1
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her
penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double
for all her sins. 3 A voice cries out: "In the wilderness
prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway
for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain
and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the
rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What
shall I cry?" All people are grass, their constancy is like the
flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the
breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The
grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand
forever. 9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good
tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of
good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah,
"Here is your God!" 10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense
before him. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather
the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead
the mother sheep.
2
Peter 3:8-15a
8
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9
The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness,
but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come
to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and
then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements
will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is
done on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be
dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in
leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening
the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be
set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13
But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a
new earth, where righteousness is at home. 14 Therefore, beloved,
while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at
peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our
Lord as salvation.
Mark
1:1-8
1
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As
it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my
messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one
crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight,' " 4 John the baptizer appeared in the
wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins. 5 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. 6 Now John was clothed
with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate
locusts and wild honey. 7 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. 8 I have baptized you with water; but
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
The
beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- It occured to me as I was preparing this sermon that John picked a special place to do his baptisms. ...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. Why the river Jordan?
- It's a special place. For the Jewish people, to cross the Jordan means to enter the promised land. The only way to cross the Jordan was to wade in the water and get wet. For John to baptize in that water symbolized a new entry into the promised land, the land God would give his people, their home.
- The people confessed their sins and John preached repentance. We are told that those who heard him repented and were baptized. Why? Did John's words convict them of their sins that much? Or was there more to his preaching?
- First of all, John preached and baptized as a way of preparing for the one who was to follow him, the one John calls “more powerful than I.”
- Second, John calls the people to repentance because the one who comes after him is already on the way. He will not wait until the people have all repented and everything is ready. He will not wait until everyone is properly prepared and everything is fully arranged. It's more of a case of the call to begin the children's game of Hide-and-Seek: “Ready or not, here I come.”
- 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,' " The Lord of Glory, promised by Isaiah and echoed by John was coming, whether or not the people were ready.
- Still John tells the people how to become ready. 'Begin with the baptism of repentance and go on to reform your lives' is what he says. The One who is to come will not wait until you are ready, but you can become ready for his coming.
- Is this a terrifying thing? Is the One who is coming on the way to punish? Isaiah tells us: No! Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Then he says: See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
- To me, this sounds like good news... which brings us to the Gospel of Mark. Mark starts off by saying what he is writing: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark is saying that what he is writing is all good news, good tidings of great joy. (Does that phrase sound familiar? If not, wait a little while.) Mark has invented a brand new type of literature in writing a good news, a Gospel. Although Mark does not use all of the words of Isaiah, what he wrote would remind his readers of the entire passage and its good news of God's tender care.
- For Mark, the message of John the Baptizer means more than the words of a historical personage. His words of preparation have special meaning and power because his community of Christians is again waiting, waiting for the return of the One who promised to come back in power and glory. As they waited, we wait as well. We don't know how long we'll wait or what the return will be like exactly, but we trust in the promise given to us. We might even see the times as the writer of the letter of Peter sees them: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
- While we wait, we work and concern ourselves with the Good News. The Lord is coming again. We'll say it once more today in out Creed. Then we'll find ways to live out our waiting faith, our waiting hope, and our waiting love. The waiting will change us since we'll enter the Land of the Promise through a baptism that is more than water, but as John proclaimed about Jesus: I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
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