Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Yada, Yada


First Sunday of Lent
     One of the other things from the survey—one of those things that take some people out of the worship experience—is exceedingly long prayers.  You may be surprised to find out that I actually agree with that.  Of course, not everyone can just come up to me and say, “Brian, do you know how long that prayer was?  It was about eight minutes long, I was timing it.”  I am not fragile.  When someone says that to me (and thank God, someone actually said that to me), my response is, “Really, you timed a prayer?  Yeah, you’re right: anything over three minutes does seem excessive.  I can easily fix that.” 
     But surveys get that job done too, especially anonymous ones.  I don’t want to do things that take people out of the worship experience, no one does; so if I can make adjustments without lessening the worship experience for someone else, of course I will.  Besides, I don’t like excessively long prayers any more than you.  I’ve got pastor friends; we are a wordy bunch.  Telling me, “Hey, that prayer was really long,” isn’t offensive; it’s helpful.  I don’t want to be that pastor. 
     But then again, I don’t want to say too little either.  Take the sermon, for example: for some (and remember, the surveys were anonymous so I don’t know who you are), but some would rather I not write out my sermon ahead of time.  I get that: you don’t want a robot-pastor; you want someone who believes in and is transformed by God’s Word.  But I’ve actually tried showing up with just Scripture and some notes.  For a message longer than a brief homily, it’s a train wreck.  I go off on tangents.  I miss vital points to the Scripture texts.  My stories don’t seem to have endings.  When I don’t write it out, I don’t say enough. 
     It is a bit like our Scripture lesson this morning.  I like the Gospel of Mark because it isn’t too wordy; you can get through the Gospel of Mark maybe in one sitting.  But doesn’t it seem this morning that Mark isn’t quite wordy enough?  Doesn’t it seem that there are things here that we should be hearing more about? 
     I can certainly make a point, in a prayer and in a sermon, without saying more than needs to be said (and I honestly appreciate the encouragement to do so); but there are also times when it is spiritually good for us to take as long as it takes.  We live in a society where we can have anything we want whenever we want: we can even pick and choose the items we consume or don’t, based on whatever criteria we choose; but it is not so with faith.  With faith, rather than expecting God to meet our specific needs and wants, we need to have the patience to listen for what God wants for us. 
     There are ways that we can keep our conversations brief, right?  Like asking “right?”  If you agree, I can skip the explaining part. 
     Like the phrase, “Yada, yada, yada.”  You’ve heard that before, right?  I used to think that I knew where that phrase came from, but it turns out that no one does.  I had thought before this week that it had Hebrew roots because it sounds like the Hebrew verb “yadah,” but I was way off and I don’t know where I got that idea.  But it’s okay because no one else really knows where the word came from either: I’ve seen theories this week linking it to old English, to Scottish, and even to Norwegian.  So, long story short, we don’t know where it came from; all we know is how the phrase was popularized in the 90’s. 
     The Seinfeld episode titled “The Yada, Yada” has some morally sketchy parts to it, so I won’t delve too deeply into the plot points.  Except to say that the humor of the episode involved what can happen when we shorten our stories with the phrase “yada, yada, yada.” 
     Ideally, it’s meant to skip us along to the interesting parts of the story and “yada, yada” past the less important parts.  “I was super stressed out about the workshop next weekend and how I was going to put everything together and get a sermon done; yada, yada, yada, I got a guest preacher for next Sunday.”  You get the point.  But the Seinfeld episode was more about those times when we “yada, yada” past the important stuff; that we assume people know things they don’t know.  For example, there is a wedding scene toward the end of the episode and George comes in without his date (the date that we found out earlier was a habitual shoplifter).  They ask him where she is and he says, “She was getting shoes for the wedding, yada, yada, yada, I'll see her in 6 to 8 months."  You get the point, but it seems he yadad past the interesting part of that story.  Sometimes we yada, yada past the good stuff, past the seemingly most important stuff. 
     Our Scripture lesson today is seven verses long.  In those seven verses, Mark tells us about the baptism of Jesus, his forty days of temptation in the wilderness, John’s arrest and the beginning of his ministry.  That beginning, but the way, has some heavy theological concepts: the nearness of God’s kingdom; repentance and belief; and what Jesus means by “Good news.”  All of this, in seven verses. 
     As we begin this Lenten season, I’m struck by the thought: did Mark just “yada, yada” past forty days?  “And the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness.  Forty days later, yada, yada, yada, and the angels waited on him.”  We know from other Gospel accounts that there was a lot that went on in that wilderness for those forty days.  Mark zips past it in two verses. 
     Throughout Lent, I’m trying to center my attention on Jesus.  Lately, I’ve been focused inwardly on who we are as a church and I’ve been encouraging you to listen for God’s guidance in this as well.  So it occurred to me, as we journey through this season leading us toward Easter, it might be a good reminder to look outside myself for a while; to keep our eyes focused, not just on ourselves, but on Jesus.  So, personally through my own Lenten practices and professionally through my preaching and teaching, my goal is to keep our focus on the life, and words, and work of Jesus. 
     So it may seem strange that I picked a passage that seems to “yada, yada” right past so much of that life, those words, and that work.  Well, there is a method to it.  I picked this passage to remind us all that forty days is not so long.  Now, if you’re one to take on a fast for Lent then forty days seems like forever; at least at first.  But I think you’ll find, by the end of those forty days, you’ll wonder where they went.  The glory and joy of Easter morning will be here soon enough and my hope for us is that we not just let this season yada, yada by. 
     I encourage you this season to make the most of it: get to know Jesus on a deeper level.  Study his life as it’s told in Scripture; maybe in other Gospels that don’t yada, yada as much as Mark.  Seek to better-know Jesus in his Baptism as you reflect on the meaning of your own.  Seek to better-know Jesus in his fasting and temptations, perhaps as you take on a fast and reflect on what tempts you.  Seek to better-know Jesus as the Good News of God as you reflect on how God is calling you to be Good news to the world.  Seek to better-know the kingdom Jesus proclaimed as you look for it all around you.  Seek to better-know his call to repent and believe as you seek repentance and deeper belief. 
     Easter will be here sooner than you think.  May we make the most of this season and may we know our Savior’s presence as we do. 

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