Relatives!
Mark 1:1-8
We are quickly approaching the days when people will travel to be with family. Some houses will be packed. The Roads and airports will be full of people willing to spend time, energy and money to be with loved ones. It all sound great doesn’t it. Family getting together.
Most families have at least one member that acts a little strange. You know they have a little personality Quirk. They will say what ever is on their mind wither it hurts feelings or not. Perhaps they are just loud or nothing is good enough. Perhaps they are always doing better than you or their health is worse.
For some of my family, that person is me.
However, for me it was my aunt Gerry (Geraldine). A madden aunt that lived much of her life in California. She gave the strangest gifts. She talked about weird things in her letters.
Then she moved to Birmingham where we were living. He had this harsh laugh and strange clothes. She had strong opinions on every subject, even the ones that she had little or absolutely no personal experience with.
She was always invited to the family Christmas and rightly so. Family is family.
In today’s scripture we have a family member of Jesus showing up. A man that lived in the wilderness, either in a community that isolated itself from the city folks or alone. From the basic description he sounds like he would look pretty scary. He probably had wild hair with a long beard.
He dresses funny. Camels hair clothes and I am not talking about a cardigan sweater with stylish lines I am talking about, tanned hid stitched together with home made thread that was meant to protect from the thorns and insects more than to look good. He has a wide leather belt also probably hand-made to hold his clothing close to the body. I doubt it was an accessory to match his sandals, which I suspect he had.
His eating habits were strange as well. Locust and wild honey, not exactly something I look for at the family banquet. It is not claimed that that was his favorite meal so perhaps it is just one of thoes quirks we remember about family. Maybe he did it only once….or perhaps it is a statement of how hard the wilderness life really was.
- Last week we talked about the second coming of Christ. A strange way of leading to Christmas, except that the season of advent is all about preparation. And today we live in a world that should constantly be in a state of preparation for Jesus return. It is more than just personal preparation but, continuous preparation of our friends, family and community.
- Here we are in Week two of the New Christian year, the second Sunday of Advent and we have another piece of scripture that seems to have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Mark picks up with the description of the moments just before Jesus comes to be baptized.
Ok, Where is the baby, the story of the hard trip, and the angels. That is what it is all about not some wacky relative that shows up to embarrass the family.
Advent is about preparation more than it is about the physical birth of Jesus. For most of us preparation mans going up in the attic and bring down the decorations, setting up the tree, making the house look festive. It probably goes farther, preparations of special foods and the purchase and wrapping of gifts. There could easily be thousands of things required to happen before Christmas actually gets here.
--- Oh my goodness, where does the time go!
Mark does not waste any time getting to the main event in scripture:
1The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The word gospel indicating “good news” which, for him, means the beginning of the actual work of Christ. The promises given through the prophets to Israel and to mankind. The promises of Mercy, Justice and Grace
The he goes on to talk about the prophets, 2It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— 3"a voice of one calling in the desert, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ "
Mark reminds us that the prophet Isaiah has predicted this moment in time. It is a sign that the messiah is coming on the scene. He skips over the details which he probably did not know because he was very young or perhaps he did not feel were important to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark, the first Gospel writer, skips the part we celebrate completely.
As for us, there is nothing wrong with all the preparations like Christmas trees, presents and all that go into family gatherings. All thoes things lead to excitement and joy and the excitement of children which make Christmas time so special.
I am not here to chop down the tree of the Joy which we celebrate today.
I hope that we are all here to start our personal preparation for the season which all too often gets laid aside with all that we have to do.
Let’s talk a little about John.
John is a messenger that is just a little different. We already talked about his strange clothing and eating habits.
He is said to be a 2nd cousin of Jesus, Mary’s cousin is Elisabeth. He is 6 months older than Jesus and will die about 6 months before Jesus. Zacharias is John’s father. John is a levite which means that he is in the Preistly tribe and his father serves as a priest.
But John came with an unusual message. Mark tells us that John is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
John the Baptist comes as the long expected messenger calling for the people to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He is not calling the people to build or repair a physical road. He is telling them to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus.
