Advent II
By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Yr. B, Advent II - 7 December 2008
Text: Mark 1:1-8
Other: Isaiah 40: 1-11; Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3: 8-15a
What did Mark the evangelist think he was doing, starting out his whole gospel with a sentence fragment? Listen once again: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." No verb; it's all subject. These few words tell us a lot about this book we'll be reading on Sundays in Year B. It's the 1st gospel written &, in fact, the 1st time this genre, this kind of literature, has been written down. Mark uses the word "gospel" to let the readers know this is not a biography of Jesus. There's not even a birth story like Matthew & Luke give us.
Mark is in a big hurry to put the gospel of salvation down on paper, these stories about Jesus' ministry which had been circulating orally for several years. In fact, Mark uses Jesus Christ only here; generally, Mark uses the term "Christ" only after his death & resurrection. Some manuscripts omit the term "Son of God," but this phrase is pivotal in Mark. He wants to shout to the entire world the good news of God's love has come to humans in the form of God's son Jesus.
Mark says the quote is from Isaiah, but it's actually a combination of Isaiah, Malachi, & Exodus. Regardless, it assures us that God's new revelation of love to the people comes from the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament covenant with Israel. Isaiah was the original prophet to cry in the wilderness, & we read part of that prophecy today, with God comforting the Hebrew people as they return from the Babylonian exile. In fact, in the Hebrew scriptures, salvation traditionally comes out of the wilderness. Remember Moses, Elijah, & David all spent their time in the desert? Now, Mark looks back to Isaiah's prophecy to show John the Baptist as the last of a long line of prophets.
Mark shows this peculiar John the baptizer emerging in the wilderness, in strange dress & with an even weirder diet, preparing the way for Jesus to come into the lives of the Jewish people. John offers hope to the people, since in their present wilderness of occupation by the Romans, they are totally dependent upon God just as the Hebrew people had been with Moses in the desert.
Like those whom John originally called to prepare for salvation, we 21st Century folk might be called from the wilderness of shopping malls where many practice the addiction of consumerism. Because we've fallen so victim to the adage that it is more blessed to give than to receive, we can begin to believe that our worth is measured by the cost of the gifts we give. A strange consequence of our present economic crisis is that this season, we may have the opportunity to find creative ways to show our love to others rather than with expensive gifts.
In yesterday's On a Journey meditation, Tom Ehrich suggested that a forced exercise in values clarification isn't fun, but just as the CEOs of the big 3 American automobile companies drove back to Washington this week, they might just learn why Americans aren't buying their products. For a moment, I envisioned their car-pooling to DC, listening to their Sony radio on the way. Tom continues, "The manic phase of the Roaring 1920s led inexorably to the Great Depression, as often happens in manic-depressive systems. Our hope isn't that the manic phase of recent years will resume soon, but that we swing the pendulum to the middle, not the opposite extreme." My hope is that our eventual recovering prosperity will allow us to be more generous to those who perpetually end up at the bottom economically & will suffer the most by this recent downturn.
Sometimes John's message doesn't sound like very good news—all that talk of repentance & sins sounds like a bummer! But then people must first be aware of & be convicted of their sins before they realize they need a savior. A pre-condition of faith in God is our abandoning the notion that we can save ourselves & thus recognizing that God is able to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
John's baptism was one calling the common people not only to recognize their sinfulness but also to be willing to let God remove their character defects & unhealthy behaviors. Repentance means "to change one's mind," but it comes from an earlier Hebrew word meaning "to turn around." When a person turns 180 degrees, he or she has a totally new perspective. This "turning around" means a change of heart, but it also includes a change of will & conduct. Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. John's call to repentance means a person is sorry enough for what he or she has done not to do it again. John is offering people the opportunity to change behavior in order to be ready for the salvation that Jesus offers.
If sin is a rupture in relationship, a separation, then forgiveness of sin makes way for a new relationship. It may mean clearing the way to communion with God, feeling at peace with oneself, or living in a healthy relationship with our neighbors. All of us have some relationship in our lives which isn't what we wish it were, or at least not what God wishes it to be. Let's remember who does what here: John preaches & baptizes, the people sin & repent, but God is the one who forgives. We all know we will sin again, but when we're in the love & care of God & involved with a Christian community in becoming disciples, then we are more likely to live into the turning around which we call repentance. This journey takes a lifetime, but someone once said that the longest journey begins with a single step. John the Baptist invited his followers—& invites us—to begin, or recommit to, the faith journey to Jesus' feet.
Mark perhaps exaggerates when he says that people from all the Judean countryside & indeed all the people of Jerusalem went out, confessed their sins, & were baptized by John. However, the crowds who were fascinated with John were at least sizeable enough that Herod feared John enough to imprison & eventually behead him. We all know what part Herod played in Jesus' death. At any rate, John's call to repentance & baptism sounded a message of hope to the beleaguered people, especially the poor.
