intense, driven, purposeful – or did something happen to turn him into this constantly moving man. We get a clue in these few verses from Mark’s Gospel today, when we hear this vivid and dramatic account of Jesus’ baptism. Before baptism, all we know about Jesus is that he was an ordinary guy. Mark tells us that he was from Nazareth of Galilee – “a third-class village in second-class Galilee” He came with the rest of the people from Judea and Jerusalem who streamed to John to be baptized in the Jordan and washed of their sins. Nothing set him apart – not his lineage, his behavior, his actions.
But after his baptism, the ball gets rolling. When he comes up out of the water, the Gospel writer lets loose with the verbs – the heavens tear, the Spirit descends. A voice comes. God is pleased. The Spirit drives. Satan tempts. Wild beats visit. Angels wait. John is arrested. Jesus comes and Jesus proclaims. Time is fulfilled. The Kingdom comes near. Repent. Believe.
All of that, from a simple bath in the Jordan River.
Jesus’ baptism wasn’t perfunctory or rote. He wasn’t baptized because someone expected him to or because he didn’t want to disappoint a family member. He was baptized so he could experience the power of the Spirit of God. His baptism marked a change, a new beginning. That journey through the water unleashed a new purpose on his life. When the Spirit descended on him, it was at once gentle and forceful. God’s voice claimed him with love and then God’s spirit sent him into danger, on a solo journey to the wilderness. And when Jesus emerged from 40 days in the desert, he wasted no time getting started. Hurry up, hurry up, he went around saying. You don’t have to wait any longer for God to come near. The messiah has arrived and is right beside you. Repent. Believe. The Good News is here.
It’s our human nature, I think, to want to hurry up. We get so impatient with waiting. Technology now allows us to be constantly connected and instantly accessible 24 hours a day. For some of you, the hour of worship is the longest you go all week, except when you sleep, without checking your Blackberry or writing an e-mail.
And even though Jesus was a man on the move, he wasn’t just busy. He had a clear purpose and a focus. After his baptism, Jesus was willing to prepare, to wait, to slow down to figure out what that purpose would be and how he would live it. Jesus didn’t jump right from his transformative experience of baptism to his transforming mission of changing the world. The Spirit made him wait – wait 40 days in a place that was uncomfortable, dangerous, and threatening. His time in the desert isn’t described in Mark, but it must have been important.
Lent is the time the church gives us to wait. It’s modeled on the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert, when he prepared to undertake his life’s work, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was near. Lent is the time for us to prepare for Easter, to claim anew the power of the risen Christ in our own lives. We want to jump right from the excitement of Jesus’ baptism to the celebration of his resurrection. But Lent makes us pause, makes us wait, makes us reflect. It makes us ready.
This Lent, we are asking each week, “Where are you headed on the Lenten journey to the cross?” As we begin this trip together, how far do you need to travel to meet Jesus at the cross? Are you feeling far away from him or is he near? What hurrying do you need to put aside so you can wait for Jesus to meet you this Lenten season?
During Lent, it is traditional to take on spiritual practices as a sign of our devotion to Christ, as a way to slow down and find new purpose in Christ. As a congregation, I ask each of us to take on three practices this Lent:
1. Worship each Sunday at 8:30 or 11 a.m. Worship is the central time that we can be filled as a community with God’s power.
2. Fast from lunch or another activity on Fridays and make a donation to the Kennet Food Cupboard of the cost of your fast. The Youth Ministry Team has committed to fasting together one meal a week; let’s support our young people.
3. Pray every day for the future of our congregation. The Vision team is praying about God’s direction for our congregation during the next five years, to continue our growth.
These three practices serve as a wilderness time for us, a time of deep reflection, of preparation, of searching for new meaning and new purpose. We are all on a journey with Jesus. Even though we may want to hurry up, hurry up, Jesus is going to make us take it slow. This Lent, where are you headed? Where will the journey to the cross take you?