Jack Hardaway
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Appearances can deceive.
A purring cat that scratches.
A dog wagging its tail that bites.
A sunny day that rains.
The beauty of nature and the danger of the untamed wild.
The garden with poisoned fruit.
And a wilderness whose fruit is medicine for the sick.
And then there is the dove of peace that abducts and casts out the beloved.
The Spirit of God like a gentle caressing breath becomes a driving storm, a terrifying wind, an unstoppable force beyond nature.
In the Gospel According to Mark the Spirit of God, like in the old folk ballad, is mean as a mink and sweat as sodipop.
The Holy Spirit in Mark’s gospel, is untamed and relentless.
The breath of God rips open the sky, Jesus tumbles away in the storm, and disappears into the barren wilds for forty days, a place inhabited by the devil, and angels, and wild animals.
He was tempted. The time of trial.
He is like a new Adam, all over again.
The first Adam failed, he fell to temptation, and was cast out of the garden.
Jesus is cast out into the wild, where he overcomes temptation, and the wild becomes the new garden, taken back by God, the biggening of God reclaiming the world, inhabiting the world with the Spirit, setting the captives free, medicine for the sin sick and world weary.
Confrontation.
Spirit driven, unavoidable, confrontation.
Not a retreat from the world.
Rather facing off with the darkness. Reclaiming God’s world.
Whoever thought baptism could be so exciting?
Lent is all about baptism.
For most of us Baptism and the gift of the Spirit are festive affirmations of the gift of life and faith in midst of ordinary lives.
We mark the occasion with family and friends, rather than being cast out into the wild to wrestle with the devil, we go to brunch and eat deviled eggs.
As it should be.
The gifts of civility, and fellowship, and food, and the generations all gathered together, the outward and visible sign of the inward spiritual gifts of life and faith, passing down through the flesh and blood of humanity.
All those things that we took for granted, that we so long for now.
Civility. Fellowship. Shared meals. The generations gathered together. The inheritance of flesh and blood and Spirit. Inhabited by God.
The Lenten confrontation with the darkness for most of us is in the simple ordinary things of ordinary lives, marking that flesh blood is filled with the holiness of God.
Reclaiming the holiness of simply being alive, lifting up our hearts to the Lord with the gift of every breath.
Making soup to share. Delivering bags of hospitality and holiness. Calling to check in. Filling the food pantries. Keeping the soup kitchen going. Inviting others to a life of prayer.
Choosing real relationships and community over online conspiracies and spite. Always reaching out. Always inviting. Always choosing generosity. Just showing up for each other.
Appearances can be deceiving.
Simple ordinary lives filled with the Spirit of God.
A gentle dove of peace, a storm from God, and the stuff of ordinary lives that aren’t so ordinary after all.
Lives crammed and crowded with God.
Believe in the good news.