At this Advent, we're called once again to take stock of our lives, to recognize our sins, acknowledge them in confession, be reconciled, & then move into Christmas open to whatever Christ has for us in the new creation. That's why we encourage each of you to carve out for yourself during these next 3 weeks some quiet time for reflection & recollection, preparing to turn around & proceed to Jesus' feet for him to be Lord of your life. No matter our age or how many years we've been practicing Christians, Advent provides time to revisit & reinforce our commitment to this Christian journey.
If the sins which trouble you are blocking your ability to experience God or God's reaching out to you, then I urge you to make an appointment for private confession. It's nothing to be afraid of, & many of us have learned that our intent to live a new life is dependent upon our telling someone else the exact nature of our wrongs. Just so you'll know, after the confession, I pronounce God's absolution & encourage you to make those changes in your life which reinforce your desire not to return to that sin. Further, if there are those in this community who haven't been baptized, I encourage you to consider experiencing that ancient entrance rite into the Christian community on the 11th of January, our next baptismal Sunday. Two young people are already planning for their baptisms, & we will have the opportunity to renew our Baptismal Vows with them, both for their sakes & for our own. Even after baptism, most of us find that from time to time we continue to have to tell God & another human being the exact nature of our faults & get some spiritual guidance in leading turned-around lives.
The point of new lives, of course, is to keep growing in Christ's light, which means changed behaviors. It's a scary thing to change because it's new & we're often frightened of anything new, but it's necessary if we want to maintain a fit spiritual condition. Lots has happened at Hope in the last 3½ years, & even within 2008, & we continue to explore what it means to be an intentionally-multicultural Christian community in relation to one another. It's not business as usual this Advent, is it? Acknowledging the discomfort which change brings allows our hearts to accept the new in our parish as well as the growth in ourselves.
Finally, do you sometimes feel unworthy in your life? Look at John's situation: he doesn't feel worthy to baptize Jesus, yet he does so at Jesus' insistence. He looks forward to Jesus in hope & not backward. John recognizes his limitations yet refuses to give up because of them. He realizes that Jesus' baptism with the Holy Spirit will afford people a new order, a new way of living in relationship with God. And he graciously makes a path straight in the desert for the coming of the Messiah, preparing out of the rough places a plain.
This 2nd Sunday in Advent is an excellent time to take stock, let go, be obedient to God's call, look for those places in our lives which need amendment, & go about preparing a way in our hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus as well as the risen Christ as the Lord of our lives. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. . . .
Yr. B, Advent II - 7 December 2008
Text: Mark 1:1-8
Other: Isaiah 40: 1-11; Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3: 8-15a
What did Mark the evangelist think he was doing, starting out his whole gospel with a sentence fragment? Listen once again: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." No verb; it's all subject. These few words tell us a lot about this book we'll be reading on Sundays in Year B. It's the 1st gospel written &, in fact, the 1st time this genre, this kind of literature, has been written down. Mark uses the word "gospel" to let the readers know this is not a biography of Jesus. There's not even a birth story like Matthew & Luke give us.
Mark is in a big hurry to put the gospel of salvation down on paper, these stories about Jesus' ministry which had been circulating orally for several years. In fact, Mark uses Jesus Christ only here; generally, Mark uses the term "Christ" only after his death & resurrection. Some manuscripts omit the term "Son of God," but this phrase is pivotal in Mark. He wants to shout to the entire world the good news of God's love has come to humans in the form of God's son Jesus.
Mark says the quote is from Isaiah, but it's actually a combination of Isaiah, Malachi, & Exodus. Regardless, it assures us that God's new revelation of love to the people comes from the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament covenant with Israel. Isaiah was the original prophet to cry in the wilderness, & we read part of that prophecy today, with God comforting the Hebrew people as they return from the Babylonian exile. In fact, in the Hebrew scriptures, salvation traditionally comes out of the wilderness. Remember Moses, Elijah, & David all spent their time in the desert? Now, Mark looks back to Isaiah's prophecy to show John the Baptist as the last of a long line of prophets.
Mark shows this peculiar John the baptizer emerging in the wilderness, in strange dress & with an even weirder diet, preparing the way for Jesus to come into the lives of the Jewish people. John offers hope to the people, since in their present wilderness of occupation by the Romans, they are totally dependent upon God just as the Hebrew people had been with Moses in the desert.
Like those whom John originally called to prepare for salvation, we 21st Century folk might be called from the wilderness of shopping malls where many practice the addiction of consumerism. Because we've fallen so victim to the adage that it is more blessed to give than to receive, we can begin to believe that our worth is measured by the cost of the gifts we give. A strange consequence of our present economic crisis is that this season, we may have the opportunity to find creative ways to show our love to others rather than with expensive gifts.
