Text: Mark 2: 29 – 39 /
Message by: Rev. Carol Kniseley
Hurry Up…and Wait!
I can remember the Dean of the seminary coming into
one of our preaching classes and asking a question. In fact, it was such a good question…that
it has stayed with me ever sense. What
he asked was this: ‘why do people
come to church?’ After fielding
a number of the usual responses, such as ‘to see their friends’…’it’s
the only time my wife allows me to eat the donuts’…even to ‘it’s a
great way to start the week’…the Dean drew a long breath, and said: ‘People come to church…to hear a word from
God’. And he walked out.
In the Health Ministry luncheon we had here on
Saturday, Parish Nurse Bonnie Hughes said something that I thought hit
the nail right on the head. She said,
“People come to church with all kinds of
needs. And it’s our role, even
our obligation, as Christians…to try and meet those needs.’ What I hear Bonnie saying is that every
single person who enters these doors, has a
need that needs to be met. And for
many, as we heard in today’s Gospel story, the need is more likely than not
one of personal health and well being.
From a personal point of view, I believe folks
come to church…looking for Jesus.
And Mark’s Gospel is bound and determined to help us
understand ‘why’. If there is one
thing about Mark’s Gospel that I truly enjoy, it is the pace. In typical Markan fashion, things happen
quickly. The Jesus portrayed
in Mark’s Gospel seems to be stuck in ‘fast-forward’ mode. There is an innate sense of “urgency” to everything that Jesus
does. Something that
as a Pastor, one of my greatest fears is that we in the church have lost sense
of such a feeling.
Every where Jesus goes, it seems, he is being
bombarded with the same mantra: ‘everyone
is searching for you!’ In other
words, why don’t you stay put Jesus!
There are so many in need…so many that you could help…if only there
were enough time. The problem
is…for the world, time is running out, and Jesus knows it. That is why Mark wants us to know early
on, that Jesus is not one that can be pinned down. Not to one place. Not to one people. Not even to one time.
Jesus came, as he said, to
save the world
and everyone in it. And he is
doing so…one person at a time.
And so the “word from God” that I believe we are to hear today
can be summed up in just four words: hurry
up…and wait! Let me
explain.
Today, we have in our presence, an infant who
has been brought here to God’s house for the purpose of being baptized. Annika Marie Springer. She is all of 26 days old. If you get the idea that the parents just
might be in a bit of a hurry, well…I’d have to say you are right. Yet knowing the parents, Sabrina and
Khary, I am quite sure that they are here because deep down in their
heart of hearts “they know”… that what their daughter really needs
above all other needs…is Jesus himself. And so, whether she even knows it
cognitively or not, this child…this infant…this miracle named for grace…is
looking for Jesus. Thanks be to
God, her parents aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet in enabling
her to begin her new life today.
Now wait a minute, Pastor, you might be thinking. This child has just been born…why in the
world would she need to enter into a ‘new life’ all over again? Because as sweet and innocent as this
child may be…she in fact symbolizes what all of us in this world desperately
need. We need to be brought in
to the very presence of God…where two very important needs will be
met:
1) our sins will be wiped
away
(those things that
separate us from God)
2) and we will be lifted up to
a new life in Christ.
And as we all know, only God can forgive sins. And only God can bring about the promise
of a brand new life. So, of
course, knowing what God is just waiting to do…why would
anyone not want their child to be baptized? Again, the sense of urgency is a real
one. People come looking for
Jesus…who are we to not show them the way?
The other epiphany that this text has to
teach us is one that I almost missed.
Understanding the sense of urgency that Jesus felt to go and
spread the good news to others outside the local scene…why in the world
would we want to ‘wait’? Well, to
begin with, it all depends on how we define the word ‘wait’. According to the dictionary, to wait
means:
to stay or rest in
“expectation”; to be in readiness mode; to defer; (and then this one that really got me to
thinking…) to act as an attendant or servant to another. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Jesus came to
‘wait’ on others…or as he said, to serve
others. Puts a whole new light on
what it means to be a ‘waiter’ or a ‘waitress’, doesn’t it? You and I are called to “wait” on one
another, to serve one another, because when we do…that’s when the
Now I ask each and every one of us…is that not
why we really came here? Did we
not come with a sense of ‘expectation’…as we wait on the Lord to make himself known? I
will confess…that I, too, come here ‘looking for Jesus’. Thinking that I will hear
his voice as the lessons are being read…or catch a glimpse of him somewhere in
the music. But invariably, where
I tend to find him every single time…is right where he said he would be.
In the breaking of his body…and the
pouring out of his blood…Jesus comes.
In the splashing of the water…or the squeal of an infant
wearing a wet baptismal napkin…Jesus comes. And in these simple acts of grace…promises
are being made not only by the parents and sponsors, but by
we in the congregation as well.
Why?
Because we believe, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that the world is being saved…one person at a time. Hurry up and wait…it’s an epiphany we in the church are still called to live by. Thanks be to God. Amen