Going through John to get to Bethlehem
Mark 1:1-8
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
Our new liturgical year began last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, when we moved from a year with the Gospel of Matthew to a new year when we will focus on the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest Gospel, and also the oldest. Mark’s goal is more than biography. He wants to show us God through the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His narrative teaches there are forces at work on Earth conflicting with God’s purposes, but Mark is firm in claiming that God is victorious, even when momentarily evil appears to win. He is also eager to convince hearers that God’s victory over sin and evil continues. His Gospel is a call to faithfulness and perseverance, which makes sense since he wrote about 40 years after the resurrection, just after the Jewish and Roman war which, in 70, resulted in the destruction of their beloved Temple. As we listen, we quickly learn, Mark is direct (“blunt” we might better say). His first sentence is, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark keeps no secrets; he doesn’t want us to have to guess. Actors within the Gospel may ask, “Is Jesus the messiah?” but Mark wants us to know from the first line.
We get no baby story from Mark; he begins as Jesus steps into adult ministry. So why listen to Mark during Advent? Good question. In a ministers’ study group some years ago, a Presbyterian pastor said, “Did you ever notice how every year, we have to make a visit to the adult John the Baptist on our way to the manger?” It’s true. Years ago, the lectionary committee set it up so we hear from the adult John the Baptizer every year as we make our way to Bethlehem. It must be on purpose, to show us that just as God was active in the Incarnation 2000 years ago, so has God continued to be active every minute since. The Baptizer calls us to be aware of God’s approach – not just 2000 years ago, but in our lives today. He calls us to prepare, and the way to prepare is to repent. From the first verses of the Gospel of Mark, listen for the word of God.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Did we hear it? Christ is coming. The declaration is clear. The LORD God is planning on making an appearance among the people. The Gospel is set up so there is no confusion about what is going on. Mark introduces his narrative as the good news of the presence of God in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Those who heard the Gospel read would know, the Son of God is the one in whom God’s will is fully manifest. The One is coming who will live out of God’s vision for the world. The messiah is God’s total servant, whose service is given on behalf of the world. So Mark sets up the scene: announcing the good news of Jesus, the messiah. But then Mark adds the ancient prophet Isaiah declaring: God appoints messengers to spread the word far and wide; the messiah is coming. Messengers are not messiahs. Isaiah’s prophetic word is for messengers to tell people to prepare. Then immediately Mark shows us John, a religious fanatic, dressed in animal skins, calling out ridiculous warning and people come flooding out from everywhere to listen.
Jesus came on the scene when being Jewish was precarious. Jesus was not born with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. However, what we need to remember is, Mark was not writing to people at the time of the birth of Jesus. He was writing for believers in Jesus, 70 years after the birth, when things had gotten significantly worse for Jews. The war with Rome had resulted in the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Being Jewish was becoming less tolerated in the Roman Empire. Meanwhile followers of Jesus struggled to figure out whether they even were still Jews or something else. Mark’s first audience was probably rural people, poor peasants, scraping by on subsistence farming. Into such a difficult situation, Mark proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ, quotes Isaiah’s call for God’s messenger to spread the word, and then shows us John the Baptizer promising one more powerful than he is coming. The stage is set. Christ is coming.
So everyone needs to prepare. We have been warned; Get ready! Anyone expecting holiday houseguests knows these weeks are crucial for getting ready. But preparations for God’s arrival do not involve house cleaning or buying extra groceries. Preparations for God involve serious interior work. The word the Baptizer uses is “Repent.” Usually when we hear someone calling for us to “repent,” we imagine a preacher thumping the pulpit, demanding sinners give up gambling, drinking, and chasing women. But here, the call for us to repent is an invitation to take a serious look inside our souls. What drives our behavior? In certain 12-step programs, this may be the time to take a moral inventory. But even if we haven’t been in such groups, the idea is valuable. God calls us to hold up a mirror on our life. Investigate the truth about ourselves.
Repentance for Christians means turning (a 180 degree change), making a complete reorientation of our whole being toward God. We turn away from whatever hinders a wholehearted devotion to God’s will, turning instead to God with renewed trust and obedience.[1] More than merely trying to follow God’s commandments, repentance is choosing again with our whole mind, heart, soul, strength, and will to follow Jesus Christ. To live according to the purposes of God. Such a task is not easy, so let’s take another look at the scripture printed above. Take time this week to reflect on where we are turned toward God, and where our vision has been lured away. Perhaps we could find a trusted partner to discuss areas where repentance is needed – like if a drive for a certain retirement amount or a commitment to some project has absorbed everything else. Maybe find a friend to discuss balancing life and faith. Or set up a time to ask questions or talk with me confidentially about repentance. Or maybe some of us just need to sit with God in prayer about priorities. What pulls us away from God? Do we find generosity, kindness, and compassion initiating our actions? Where might God be directing us?
Wild-eyed, John the Baptizer reminds us that Advent is not only about finding a way to bask in the warmth of the manger scene. John is an adult; the baby Jesus grew up; and God’s demands on our lives are not simple. We all need to prepare.
We prepare because God is setting the world right. Here is the stunning good news of Advent. The Holy One of Israel is still at work among us, making way for the Realm. Sunday after Sunday, we listen to Jesus’ guidance about how we should live. Most of us are trying to follow what Jesus says. But God is moving us towards an even bigger solution. God wants the world completely ordered according to God’s divine plan, where everyone has meaningful tasks to accomplish, where no one is painfully alone, where every person is safe, has enough to eat, and can get an education.
We hear the promise often, that eventually God will break in fully and establish God’s full rule all over the world. But we also see opposition to God’s will all over the place, so we are called to work. Holy pieces of the Realm are happening. God is participating among us now. Just as God used messengers through the ages to announce Good News, like John the Baptizer, to call people to reorient their lives, so does God use people now – empowering them as messengers, and as workers. Take for example Vicki and Wayne Galler from California, who learned some children in Dominican Republic couldn’t go to school because they didn’t have school uniforms. If a child doesn’t have the right shoes, pants, and shirt, they can’t attend. So the Gallers, supporting a non-profit, purchased shoes and 2 uniforms apiece for 23 children, who now can go to school. The Realm of God did not break in in its fullness in Dominican Republic, but the ways of God moved towards that day because 23 children were shown divine generosity.
God empowers people to mend where the world is broken. All we have to do is pay attention to God’s call. And each act of generosity, each act of healing love, each act of holy service is like putting a puzzle piece in the right place. As more and more pieces get in place, the whole picture begins to come into view. And the picture is a vision of the Realm of God. That’s what God wants. And that is what God is doing through us. More and more pieces of the Ultimate Vision are getting put in place. Through prophetic messengers and holy workers, God is setting the world right.
[1] See “Repentance in the NT” Frances Taylor Gench, in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol 4, 762.