Mark 1:1-8
“Comfort, Comfort”
Mark begins his Gospel as abruptly as you might expect. The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As it is written is
Isaiah….
Behold, I send my
messenger before your face,
who will prepare your
way,
the voice of one
crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the
Lord,
make his paths
straight,’ ”
And then John appears.
As if out of nowhere. And John
starts preaching – a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This is what the voice says. This is how the way is prepared. This is how Isaiah is fulfilled: Repent, be baptized, and get your sins
forgiven. For the Lord is coming.
Yes, every year, during Advent, John the Baptist makes his
visit. We’ll hear about him next week,
too, in John’s Gospel. Today, we see him
especially in connection with the prophecy of Isaiah, a prophecy about the one
who prepares the way.
That Isaiah passage begins with the words, “Comfort,
comfort, my people”, After Israel had been taken captive and banished from her
homeland by invading armies, the voice of God healed her wounds, because the
prophet proclaimed “comfort” to God’s people, because “her warfare is ended…her
iniquity is pardoned.”
If there’s ever been a time we need comfort, it’s these
days. Anxieties are high. People are more on edge. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too, even here in
our church family. Fears about our
health, our mental health, our spiritual health swirl around us. People are testy – quicker than usual to snip
at each other. We are suspicious – not
always putting the best construction on our neighbor’s actions. We feel frustrated with a world that seems so
out of control, and we pine for a return to normal and wonder if it will ever
come.
We need comfort. We
could use a nice healthy portion of it these days.
But in many ways John is an uncomfortable fellow. I mean,
even his manner of dress makes for discomfort – camel’s hair – sounds itchy and
scratchy. John’s a bit of a wild man –
living out in the wilderness – eating bugs and probably hasn’t had a haircut
for far longer than you’ve been away from your favorite salon. He’s rough and tumble, this Old Testament
character, this scruffy prophet. But his
message is also un-comfortable.
Repent! Turn from
your sins! John’s message is as abrupt
as his appearance at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel. He just shows up on your doorstep and cries
out. Repent! No soft-pedaling political smoothery. No gentle socractic leading to get you to
realize your problem on your own. John
lays it out there – rubs your nose in it.
Repent! You’re a sinner. Turn from your sins. This isn’t polite dinner conversation or
light-hearted banter. This is
hard-hitting, stark-reality, un-comfortable law. You’re a sinner and you better shape up, cut
it out, be sorry for your sins, and turn from them in disgust.
It’s uncomfortable because we know what the wages of sin
are. Death. It’s uncomfortable because we know that God
hates sin and condemns sinners. It
should make us spiritually squirmy for the law to work us over. The prophet’s
simple and direct call to repentance leaves no one out, leaves no excuses, and
gives us nothing but shame and despair.
But that’s not all John says.
Just as quickly, he moves from repentance to
forgiveness. Just as quickly as he rips
off the bandaid, he applies the healing balm.
John the Baptist does bring the comfort, the comfort of the gospel. And he does it even in the same breath.
“Repent and be baptized,” John preached, “for the
forgiveness of your sins” Let us
remember in this time of pandemic, fear, frustration, uncertainty, and
generalized malaise – that the real problem we face is and always has been
sin. And therefore the only real
solution we can hope for is exactly the solution our God has prepared for us –
the forgiveness of sins.
You are baptized, Christian!
And that’s far from nothing. It
is a great comfort. It’s a place you can
take comfort, there, the font. There,
where God made you his own, washed your sin away, and you became an heir of all
the blessings of heaven. Not a
historical footnote on a page of your life long forgotten. Your baptism is a present reality, a daily
renewal, a rebirth that keeps on giving you blessings. John’s baptism prepared the way for Jesus’
baptism, a fuller expression of this blessed washing that you now enjoy. A great comfort for God’s people.
And John also preached a word of comfort. The good news that the Lord is coming – that
it’s time to get ready for his appearance.
Make his paths straight. Prepare
a royal highway. It’s a terror if you’re
stuck in your sins, to know that the Lord is coming. That means judgment is coming, punishment you
well deserve. But in faith, the coming
of the Lord is a comfort, and only comfort.
It’s better than the arrival of your best friend, or a beloved family
member, a long-lost loved one.
A dear Christian recently reminisced with me about the loved
ones she had lost in her long life, and how she looked forward to seeing them
again in the kingdom to come. But then,
I heard the voice of faith, as she added, “But I’m so much more looking forward
to meeting Jesus.” To know that Christ
is coming, and that you get to meet him face to face, what a comfort for his
people!
Yes, John preached comfort because he didn’t preach
himself. In fact, he humbly confessed he
was not the Christ. He pointed forward
to one far greater than himself. The one
who is greater than me because he was before me. The one of whom I’m not worthy to undo his
sandal. I baptize with water, but he
will baptize with the Spirit and with Fire.
John brought a baptism and a word of repentance and
forgiveness, but it was a word of comfort from Jesus. John preached the word, Jesus is the living
word. John prepared the way. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. John brought the comfort a baptism and
hope. Jesus delivered that very
salvation, in his person, by his life and death.
What comfort we Christians find in the cross. There, in the crucified Christ, we see the
depth and breadth of God’s love for us sinners.
There, in Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for all sins that ever were or
would be. There in the Son of God made
flesh and offered as a substitute for you, is the cure for all that ails you,
for all the troubles of a broken world, for all the aches of heart and mind and
soul. If you are afraid, look to the
cross. If you are in sorrow, look to the
cross. If you carry the weight of your
sins, the burdens and cares of this life, of your loved ones, seemingly of the
world, look to Jesus – the one greater than John – the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. And there
find your peace, your hope, your joy, your comfort.
This Advent season, we prepare again for Christmas, for a
joyous celebration of the only true and lasting comfort we Christians
have. But oh, what comfort he
brings. So prepare your hearts by
repentance and faith. Let John preach it
to you again – make straight the paths of the Lord. Remember your baptism. And with Isaiah, and all the prophets, and
all the believers who anticipate his coming.
Find your comfort in Christ.
Amen.
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