but when he calls me, i will be able

to meet my family at God's table

Sermon on Mark's breathless introduction to Jesus Christ

Who are you? Deep down, who are you, really? What makes you, you? What events in your life have shaped you for good or ill? If you had to define yourself in one word, what would it be?

Let’s try it! Shall we? But let’s turn down the pressure a bit. Instead of, what’s the one word that defines you; let’s try something a little less definitive and a lot more chill. How about, what’s a word that describes you?

Start thinking, too. I’m going to ask you to share your answer. Don’t worry, though. I’ll talk a little to give you some time to think. What’s a word that describes you?

This is something we do from time to time. I like to do this because it engages you. You may not know this, but hearing is what really makes the sermon. And the more you make of your hearing, the more the sermon jumps to life. Here’s the cool part, though: it doesn’t just jump to life for you; it comes more alive for all of us, myself included. 

Plus, I like this exercise because it mixes it up! Sharing your answer gives you an opportunity to get to know someone else a little better. If you’re lucky, you might learn something new, and maybe even leave here with a new friend, too! Not bad, right?

Most importantly, a sermon is, properly speaking, an event. Therefore, the more active you get, the better prepared you are. And anyway, this little activity gives you all a chance to do something during the sermon. And I know you want to, too!

Alright, because it’s only fair, I’ll go first. If I were to choose a word that describes me, I’d choose earnest. Yes, this is an aspirational choice. I do believe, though, that this is an aspect of my personality that comes out in a lot of different ways. 

What about you, though? What’s a word that describes you? Go ahead and turn to someone and share your answer. And, as always, if you see someone sitting by themselves, turn to them and invite them to play along.

Ok. Go ahead and share your answer! What’s a word that describes you?

…Let’s bring it in. Thank you for playing along. It’s fun to hear all you chopping it up. Anyone want to share their answer?

Ok. Well, let me ask you, how was it? Was it hard to think of a word? Was it easy? Was it pleasant? Do you like your adjective? Did you have any realizations? Were there any surprises? 

Speaking for myself, I can say I had a little hesitancy. You may have even noticed that with the caveat I gave when I told you the attribute I chose. Honestly, a part of me felt like, who am I to say I’m earnest? The truth is, Christmas was stressful. I can’t honestly say I always pulled off earnestness.

But what about you? What about you? I ask because, one way or another, I bet you can relate. Can’t you? That’s the thing about our identities. They’re slippery. They never seem to be completely definite. Do they?

We are a mishmash of a lot of different things. And the pieces don’t always fit together all that well. Do they? Plus, we are contradictory, too. We are at odds with ourselves, one another, the world around us, and even God, our very creator, too. 

This strange fact clearly scandalized the great Dostoevsky. Many of you know I’ve been on a Dostoevsky kick for about a year. And one of the recurring themes in his novels is the upsetting truth that there is a part of every one of us that desires what is undesirable! But not only do we want what is repellant, more distressing still is how we can take pleasure in our depravity, too!

And that’s just scratching the surface! Isn’t it? Not only are we contradictory, but there is a contradiction in the very heart of our efforts to be ourselves! After all, if I have to try to be me, then the person I’m trying to be must not be who I really am! Right???

Worse still, this is the dissonance we are all trapped within! Every action is tainted with posturing, pretense, and posing! And this fact dooms us and all our actions, too! No matter how sincere we may be, a pernicious insincerity lurks within us and all our actions, too! By trying to be ourselves, we utterly fail to really be anyone at all. Yikes. Right?

…Ok. Quick! Try this: What’s one word you think of when you think of Jesus?

Do you have your answer? I’m going to ask us to share. But I want you to stick with your first answer. This isn’t a trick question, and we’re not looking for the right doctrinal answer, either. I’m just trying to get you to answer the same question about Jesus you tried to answer about yourself. 

