Journey Into the Wild 2.21.21

Journey Into the Wild (Rhythm, Not Balance)

by Griff Martin
A Sermon for the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith

On Mark 1:9-15/ 1 Peter 3:18-22

For First Sunday of Lent 

February 21, 2021

*This document comes from an oral manuscript.

Now Incarnate and Present God, we ask that you once again take the Word and transform it into a living and breathing reality we can all together experience. Make us attended to your presence here in this space and in these words God, for if we are aware of your being here then nothing else will matter, but if we are not aware of your being here then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and the Comforter.

I have a notecard above my desk with the opening lines of a letter from Sylvia Plath, the brilliant confessional poet and author, I think this is one of those confessions she makes that speaks a universal truth: “It’s Lent, which means it’s probably time I start to think about Jesus again…” 

That rings true for me.

Welcome to Lent.

When I was serving as a minister in Houston the primary work I did was with young adults, which translated in the suburban church to young professional parents. I thought I would fit in but quickly realized that I did not… So I began to look at my job like a sociologist learning a new species, what did folks making high six figure salaries with newborns and nannies need from a pastor… I went to a lot of ladies who lunch brunches at the Sweetwater country club and one word emerged over and over and over… balance. 

This was not a word that I often used or had much experience with… Abby and I moved to Houston immediately after my finishing two master’s degrees in 3 years time while working full time and starting a family, we did not have balance and I wasn’t even sure if we really needed it or wanted it. 

So I did what we do today when we don’t know something, I googled "balance" and read a lot of articles and books. It was a thing and you could read everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow’s wisdom on her Goop site to Focus on the Family’s team of psychiatrists writing on the subject. It seemed everyone wanted balance. At one point I found myself reading a self help book titled Busy But Balanced and I realized that I had reached the end of my rope here. For this simple reason: nothing I was reading was true to the Gospels and that is a pretty big sticking point for me. I need truth to be evident in the story of Jesus. 

And Jesus was perhaps one of the least balanced humans to ever walk the face of then earth. 

In case you still hold onto some monastic vision of Jesus as this ethereal mystic who came in and out of the world to teach, preach, and heal and then retreated back to the woods to sit and meditate… You don’t have the whole picture just yet…. You need to add a whole lot more David Wooderson to that character and you will be much closer to the character the Gospels give us. 

My favorite description of Jesus in the Gospels actually comes from the accusations of Jesus, words that are thrown at him to condemn him. It’s from Matthew 11:19: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”

I love this Jesus. Our Jesus who knew the joys of eating a good meal with a great bottle of wine and he lingered over every sip and bite and he ate too much and he laughed so loud that it was a little too much. The table was full of those people whose reputations proceeded the -- shifty tax collectors and sex workers and sinners and folks whose theology was just a little bit out there, Jesus knew those were the best dining companions because they had the best stories and made fascinating conversation. 

I love that Jesus because that Jesus is made possible by the other side of Jesus who knew when it was time to fast from food and drink, Jesus who knew when it was time to withdraw to pray, Jesus who knew when he had given enough and needed to rest and restore. Jesus knew when he needed to stop and when he needed to go, he knew the red lights and green lights of his own soul, which is one of the most important things we can ever know about ourself. 

What Jesus was not was balanced. He would go for days on end teaching and healing and surrounded by people until he had run out of give and he needed to get away and that was when he told the disciples find me a boat and get me away from here or he just suddenly started hiking to the mountains. 

Jesus did not have balance, Jesus had rhythm. 

Jesus knew that to everything there is a time…. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to play and a time to rest, a time to fully embrace all of life and a time to rest, a time to open the bottle and a time to close the bottle, a time to retreat and restore.

Welcome to the season of Lent. 

The church knew that we too would need this rhythm. Maybe when the church calendar was created folks were not screaming out for balance but something must have tipped the church leaders off and they knew that we needed help finding and maintaining a healthy rhythm. Thus, the creation of the church calendar and seasons like Lent where we put 40 days aside to focus on our faith and souls and to pay attention and put some work into this part of our lives.

Which means that Lent is not the season where we mindlessly go without sugar for 40 days because we needed to give something up and you know what, swimsuit beach season is right around the corner so wouldn’t it be great if we could get a twofer here and we gave up sugar for Lent and we got ready to impress folks with our beach bodies?

I don’t claim to read God’s mind but I think that sacrifice might not impress God much. It’s like opening a gift from someone and realizing the gift is actually all about them and not about you. 

