The Wilderness of Lent

Mark*, in just a few short verses, has summarised for us two key elements from Jesus’s life which took place just before the start of His ministry.

The first is Jesus’s baptism of water by His cousin John. John’s baptism was one of repentance, one of cleansing and forgiveness. God cleansed the earth by flood in Genesis – in a sense starting again. Baptism gives us a chance to start again; to say sorry for our wrongdoings, receive forgiveness and to start a new life in Christ striving to follow in His footsteps.

So why did Jesus, God’s Son, the only truly perfect human, need to be baptised by John.

John was the forerunner to prepare the way. This was also an indication for Jesus that it was time for His ministry to commence. By being baptised by John, Jesus was affirming that He was ready and willing to take the next step on His journey for our salvation. He was saying “yes” to what God wanted Him to do. And God confirmed His approval as He says to Jesus “You are my beloved Son”. He was also showing us what we needed to do.

At that time the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, equipping Him for what was to come. It descended in the form of a dove, just like the dove that carried the olive branch back to Noah, symbolising gentleness, peace and love.

Straight away the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was being prepared and tested. He was not being set up to fail but instead to strengthen His mind, heart and soul.

The wilderness is mentioned many times in the Bible. It is a place of preparation – like Lent which we can use to say goodbye to our old selves and find Christ.

It is a place where God communes with His people – God spoke to Abraham, Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist in the wilderness. It is not a place of hopelessness. Jesus, John, Elijah, Isaiah, Moses, Abraham etc were not in the desert by accident but by God’s design. God wanted to speak to them somewhere there would not be distractions. Jesus often went into the wilderness for rest, prayer and to teach His disciples. It provided peace away from the crowds and other distractions.

We often want to escape what we perceive as the discomfort of the desert – hardships and difficult times. But these are the times when God’s presence is greatest. It is an invitation from God for us to encounter Him and listen to Him – He wants to speak to us.

Likewise, Lent is about cutting out the distractions, about preparing and making ourselves ready for the work Jesus has for us and for Him to be in our hearts.

It is not about a show of giving up something that we don’t intend to stick to – for example, chocolate or wine or Facebook – when we know full well that we intend to indulge in what we have cut out as soon as Lent is over.

It is about preparation. In Advent we wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus as a tiny baby. In Lent we prepare for Holy Week and Easter – awaiting the sacrifice of Jesus and His resurrection. In both we should be preparing our hearts and minds, getting them ready for our Lord and the work He has for us.

Lent is about meeting God in the wilderness, listening to Him, strengthening ourselves for the work He has for us. It is about prayer. Praying more, communing with God more, conversing and listening to God. Setting aside that time for Him. So let us ask God to use this time of Lent to prepare and strengthen us for whatever lies ahead.

*Mark 1: 9-14

Rules for Life

“Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of Him upon you so that you do not sin.”

God wanted to help His people – not destroy them. But when they heard the thunder and the trumpet, when they saw the flashing and the smoke on the mountain, they were afraid.

Because of their fear, the people wanted a mediator; yet God had already granted them one in the form of Moses.

We, also, already have a mediator – Jesus.

The word fear has more than one meaning. There is the type of fear the Israelites had – that of being scared, afraid, terrified – but that is the wrong type of fear to have of God.

Then there is the right kind of fear to have of God, and that is one of awe, respect and reverence. It is through this that we are granted the boldness to approach God through Jesus Christ.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The purpose of these is how to have healthy relationships with God and each other.

God invites us to have a personal relationship with Him.

The deep significance of the gift of the Ten Commandments has been obscured by society. As a result we lose the religious awe found in this passage of Exodus and lessen our understanding.

They are not “maxims for a good life”. They ARE the living words of the living God. The God who has redeemed us. It is not the Ten Commandments which save us. Salvation is a gift of God – which He gives us freely through His grace.

There are some who try to use the Ten Commandments to conclude that we have to somehow earn God’s love and care. But actually it is the opposite. They demonstrate God’s continued love and care – giving us the law in the first place proves God’s love for us.

Our obedience is a loving, grateful response to all that God has done and continues to do.

