Through It All
Text: Mark 1:9-15
Could you capture the essence of your life in just sixteen words? There are only six sentences in today’s gospel reading, but they capture the essence of the life of Jesus, and therefore indicate archetype for our spiritual journey. Mark cuts to the chase to talk about the journey with four important subjects: water, desert, crisis, and opportunity. It begins with water just like every living thing is born of water and is made of it. What does the water feel like, look like, smell like, and taste like? We don’t have to travel to the Jordan to find out. We all know it. We are all familiar with it.
Right after I came to Fort Garry, I was invited to a gathering of Unit 7, our women’s group at Beryl’s house. There were about a dozen people sitting in a circle in the living room. I could tell that they were all excited to meet their new minister. I was excited and nervous at the same time. The great hospitality with lots of smiles made me feel like I was at my family reunion. I felt at home right away. What made me even more comfortable was the subject of the conversation. We were asked to share how we spent our summer. Having just finished a camping trip all the way from the West Coast to Winnipeg, I had many stories to tell. I found a common theme in our sharing. Almost everyone spent summer in nature, and water was the most treasured subject in our conversation. Whether we spent time by the water, on the water or in the water, it seemed to me that we just couldn’t get enough of water. In fact, I had never met people who loved spending time with water that much. So, it is not a surprise that the majority of the people in the congregation can associate with water. When gathered for outdoor worship last fall, we had a ritual, praying with the four elements: wind, water, fire, and earth. I asked, what element is essential to who they are. Lots of hands were raised for water.
Water is a great metaphor for God. Water gives life. Water refreshes, cleanses, enlivens everything. It also makes us calm and relaxed. More than anything, I like the fact how water always flows reaching out without limits, changing its forms and shapes constantly and persistently.
Besides its spiritual connotations, we have more reason to love water. This is my 7th winter in Winnipeg, and I join with you in waiting for spring and summer. I no longer wonder why people start disappearing around the May long weekend, and not coming back until Thanksgiving weekend. The season of our spirits doesn’t always parallel with the liturgical calendar. Lent, the journey of forty days, originated from Jesus’ forty days and nights in the wilderness. Todays is the first Sunday in Lent, but our own season of Lent already began when we started feeling tired of winter. I can’t wait to fire up my BBQ grill or just to sit on the deck under the sun in my backyard. The pandemic has brought all of us into a desert like isolation. It feels even more intense for those who live alone, those who have been self-isolating or locked down. I was speaking with someone on the phone last week. I could feel the heaviness in her tone because of all the restrictions she has to follow in the building where she lives. I was also speaking with one of my colleagues in ministry. I asked him what the hardest part has been during the pandemic. He said, not being able to look into the eyes of the people in the congregation. I couldn’t agree more. My heart and prayers go out to those to whom getting a breath of fresh air has become luxury, and to those who can’t see their loved ones in person even though they live close by.
We don’t know what really happened to Jesus while saying in the wilderness. The only hint Mark gives us is that he was not completely alone there. Other gospels, Matthew and Luke describe the details of the conversation between the devil and Jesus. But Mark leaves us lots of room for imagination with one unchangeable factor: the devil and angels coexist in the same place, having an effect on the Beloved Son. Is Mark trying to teach us on life’s contradictions? What challenges us can ultimately bless us? What bless us can also confront us? Whatever the intent behind the story, Jesus accepted the company God gave him in the desert – whoever they are, and whatever they brought to him. Here is someone who wastes no time defending himself against what comes to him, trusting that everything comes from God. Baptized with the gift of water, Jesus resembled its quality with his total receptivity to God.
The wilderness time might have prepared Jesus to accomplish his mission. But the crucial moment that brought him into public ministry was not the time in the wilderness. It was John’s arrest. John, the baptizer prepared the way of the Lord and made the paths straight leading the movement of renewal. He was arrested and eventually killed by those who refused this change. What is so amazing is what came right after John’s arrest. In the midst of fear and horror, Jesus began to proclaim the good news of God, saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.”
The ancient Greeks had two words for time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos refers to chronological time, and Kairos signifies a right or opportune time for action. The word time in today’s reading is a translation of Kairos. So, when Jesus said, the Kairos is fulfilled, he meant that the time required him to act; he saw an opportunity through the crisis – the opportunity for people to return to God, the Life-giver, Sustainer, Creator, the Ground of all beings, by changing their minds, hearts and behaviours.
Our spiritual journey consists of the same patterns Jesus went through: water, desert, crisis, and opportunity. We can’t choose only the part we like while rejecting the others. We must learn to embrace them all. The challenge comes when we are in one stage and we don’t usually see the whole picture. Those of us who are in the desert period, need to remember that the Spirit never leaves us whether we are in the water or in the wilderness. Those of us who are experiencing crisis in their lives need to remember that this might be the opportune time for new beginnings. For, through it all, God journeys with us.