Sermon Sunday 10 December 2017      A Man in the Desert                           MartinBaker 

Introduction

Our reading today starts the Gospel of Mark. There is nomention of what we would call the Christmas story; there is no link here with KingDavid or other Old Testament figures. And as we go through the Gospel of Markwe find that there is need to explain some Jewish or Hebrew terms or history tothe reader. So scholars think that Mark was most likely written for GentileChristians who didn’t know either their Jewish history or what we would callthe Old Testament.  These gentileChristian were possibly living in Rome 30 years or so after the death of Jesus.

So we get straight into the story of Jesus as an adult. Andwe meet John the Baptist. He is a really interesting figure that we often hear aboutparticularly at this time of the year when we think about preparing for thecoming of Jesus.

What do we know about him?

John’s mother was Elizabeth and she was related to Jesus’mother Mary. John and Jesus were born within 6 months of each other, so theywere a similar age.

John may well have been a member of a community called theNazarites. They were a community of people who followed vows found in Chapter 6of the Book of Numbers. And this group vowed never to cut their hair or todrink alcohol or touch any kind of dead body.

John was very much a wilderness figure.

He was raised in the wilderness (Luke 1:80), was called byGod in the wilderness (Luke 3:2), preached in the wilderness (Mark 1:4), andwas most likely imprisoned and died in the wilderness at Machaerus (Josephus,Ant. xviii 5.2).

His imprisonment and death were the result of his rebuke ofHerod (who was the local puppet king for the Romans) for taking his brother’swife, Herodias, who schemed successfully to have John, beheaded (6:16-29).

John’s mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah—tomake his paths straight (1:3). He did this by preaching in the wilderness,where he attracted great crowds, by calling people to repentance, by baptizing,and by heralding the one who was to come.

John had disciples of his own during his lifetime, and anumber of these disciples maintained their devotion to John long after John’sdeath.

 So let hear John’smessage again:

Mark 1:1-8

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son ofGod

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sendingmy messenger ahead of you,

    Who will prepareyour way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

    ‘Prepare the wayof the Lord,     make his pathsstraight,’”

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiminga baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from thewhole 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 Johnwas clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he atelocusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than Iis coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of hissandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with theHoly Spirit.”

Let us pray

So our message starts this morning   with “The beginning of the Good News” The “Beginning”(Greek: Arche).

We pass over this word easily. But the Greek word forbeginning, arche was an important philosophical concept.  We get the word archetype from it. It is aword used to describe the foundation or the first principle of all things.

 Remember how Genesis,the first book of the Bible starts.  “Inthe beginning.”

Genesis describes the beginning of all creation, this Gospeldescribes the salvation work of Jesus Christ— it’s a culmination of God’s work,but also a beginning.

So let’s go back. For some of us it might be some time back.For others less.  In 3 months’ time Iwill have been here 3 years.  I can stillremember what that beginning was like. The excitement the sense of possibility.What’s this going to be like?

I would guess that every one of us here has been excited bythe experience of beginning.  Maybe thestart of a journey, or learning a new language or skill.  Maybe you meet someone and you began toimagine where that relationship might take you. You put in time of course, butyou start to invest imagination, and hope.   You invest something important ofyourself.  Part of who you are.  Where might this lead you?

So right at the start the Gospel is telling us somethingreally important. That a beginning right now today is possible. A newfoundation.

We hear of all these people coming to hear John’s message inthe desert.

They had all left behind something. All of them. The reason theywere there were to make a new beginning. Right at the start of the Gospel weare being told that it is never too late. This new creation, this new beginningis possible.

The beginning we are told of the Good News. What is thenature of the news we listen to?

I often wonder what it is within us that seem to make us soattuned to bad news.  

I’ll give you an example.  We heard last week good research indicatingthat child poverty in New Zealand was finally on the decline. And then the verynext day we had a barrage of political and social commenters expressing doubt aboutthose figures, amidst a tide of cynicism and blame.  But worse, the news about the reduction inchild poverty, was the only item of good news on my news feed for that day.

 And yet we aresurrounded by acts of such goodness, courage, self-sacrifice, generosity and love.

The hundreds of gifts given and donated this week, thecelebrations with our families the joy of children. And that’s in just oursmall part of the world alone.

 So why do we wake upto news that gives us a sense that the world is in a never ending state of crisis?

So listen here. The beginning of the Good News.

And remember back to the first creation story. In thebeginning. And then at each stage in creation God sees that the word isgood.  And here this morning we are beingtold the beginning of the good news. 

So right at the start of Mark we are being told that the foundationalof all things, the founding principle of all creation is Good news.

This word Good News It’s a translation of a Greek work ‘euagelion’.Originally it was a technical military word, speaking about victory in battle.But it seems that the early Christian community took this word over as theirs. Thebegging based on Good News. And this good news is the kind of news you long tohear, good news like this fills the future with a sense of real hope and possibility.Something real has happened.

 “The voice of onecrying in the wilderness”

John would go to the wilderness to proclaim his message. Whynot go to the city, where people live? The wilderness has special meaning tothe Jewish people. It was to the freedom of the wilderness that God led themfrom their slavery in Egypt. It was in the wilderness that they became anation.

So they come out to this desert and John calls upon them to repent.The Greek word, metanoia, means a change of mind or direction. , The wilderness,the desert,  is where you discover what meansto live in this new way.  John’s locationin the wilderness identifies him, not only with the ancient Jewish stories of salvationand freedom, but also with the freshness that makes it possible for people torepent and to rid themselves of their sins.

In the desert, you discover that this thing called sin isnot so much a bad thing, but a waste of your time thing.  Not one thing you’ve done wrong but a life movingin the wrong direction. 

I’ve mentioned many times how fortunate Sandy and I have a placeon Great Barrier. It has enabled us to move out of the routine of work and thedemands of everyday living. It’s not easy sometimes, but the importancephysically but also spiritually to take time away. To break with the routinesand demands.  Important things happen in thewilderness.  I think we all need to findsome way of setting time aside.

Here we have today John the Baptist.

He is one whose very presence embodies the message that aremarkable and startling change is about to take place. He wears clothes in camel’shair. Leather belt around his waist eating locusts and wild honey. We have moredetail here about his dress and eating habits than anyone else in the wholebible. The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me.

Prepare the way of the Lord. That’s John Message.  So important because at the moment we saythat there is something worth getting ready for something worth preparing for.

As we listen to this message today from camel coat wearingJohn the Baptists, as we think about he Christian posture of preparing ofrepentance of openness to the good news and of judgement. There are some simplethings I believe we need to be saying. `

A new begging is possible. A life based on Good news. Promises so powerful that they end up changingthe ways we see things, even the directions our lives have bene takin up tothis point.

Our grief our fear the worship of false Gods. Coming to anend. We have listened to the bad news about ourselves, our situation, our worldfor too long.

Christmas is a time for children. The Children of God. TheChildren of that very special foolishness and naivety which is part of beingChristian children. The contagious and transforming hope as we proclaim andlive out our expectation of Christ's birth. AMEN

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