“Advent Beginnings”
Midweek Advent 1, November 30th
2011
Mark 1:1-15
Abrupt. If I had
to pick one word to describe the beginning of Mark's Gospel, it would
be “Abrupt”. There's no baby Jesus. There's no background
build-up. No Shepherds, wise men or star. No angels in the fields
singing their praises. None of that. Just, “the beginning of the
Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. And then we jump right
in to John the Baptist.
John is the one
written about in Isaiah, the messenger sent before the Lord, to
prepare his way. And just as abruptly, Mark writes, “John
appeared”. We know the back story from Luke's Gospel, but Mark is
concerned with getting right to the main action. John prepares the
way for Jesus.
And isn't this how
God works? For a time it seems to us he is silent, far off, doing
nothing. Then suddenly, he appears. The angels come out of nowhere
and shake up the shepherds' silent night. It came upon a midnight
clear, ya know? Or there was nothing, and then God spoke, and it
was. Or there was a cold, quiet tomb, and then suddenly an
earthquake and resurrection. Always at the right time, God acts.
And so Christ's promise to return like a thief – suddenly, without
warning. This is all very Advent-y type stuff.
So John appears in
Mark's Gospel. Boom! Out of nowhere. And that's just fine.
Because Mark isn't so concerned with where John came from as what
John is doing. He's the forerunner of someone even more important.
He prepares the way for the Christ. He brings a baptism and a
message. But his most important point is to point to the greater one
to come.
And so Jesus breaks
onto the scene, just as suddenly. He is baptized. Immediately
heaven is open to him. A voice from heaven declares, “You are my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. It all happens so fast.
And we are left to reflect on what just happened.
Then immediately,
(Mark's favorite word), the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness.
There the action slows, as Jesus himself prepares for further action.
40 days of fasting and prayer. We know what happened there, but
Mark doesn't mention it.
Finally,
John is arrested, and Jesus re-appears, again abruptly his message is
stated: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Perhaps it's the message, too, that is
a bit abrupt. “Shooting from the hip” as we might call it,
today. Jesus speaks bluntly, as did John. He minces no words. He
doesn't soften the blow. He doesn't smooth the rough edges. Repent.
Repent! The kingdom of God is at hand! The time is now! Turn from
your sin. Fall on your knees and beg God's forgiveness.
The truth is, it's always a good time
to repent. We don't need to wait, nor should we. Turn from your
sins, today, and confess them. God wouldn't have you wait until the
time is right. “Oh, we'll just live together in sin until we have
enough money to get married” Or, “Oh, I've been meaning to get
around to taking better care of myself, but I'll wait till after the
holidays”, or “Oh, I'll love my neighbor, but only when they
start respecting me”, or “I'll stop being so greedy, once I get a
better job” and so on, and so on. We sinners are great at finding
excuses for putting off our repentance to a better time. But the
time is always right. Repent, today, for the kingdom of God is at
hand!
But know that repentance means more
than just turning away from sin. Both Jesus and John say so. John
preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And Jesus proclaims, " repent and believe in the gospel."
See, it's not the turning from sin that
is the thing. It's believing in the Gospel. It's trusting in his
forgiveness. It's faith in the one whose blood was shed on the cross
for you. Here is the victory over sin. Here is the slate wiped
clean. Here Jesus drops the boom on sin, death, and devil. Not in
your work of turning away, but in his work of turning you into
something, someone new.
The cross, that one brief moment in
time, on which all history turns. The cross, the plan of God from
the foundation of the world, thousands of years to prepare, but a few
short hours to execute. And just as suddenly as Adam told God to
drop dead, Jesus did, and in him, it is finished.
And though your sins are many, and
daily, and repentance is always the call – the proclamation of your
forgiveness breaks in and sets things right. The name of God placed
on you in baptism breaks death's hold, and grants new life. As
abruptly as the cold water splashed upon you, so did God's grace wash
over you, and new life supplant your death.
Likewise, his word, just a word, an
abrupt word - forgives. There's no monumental labors or 12 step
process for spiritual renewal that you need to follow. There's no
mountain for you to climb, or tower to build to God. In Jesus
Christ, God comes to you, speaks to you, forgives you. Just like
that. The time is now. You are forgiven in Christ.
Mark's story of
Jesus' beginnings may be a bit abrupt. Jesus bursts onto the scene
and the action never stops. But that's ok, because Jesus has burst
into our lives, both in his call to repent, and in his promise to
forgive. And though his work of salvation is finished, he still
brings us the benefits of the cross each day.
As we wait and
prepare, even at the beginning of this Advent season, it may seem God
is far off from you, but he's not. He's at hand. He's pointing your
to your baptism, and to his word – repent, and believe – in Jesus
Christ, for his own sake, Amen.
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