First Sunday after Christmas (Year 2, NL)

In a culture that finds repentance unintelligible, impractical, or unnecessary, we are called to witness to its intelligibility, beauty, and importance.

Here in Minnesota, Lent is an almost unbearably slow wait.

This week’s readings are generally about the faithful. Deuteronomy describes God’s faithful care of a “wandering Aramean” or “Syrian about to perish”—most likely Jacob. The psalm echoes God’s faithful care of God’s own, safely abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. Paul reminds the Romans how uncomplicated it is to come by salvation: it only takes faithful hearts and faithful speech. And we see Jesus’ profound faithfulness as he survives the devil’s temptations in the wilderness.

Preaching these texts looks easy enough, maybe even uninspiring. It doesn’t get much more basic than faith.

What can we possibly find in Mark's terse temptation account to help us in our wilderness wanderings?

Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed. If only we could respond so quickly.

As the second Sunday in advent approaches, I find the prophets of the season compelling. To my ears, their message sounds pretty consistent: "Change the ways of this world."

I'm afraid I want the good news of Christmas without the challenge.

If it were me, I would have stayed in the fishing boat or dithered about what to do until Jesus was just a speck on the horizon.

Will the water bring death or life?

Sometimes I’m watching TV news and reach the point where I cannot take in all the violence and destruction. So I turn off the television and try to get involved in something that will take my mind off the news. God, however, does not have that option. God does not have a remote control to change the channels. God cannot move to the suburbs or close a door to hide from the violence. God’s eyes are not averted. God’s heart is not numbed.

As Mark begins, it might seem a little early for Jesus to be commended as one with whom God is well pleased.

In an account in which only Satan, wild animals, and angels are with Jesus, the reader is also present.

From the first instant of creation, water has played midwife to God’s creation story. After the flood, God set a rainbow in the clouds. God saw your people as slaves in Egypt, and led them to freedom through the sea. God brought their children through the Jordan to a promised land. And in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb.

In my Swedish childhood, the signature image of Advent was Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.