Lent is our season to join Jesus on a retreat, a getaway. And let me just redefine that for a second because the church has sometimes mistaken the word retreat for get away for a night and cram as much as possible into the time away. That is not a retreat. If you come back from retreat more tired and emptier than when you left, you have not retreated. 

Lent is our season to join Jesus in the wild. It’s our time to follow him from the baptismal waters right out into the wilderness so that we can reflect on God’s voice, hear God’s voice and find a spot that voice feels like home in our souls. 

To go into the dark, as Scripture tells us to go to the place with the wild beasts. 

To go into the wilderness which biblical scholar Beldon Lane says should be defined as “the place beyond safety where God’s mercy alone must suffice.” I read those words over a decade ago now and they have been tattooed on my heart ever since. Finding God in “the place beyond safety where God’s mercy alone must suffice.”

To join Jesus on this journey of figuring out who we are and what we are about, to let go of everything that is not essential and does not matter and grab onto only that which does matter (because when you are with the wild beast, you quickly figure out what matters).

And hopefully we emerge like Jesus did at the end of his 40 day Lent following his baptism- ready to do the work, ready to present in all of life… and truly it helps that we end those 40 days at an empty tomb with a gardener who knows our name beckoning us to join him in the world? Is there a more hopeful re-entry? If there is, I can’t think of it. 

And just to remind our souls, Jesus is not the only teacher and leader here. Our story begins with the very nation of Israel spending a period of time, 40 years, out in the wild learning to grow up. The prophet Elijah finally hears the voice of God after 40 days in the wilderness -- and maybe the truth of that story is that it takes 40 days to get quiet enough to hear the silence and to hear God. 

It’s an important season… and Jesus is not the only teacher and leader here. Paul goes to the wilderness after his Damascus Road experience, Ghandi, Saint Francis, Dorothy Day… all respect this rhythm of getting away and focusing on soul and faith. 

As Barbara Brown Taylor writes in her newest book, “The wilderness is a time honored place for sorting things out, for giving up beloved distractions, for deciding to live on one day’s manna at a time instead of a camper full of the comforts of home.” 

Now, I will confess that a few weeks ago the ministerial staff was talking about what we were going to do as a church for Lent this year and I have to confess that I said, I don’t want to Lent, can’t we skip Lent this year? Remember last year when we found ourselves early on in Lent suddenly homebound because of this disease we knew nothing about and one of the preacher things everyone said last year was, “it’s just the Lentiest Lent ever.” God I wish we could go back and take those words away, it was like we were just tempting fate. I mean, it’s worth noting here -- lamenting here that during Lent we will pass a one year mark of not worshipping together in person -- that is a big deal and we don’t need to skip over it. 

So, I said all of that and then Ross reminded me we could not just outright skip Lent. And as much as I want to, I know he’s right and I know that out there in the wilderness Jesus has something that I am going to learn this year if I am brave enough to follow. 

Because the wilderness has gifts to give us… just a few minutes ago quoting Scripture I talked about the wilderness being the home of wild beasts and I stopped short there… there is more…. The text continues, “with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him."

The wilderness has wild beasts but it also has angels to discover… there are demons and blessings (and they might look more similar than you can ever imagine).

Here is what I know… every time I have intentionally set aside time to focus on my faith, some things have come up that I have long avoided and ignored and stuffed aside and I finally have to deal with them, but at the same time I have found blessings that I have missed and each time I walk away prepared and ready…. In the wilderness, I always find God even if it takes all 40 days. 

Welcome to Lent.

So that is my invitation today…. Can we lent together? 

Can we commit together as a community to this time away, this time of less, this time of 40 days of focusing on our souls and our faith and our Jesus. It might mean making space in your life by fasting from something, just make sure that matters and will grow your soul. Fasting is healing, fasting enhances the beauty and fullness of life. It’s a time honored spiritual discipline. 

This Lent might be making space to take something up… my wish is that everyone of our community would take this up… intentionality together, that we will all commit to this time of worship each week and then the 5 daily prayers that will help us further explore them. This week Selena is going to walk us into the wilderness and help us to further explore this and I can’t wait to take that journey with her. And if you want to add to that, there are going to be small journey groups each week both online and in person that meet to learn from one another and support one another on our journeys. If you are feeling lonely and need community, be brave and commit to Lent together with your church. 

We will journey together each week as the Gospels take us closer and closer to the Cross and empty tomb. That is our rhythm now. Welcome to Lent.

To close where we started, “It’s Lent which means it’s probably time to start to thinking about Jesus again…”

*artwork:Wind & Sky by Teresa Smith