Here we are on the first Sunday of Lent... now for most of us, this means very little. But, for those of us who make a living in ministry, this is a fairly big deal. It means we’d better be about the business of getting ready for Easter. Well, not really, although that’s certainly a part of it... it means we’d better be about the business of paying attention to what the Lord requires of us. During Lent we’re encouraged to get our spiritual act together. And today’s scripture lesson is a way of getting us headed in the right direction.
Our scripture reading from the first chapter of Mark’s gospel combines the baptism, the wilderness experience and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In the midst of the telling about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Mark quotes Jesus as saying, and this varies depending on your translation... Believe in the Good News. Believe in the Good News. Perhaps that’s the way to get our spiritual act together... How many of us can honestly say, “I believe in the Good News!”?
We have a lot of voices telling us stuff in our lives, don’t we. It would be interesting to count the number of different voices you hear on any particular day... my guess is that it would be near a hundred or so. If you listen to the radio, watch a little TV, talk to your family and friends, go to school, talk on the phone, listen in on conversations around you, go to the store, etc. etc. you’ve got a lot of voices bombarding you during a single day.
Many of these voices are competing for our attention. Some of these voices are claiming to be authorities and trying to get us to follow their advice or to see the world in the way they see it. This is especially true in talk radio, has been for years. And it’s becoming more and more true on television. Fox News wants you to see the world in a particular way, MSNBC wants you to see the world in a slightly different way. Rush Limbaugh wants you to see things the way he sees them, while Keith Oberman wants you to see things from his perspective.
This is the way it is... No! This is the way it is...
I don’t know about you, but I have people in my family who want to change the way I see the world and start listening, reading, watching their authorities. I have people in my family who think that I see the world in a slightly off centered way, and I ought to come back to their point of view. I don’t think I’m the only person in that boat... We live in a time of competing authorities... authorities that tell us that all the other authorities are nuts and that we need to listen to them.
I’m wondering if one of the disciplines we might use during this season of Lent might be to ‘Listen to Jesus’. To follow his advice and instead of believing in Rush’s way or believing in Keith’s way...
Believe in the Good News. Listen to Jesus.
What would happen if we put Jesus at the top of our list of the authorities that guide our lives. What would happen if we followed, first and foremost, the teachings of Jesus, and let the other voices fall by the wayside for a season?
In these few verses from Mark, we’ve been given a crash course on why we should do just that...
When Jesus was baptized, a dove descended, the Spirit touched him and God said... You are my beloved one.
Can’t get confirmation from a much higher authority than that, can we... once God has spoken, all other voices pale in comparison.
So, why do we so often turn to the myriad of other voices that would pull us off God’s message. Because they’re louder? Because they happen to be the ones we hear more often? Because we’ve created a void in our lives and need to fill it with whatever happens to feed our fancy?
Can we, just for this season of Lent, just until Easter, just for the next 6 weeks move Jesus to the top of our list, and listen to him? Think on him? Believe in the Good News?
Can we, in our deliberations as a church, always put Jesus at the top of our list of authorities?
Would you, always hold me accountable if I ever veer from the teachings and ways of Jesus.
Jesus is God’s good news. He is the Word. Jesus is the gift from God who’s sole purpose was to allow us to understand God’s very being.
Therefore, Jesus ought to be our focus, our inspiration, our coach, our teacher, our guide... our authority.
And if that’s the true and we adopt it, then the church becomes a place of grace, a place where that same good news is lived out in powerful ways.
And believe me, that happens here. It happens here all the time. It happens here whenever we set differences aside to accomplish something for the greater good of God. It happens here whenever we decide to love and include. It happens here every time we reach out with love in the name of Jesus and change someone’s life.
So... during this season of Lent... How do we go about listening to Jesus?
I wonder if we might agree to read the gospels between now and Easter. Just the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It can be accomplished in probably 3 or 4 hours, and you have 6 weeks. Do you think you can do that?
I will, if you will.
Refresh your minds with the stories of Jesus as told by the early church. Refresh your soul by immersing yourself in the words of Jesus. Refresh your lives by recalling the pathway of the savior.
And in doing that, let’s also agree that we’ll make Jesus the authority for our way of being with one another. Let’s make Jesus the authority for carrying out our ministry in this place. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we receive children in this place. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we use our building. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we use our property. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we treat one another, and the things that we think about one another. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we reach out to others. Let’s make Jesus the authority in how we invite others into our lives in this place.
Get the picture?
I think if we’re able to do that, we’ll be able to accomplish most anything we put our hearts into. There’s no limit to what we can do in this place. There’s no limit to what God can do through us...
If...
If we turn our hearts and minds towards Jesus. If we let the other voices fall into the background for a time, for a season, this season, this season of Lent.
Then, who knows, it might just become a habit... this ‘putting Jesus first’ business. Believing in the Good News is more than just saying... yeah, I believe it. It’s more than going through the motions. It’s living it out. It’s taking the message that Jesus embodied and allowing it to take hold of our lives and make us into new beings, new creations.
Let’s be aware of all the voices that normally rule our existence and let the voice of Jesus move to number one. What could it hurt?
