Desert Hunger

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.
Mark 1:12-15

You came up out of the water,
saw the holy dove come down,
heard the blessing of the Father:
Teach us how to hear that sound.
Draw us up out of the Jordan;
send us dripping to the waste.
As we sit there with our hunger,
send us manna, sweet to taste.

You were driven by the Spirit;
we're the servants of our need.
Jesus, help us not to fear it:
Bless the stones we have to eat.
We are driven; we are scheming;
we are shamed in our defeat.
Help us wrestle with the demons
in the shock of our retreat.

Lord, we want to sit beside you,
forty nights and forty days.
As the tempter came to find you,
come and find us when we stray.
We are hungry; we are thirsty;
we are wounded in our souls.
Flood the desert with your mercy:
Fill us up and make us whole.

Christ in the Wilderness by Ivan Kramskoy, 1872 – Google Cultural Center, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38344996

Unclean

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Mark 1:40-45

To the tune FINLANDIA:

Look down, O God, on all befouled and cast off,

on all who slink and strive to go unseen,

on all who pass in shadows and through backdoors,

on all who hide and know themselves unclean.

Look down and see, who knows what I would ask for,

yet if you wish it, you can make me clean.



You know my need, who bore it in your body,

and my desire, much as I might deny:

I would be seen, but who would see me worthy?

I would be known; from being known, I fly.

I would be loved, but, Lord, I am not lovely.

O Son of David, do not pass me by!



But if you will, O Christ, if you desire it,

then you can heal this wounded, wayward heart.

Though hidden deep, yet you can seek and find it

and bring it home, though I would dwell apart.

Though strong its chains, yet you can still unbind it

and make it whole, though I have only shards.



O tender Lord and shepherd of the broken,

who searches out the lost in every land,

you call my name—I cannot hear it spoken;

then reach for me with healing in your hands.

Now spit in dust, and bid me to be opened,

and touch my tongue to sing your praise again.

Niels Larsen Stevns: Helbredelsen af den spedalske,Healing of the Leper – Own work (Own photo)(Skovgaard Museum, Viborg, Denmark), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1430117 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Fragments

In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
Mark 1:21-28

Look on me, O Lord of heaven,

you who break the chains of hell,

see all that is unforgiven,

all unhealed—and make me well.



Yet the very words are terror:

All unchained, what will I be?

You destroy our cherished errors;

what will you destroy in me?



I cannot but bow before you,

lord of heaven, lord of earth. 

Even demons must adore you:

What am I at this rebirth?



I have fostered legions in me;

you seek undivided hearts,

yet if sin can't wholly win me,

take, at least, my better parts.



Take the fragments that have sought you,

though you shatter all that's left.

Little have I as I ought to:

Take it all, though I am cleft.



Yet, if you can, save the leavings,

though I know not what I'll be.

Take the legions I am keeping.

Change me, Lord: Let me be free.

Eleventh century fresco of the Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum. By Unknown author – Scan aus: Rudolf Lehr –- Landes-Chronik Oberösterreich, Wien: Verlag Christian Brandstätter 2004 S. 79 ISBN 3-85498-331-X, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6633986

Follow Him

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.
Mark 1:14-20

Come after me, now calls the Christ—
for this is he who walks our shores—
and you will seek a different prize
than any you have sought before.

The conquest of the sea in storm,
the freedom of the waves and wind,
the nets that fill 'til they are torn:
Leave these behind and follow him.

Go after him, and leave your nets;
leave all you've known upon the shore
and follow now through life and death:
He charts for you a brand-new course.

The jostle of the marketplace,
the hustle after every whim,
the vying for a name and place:
Leave these behind and follow him.

And after all is said and done,
he meets you on another shore:
You land beneath a rising sun
with nets that filled and never tore.

The sorrows of a broken world,
the wounds from every sharp-edged sin,
the hunger for a heart made pure:
Through all of these you followed him.

Now see! The nets you left behind
are filled beyond the hoping for.
And all you loved, you yet shall find
in Christ's own feast on heaven's shore.