The people of the day had not heard from a prophet for over 400 years. And the busyness of their lives allowed them to let their focus and expectation to drift. To loose the anticipation that God himself would come into their world and change it forever.
We love to prepare for the arrival of Christmas don’t we, because it is so like preparing for a baby to be born? Things to get ready. Cleaning up to do. The perfect gifts and making everything just right.
- Have any of you seen the movie called “A Christmas Story?” It is about a boy that wants a red rider bb gun with a compass in the stock. He tells every body he can what the desire of his heart is and they all say, “You will shoot your eye out.”
On Christmas morning he opens a present form his aunt. He has to put on a pink bunny suit which she has made for him. The narrator makes the comment hat this aunt perpetually thinks of him as being 4 years old.
We get so wrapped up in the manger scene that we forget that he’s not a baby any more.
We think that somehow he is satisfied to see us make our annual appearance at Christmas and sing a few Christmas Carols. We seem to think that if we celebrate with the Christmas tree and presents that we are honoring Jesus.
How does the celebration we are preparing for celebrate or give a valid tribute to the physical manifestation of the person of God?
This real little baby, who was born into a crude stable, is now a KING.
As Christians – OUR Chosen KING!
Folks, John is telling us that we need to get ready because, someone more powerful than he is, is coming. This person is so much above a preacher Levite that he, John is not eligible or worthy enough to untie his shoes.
Handling sandals and cleaning the feet was the job of the lowest slave in the household. And John can’t see himself worthy.
I wonder where that leaves somebody like me. I don’t live a separate life away from the comforts of life. I am not fully set apart where the temptations of the world are beyond reach. But, that is where John was, separate, away from the noise. A life of constant preparation and bad food. A way of life that allowed him to hear the whispers and will of God.
John has been sent by God to tell the people that the time is at hand. He is to tell the people to have hope. That is it is all going to be Ok very soon.
John’s message is not one of doom and Gloom. His message is that the Good News was right there. His message is that no matter where you are, it is time to prepare and be ready for something great.
The preparation is personal, the preparation was internal.
How have you repaired for Jesus? Do you even know what to do?
In verse four, John uses the word "repent." "John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
The preparation John calls for can only be started by our individual mental choice!
Two kinds of repentance are possible in human experience. One is ’the sorrow of the world," a feeling induced by the fear of getting caught. There are a lot of people that have that kind of repentance.
-Kids are a great demonstration of sorrow over getting caught, chocolate on the face and hands and still denying that he or she had any thing to do with the missing candy bar. The result is a superficial sorrow that only comes when the facts of guilt are explained. The repentance is short lived with no genuine change of direction in the long term future.
John was calling for, "Godly sorrow," which includes an internal conviction of sin, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. It happens when a person realizes that they have offended God with their actions, attitude and failures. Their repentance is genuine and deep without the need of an accuser to point out the offence. The Repentance may feel begins with a sorrowful heart but to be genuine must lead to determined action!
The call to repent is one of the most important things we will hear among the sounds of exchanges of Christmas greetings, the singing of carols, shouts of joy as presents are opened.
So far we have talked about John being one of thoes strange relatives that we or at least I have. We have talked about his unusual message of repentance.
There is something else that is a little strange about John.
It appears that John had a popular ministey, "People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea, and the whole region of The Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”
It did not specify, Religious or unreligious, it describes the whole region of the Jordan. John was so popular that some people thought he was the messiah.
When John comes on the scene he is sent by God to call the people to choose to change. He called people to confess that they had sinned and needed to be baptized.
Do you think that when John baptized them their sins were removed?
Or perhaps as the people admitted that they has drifted the water was the refreshing physical sigh that their repentance --- genuine repentance for their sins and made them clean already.
Folks, John’s message was a call to take notice of our lives and respond.
He called us to look at the road of our souls and make changes. Where we have low spots or high places let them be smoother over. Where we are rough and hard let them be softened.
He is calling God’ people to hear the call to get ready, something great is going to happen. The Lord is coming!
Have you prepared for what is coming! Folks time is short!
Do you want to be in the real celebration?
Listen to the spirit. Repent of your sins, Let the Holy Spirit convict you and change you.
Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
All Glory be to God!
