It was a hot, muggy, Friday evening, and a pastor was out in the parking lot of the church, barbequing for a church picnic. He didn't notice the young man who had come up behind him until the man spoke. "You the preacher?" he asked. After determining that the man was neither armed nor dangerous, the pastor answered, "Guilty as charged. What can I do for you?" "Oh, I don't need anything," he said. "One of your church members invited me to come for the barbeque, and I just wanted to meet you."

He introduced himself and they shook hands. The pastor asked if he attended church anywhere on a regular basis. He had a smirk on his face as he answered, "No, not any more. I used to go to church when I was a kid, like everybody else, I suppose. In fact, I attended THIS church when I was growing up, even got baptized here. But eventually, I outgrew the need for God and church and all that religious stuff." "Really?" the pastor said. "Tell me how that works. I mean, how does one 'outgrow the need for God and church and all that religious stuff'?" The man replied, "Well, the way I see it, religion is sort of like training wheels." The pastor's curiosity was aroused. "Training wheels? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You know," he said, "like the training wheels you have on your first bicycle when you're a kid, before you learn how to ride. You have these little training wheels on the back to balance the bike so you don't fall over so much. Well, religion, to my way of thinking, is sort of like moral training wheels. You need it when you're young, before you're old enough to get out into the world on your own, before you know what you're doing. Once you get more confident in yourself, in your ability to handle any obstacle that gets in your way, you take off the training wheels so you can ride alone, be independent. That's the way I look at God and church and religion. It's just training wheels. And I don't need them anymore. I'm all grown up now. I can handle it by myself."

I have discovered that the point of view as stated by a stranger in a church parking lot is much more popular than you might think! Despite the claims of some who say that we are more religious than we have ever been, it seems to me that this new interest in religion is about a mile wide and centimeters deep - in other words, it's pretty shallow!

All over the world, wherever the English language is spoken today, people are saying "God" in a thoughtless, careless way. In courtrooms and government chambers, witnesses are being sworn in with "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" They answer in the affirmative, then sit down and tell anything BUT the truth. Tough guys swear vengeance, saying, "So help me God, I'm going to kill that person." We have never needed God's help to kill! People look at fancy automobiles and pickup trucks and say, "God, I wish I had one of those!" as if God were a genie in a bottle, waiting to grant our wishes. Folks who bang their thumb with a hammer or skin their knuckles on an engine block find other creative uses for God's name, none of which are particularly religious. And teenagers - I'm not picking on you, just making an observation here - use the expression "Omigod!" to mean a variety of things, including: "Wow! No Kidding! Oh, no! All right! Or What in the world?"

"God" must be just about the most often-used word in the English language, second only to the word "I." But the word is thrown around carelessly. People aren't holding God in reverence. Nor Jesus. You hear people say all the time, "You know, I really admire Jesus. He had a lot of courage. I admire his teachings, his noble example, and He certainly was ahead of his time in many regards. But I have to confess that I'm somewhat offended by the notion that we ought to worship Him, and I have a big problem with this notion that Jesus is God. That seems a little excessive to me. Just the fact that He was a very good person is enough for me." This opinion is also more widespread than you might think. People want the training wheels off!

You know, we have only just mentioned the first two commandments, and it has become rather apparent that God Has No Reason to be Pleased with Us. Here, we have a God who loved us so much in everything He has done for us, yet we want to make Him serve at our pleasure. We won't go to church unless we get something, possibly entertaining, out of it. We won't accept his Word unless it fits into our puny and limited way of thinking. We don't change our lives unless it seems to benefit us. Putting the interests of others first can be one of the hardest things for us to do! Second only to taking God at his Word! Another thing that is hard to do is speaking the truth when we know it needs to be spoken. So often, we remain silent. Look at your lives. Do you think God is pleased with them? Have you achieved the perfection He demands from us? The only answer I can give is, "Guilty, your Honor!" This is why John the Baptist was sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. He needed to show us the importance of REPENTING!

The basic meaning of "repent" is "to turn around." There is a passage in the book called "Gates of Repentance" that says, "Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds, and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways."

