UCC Church of Charlotte

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Sermon for Sunday, March 1st
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Sunday, March 1, 2009 8:16:47 AM
From:
Phil Hobson   
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To:
Phil Hobson 


Pushed, Pulled, Led or Sent?
Psalm 25:1-10
Mark 1:9-15

Grace and Peace to you this morning.  Grace and Peace.
    
The order of things in the Bible sometimes makes me wonder.  Jesus is baptized, and the heavens are opened, and the Spirit descends like a dove, and he is blessed as the beloved of God.  

We can close the curtain, roll the credits, finish the story right there can’t we?
    
But it goes on in the next line, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”  You can tell it is Mark.  Mark is always in a hurry.  Suddenly, immediately, and then, right away - this is the language of Mark.  
    
And this story is used at the beginning of Lent to remind us of Jesus’ forty days of temptation and fasting and preparing for his ministry.
    
But the word I am interested in this morning is “drove.”  The Spirit immediately “drove” him out into the wilderness.  Matthew and Luke put it differently; they write that Jesus was “led” by the Spirit.
    
And then there is what happens in the wilderness.  

And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; 
and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. 

So there are two things going on here to pay attention to: that the blessing comes first, and then the temptations; and the Gospel writers say it a little differently, in one Jesus was driven, and in the two others, Jesus was led.
    
Maybe it is simply Mark’s urgency that requires the Spirit to drive Jesus into the wilderness, instead of simply being led.
    
But we also know that the Spirit has worked on us at different times in different ways.  There are those moments when inspiration comes like a bolt of lightning, and those other times when an idea, a calling, just sort of nags at us, works at us for a while until we get it.
    
There are those times when we are calmly led to a new place, a new way of seeing things, a new opportunity.  And there are those times when we are driven to get something done, to get a move on, forced to look at things in ways we never imagined.
    
Being open to the Spirit doesn’t mean the same thing will happen every time it shows up.  Sure, in the Gospels, every time the Spirit comes, people speak, they tell the truth, they exclaim and praise and preach and prophesy.
    
But the Spirit does other things.  When we pray “lead us not into temptation,” we may balk at the idea that God would tempt us.  But Abraham was tested by God.  And Jesus, whether we say the Spirit led him or drove him, it was the Spirit that got him to the wilderness for temptation and testing.
    
We test things all the time.  If it is a new recipe, do we try it on company first?  No, we test in on family.  
    
How many of us can buy clothes without trying them on, to see if they fit us or look good on us?
    
You golfers, do you just grab the first club you find and buy it, or do you try them out?
    
Anybody grabbed the first car off the lot?  No, we test drive some first.
    
We try stuff out to see if what we have is what we need.  We test it to see if it is what si best for us.  We check and see if it is up to the use we will put it to.
    
Maybe that is why God tests us.  To move us out of our comfort zone and strengthen us for even greater service.  So that we might learn what our gifts are, those hidden ones that we find out we have after the fact.
    
Whoever said people are like bags of tea got it right.  To really find out what is really inside us, we have to put them in hot water.

But the blessing, then the test.  This seems out of order.  Normally, you take the final exam, and if you do well enough, you pass the class.  You complete your school work and the you graduate.  You fall in love, decide you are going to spend your life with this person, and then you get married.
    
But marriage is not a one time commitment, made on the day of your engagement, or on the day of the ceremony.  It is a daily commitment.  You make the commitment, and then it gets tested.
    
Baptism is not the final exam for faith.  Neither is confirmation, or even ordination.  Baptism, confirmation, ordination - none of these is a certificate of mastery of the Christian faith.  If anything, they are simply advanced learner’s permit.  Maybe we are ready to learn more, grow more, get tested more.
    
Getting a helmet and a jacket does not teach me what I need to know about being a fire chaplain.  This is just the stuff that allows me to be on scene where I can learn and grow into the job.

Most blessings are advanced learner’s permits.  Most blessings come and then you get tested and trained.  Most blessings should end, “thanks be to God....now get ready!”
    
It may seem unfair.  It may seem backwards.  But then we need to pay attention to the rest of the words.  Whether led or driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, the Spirit is there.  Whether the test is expected or catches us off our guard, God with present.  Whether or not we think we are ready for whatever we face, we have the whole host of celestial support systems.  And prayer is always there, waiting for us to pick up the receiver.
    
Whatever the temptation, there is one more powerful who has got our back.  No matter what the problem, there is one who makes a way where before there was no way.  No matter what the difficulty, there is one who is present, who is infinite, who is faithful.
    
Thanks be to God.....Now get ready.
    
Amen.