So what is the essence of The Ten Commandments?

Jesus already gave us the answer to this when He told us that the greatest commandment is this, “To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love everyone else as we love ourselves”.

Baptism is the act of making a God choice. The making of the promises is choosing faith in God above any other life. Living our baptism means living by a single loyalty to God.

Remembering our baptism, who we are and who God is, in the inner recesses of our hearts and in the life we share together makes us grateful that God has given us these commandments, that we might find strength and shelter in our darkest times – helping us to remember that even in our darkest times we are not alone.

Talk from Holy Trinity Sheerness 8th October 2023 (Exodus 20)

Testing

This morning’s Gospel is just like my children…

… they ask testing questions and … yep – when they are asked to do something they either don’t do it or … if it’s the youngest anyway … they say “No!”; then they go away and think about it and then get on with it.

The chief priests tried to trick Jesus, testing Him, by asking where His authority came from.

Jesus, of course, did not fall into their trap. Instead, He turned it around by asking whether John’s baptism came from heaven or from human origin. They refused to answer Him, out of fear of recrimination from the crowd and damage to their reputation.

So Jesus tells this parable of the first son who refused to do what his father asked but then changed his mind; and of the second son who agreed but then did nothing.

A lesson about obedience and disobedience. The chief priests claimed to accept God’s message and would put on a show for the people – but that’s all it was – just a show. Jesus is saying they are like the second son who said “yes” but then did not obey.

The point is that those who refuse God but who later repent and follow Him, obey Him, can enter the Kingdom of God. Those who say “yes” but do not repent (which includes following through with their actions) can’t.

If the chief priests are the second son, who are the first?

Jesus answered that for us too – He points out to the chief priests that the tax collectors and prostitutes (those who were considered at the time to be the biggest sinners) were the first son and would enter the Kingdom of God first because they believed, repented and returned to God. The chief priests, who only claimed to follow God with their words but not with their hearts or actions, would not get to enter God’s Kingdom unless they truly repented.

Turning to God with repentance is the key to our salvation, no matter what our past sins might be or how many times we’ve disappointed God. He can see what is in our hearts and forgives us when we are truly sorry.

It’s what we do, not just what we say, that counts.

Let’s renew our own commitments to be faithful followers of Jesus.

Let us thank God for sending His Son who truly is who He says He is.

Let us be genuine in our actions and live in love serving others.

Talk from Holy Trinity Sheerness (Matthew 21:23-32)

Jesus’s Baptism (notes for 9th January 2021)

Two weeks ago we celebrated Jesus’s birth – the birth of a tiny baby. Last week we remembered the Wise Men finding and worshipping Jesus – a toddler. Today, we jump forward nearly three decades, doesn’t time fly, Jesus is thirty and being baptised.

In some ways, it is not strange to us that we celebrate Jesus’s baptism shortly after His birth. After all, it is not a rare occurrence for a baby to be baptised, making them a part of the family of God, washing away the consequences of the original and actual sin, granting them the hope and promise of salvation and professing the faith on their behalf whilst promising to bring them up in that faith.

Baptism is linked by Jesus to salvation. It is a symbol of the forgiveness of sins, the death of old life and the start of new life and acceptance into God’s family.

However, Jesus was not a baby. He was a grown man and the sinless Son of God.

So why did Jesus need to be baptised?

Indeed, John the Baptist asked the same thing saying “I need to be baptised by you, yet you come to me?”

Jesus replied “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

Jesus was to be the one to separate believers from betrayers. Jesus was also to bring a purifying and transforming baptism of fire; which enables us to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was baptised to identify Himself with sinful man, who He came to save. He took our sin to save us. His baptism marks the end of His old life marking the acceptance of and the start of His ministry. He is annointed by the Holy Spirit whilst He is affirmed by God as His Son (a parallel with Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down on the church).

This affirmation from God that Jesus is the Messiah also provides confirmation to John that he has completed his mission of preparing the way for the Messiah; whilst Jesus begins His earthly ministry with the blessing of God His Father and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Father God, we ask that you baptise us all again with your Holy Spirit empowering us to do your work. Amen.