In yesterday's On a Journey meditation, Tom Ehrich suggested that a forced exercise in values clarification isn't fun, but just as the CEOs of the big 3 American automobile companies drove back to Washington this week, they might just learn why Americans aren't buying their products. For a moment, I envisioned their car-pooling to DC, listening to their Sony radio on the way. Tom continues, "The manic phase of the Roaring 1920s led inexorably to the Great Depression, as often happens in manic-depressive systems. Our hope isn't that the manic phase of recent years will resume soon, but that we swing the pendulum to the middle, not the opposite extreme." My hope is that our eventual recovering prosperity will allow us to be more generous to those who perpetually end up at the bottom economically & will suffer the most by this recent downturn.
Sometimes John's message doesn't sound like very good news—all that talk of repentance & sins sounds like a bummer! But then people must first be aware of & be convicted of their sins before they realize they need a savior. A pre-condition of faith in God is our abandoning the notion that we can save ourselves & thus recognizing that God is able to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
John's baptism was one calling the common people not only to recognize their sinfulness but also to be willing to let God remove their character defects & unhealthy behaviors. Repentance means "to change one's mind," but it comes from an earlier Hebrew word meaning "to turn around." When a person turns 180 degrees, he or she has a totally new perspective. This "turning around" means a change of heart, but it also includes a change of will & conduct. Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. John's call to repentance means a person is sorry enough for what he or she has done not to do it again. John is offering people the opportunity to change behavior in order to be ready for the salvation that Jesus offers.
If sin is a rupture in relationship, a separation, then forgiveness of sin makes way for a new relationship. It may mean clearing the way to communion with God, feeling at peace with oneself, or living in a healthy relationship with our neighbors. All of us have some relationship in our lives which isn't what we wish it were, or at least not what God wishes it to be. Let's remember who does what here: John preaches & baptizes, the people sin & repent, but God is the one who forgives. We all know we will sin again, but when we're in the love & care of God & involved with a Christian community in becoming disciples, then we are more likely to live into the turning around which we call repentance. This journey takes a lifetime, but someone once said that the longest journey begins with a single step. John the Baptist invited his followers—& invites us—to begin, or recommit to, the faith journey to Jesus' feet.
Mark perhaps exaggerates when he says that people from all the Judean countryside & indeed all the people of Jerusalem went out, confessed their sins, & were baptized by John. However, the crowds who were fascinated with John were at least sizeable enough that Herod feared John enough to imprison & eventually behead him. We all know what part Herod played in Jesus' death. At any rate, John's call to repentance & baptism sounded a message of hope to the beleaguered people, especially the poor.
At this Advent, we're called once again to take stock of our lives, to recognize our sins, acknowledge them in confession, be reconciled, & then move into Christmas open to whatever Christ has for us in the new creation. That's why we encourage each of you to carve out for yourself during these next 3 weeks some quiet time for reflection & recollection, preparing to turn around & proceed to Jesus' feet for him to be Lord of your life. No matter our age or how many years we've been practicing Christians, Advent provides time to revisit & reinforce our commitment to this Christian journey.
If the sins which trouble you are blocking your ability to experience God or God's reaching out to you, then I urge you to make an appointment for private confession. It's nothing to be afraid of, & many of us have learned that our intent to live a new life is dependent upon our telling someone else the exact nature of our wrongs. Just so you'll know, after the confession, I pronounce God's absolution & encourage you to make those changes in your life which reinforce your desire not to return to that sin. Further, if there are those in this community who haven't been baptized, I encourage you to consider experiencing that ancient entrance rite into the Christian community on the 11th of January, our next baptismal Sunday. Two young people are already planning for their baptisms, & we will have the opportunity to renew our Baptismal Vows with them, both for their sakes & for our own. Even after baptism, most of us find that from time to time we continue to have to tell God & another human being the exact nature of our faults & get some spiritual guidance in leading turned-around lives.
The point of new lives, of course, is to keep growing in Christ's light, which means changed behaviors. It's a scary thing to change because it's new & we're often frightened of anything new, but it's necessary if we want to maintain a fit spiritual condition. Lots has happened at Hope in the last 3½ years, & even within 2008, & we continue to explore what it means to be an intentionally-multicultural Christian community in relation to one another. It's not business as usual this Advent, is it? Acknowledging the discomfort which change brings allows our hearts to accept the new in our parish as well as the growth in ourselves.
Finally, do you sometimes feel unworthy in your life? Look at John's situation: he doesn't feel worthy to baptize Jesus, yet he does so at Jesus' insistence. He looks forward to Jesus in hope & not backward. John recognizes his limitations yet refuses to give up because of them. He realizes that Jesus' baptism with the Holy Spirit will afford people a new order, a new way of living in relationship with God. And he graciously makes a path straight in the desert for the coming of the Messiah, preparing out of the rough places a plain.
This 2nd Sunday in Advent is an excellent time to take stock, let go, be obedient to God's call, look for those places in our lives which need amendment, & go about preparing a way in our hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus as well as the risen Christ as the Lord of our lives. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. . . .
posted by
Hope Episcopal Church
at 9:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home