Hymn Communion
Mark 1-8
We are quickly approaching the days when people will travel to be with family. Some houses will be packed. The Roads and airports will be full of people willing to spend time, energy and money to be with loved ones. It all sound great doesn’t it. Family getting together.
Most families have at least one member that acts a little strange. You know they have a little personality Quirk. They will say what ever is on their mind wither it hurts feelings or not. Perhaps they are just loud or nothing is good enough. Perhaps they are always doing better than you or their health is worse.
For some of my family, that person is me.
However, for me it was my aunt Gerry (Geraldine). A madden aunt that lived much of her life in California. She gave the strangest gifts. She talked about weird things in her letters.
Then she moved to Birmingham where we were living. He had this harsh laugh and strange clothes. She had strong opinions on every subject, even the ones that she had little or absolutely no personal experience with.
She was always invited to the family Christmas and rightly so. Family is family.
In today’s scripture we have a family member of Jesus showing up. A man that lived in the wilderness, either in a community that isolated itself from the city folks or alone. From the basic description he sounds like he would look pretty scary. He probably had wild hair with a long beard.
He dresses funny. Camels hair clothes and I am not talking about a cardigan sweater with stylish lines I am talking about, tanned hid stitched together with home made thread that was meant to protect from the thorns and insects more than to look good. He has a wide leather belt also probably hand-made to hold his clothing close to the body. I doubt it was an accessory to match his sandals, which I suspect he had.
His eating habits were strange as well. Locust and wild honey, not exactly something I look for at the family banquet. It is not claimed that that was his favorite meal so perhaps it is just one of thoes quirks we remember about family. Maybe he did it only once….or perhaps it is a statement of how hard the wilderness life really was.
- Last week we talked about the second coming of Christ. A strange way of leading to Christmas, except that the season of advent is all about preparation. And today we live in a world that should constantly be in a state of preparation for Jesus return. It is more than just personal preparation but, continuous preparation of our friends, family and community.
- Here we are in Week two of the New Christian year, the second Sunday of Advent and we have another piece of scripture that seems to have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Mark picks up with the description of the moments just before Jesus comes to be baptized.
Ok, Where is the baby, the story of the hard trip, and the angels. That is what it is all about not some wacky relative that shows up to embarrass the family.
Advent is about preparation more than it is about the physical birth of Jesus. For most of us preparation mans going up in the attic and bring down the decorations, setting up the tree, making the house look festive. It probably goes farther, preparations of special foods and the purchase and wrapping of gifts. There could easily be thousands of things required to happen before Christmas actually gets here.
--- Oh my goodness, where does the time go!
Mark does not waste any time getting to the main event in scripture:
1The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The word gospel indicating “good news” which, for him, means the beginning of the actual work of Christ. The promises given through the prophets to Israel and to mankind. The promises of Mercy, Justice and Grace
The he goes on to talk about the prophets, 2It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— 3"a voice of one calling in the desert, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ "
Mark reminds us that the prophet Isaiah has predicted this moment in time. It is a sign that the messiah is coming on the scene. He skips over the details which he probably did not know because he was very young or perhaps he did not feel were important to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark, the first Gospel writer, skips the part we celebrate completely.
As for us, there is nothing wrong with all the preparations like Christmas trees, presents and all that go into family gatherings. All thoes things lead to excitement and joy and the excitement of children which make Christmas time so special.
I am not here to chop down the tree of the Joy which we celebrate today.
I hope that we are all here to start our personal preparation for the season which all too often gets laid aside with all that we have to do.
Let’s talk a little about John.
John is a messenger that is just a little different. We already talked about his strange clothing and eating habits.
He is said to be a 2nd cousin of Jesus, Mary’s cousin is Elisabeth. He is 6 months older than Jesus and will die about 6 months before Jesus. Zacharias is John’s father. John is a levite which means that he is in the Preistly tribe and his father serves as a priest.
But John came with an unusual message. Mark tells us that John is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
John the Baptist comes as the long expected messenger calling for the people to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He is not calling the people to build or repair a physical road. He is telling them to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus.
