The Water and Wilderness: Recent Episodes
Rev. Mark Stuckey
In the Gospel of Mark there are three dominant images that continually cycle through the book: the water, the wilderness, and the cross. The water is a place people fear because you can’t see below the surface. The wilderness is a place people fear because as far as the eye can see it’s an empty unforgiving landscape. For the first 8 chapters in the book these two images structure the overarching story revealing Jesus as master of both. They blend into timeless lessons and timeless truths. As these two images start to paint a landscape of hope we are introduced in chapter 8 to a new image - the cross. The cross is the image of death and yet as the book progresses the gospel writer weaves the thread of hope in the remaining chapters and leads the listener and reader to see… Jesus has experienced them all, is present in them all, and has power over them all. This podcast is a digital archive of sermons and lectures from the Rev. Mark Stuckey exploring the seen and unseen places we fear the most through the lens of the gospel and the hope of Jesus. Mark is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church serving in the Pacific Northwest Conference. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor teaching modern liturgy and worship at George Fox University.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.