Here’s something I’ve heard a lot over the years. I’ve said it and I’ve heard others say it as well. When our faults or shortcomings rise to the surface, as a form of apology and request for understanding, we say, “Be patient with me, God’s not done with me yet.” In other words, we are involved in a lifetime process of growth in which, we hope, God is playing an important part. It’s also a statement of hope, isn’t it? God will help me improve and, with God, improve I will.
God’s involvement our growth process is nothing new: God has been there from the beginning. The story begins in Genesis’ opening verses:
“In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, while a mighty wind swept over the water. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Thus, God began the work of creation and creation is a process that continues to this moment.
The biblical story of humanity begins with Adam and Eve, who were made in God’s image and likeness. But they don’t live up to their divine calling and the process of evil begins, until God finally decides to start all over again — the flood waters return earth to the original chaos described in the first verses of Genesis. The author of Genesis uses the same word to describe the waters on which the ark floated, as was used to describe the primordial waters in the opening account (Genesis 1:2). So, the author is hinting at a new creation, a new beginning for humans.
We begin Lent assured that, despite our sin and failures, God has not given up on us. God’s loving mercy stays with us as we turn again to God this Lent. Each Lenten season focuses on baptismal preparation and renewal. From our beginnings Christians have viewed the story of Noah and the flood as a type for baptism. The waters of the flood, 1Peter reminds us, “prefigured baptism which saves you now.” We are saved by the water; just as Noah and his family were saved by the waters that brought them to safety.
In light of the first reading’s account of God’s deliverance through the waters of Noah and 1 Peter’s reminder, it is appropriate that today our parish celebrates the Right of Election. The names of the catechumens, who will be admitted to the sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil, are enrolled. The catechumens are celebrated in the Right of Sending to the Bishop. Thus, the catechumens are preparing to enter into a new covenant with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Before we move on to the gospel let’s make a second pass over our first reading, because we can miss an important element in it. God makes a covenant not only with the humans on the ark, but also with all the earth. “I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth… between me and you and all living things….”
The reading is a challenge to us to be the voice for the Earth and all nature when greed and indifference cause people, companies and governments to harm and drain Earth’s resources. God, we hear today, is concerned for “the earth…and all living things.”
Suppose this Lent, instead of giving up sweets, coffee wine etc. we reduce the amount of plastics and paper we consume? Suppose we give up our daily coffee or hamburgers and contribute the money to an organization like Heifer which gives poor families and underdeveloped countries animals like rabbits, chickens, bees etc. Then, when people ask, as they tend to do, “What did you give up for Lent?” we will have a chance to explain the biblical and our church’s teachings about care for the environment.
If someone were to ask, “What’s Lent all about?” today’s gospel has a succinct summary. It’s about repenting (reforming) and believing. That’s a good summary of Jesus’ message: but it still lacks something. Jesus’ proclaims that in him, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Many years ago I asked a Dominican friend what he thought that meant. He said, “We have been trying to change for a long time on our own. Now God has come to help us.” We are called to reshape our lives and to believe the gospel, but we are not on our own, because “God has come to help us.” So, Lent is truly a “time of fulfillment.”
Jesus had just been baptized when Mark tells us, the Spirit of God “drove Jesus out into the desert.” That’s a rough word — “drove.” It’s as if God is in a rush and couldn’t wait any longer to come to help us. Or, as my friend said, “We have been trying to change for a long time on our own.” We needed help and God was rushing to help us change our lives. Evil’s power over humanity is about to be broken: Jesus enters the desert.
What were the temptations Jesus faced? We don’t know and the preacher should not allude to other versions of the temptations in Matthew or Luke. If Mark wanted to enumerate them he would have done so. Instead, in Mark’s account, the temptations seem quickly dispatched. What John the Baptist said earlier in the gospel, about the “more powerful one” who was going to follow after him — has been fulfilled. Jesus is powerful and has God on his side — witnessed by the ministering angels. There is also a harmony between Jesus and “the wild beast,” they offer no threat to him. It’s as if we are back in Genesis at the beginning of creation when all was right in the world among God’s creatures. The Messiah has arrived, nature and humanity are coming back to the original blessing begun by God at creation.
Lent is a good time to look over the landscape of our lives. Where’s the imbalance in our relationships? What order has to be reintroduced, or introduced, into our lives? Are we connected to the natural world around us in a posture of respect and care? What areas of imbalance and conflict in the world require extra prayer and fasting this Lent? When and where is the growth we desire in our lives?
Let’s not end with only a series of questions to carry with us this Lent. Instead, we hear again the announcement of grace that begins this season for us: “This is a time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.” It’s just as my friend told me:”We have been trying to change for a long time on our own. Now God has come to help us.”