In other words, true repentance means not only sorrow over sin and dread of God's punishment, but a turning of mind and heart away from sin that expresses itself in outward ways wherever possible. Since true repentance trusts in God's forgiveness, it won't allow the penitent soul to continue to live in sin. In view of the rampant worldliness that constantly entices God's people, John's stern call to repentance on the banks of the Jordan was meant for you and me, too.

People flocked out to John to hear him speak and to be baptized by him. They left the comfort of their homes and walked miles out into the wilderness to experience his message. They sensed the power of God in John and were excited about what he was saying. And they were repenting, because they could see that what he was saying was true! The frightening thing about listening to John preach is that he does put you in the presence of God! That's what everybody wants, and that's what everybody doesn't want. Because the light at that altar is different from every other light in the world. In the dim lamps of this world, we can compare ourselves with each other, and all of us come off looking good. We convince ourselves that God grades on the curve, so what's the difference? We're all OK. But then you come into the presence of God, and you're at the altar, and it's all different. The whining is over. The excusing is over. The only one you can blame is yourself. Your confidence in being able to handle everything by yourself disappears! You need those training wheels back on! God has no reason to be pleased with us because of the way we have lived our lives!

Our spiritual need is greater than the need for training wheels, or the need for a little nudge of conscience now and then, better therapy, or a more positive outlook on life. We need a God who will point us in the right direction and kick us in the backside to get us moving, if that's what it takes. We need to know that the God who created the universe and everything in it by simply speaking words is there for us. We need a God who not only cares, but One who is capable of helping. Like the God in Mark's Gospel.

One day, as John the Baptist conducted another marathon baptism in the River Jordan, a young Galilean came to be baptized. And our text says that as this man came up out of the water, "He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased." This was no ordinary man who came to be baptized! This was Jesus, the very Son of God! And God Had Every Reason to be Pleased With Jesus! Why? Because He was perfect. Because He did everything God wanted. Unlike us. But that is why Jesus came here. He did the things we have messed up at our whole lives so that we would receive credit for that! God here expressed his complete approval of what Jesus was undertaking, and He also expressed his complete confidence in Jesus to do it. Christ's credentials were perfect!

So why did Jesus have to be baptized? In baptism, we receive the forgiveness of sins. Did Jesus have sins? No. That's why John the Baptist struggled with this request. But Jesus assured John that it was proper for Him to be baptized and for John to perform the baptism "to fulfill all righteousness." It was John's obligation as God's messenger and Jesus' obligation as the Promised One to inaugurate God's plan of salvation. By insisting on being baptized, Jesus deliberately took our place as God the Father had sent Him to do. Officially the work of redemption began here and was completed on Calvary. In allowing Himself to be baptized, Jesus was showing his solidarity with sinners. Though himself sinless, He was identifying Himself with sinners by giving Himself to the work of bearing their sins. Jesus' work of saving you and me was now officially kicked off! And God was pleased with the way He began it!

Jesus is the God we need! He is the Savior we need. We need One whom God is perfectly pleased with. Because when you are at the end of your rope, when the chips are down, when you're waiting for the phone call from the doctor's office, when you're trying to find relevance in your life, anyone less than the Son of God cannot offer you anything you don't already have. We need the love of God. We need his grace and forgiveness. And we never outgrow that need, as the young stranger in the church parking lot would later come to realize.

The pastor who was barbequing that afternoon doesn't know if was something he said or just blatant curiosity that compelled that man to come back to church. But he did come back. Not every Sunday at first, but with ever-increasing regularity, he was there. And one day, when he officially approached the pastor to rededicate his life to God's service, he smiled through tears and asked, "Preacher, would you help me put the training wheels back on?" The last report I heard, he was serving as an elder at that church where he grew up at and outgrew the need for God and all that religious stuff! He had just completed a two-year term as Chairman of the Elders' Board and was looking forward to chairing - of all things - the Evangelism committee! Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?

How about you? Are your training wheels firmly in place? Or have you taken them off? Let me close with some good news that you can go home today confident of. When God said, "You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well pleased," He was also speaking to you now! He is pleased with you because of what Jesus did for you! Pleased enough to have a home in heaven waiting for you! That's right! Isn't that a God you will want to serve and please? Amen.

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