The people of the day had not heard from a prophet for over 400 years. And the busyness of their lives allowed them to let their focus and expectation to drift. To loose the anticipation that God himself would come into their world and change it forever.
We love to prepare for the arrival of Christmas don’t we, because it is so like preparing for a baby to be born? Things to get ready. Cleaning up to do. The perfect gifts and making everything just right.
- Have any of you seen the movie called “A Christmas Story?” It is about a boy that wants a red rider bb gun with a compass in the stock. He tells every body he can what the desire of his heart is and they all say, “You will shoot your eye out.”
On Christmas morning he opens a present form his aunt. He has to put on a pink bunny suit which she has made for him. The narrator makes the comment hat this aunt perpetually thinks of him as being 4 years old.
We get so wrapped up in the manger scene that we forget that he’s not a baby any more.
We think that somehow he is satisfied to see us make our annual appearance at Christmas and sing a few Christmas Carols. We seem to think that if we celebrate with the Christmas tree and presents that we are honoring Jesus.
How does the celebration we are preparing for celebrate or give a valid tribute to the physical manifestation of the person of God?
This real little baby, who was born into a crude stable, is now a KING.
As Christians – OUR Chosen KING!
Folks, John is telling us that we need to get ready because, someone more powerful than he is, is coming. This person is so much above a preacher Levite that he, John is not eligible or worthy enough to untie his shoes.
Handling sandals and cleaning the feet was the job of the lowest slave in the household. And John can’t see himself worthy.
I wonder where that leaves somebody like me. I don’t live a separate life away from the comforts of life. I am not fully set apart where the temptations of the world are beyond reach. But, that is where John was, separate, away from the noise. A life of constant preparation and bad food. A way of life that allowed him to hear the whispers and will of God.
John has been sent by God to tell the people that the time is at hand. He is to tell the people to have hope. That is it is all going to be Ok very soon.
John’s message is not one of doom and Gloom. His message is that the Good News was right there. His message is that no matter where you are, it is time to prepare and be ready for something great.
The preparation is personal, the preparation was internal.
How have you repaired for Jesus? Do you even know what to do?
In verse four, John uses the word "repent." "John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
The preparation John calls for can only be started by our individual mental choice!
Two kinds of repentance are possible in human experience. One is ’the sorrow of the world," a feeling induced by the fear of getting caught. There are a lot of people that have that kind of repentance.
-Kids are a great demonstration of sorrow over getting caught, chocolate on the face and hands and still denying that he or she had any thing to do with the missing candy bar. The result is a superficial sorrow that only comes when the facts of guilt are explained. The repentance is short lived with no genuine change of direction in the long term future.
John was calling for, "Godly sorrow," which includes an internal conviction of sin, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. It happens when a person realizes that they have offended God with their actions, attitude and failures. Their repentance is genuine and deep without the need of an accuser to point out the offence. The Repentance may feel begins with a sorrowful heart but to be genuine must lead to determined action!
The call to repent is one of the most important things we will hear among the sounds of exchanges of Christmas greetings, the singing of carols, shouts of joy as presents are opened.
So far we have talked about John being one of thoes strange relatives that we or at least I have. We have talked about his unusual message of repentance.
There is something else that is a little strange about John.
It appears that John had a popular ministey, "People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea, and the whole region of The Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”
It did not specify, Religious or unreligious, it describes the whole region of the Jordan. John was so popular that some people thought he was the messiah.
When John comes on the scene he is sent by God to call the people to choose to change. He called people to confess that they had sinned and needed to be baptized.
Do you think that when John baptized them their sins were removed?
Or perhaps as the people admitted that they has drifted the water was the refreshing physical sigh that their repentance --- genuine repentance for their sins and made them clean already.
Folks, John’s message was a call to take notice of our lives and respond.
He called us to look at the road of our souls and make changes. Where we have low spots or high places let them be smoother over. Where we are rough and hard let them be softened.
He is calling God’ people to hear the call to get ready, something great is going to happen. The Lord is coming!
Have you prepared for what is coming! Folks time is short!
Do you want to be in the real celebration?
Listen to the spirit. Repent of your sins, Let the Holy Spirit convict you and change you.
Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
All Glory be to God!
Hymn Communion
