Is there any son or daughter in this world who is not thrilled by this little declaration of praise from a parent, “I’m proud of you?” When baseball great Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth’s remarkable record, this is what he said: “I don’t’ remember the noise, or the two kids that ran on the field. My teammates at home plate, I remember seeing them. I remember my mother out there and she hugging me. That’s what I’ll remember more than anything about that home run when I think back on it. I don’t know where she came from, but she was there….” (In an interview with George Plimpton)
Hank Arron a record-breaking athlete, applauded by millions, and what he remembers most about the day he broke the world record is that his mother was there to share it with him. More recently, Shawn White became a three-time Gold Medalist in the halfpipe in snowboarding who had a similar experience. He had won the Gold 12 years ago and then again at the next Olympics, but this past winter games he did not even get on the podium. Yet this week and he found redemption, earning the gold once again at the ripe old age of 31. But what struck me about this moment was his tearful celebration with his mother and his father. He gushed words of thanks for her support and his father said it was the first time he had ever seen Shawn cry. But they cried tears of joy together. A moment of pride and celebration.
Or US Olympian Chloe Kim winning her gold medal and how proud she and her father felt being able to do that in her parent’s home country. These are moments we love to see because they remind us about the joy we find in making our parents proud of us.
Who here has not longed to make your parents proud? Who has altered the course of their life to fit into what your parents had hoped for you. Few of us ever escape the desire to please our parents. For some, that is the primary motivation that drives them on to success– even though their parents may have been dead for many years and even though they may not even be conscious of it. We are still trying to please Dad or Mom. For some, that is a crushing burden to carry. For some there is that corollary feeling that no matter what we do, we will never measure up to what we perceive as our parents’ demands. But rare is that person who does not want to please Mom or Dad.
Today we mark the first Sunday in Lent with the baptism of Jesus and his forty days in the wilderness. Forty days we will walk with Jesus preparing for his death and resurrection.
Mark’s gospel tells a very simple version, without protest from John, or three temptations from the devil. You remember those: stones to bread, testing God and worshiping Satan. All of which Jesus denies. The focus here is more on the relationship between Jesus and God. The proud words of God, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Three of the gospels report God saying these words. But only in Mark is God speaking directly to Jesus. Just like we do when we say I’m proud of you to our kids. We write it in a card, we whisper it in their ears while we are hugging them. We rarely shout it out. There is an intimacy in being pleased with, being proud of someone.
When my mother was dying from cancer, I was 28 years old and recently engaged. I knew she would never see my wedding, her grandchildren, never see me be ordained, never see what I would become. The family was gathered in her hospital room. I asked if I could have a moment alone with her. I told her I loved her and I remember saying with tears running down my face, that I would make her proud of me. I have tried to live out those words. But I think I am able to do that because she often told me how proud of me she was. It was woven into our relationship. People we love and admire we want to think well of us, we want them to be please for us.
The moment when Jesus is baptized, was one of those intimate moments. Scripture says, “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, HE saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” We do not know if anyone else saw this personal moment. But we do know Jesus shared this moment with God the Father. Then God’s words are directed to Jesus personally, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with YOU I am well please.” In Matthew we hear “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well please.” Not nearly as personal, or intimate.
Something else is unique in Mark’s telling, the first gospel written. In Matthew and Luke, the heavens were open, in Mark they were torn apart. Why is that significant? The only other time this phrase is used is when Jesus is hanging from the cross. One commentator writes, “The image is both violent and hope-filled. The only other place Mark uses this word for ripping and tearing is in the description of the moment Jesus dies on the cross, when the veil of the temple is torn in two. In both cases, God is doing the ripping…. As the heavens are being ripped apart, Jesus also sees the Spirit coming down from heaven, like a dove, not just upon him, but into him. This is the same Spirit of God that moved over the face of the waters of the deep at the creation. The descent of the Spirit signals God is now remaking the broken, sin-filled creation.” (Feasting on the Word, B2, p.47). God is recreating in this moment, when Jesus starts his ministry, his redemption of the world. But I can also hear a Father proud of a son for the potential of what he will do. For the cross he will bear for all of us. OK maybe I am anthropomorphizing God, but I think we are proud of our children before they have done anything.
A good friend just became a grandmother for the first time. Now Sloane, her granddaughter, is absolutely adorable and perfect, but the only way I can describe the joy my friend feels is pride. Pride in this newborn, who has yet to do a single thing, but breathe and be cute. Pride for the potential of all that lies ahead.
I believe God was proud of Jesus even before he started his ministry. Saying torn apart at the beginning of his ministry foreshadows what will be the end of Jesus’ ministry and life. The moment when you and I were redeemed by God, the moment we have a sense of peace from God’s grace, the moment that God so loved the world. God did give his only son, the son who filled God with pride so that we as God’s children could live in the miracle of hope, the joy of our salvation. As we walk this journey of Lent I ask you to reflect on what it meant for God to watch, to allow, to sanction the death of God’s perfect Son, so that you and I can know, live and breath the hope of redemption. And maybe ask yourself what it is you do to make God, your Heavenly father, proud of you? AMEN.
