Sermon from the Second Sunday in Advent by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Mark 1:1-5

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.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Beginning A Story

How you begin telling a story matters. Think of it—how many words or pages will you give a particular article or book to capture your attention before you put it down? Not that many, I would bet. So, authors have to work to draw you in right from the beginning.

The great memoirist Mary Karr says that not every author has to use the same structure or form to begin their work, but every author should be sure to start by establishing the emotional stakes of any story from the first word. From the very start, you must tell your audience why your writing matters—it's the only way to keep a reader engaged. Readers will put up with a lot if there is an element of the story that they are drawn in by or if they have some question posed that they want to keep reading to find the answer.

Mark's Beginning with a Prophet

Mark's Gospel does this from its first word and in the most dramatic way. From the first words of his Gospel, Mark draws the reader in and engages them with the story of John the Baptist. The first-century hearers of Mark's Gospel would have had all sorts of bells and whistles going off in their minds when they heard about John. First, he quotes the prophet Isaiah—raising the emotional stakes of the reader and making them wonder if this is a prophet. He appears in the wilderness—the place where the prophet Elijah spent so much time. And if you read on a few verses, you'll also learn of his strange diet and clothing—other details that sound just like one of God's prophets. John immediately draws in the readers of this passage. They are a community that knows and believes in prophets of God, and this just might be one.

The emotional stakes become even higher when John makes one of the most dramatic pronouncements ever: the Messiah is coming.

The Messiah, whom all of Israel have longed for, is coming, the very presence of God with us. This man, this prophet, is in the wilderness telling them it is finally happening. They must have been full of shock and wonder. What a way to start a story. We know what is at stake—God and people, sin and salvation, presence and redemption.

Need For A Messiah

And for the first hearers of Mark's Gospel, they are sorely in need of some Good News; they need a messiah. They have suffered under Roman oppression for too long. They have dreamt of freedom and salvation. And so they come and listen to this John the Baptist out by the river Jordan.

But this story that John begins is different from what they are expecting. The people expect a king to overthrow the empire, but John has another message for them. They want to hear a "glory story:" a story where they win, one in which the Messiah conquers the Romans on their behalf and sets them free. There is a glory story here, but you and I know it is not without suffering.

Preparations Are Needed for Holiness

John tells them the Messiah is coming but doesn't mention the empire or the people's subjugation. Instead, he says preparations are needed. John has been designated to help the people prepare for the Messiah's way, just like the prophet Isaiah told them. To believe that the Messiah is coming, and for us who believe that Jesus came into the world on Christmas Day and comes to us even now, is to believe that our holy God is coming to be with us. The Messiah is holy, meaning full of majesty and without sin. And to be in the presence of that holiness, to have it come into the world, to come so close to us, we have to prepare ourselves to be near the Holy. That requires preparation on our part. That preparation involves repentance, which means turning from sin and having that marked in their baptism.

How do you stand on holy ground, let alone in the presence of holiness itself, and not turn from your sin? The utter good news that the Messiah is coming demands that the people prepare for this gift, to worry less about themselves and be more like who God has called us to be. Repentance is the preparation needed to meet the Messiah. Repentance is how we make the paths for the Lord straight. The more sin we can root out of our lives, the more we are ready to be in the presence of the Holy.

Christmas Season Preparations

This time of year requires a lot of preparation, too. Planning for Advent and Christmas worship began months ago for the church staff, and I have been working on the big preaching pressure event that is Christmas Eve, for some time. I make preparations at home, too—we put our tree up, place decorations around the house, and prepare gifts for neighbors, family, and friends. It is the time of year when I have to keep extensive lists to remember all that needs to be done. But the thing that has been left off my list—and yours too, I imagine—the thing John directs us to in this shocking beginning of Mark's Gospel—is to spend some honest, quiet time looking at the condition of our hearts. What are our sins? Where do we sin willfully, even knowing it is wrong? Have we asked God to show us our sins, painful though that may be? We are preparing for so much this time of year. Yet, I'm betting that we have not penciled onto our to-do lists time for examining our lives and turning from the sin that clings to us so easily. Repentance is required for the greeting of Jesus on Christmas morning more than anything else. John urges us to clean our hearts to greet the Holy One, grateful for his claim upon our lives and his gift of salvation. We have to prepare ourselves to welcome the gift of Christ.

Visiting New Life

In my job as a minister, one of the best, most lovely, and holy things I get to do is visit families at the birth of a new child. I get to go to the hospital and see radiant but tired moms and dads, and if I'm really lucky—and I usually am—I get to hold that precious brand-new baby. Holding a child new to the world feels deeply holy to me—at birth, the veil between ordinary life and the miraculous seems thin. It is a time full of awe.

Before going in to visit the baby, I always prepare myself by taking the time to stop and wash and dry my hands thoroughly before going to hold the baby. I try to ensure I don't share any germs with the baby, but it also seems like the right thing to do to prepare myself for such a holy moment—to take the time to turn and wash myself clean. This cleansing is what John asks of us this Advent season.

Preparing for Christmas Morning

Before coming to the manger on Christmas Day, before taking in the holiness of the Christmas event, find time to prepare yourself for the gift of Jesus. Pray that God will help you see and turn from your sins. Find the time for self-examination, find the will and the want to repent so that you can come to the manger with a clean heart, ready to receive the greatest gift of all humanity.