Mark 1.9-15 Lent 1 18th Feb 2024
Welcome to Lent. Have you ever noticed how we don’t celebrate Lent, we Keep it. We celebrate Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, and we celebrate Mothering Sunday, Easter Day, but we don’t celebrate Lent, we keep it.
The aim of these 40 days is for you to draw closer to God –
So Lent is about Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving. Its about our Bodies, our Souls and our Wallets. Its about reminding ourselves of the interconnectivity of ourselves, and of Ourselves.
When we FAST we remember that we are body and soul and that these two are connected.
You might be giving up Biscuits or Alcohol or Coffee or fasting from TV or from Social Media – good for you.
As you do so you will note how its not just your tummy that rumbles but your mood will go up or down.
I’ve seen a TV advert that says ‘When you are Hangry then you should eat this!’. Hangry. A great word for noticing how our bodies effect our minds and our moods. So we realise that we are not just spiritual people, we are physical, and its all connected.
I knew of a preacher who gave up Bacon for Lent. And then realised that he ought to apply that to Ham and Pork and even to certain marshmallows, and he suddenly realised that there’s bacon in so many things.
It drove him up the wall, but it gave him a better appreciation of the book of Leviticus.
If in your fast you find yourself feeling helpless and hopeless – then that’s a good sign – that’s a sign that you’re aware of your need for God’s grace.
And so through this fast you will draw closer to God.
IF in your fast, you’re feeling a bit smug and generally more annoying than usual, then you’ve got bigger problems than skipping on a biscuit and I hope you spot if before someone kind points it out to you!
But seriously if you’re food fasting, be gentle with yourself. I hear stories of people saying things like – I live on my own so its not really worth cooking a proper meal – and that’s not a fast, that’s not good at all.
For some people Fasting, say from Facebook means that they have more time – perhaps more time for real people, more time for prayer and exercise and so on.
So this is why often in Lent people will take things up.
Remember Lent is about coming closer to God and one way is through Fasting.
Another is through Prayer.
In our Gospel Reading, Jesus has this wonderful deeply uplifting spiritual moment in His Baptism.
The Holy Spirit like a dove, the voice of the Father: “You are my Son, whom I Love; with you I am well pleased” So that’s nice.
Its an important reminder of God’s unconditional love that the Father has for the Son – who hasn’t done anything yet, no teaching, no miracles, no disciples, nothing.
But the Father loves the Son unconditionally. And we have to learn this.
That God loves you as a human being not a human doing.
But then Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness for 40 days.
Driven by the Holy Spirit.
We, Christians, Anglicans especially, have a poor theology of troubled times. We expect God to take care of us. We come to Church put in an hour of singing, so then God owes us one and trouble should not come our way.
But it does and then we moan at God.
Take comfort that Jesus goes from this baptismal spiritual high to a spiritual low. And so out into the Wilderness He goes.
The Wilderness appears a lot in the bible.
The whole book of Numbers is based in the Wilderness. It’s a time of struggling.
But its can also be liberating – an opportunity to switch off, to focus,
So for Jesus the wilderness is a time when no one is watching. When there is no one to impress.
There are no expectations either and that for some is good. We are too weighed down by the presumptions of others.
So Jesus is alone in the Desert, alone with His thoughts, and Satan comes to Him with temptations.
Here in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by Satan – worn down by the Accuser – IF you are who you think you are – you’re no good at this – you’re not cut out for this saving people hero thing.
And we hear similar stuff: you’re a rubbish Christian, and all that.
So how will you deal with that accusation?
Jesus in Matthew and Luke, Jesus replies by using the bible – the Scripture says, the Scripture says – that’s good stuff. So one way of dealing with the stress of being belittled – is to remember the solid love of God, that God has for you, and not on account of you doing, but simply by being a Human Being. Remember it is Jesus who thinks you’re worth saving.
So, 40 days. In the wilderness. How are you at waiting? How long would it be before you were thinking – This is a complete waste of time.
After all think – How many people could Jesus have been healing, feeding, teaching.