And since it’s only fair, I’ll go first. The word I think of first when I think of Jesus is savor. But what about you? What word do you think of when you think about Jesus? 

Go ahead and share your answer. And, as always, if you see someone sitting by themselves, turn to them and invite them to play along. Ok? Go and share your answer, please. What word do you think of when you think about Jesus?

…Alright. Let’s bring it in. Thank you for being good sports. Anyone want to share their answer?

That’s about what I expected. And I’m happy to report there’s not a heresy in the mix either. But the trouble is, not a one of us said, human. Did we?

Jesus is a human, though. Isn’t he? In fact, he’s the one true human! Isn’t that what we confess? Jesus is TRULY God and TRULY human! Jesus Christ is the one true human! If you want to know what it really means to be a real-life, living, breathing human being, you need look no further than Jesus Christ!

The thing, though, is we usually do this backward. Don’t we? We usually take what we consider human and project that onto Christ. For instance, when we see Christ turning the tables, we say, “Ah, anger. That must be Christ’s human side.”

Did you catch the sleight of hand, though!?! An assumption has been made about divinity! And it’s a philosophical one, too, not a theological one! By saying emotions are human, we’re saying, in effect, that God is the god of philosophers, the god who can’t be moved, the god who is untouched and indifferent to the vagaries of this passing world.

But is that the revelation Scripture gives of God? C’mon! No, it’s not! On the contrary, nothing could be further from that! In Scripture, God is affected! God grieves. And God gets angry, too.

For heaven’s sake, God becomes! God becomes human! God gets personally involved in this fading ol’ world! I mean, Christ evokes his Father when he turns over the table! Apparently, as far as Christ’s concerned, when he turns over the table, he’s doing it on behalf of his Father!

So let’s cut it out with all that folderol! Eh? For one thing, it confines all our God-talk to the same dead end we discussed concerning our own personalities. Plus, it’s just plain dull! 

Orthodox means “right praise.” And let me tell you, the orthodox way of doing theology is so much more darn joyful! When you let Scripture do the leading, you get a humanity fully alive with the glory of God RATHER than some IDEA about God that just sits there dead on the page! Check this out: if Jesus is truly human, then Jesus is your hu-man if you want to know how to really live!

You catch the consequences? Jesus didn’t come to give you rules. No, he’s come to give you life! TRUE life, too! The life that really is life! As Jesus said, “…I have said these things so that MY joy may be in you, and that your JOY may be complete!” (Jn. 15:11)

It’s a trip! Right? Your existence is not a to-do list! You are not a human doing! No, you are a human being! You are made to be, to live in delighted dependency on God and thereby reveal the very glory of God in turn!

This means the little, lost, least, and last are not less alive! No, they’re most fully alive! It’s those who desire to be most powerful and independent who are most inhuman. Amen.

…Now then, we’re ready to turn TO Christ himself. And first, although it’s obvious, let me ask you, where do we turn if we want to meet Jesus? 

Yes, that’s right, the Bible! Scripture, you understand, is not so much a historical document. Rather, it’s a living revelation. You’re not studying a dead text when you open the holy writ. No, when you crack the spine of your study Bible, you’re asking God Thyself to SPEAK, Christ himself to show UP and show OUT, and the Holy Spirit to get to work, too! 

When it comes to reading the Bible, your sturdiest pair of dungarees is more fitting than your Sunday best. Bible study is a risky proposition! Augustine found his life flipped RIGHT side up! And the Ethiopian eunuch found himself caught up within the canon itself! Who knows what’ll happen when you read Scripture in faith?!

Alright. Now that we’re clear about where to turn if we want to meet Jesus, we now must ask, who is this Jesus we meet in the word of God? Well, in today’s Scripture, Mark, as he’s wont to do, covers a lot of ground. Jesus gives the world’s shortest sermon. And in even fewer words, he calls his first four, count ‘em, four disciples! 

