Wilderness Voices
Mark 1:1-11
Whenever we read the gospels it is helpful to pay attention to how the writer is telling the story. Since we have four gospels we can clearly see the differences between how they tell the same story. All four of the gospel writers include the prophecy from Isaiah about their being a “voice of one calling in the wilderness to prepare the way.” The writer of the gospel according to Mark has an agenda – just like all of the gospel writers. There is something the writer wants to communicate and the nuances differ between the gospel writers. For Mark, baptism is portrayed as a preparation for death – physical or metaphorical. The first century Jews were familiar with baptism for cleansing purposes. It was a common practice. When people came to John for baptism a common response was a desire to be cleansed of their sins – the brokenness in their lives, to change past ways. That the baptisms with John are happening in the Jordan cements the connection Mark wants us to see with the prophets Elijah and Elisha who also used the Jordan for cleansing rituals. Mark wants to clearly connect John and Elijah in the listeners’ minds – right down to the description of John’s clothes and the diet he ate.
“Wilderness” brought up certain images for the original listeners. The wilderness was not just an uninhabited place – it was a place of wandering and discovery – a place where the seeker found the presence of God. The wilderness existed on the edges of life – sometimes kept remote from daily life because it was scary or foreboding. The use of the term “wilderness” also harkens back to the Exodus story as well as to the prophet Isaiah and grounds the experience of wilderness as a place where one prepares to hear the voice of God.
So, do you see the framework Mark has laid out? John and Jesus are placed firmly within the messianic tradition and in the context of the most powerful prophetic figures of Israel’s history.
Mark describes the heavens being “torn apart” and Holy Spirit descending on Jesus as a dove. The only other time Mark uses this phrase “torn apart” is at the crucifixion where once again the heavens are “torn apart.” For Mark’s gospel, baptism and crucifixion mark two significant points of God’s revelation.
All of these are powerful images for Mark’s gospel and alert us to pay attention. I would suggest that one of the things Mark wants us to be aware of is how to respond to the voices from the wilderness. The voices from the wilderness are rarely clean, well-kept or mainstream. Wilderness voices tend to make us uncomfortable, anxious or unsettled. Wilderness voices often tell us things that challenge our long-held assumptions. Wilderness voices call us to consider options that might change us – change our minds or change our world. Of course, it takes discernment to be able to tell the prophetic voices from crazy voices. And I hope all of you understand that I am using “voices” here metaphorically! Here’s how you can know when a voice from the wilderness might be from God – does it call you to be a better person? Does it call you to make the world a better place? If it calls you to drink purple kool-ade in the jungles of Guyana, that should be a pretty easy voice to recognize as false.
Wilderness voices don’t have to be out of left-field. Sometimes they come from those who have lost their way and need help finding their way back. This week I met with two pastors who are working with the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches on a project to connect mentors from the community with inmates being released from the county workhouse. The program was started because they have found that inmates who stay connected to a mentor when they are released are more that 80% more likely not to re-offend as well as have a much greater probability of becoming constructive members of society. They approached All God’s Children because they recently had some gay, lesbian and trans inmates who would like to have mentors from their own community. Some of you may remember that Rev. Robyn did some chaplaincy work at the workhouse a couple of years ago. I have invited the pastors I spoke with to return one Sunday in March for a forum after worship where all of us can hear more about how this program works to see if it might be a place of ministry for our congregation. Could this be a wilderness voice for us?
There are many other examples of wilderness voices. Sometimes the voices that we need to heed come from places that we would not normally consider the wilderness until we recognize the radical call that is placed upon us.
George Orwell, author of Brave New World, observed, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” I would assert – in our world today – that telling the truth is using your wilderness voice – especially for those of us whose truth will cause the world to have to reconsider long-held prejudice or challenge social structures that unjustly discriminate.
Like the gospel writer of Mark, you and I must be aware of the wilderness voices around us and the wilderness voice within us.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com The Memory of Baptism, January 2009.
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2195/81/
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/c/church/twilight_wilderness.jpg
