First Reading: Genesis 9:8-17
8God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Psalm: Psalm 25:1-10
Your paths, O Lord, are steadfast love and faithfulness. (Ps. 25:10)
1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2My God, I put my trust in you; let me not be put shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3Let none who look to you be put to shame; rather let those be put to shame who are treacherous.
4Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths.
5Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation ; in you have I trusted all the day long.
6Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,for they are from everlasting.
7Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your steadfast love and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
8You are gracious and up-right, O Lord; therefore you teach sinners in your way.
9You lead the lowly in justice and teach the lowly your way.
10All your paths, O Lord, are steadfast love and faithfulness to those who keep your covenant and your testimonies.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22
18Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And 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. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
CHILDREN’S SERMON: One of the famous quotes that I remember from high school comes from Charles Dickens’ book A Tale of Two Cities. He writes, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”. Turn to your neighbor and share what you find really good about life today. Then share what is the most challenging aspect of your life. The good and the challenging often come together as we will see in our text today.
Let us pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.
SERMON
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Our focus changes for the next six Sundays from the Jesus who incarnated and lived among us teaching, healing, and performing miracles to the Jesus who walked through suffering and death for us. The next 40 days many of us will give up something like chocolate while others will add something like more time in prayer, but whether we give up or add to our normal spiritual routines, we will be pondering Biblical texts that accept the reality of lament in the midst of life.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of reason, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
With our text today we will look at similar themes: it was a time of baptism and it was a time of wilderness, it was a time with Satan and a time with angels, it was a time in the Kingdom of God while living in the Kingdom of this World. Let’s dig in.
12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
The season of Lent always starts with a return to the baptism of Jesus. For us normal people, that is where the story starts. We know we cannot believe in Jesus by our own reason or strength. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. It is at our baptism, as our parents carry us forward or for those who were older people, that we confess our faith and the Holy Spirit is given to reside in us and help us on our spiritual journey. Jesus did not need the Holy Spirit because he was God so his baptism was a kind of “coming out,” a declaration of his identity, true-God and true-man, identifying with his creation in their struggle with sin. The presence of God, as the voice of the Father or the Holy Spirit as a dove, did not prevent Jesus from experiencing the wilderness. In fact, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Baptism and wildernesses go together.
We know this tension too. As Christians we confess faith in a God who can move mountains, heal the blind, and cure the lame. He raised the dead. We confess our faith in a God who lives with us and cares about us. We come to church and hear that we are called “child of God.” We know that God can do all things. Yup, and then that voice of Evil that loves to whisper doubts into our hearts accuses God of being MIA as we face the wildernesses of our life. Not only is God MIA, the doubts of whether God really loves us enters our hearts. Our text calls it “temptation.”
Jesus knows that temptation. Martin Luther encouraged his followers that every morning they should remember their baptismal vows. Baptism into faith is not just a one time event but a daily tension we live in. We need to remember that we are baptized. Each day needs to be grounded in our faith in Christ.
Our Old Testament reading comes from the life story of Noah. Noah and his family survive the flood, the destruction of life as they knew it, and the dove returns to the ark with an olive branch, the symbol of peace. God speaks into the mess with a covenant. The rainbow is placed in the sky to remind God and remind us that even as we live in the challenges of life, God is committed to us and will not abandon us. Perhaps it is a walk in nature that lifts your spirits. Perhaps it is a tune that comes to mind or the visit of a friend that brings the courage to face tomorrow. God promises to be with us at our baptism.
Suffering and temptations are part of life as we know it but it is not the end of the story. The story went on for Noah and it goes on for us. God has covenanted to never abandon us and God has a future for us, even on our darkest days. A rainbow will appear.
the angels waited on him.
Our text reminds us that not only are there good times mixed with challenging times, there are also opposing forces working in our lives: evil and good. Satan tempted Jesus but the angels waited on, ministered, to Jesus. Temptation and ministering are lightning poles we can hold up to test the voices we hear whispering at us.
If we go back to the story of Adam and Eve, I think we see that temptation is the temptation to doubt God’s word, God’s will and God’s way. Questions like “Did God really say,” “Surely God doesn’t want you to die,” and “God knows if you do this, you’ll be wise like him.” These whispers lead us to doubt the character, the concern, and the wisdom of God. We are all tempted in the wildernesses of our lives.
Our psalm reading for today ends with the reminder, “10All your paths, O Lord, are steadfast love and faithfulness to those who keep your covenant and your testimonies.” The angels ministered to Jesus. I would suggest that means they turned Jesus’ heart toward the steadfast love and the faithfulness of God. I would also suggest that the text affirms that there are godly resources available to us beyond what our senses experience. I believe there are angels that are not just glorified humans or a resurrected dog that is guiding faithfully as it did in life. The text says there were actually angels that ministered to Jesus. The text does not say if Jesus saw these beings but I do know that sometimes whether through music or prayer or scripture reading or friends or nature, my spirits are lifted to God’s truth by perhaps an angel or perhaps by seeing that rainbow. My heart is lifted from defeat to faith. We learn to turn from the temptations of evil to the truth of God.
the kingdom of God has come near;
We live in the tension of being tried by our times of wilderness supported by our baptism. We live in the tension of being tempted but ministered to by God’s angels and all his resources. We live in the tension between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this World.
The Kingdom of God has come near and we live with one foot in that reality of faith and one foot in the world of our everyday lives. We seek to forgive our enemies, love our neighbors, share our blessings and live a life pleasing to all our aha insights from Epiphany. But we also live as citizens of this world in bodies that age, struggling with systems that often feel unjust, observing wars and rumors of war, and struggling to make ends meet. We try to live like Epiphany in a world of Lent. People like John the Baptist are unjustly beheaded. Martyrs die for their faith daily. We are citizens of two kingdoms.
Our text tells us to repent and believe the good news. We do sin but we can seek forgiveness so there is hope for tomorrow. Our story need not end with a list of failures. The good news is that Jesus is the Son of God with whom God was pleased. We are not alone or abandoned as we walk through this life. The Holy Spirit walks with us, guiding us and advising us. God’s unseen angels walk with us too. The Kingdom of this World is only temporary. As we go through Lent, as we live in the worst of times, in the age of foolishness, in an epoch of incredulity, in a season of darkness and in the winter of despair, may we remember that because of Jesus it is the best of times, an age of reason, a epoch of belief, a season of light and the spring of hope. We are people of hope during Lent for we walk with the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Let the people of God say “Amen!”
On the Way to Wonder 