It’s a bit of an enigmatic picture. And the prologue doesn’t help much, either! Before Jesus’ ministry, Mark is concerned to clear the way for him. But this only builds the suspense! 

Jesus comes in the wilderness. And John prepares the way for him. But John isn’t even worthy to do the servant’s work for Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus is baptized by John!

It’s here, though, in the very incongruence of this inappropriate act, that GOD breaks the silence on Jesus! And in the process, God FULFILLS Isaiah's ancient prophecy and tears apart the heavens themselves, too! “You are my Son, chosen and marked by MY love, PRIDE of my life,” says God. Or, as we’re used to hearing in the NRSV, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

At baptism, JESUS is most fully revealed! And whatever else you might say about him, this is the definitive word! God’s word is what gives context and meaning to all of Jesus’ preceding and subsequent words and deeds. God defines who Jesus is. Or, to say it the other way ‘round, Jesus is who GOD says he is. And here’s the kicker: SO are you! That’s right! SO are you!

…Now, I don’t mean you are who Jesus is. But, get a load of this: with Paul, YOU can say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) And one day, you will discover that’s been the truest thing about you ALL along!

Nevertheless, what I mean is that you are who God says you are. Like CHRIST, the clue to who you really are isn’t to be found in what you see. No, it’s what you hear. As Christ said, if you don’t want to sin, you must pluck out your eyes and place them in your ears. WHO you are is who GOD says you are! And, LIKE Christ, God spoke the definitive word about you in your baptism, too! 

In your baptism, all the questions about WHO you are were laid to rest once and for all! In your baptism, GOD broke the silence on you! In your baptism, GOD tore OPEN the heavens with the Holy Spirit to make an irreversible decision about you! And here it is, you are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Sounds simple, right? Think again! In baptism, God MADE you what Christ is, a child of God, come what may! In baptism, YOU belong to God, good, bad, or indifferent! 

Your identity is no longer something you MUST produce, procure, or preserve. No, your identity is provided! And on account of Christ and his resurrection, it’s something that can’t be destroyed, either! Heaven and earth may pass away, but this word of God about you will remain FOREVERMORE!

That’s not all, either! This promise is even right now summoning and sustaining you! This is why you ARE at this very instant! You exist because God is constantly speaking you and all your baptismal promises out of the nothingness that’s always creeping at the edges of life! 

And should God ever cease to speak your name, you would not just die. No, you would forever cease to ever have existed at all! You would be that non-creature that manages to be nothing at all that we spoke of at the beginning of this sermon. Instead, though, you are here right now because you’re GOD’S idea of a good time! And what’s more, God promises NEVER to go back on this pledge, too!

And if all this sounds too incredible, too personal, or just too good to be true, too bad! God is a lover! And God has determined that you are desirable to God. And the sooner YOU get used to it, the better. Like it or not, God has decided the party would be incomplete without you!

In baptism, all the questions about who you are find their yes in Jesus Christ! In baptism, God settles the matter on you for good. And I mean good, too! In baptism, God has resolved that you’re a keeper!

The question on you was never, who are you? No, instead, it’s always been a matter of, on account of Christ, by the new breath of the Holy Spirit, you are an eternally beloved Child of God! The only question, I suppose, if you insist on asking one, is, since the rest is gravy, what now? What now?

…Well, that’s between you, ALL your neighbors, and the Holy Spirit, too. I will say, though, that’s where the wild ride of faith really begins! The Holy Spirit is handing you the keys to the hotrod of eternity and the rest of it, too! Go ahead and take it for a spin!

Drive it like you stole it, though! And anyway, on account of Christ, you sort of did! The dealer, the Holy Spirit, hasn’t held onto your license. Like the foolhardy Father and the stouthearted Son, the love that proceeds from them has put everything on grace and is ready and willing to let the chips fall where they may! No ifs, ands, or buts. 

It’s ALL yours! But here’s how the trip always begins and ends, by the way, with praise! Let’s sing!