Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8
Hear the voice of the prophet St Maria Von Trapp echoing down the ages, as her voice cries out in the Sound of Music, and she proclaims, ‘let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…’. She was onto something because way, way, before Maria’s sage advice, so St Mark was saying the same. ‘The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’, he said. The beginning.
And where did he start? Did he list the genealogy of the Christ child, like Matthew?
Did he start at the conception of John the Baptist or Jesus, like Luke? No, he didn’t.
For Mark, the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, went back some 700 years before his birth with that glorious prophesy we heard in our Old Testament reading – See I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare the way, and his voice will cry out in the wilderness ‘…prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God…’
Jesus’ birth and what it meant for all humankind forever, was so significant, so transformational that it didn’t begin in that stable in Bethlehem. It didn’t even begin at his conception. It began millennia before, with Isaiah prophesying it and John the Baptist fulfilling it and that good news changed the world forever.
The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God is that the valleys are lifted up, the mountains are brought low, the rocky paths are made level and the barren land breaks into rich fertile soil. The sick are healed, the broken are made whole, the blind can see, the lame can walk.
And God’s glory is revealed. To everyone. Not just the religious few. Not just to those who, for whatever their credentials say, somehow apparently deserve it. Not only for the in crowd. And never at the exclusion of anyone else. The glory of the lord is revealed for all people. And that is good news, because it means we get to see it too. All of us.
So, if this is where the good news of Jesus Christ begins, where does Mark say it ends? Does it end at the crucifixion when Christ takes his throne on that wooden cross? Does it end in his death in that stone cold tomb where, to the rest of the world, it certainly seemed to end? Does it end in the glory of the resurrection or the holy relay race of the Ascension?
No, the storytelling of Mark’s gospel ends like this…
Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation [and] 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
So, really, it doesn’t end at all. Because, in Isaiah’s prophesy, and in John the Baptist’s mission, the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God really began – the good news that was in place since the dawn of time put skin on and came and lived among us and he brought the glory of God to a hurting world as a promise and a hope for all people. And that story, that mission, that good news has never ended. The disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them. And as they went, so they still go.
And for those of us who are trying to be followers of this God man, our job is to keep on going with that good news. To keep sharing it with all people. To keep telling that story. To keep proclaiming the word of the Lord. To walk with others through the valleys of despair until those valleys are lifted up; to remove the rocks of pain and sickness and struggle and loneliness from the paths of others, and to care for this world so that the barren places can become lush again. The beginning of the good news came. It is here. But the story is not over.
During advent we have time to pause, and take stock. It is the perfect time for us to consider our own part in the story of the good news of Jesus Christ. How are we contributing to it? Are we fulfilling our role? Is the story still being told in us and through us?
And today we celebrate the wedding of Cecilia and James. And we pray that their marriage will also be a significant part of the telling of this fabulous story of good news.
And every year, on this day, as you celebrate your anniversaries, I encourage you to pause and reflect, look back and look forwards, and see how you have told the good news story of Jesus in you love of one another and of others and, most importantly in your love of Him who loves you. Amen.
Holy Adventures 