Mark 1:9-15
Did you catch that? And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I
am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild
beasts; and the angels waited on him. Right after his divine status as
God’s Son is revealed, Jesus is driven into the desert to discover just how
human he is. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t give us any particular
temptation stories, so we can only imagine what horrors Jesus dealt with while
he hungered under the hot sun of the Judean wilderness. Maybe he was tempted to
misuse his power; maybe he was tempted to doubt his identity or question his
mission. But in my mind that’s way too tame. He was with the wild beasts, and not
just the ones prowling in the desert, but the ones inhabiting his own heart. He
must have grappled with selfishness, greed, lust, and anger. He must have had
bleak moments when he wanted to give into despair and give up. He surely knew
what it felt like to be frail and vulnerable. He wouldn’t be human if he didn’t
experience all of that. And yet in the midst of it, the angels waited on him. I
cannot stress this enough: right when Jesus is weakest and most human, God
loves him and cares for him. And only after that happens can he begin his
public ministry. Only then can he say with authority, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent,
and believe in the good news.
So, what is the good news? We better follow all the rules and obey all the laws? That’s hardly good news, and in fact it’s not news at all: people had believed that for centuries — and the results speak for themselves. Is the good news that Jesus died for our sins? Well, in this story that hasn’t happened yet, and the people first hearing this message had no way of knowing it would happen. No, the good news is Jesus himself. He walks out of the wilderness literally embodying the Gospel: the kingdom of God has come near. God meets us in all our limitations and loves us in all our humanity.
That is not an intellectual idea for Jesus — it’s a lived reality: he just soaked that message up while he struggled in the desert. That’s why the Letter to the Hebrews can say, We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are (Heb. 4:15). But here’s the amazing thing: just as Jesus shares fully in our humanity, so we can share fully in his divinity, in his intimacy with the Holy One he calls Abba, “Daddy.” We don’t need to be perfect or flawless, or even just better than our neighbor; we don’t need to earn it — we can’t. God just loves us as we are. God meets us where we are. No matter what. This is why it’s called good news. It’s so simple. So freeing. So awesome.
And so inspiring for our mission to the world, a world we are supposed to encounter like Jesus does, with compassion and mercy. Except that doesn’t always happen. A few years ago, the Barna Research Group did a sobering study of what young people ages 16-29 think of Christians. Do you know which adjective most respondents used to describe Christians? Loving? Nope. Compassionate? Nope. Merciful? Nope. Helpful? Nope. Marginally nice? NO! Almost ninety percent of those surveyed said that Christians are . . . wait for it . . . judgmental. And can you blame them? You see the news. So many people who claim the title “Christian” define themselves by what they’re against. We hear it all the time. “Christians” are against abortion. “Christians” are against gay marriage. “Christians” are against any sex outside of marriage. “Christians” are against full equality for women. “Christians” are against secular culture. “Christians” are against Muslims. “Christians” are against change. “Christians” are against the world. Sometimes I wonder why in God’s name would the world want anything to do with us? Too often the church’s message has not been, For God so loved the world, but rather, “God doesn’t love as you are at all. In fact, God is disgusted and angry, so you damn well better change. Or else.” At the risk of stating the obvious, that is, um, not good news.
What if we took this Gospel seriously and actually allowed God to love us as we are, with no strings attached? In the Gospels, Jesus hangs out with sinners all the time and enjoys them. He doesn’t require that they stop being sinners, but his unconditional love changes people. Maybe if we experienced God’s unwavering mercy and full acceptance of us in our worst moments, then we would extend mercy and acceptance to others in their worst moments. Maybe if we realized that we are all flawed and fallible people who are infinitely cherished as we are, then we would stop hating and demonizing others as they are. Maybe if we knew in our hearts that God does not condemn us, then we would stop judging and condemning others. Maybe if we took the Gospel seriously, the church would be the light of the world. If you are looking for an act of metanoia, “changing your mind,” to engage in this Lent, how about that one. What if we acknowledged every weakness, flaw, and sin in our lives and accepted God’s complete forgiveness and unconditional love? What if we let that love touch every aspect of our lives, including the way we relate to others? In other words, what if we actually practiced what we preach? Then the Good News would really be good news; and we would be happier people; and the world would be a happier place.
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