The First Sunday of Lent, Year B
Genesis 9:8-17 / 1 Peter 3:18-22 / Mark 1:9-15
Pastor Gayle M. Pope
What On Earth Am I Here For?
What on
earth am I here for? That is the
question at the center of this first week of readings in the Purpose Driven
Life, which many of you are studying as part of our “40 Days of Purpose”
campaign. This is the question I am to
address in my sermon this week.
Now, as a
Lutheran Pastor, I generally preach on the Scripture readings that come from
the Revised Common Lectionary – the three-year cycle of readings that we have
in common with all the major Christian denominations and which follow the
seasons of the church year.
So I have
struggled a bit with how to address the suggested topic from the “40 Days of
Purpose” and at the same time honor the lectionary selections for Lent. I’m also aware that not everyone is
participating in the 40 Days of Purpose, and I want the sermons to speak to ALL
of you, whether you are reading from the Purpose Driven Life or not.
So, what
I have decided is to preach from the lectionary as I always do, but to hold the
suggested sermon topic from “40 Days of Purpose” next to the lectionary
readings and see how the two interact.
All of us
together are on a journey of faith which finds us now in the Season of
Lent. Through the Purpose Driven Life,
we are looking at discovering more about God’s purposes for our lives during
these 40 days. The Lenten journey is one
of repentance and turning back to God.
It is a journey that leads us to the cross and beyond the cross to an
empty tomb.
If it
wasn’t for the cross and the grave, we wouldn’t even be here in this church
talking about God’s purposes for our lives.
If it wasn’t for repentance and forgiveness, we would have no way of KNOWING
God’s purposes for our lives. So, we really are ALL on the same journey,
whatever methods or tools we are using. So
together, then, let us open our hearts
to see what these Scriptures have to say to us this morning.
The 40
Days of Purpose sermon presents to us “Life’s three Greatest Questions:” 1) The
Question of Existence: Why am I alive? 2) The Question of Significance: Does my
life matter? And 3) The Question of Intention: What is my purpose?
If we set
these three questions alongside the lectionary readings for today, some
interesting connections come to light.
The Old
Testament reading for today is the culmination of the great flood story after
God has destroyed much of creation, but preserved Noah and his family. The waters have subsided and now God makes a
covenant, not only with Noah but with the whole earth for all generations that “never
again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again
shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
Just
think if Noah was to ask the three questions: Why am I alive? Does my life
matter? And what is my purpose?
Absolutely, Noah’s life mattered.
God used him to save the earth!
But think
about what that story means for us! God made that covenant with all the earth
for all generations. That means every
single one of us was in God’s heart when He put that bow in the clouds. That
means every rainbow is a sign that you are in a covenant relationship with God
just because you exist.
God made
the covenant with no strings attached.
It is there because God loves the creatures He has created.
Ephesians
1:4 says, “Long before God laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind,
had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his
love”
Why are
you alive? You were created to be loved by God.
In the
second reading today, the writer connects the waters of the flood with the
waters of baptism, through which we are joined to the death and resurrection of
Christ.
In the
covenant symbolized by the rainbow, God shows that he loves us and desires a
relationship with us, but that covenant did not remove our sin.
The new
covenant he made with us through the blood of Jesus DOES wash away our sin and
restores our relationship with God. Our Baptism is our entry into that covenant
that makes us holy and whole so that we can live ETERNALLY with God
As we
heard in the second reading today, “For Christ suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.”
Does your
life matter? Yes – God made you to last
FOREVER – not just for this time when you exist on this earth, but for all
ETERNITY. This is so important to God –
you are so important to God – that Jesus suffered and died to make that
possible.
In the
gospel reading for today, we are first reminded of Jesus’ baptism when the Holy
Spirit came upon him. Then, we are told, “The Spirit immediately drove him out
into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and
he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”
Those two
sentences comprise Mark’s total account of Jesus’ time in the wilderness. It’s such a brief reference and yet packed
with significance.
The Holy
Spirit DROVE Jesus to the wilderness for 40 days – a place and a time frame of
spiritual significance. The wilderness
is a place of barrenness but also a place where spiritual formation takes place
– discipline and learning.
Here
Jesus was tested by the devil, but during his testing, God was with him. We see
that in the fact that wild animals did not harm him and that angels waited upon
him.
The Holy
Spirit also came upon US at OUR Baptism.
And now the Spirit is driving or leading us as a congregation to a time
of learning and formation and testing.
The struggles that I shared with you at the beginning of this message
are part of my testing. Whatever struggles you are having are part of your
testing. But the gospel shows us that God is with us during this time of
learning.
The third
question this morning was the question of intention: What is my purpose? That
is what we will be talking about the next five Sundays. But for this morning,
the answer to the question is that we get to KNOW God’s purpose by getting to
know God.
Proverbs
And one
of the main ways we get to know God is by getting to know Jesus. Ephesians
At the
end of the gospel we are told, “Jesus came to
What is
that good news? It is the same good news
we have talked about already – the good news that God has come in Christ to
save us through his death and resurrection, so that WE may live eternally with
God.
That was
the purpose that drove Jesus throughout his earthly ministry – to bring us into
God’s Kingdom by dying for our sins. And
because Jesus fulfilled HIS purpose, we can also fulfill OUR purposes through
faith in Him.
Know that
God created YOU – unique in beloved in every aspect. Know that God loves you and wants you to know
and love Him even better than you already do.
Know that Jesus died FOR YOU to make that possible.
That’s
what this journey is all about. May God
go before us to prepare the way, beside us to lead and protect us, and behind
us to encourage us. Amen.