Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the First United Presbyterian Church of Mingo Junction, Ohio on Sunday, February 21, 2020.
Mark 1:9-15 [Contemporary English Version]
About that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As soon as Jesus came out of the water, he saw the sky open and the Holy Spirit coming down to him like a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”
Right away God’s Spirit made Jesus go into the desert. He stayed there for forty days while Satan tested him. Jesus was with the wild animals, but angels took care of him.
After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!”
Now, let me ask y’all a question. When you hear the words “ready, set, go,” what sort of stuff immediately comes to mind? That some kind of race or contest is about to begin, right? Of course, it probably involves something that’s athletic, you know, like a 50-yard dash or a downhill slalom or maybe the tip-off in a basketball game. But it could also be the start of “Call to Duty” or “Jeopardy” or maybe a rousing game of musical chairs. But regardless of the competition, the words “ready, set, go” kind of kick things off.
But even more than that, I think they also have what you could call a universal meaning. For example, when you hear the word “ready,” that means you better get all your last minute preparations done, because the whistle is about to blow. And then, when you hear “set,” that means you better be looking forward, you know, toward your goal as well as the way you plan to get there. And then, with “go,” well, that tells you, in no uncertain terms, that now’s the time to go: you know, to run the race or play the game. Now I think that’s pretty much what those three words mean.
And I’ll tell you why I mention that this morning. In the passage that we just read from the Gospel of Mark, I think we have three little stories that do for Jesus what the words “ready, set, go” do for us. You see, according to the Evangelist Mark, this represented the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. In other words, given the fact that in Mark there’s no birth story or escape into Egypt or appearance in the Temple, this is the first time Jesus entered the story and began doing what he was called to do. And so, in the space of these seven verses, I think Mark told us how Jesus got ready and how he set himself for the job he’d been given to do and how he got started on that work. Now that’s what I believe happened.
And you know, since we’re followers of Jesus Christ, I think these stories can do the same kind of thing for us. And so, with that in mind, we’re going look at these three little stories. And then we’re going to consider how they related to Jesus and then how we might apply each one to ourselves as we try to live the kind of lives Jesus has called us to live.
About that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As soon as Jesus came out of the water, he saw the sky open and the Holy Spirit coming down to him like a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.” [Mark 1:9-11, CEV]
Now that’s what the Evangelist wrote and just think for a minute about what this communicated to Jesus, and remember, in Mark, we don’t have anything having to do with shepherds and wise men and the “word becoming flesh.” You see, it was right here that Jesus received his identity. I mean, after he came out of the water, two things happened. First, Jesus saw the sky open and the Holy Spirit come down on him like a dove. And second, he heard that voice from heaven say to him, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.” In other words, as Jesus was getting ready to do what he came to do, he learned that God’s Holy Spirit was on him. But more than that, he also learned that not only was he God’s Son, but that we was loved by his Father. You see, this was what Jesus learned.
And I’ll tell you, when we apply the story to ourselves, this is something we can know too. I mean, as we get ourselves ready to be the kind of men and women God created and called us to be, we can know that the same spirit that rested on Jesus also rests on us. And through that Spirit, we have an understanding we could never have on our own. It’s like what Jesus said to disciples:
The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you. [John 16:13-15, CEV]
And so, as we get ourselves ready, we can know we have the Spirit, but that’s not all.
We also can know that God has made us his sons and daughters and that we’re loved by our heavenly Father. And if this is something about which we’re not sure, just listen to what Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God. [Ephesians 1:4-6, CEV]
And so, just like Jesus was prepared for his life, so are we when we remember what we’ve been given and who we are in God’s sight. You see, that’s how we’ve been made ready, and that’s something we can take from the first story.
And I’ll tell you, that just makes sense when you think about the two things that Jesus faced in that desert. I mean, one, he faced forty days of testing by Satan, which is a whole lot worse than those three temptations both Matthew and Luke wrote about. No, this was forty days of constant and unrelenting testing, something Jesus would see in later in his ministry, particularly when this happened:
Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.” Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant.
Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. But when Jesus turned and saw the disciples, he corrected Peter. He said to him, “Satan, get away from me! You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.” [Mark 8:31-33, CEV]
You see, the testing and tempting was still there throughout his life, but so was the presence and the love and care of God, his father. You see, thanks to what he experienced in the desert, Jesus was set to face the challenges before him.
And I’ll tell you, as soon as we decide to recognize that same reality for ourselves, man, we’re set too. For example, on one hand, I think we need to accept that, from time to time, life becomes so challenging that we feel it must be some kind of test. Life can be tough, and we really don’t help ourselves when we deny it. On the other hand, thought, I believe it’s also important to acknowledge that God is with us right there in the middle of whatever we’re enduring. And you know, recognizing that both are real, well, I think that was what Paul was telling the Romans when he wrote:
By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God’s undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. But that’s not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love. [Romans 5:1-5, CEV]
You see, recognizing that both tests and comfort lie ahead of us, I think that sets us up to face the future, something we can claim when we apply the second story.
After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” [Mark 1:14-15, CEV]
Now that was what Mark wrote.
And as I read it, it sure seems as though Jesus was making two pretty clear points. I mean, I think he was telling his audience that the world was changing and changing for the better. In other words, God’s kingdom, something that Jesus would later compare to a tiny mustard seed and a little bit of yeast, that reality was on its way and would soon grow into the biggest of all shrubs and influence the entire lump of dough. Paraphrasing Bob Dylan, for Jesus, the times they were a-changing. And for that reason, now was the time to act. I mean, now was the time to turn away from the values of the world and turn back to God and then to believe that the victory had been won. You see, when he went to Galilee, that was the message Jesus shared.
And I’ll tell you, if we want to go forward, and I’m talking about in the direction God has called us to go, we can respond to that same message right here and right now. For example, right here, we can decide that God’s kingdom is coming; therefore, our time here on earth is limited. Of this we can be sure. And since that’s the case, we can also decide that right now God has given us the chance to act, you know, to focus on what God has called and equipped us to do and then to do it. Put another way, God has given us the chance to do the best we can with what we got, something that I think the Apostle Paul believed he’d done, which enabled him to look back on his life and say, “Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.” [2 Timothy 4:6-8, CEV] You see, we can go out and respond to what Jesus said with both hope and urgency, something that I think we’re able to do when we apply the third story.
Now before every game, there are certain things that the players will do whether the specific words are used or not. I mean, it’s important for them to prepare themselves and to look forward and then to start playing the game. And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what happened to Jesus and can happen to us. For example, at his baptism Jesus saw the Spirit and heard the voice, two things we can also remember as we prepare ourselves to follow him. And during his time in the desert, Jesus got a glimpse into the kind of testing and care he was going to experience in the future, something we can also recognize as we look forward. And finally, since he went into Galilee to proclaim a message of hope and urgency, as we set out to be the people we’ve been called to be, this is a something to which we can all respond. And so, having said all that, I have only three words left to say: ready, set, go.
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