Mark 1: 9- 13
13 March 2011
This morning I’d like to examine with you this question. Who is in charge?
You might have heard the story of the mighty Battleship as it was returning to home port after the war. In the middle of the night watch, the captain is awaken and requested to come on the bridge immediately. Wondering what the3 problem is, he is informed, once on the bridge, that another ship is headed straight for them. Now , the rules of the sea says that the larger ship has priority and since, in those days, there were no greater ships than battleships, it was obvious who had the right away.
The captain orders the whistle to be blown. The distant vessel answers back with its whistle. Again, the mighty ship whistles the getaway signal. The same answer is returned. Perhaps if the distant ship could see the size of the battleship, it would move. The captain orders all the lights on the naval vessel to be turned on. Only the small light of the other ship is left on, but there is not movement made on its part to turn.
The captain, by now, is growing quite frustrated. He tells the radioman to send a voice message on the emergency channel to the other ship. The message clearly spelled out who they were and why the other vessel had to alter its course. A few moments later, the radioman came running to the bridge. He read the message back. The other vessel was not going to move. Furious the captain says, “What?” The radioman continues the message, “In fact, captain, they are telling us to move.” The captain could no longer contain himself. The crew on the bridge was frozen by his outburst of anger. When he quieted down some, the radioman sheepishly added, “Sir, the message that came was from the lighthouse that we see ahead.”
Who is in charge?
I remember when my children were babies that I certainly did not feel like I was in charge. They’d wake up at all kinds of hours, wanting to be fed and changed. When babies cry, a parent usually responds, even if it is inconvenient. I mean who like to be woken up at two in the morning by a child who comes into the bedroom to announce that their stomach does not feel good, only to be sick on the way to the bathroom?
Indeed, who’s in charge?
When we think our retirement saving are doing well and one morning we wake up to hear that the stock market is in a downward spiral, taking all the interest we have earned in the last 12 month, it is not a good feeling. Or, after planning something exciting for the near future, we find out at the last minute that we cannot go or participate because our health has taken a downturn. Or perhaps, a tragedy strikes in our family and life is changed forever.
No matter how much we’d like to be the ones who are in charge, we seldom are.
In a moment, we will read to you the ending of Mark’s introduction to the Good News of Jesus. It is the part when Jesus makes his appearance. As we read the passage, I’d like you to pay close attention to who is in charge of his life. We will reflect on the meaning of this afterward.
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And 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. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him (Mark 1: 9- 13 NRSV).”
Who would you say is in charge of what is happening in Jesus’ life at this point? It is the Holy Spirit.
Part of God’s promise in the Old Testament, was that at the appropriate time, which is with Jesus coming, the Holy Spirit would no longer be for a select few but would be given to whoever enters into the covenant with God. A covenant is like a promise or a vow that two parties make to each other.
In Genesis, we see God making a covenant with Israel. “I will be your God,” he told them. “I will watch over you, guide you and provide for you.” That was God’s part of the covenant. And He told them that for their part, they would be His. They were called to trust Him and worship Him alone.
However, over time, Israel began to see God as their own property and lost sight of the fact that God remained the God of the whole heaven and earth. Although God had chosen Israel to be a vessel for His power, so that the entire world would recognise Him through them, He was not just their God.
In one of the prophecies that He made after Israel had fallen apart and been deported, God made the promise that He would pour His Spirit on all people. Jesus made the promise that the Spirit would come for all His disciples once He returned to heaven.
This means that this same Spirit that came upon Jesus, tearing the heavens apart, is also ours through faith. What are the implications of that?
Well, what happened to Jesus right after His baptism? The Spirit led him to the wilderness. He wasn’t led to a cosy lakeside retreat. He wasn’t driven to a nice, comfortable palace. He was driven to the wilderness – to the desert with the sand, heat and drying wind. I have been in wilderness like that and it is not a very pleasurable experience!
We don’t really know why the Spirit sent Jesus there, except that he was tempted by Satan. Both Matthew and Luke give a longer version of what happened during the temptations. But the exact events don’t really matter for Mark – or for us for that matter. All we need to know is that they happened just like facing trials and difficult situations happen to us, sometimes more often and more forcefully than we’d like them to happen. Sometimes, we’re led to places we’d rather not be.
What I see in this event of Jesus’ life is that Jesus, although having a rough time, does not shy away from going through it. He does not give up while He is in the midst of it. In fact, through the Spirit, He gains help. He is not alone but is helped, we are told, by angels. We don’t know what the angels were doing. We just know that they waited on Him. I gather from this that Jesus was aware that he was not alone. Whatever strength, courage and stamina He needed, He received.
This tells me that it is no different with us. Although we are confronted with unpleasant trials at times, this does not mean that we are alone through them. God gives us the resources we need from within, through His Spirit.
This does not make the experience any more pleasant or any easier. What it does is that it offers us hope and perseverance. I know that this was my own experience when I had to survive in the 40-50⁰ Celsius of the wilderness of East Africa. I still suffered with the heat induced headaches and the sweat that poured from every pore in my body. But I knew that I had God’s promise with me. He would not abandon me. He gave me inner resources to get through those long, dusty, dry and dirty months. I know that alone, I would not have done very well at all. What I did was to simply put my life into God’s hands. I said to Him, “I believe you brought me here for a reason. Whatever the reason, I accept it. But in order to survive, I need your help. I trust you to get me through this.” And He did; just as He did during other difficult times of my life.
I chose the quotation at the top of the bulletin because I think it is very true. It is not easy to trust when everything is pointing the other way. It is not easy to be in the world where Satan roams free and the wild beasts surround us. It is not easy to understand why God would lead us to these situations. It is much easier to give up or seek other solutions than turning to Him. It is much easier to say that God cannot be good for if He was, He wouldn’t have brought us there.
But it was the Spirit that led Jesus to the wilderness. It was also through the Spirit, and angels, that Jesus was able to get through. Sometimes, I think we simply have to admit that someone else is in charge of our lives. Sometimes we simply have to trust that the One who has brought us to where we are can and will give us what we need to get through.
It is well with my soul story.