40 days in the desert?, This is stupid and pointless.
St Paul will find himself in Prison – how incredibly frustrating for a man who loves to travel and to preach. He will learn to write letters.
We find ourselves slow to recover from a fall, from an illness and in our frustration, we want to rush back, but perhaps, no. And instead this is a chance for us to notice our time in the Wilderness.
This is a moment for us to be free of other’s expectations, free to bring our sorrows and temptations to God.
Here’s a chance for us to re-remember that God loves you because you are a Human Being, not a human doing.
What do you think of this – Mark gives us this neutral phrase – that Jesus was in the wilderness with the wild animals. What does that mean?
Is Mark suggesting that there’s danger, even death?
Is Jesus is going to have to be on high alert to not get eaten by wolves?
Or does it mean that the animals saw Him as no threat to them.
Perhaps even seeing Him as the God of Noah, the God who in His covenant to Noah included all the animals, all living creatures of every kind on the earth.
There’s no right or wrong answer but this is one of those moments where how you react entirely depends on your perspective.
So something bad happens and you blame God, you blame other people, and the important thing here is that you’re the victim, powerless, devoid of choice, even in terms of how you respond
But others see the same situation and say Well, we are here not there, so let’s make the best of it.
Time in the Desert will do that for you.
This is proper spiritual warfare as the Devil seeks to make sure you feel very alone, abandoned,
SO we must work to keep connected to God in prayer and to each other in service.
And then we read that Angels attended Him. Matthew and Luke make it seem more as if the angels only attended Jesus after the temptations but Mark is less fussy, less detailed, on this. Maybe the angels attended him during the 40 days.
Anyway, what would you do or say to Jesus if you were one of the attending angels? What words of comfort would you offer? “Trust me, this will all turn out okay. Hang on in there. You are loved, Keep going”
What would you say.
I was speaking with a vicar on the phone a little while back about a conundrum and we didn’t really solve it but it was good to chew it over and at the end he said ‘Lets pray about it’ and then he launched, on the phone, into a prayer. It took me by surprise but I was so glad of it.
And I really think we should do that more often.
He was my angel that day – so to speak.
I hope that you might notice those moments when others are bringing comfort to you. And perhaps you might make a point of bringing comfort to another through this next week.
Lent is about drawing nearer to God through Fasting, through Prayer, and through Almsgiving.
At the back on the table over there you’ll find some Electoral Roll forms, so if you haven’t filled one in, please do so. I pray my way through the ER so that should be a good enough reason for you but ask others what the perks of being on the ER are! and see what they say!
And near it you will find forms regarding the Parish Giving Scheme, PGS. It’s a genius idea whereby you don’t have to remember to bring cash to Church but your bank will take a monthly amount through the year and that helps us to budget
and if you can you can add your gift-aid to it
and if you can you can tick a box which means that every year you’ll get an email asking if you would like your giving to go up in line with inflation. You can say no to that quite easily.
But look Prayer and Fasting – obviously really Spiritual things. But Almsgiving how is that at all spiritual. How is me giving financially to the Church going to bring me closer to God?
I’m not buying God’s good favour. Alas we have stopped selling indulgences – banning them was good theology but poor marketing strategy!
But The giving away of money helps us to challenge our false gods, our insecurity, and as we do so we find joy and blessing as we bless others and bring them some joy.
For some people Almsgiving isn’t about money, its about time. I’ve known people to tithe their time and so to give their time to God in serving, being a Church Watcher, helping Stefan with Toddlers and Ignite so on.
The sheer practice of putting your faith to work, of living out of the love and forgiveness and peace that you have received and so contributing to lightening the load, the burdens that others carry. That in itself, that brings joy, it helps form our character.
So may you Keep Lent well.
May you draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, almsgiving.
When you find yourself in a Wilderness, may you not be afraid of the wild animals, and may you notice the angels that are attending you,
May you not see this as wasted time but as an opportunity to come close to the God
who loves you for a human being, not a human doing. Amen.