Sermon on Mark 1.1-8

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews

St. Joseph-St. John Episcopal Church, Lakewood

December 10, 2017

Advent 2, B

Mark 1.1-8

When I was in seminary,

            my friend Ben did and impersonation

                        of southern fundamentalists.

I’m not even sure that’s the right impression,

            but the way he would widen his eye,

                        fry his voice,

                                    and say “REPENT!”

was basically the call of a prophet.

Three years ago I was in a really bad mood

and posted on Facebook,

            “I'm totally in the Advent spirit.

The same Advent spirit as Isaiah

in today's Office reading: WOE TO EVERYONE!”

Last week I said,

“In Advent the Church tells us

to get ready for the Son of Man coming in clouds

                        and the angels collecting Jesus’ followers.

In Advent the Church tells us

to get ready for the beginning of Christ’s reign.

In Advent, it’s the end of the world as we know it.”

I reminded us that we don’t come to church

            just to feel good

                        and that it’s hard to feel good when Jesus is talking about

                                    a dark sun and moon.

I also said that following Jesus,

            breaking bread and pouring wine,

                        changes the world.

Today’s gospel text

            is about getting ready

for the beginning of Christ’s Reign.

Isaiah says that someone will be sent

            Saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”

Mark says that the beginning of Jesus’ Good News

            is John the Baptizer appearing in the wilderness,

                        and proclaiming a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins.

If we needed anything clearer that

            church isn’t just about feeling good,

                        it’s that John preaches a baptism of repentance

                                    to make the paths straight

                                    before the coming of the Christ.

Proclaiming a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins

            is the beginning of the Good News.

Let’s wrap our brains around that.

People wanting to be told they’re bad

            is what brings crowds?

No, I don’t think that’s it at all.

People don’t want to be told they’re bad.

They look around —

            at global poverty,

            at climate change,

            at persistent unchecked police brutality —

                        and they know that we’re not good enough.

John preaches a baptism of repentance

            and that’s good news

                        because we can’t be good enough.

It’s good news to know that we aren’t doing enough

            because we can’t do enough.

However,

            that doesn’t mean we don’t try.

We don’t try to do enough,

            but we do keep trying to make God’s reign

                        here around us.

A read through of Mark’s Gospel

            shows how many times Jesus says,

                        “The kingdom of God is at hand!”

In Advent we prepare

for Christ’s coming in final glory

            for the end of the world as we know it

                        by repenting of the ways we fail.

After we repent

            we ask for a greater awareness of how we’ve failed

                        and a better resolve to not fail in the future.

Our failures are sometimes personal,

            and sometimes communal.

Despite the myth of American rugged individualism

            we rely on one another in one way or another

                        for so many things we do.

We get here on road we paid for collectively.

Our funding is aided by ways everyone

            contributes to the diocese through the assessment.

Inside and outside this place

            we're represented by elected officials

                        and often know people represented by different officials.

As the tax reform bill comes out of reconciliation

            we are called to be voices for the poor

                        who will be utterly devastated by this plan

                                    and to talk not only to our elected officials

                                    but those in other parts of the state and country as well.

During the general confession today

            I’ll be repenting

of not yet talking to anyone I know in Alabama

            about their senate special election on Tuesday

                        and all that is at stake in it.

John preaches a baptism of repentance

            for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

Crowds come to him

            to hear that they have failed

                        and more importantly, that they are forgiven.

When we take the Bread and Wine,

            we are forgiven of all our sins.

Gathering together

            to hear John proclaim the need of repentance

            and then taking time to repent,

                        to acknowledge simply that we aren’t perfect

                                    that from time to time — or a lot of times —

                                    we fail

                                                changes the world.

In a world of fake news and alternative facts

            simply saying, “I was wrong” or “We were wrong”

                        is revolutionary.

Following Jesus is revolutionary

            when we actually do it.

Coming to church can’t be a disconnection

            from the world outside

                        because we’ve made promises

to change the world outside.

Coming to church can’t just be about feeling good

            when we’ve got John the Baptizer telling us

                        that although he baptized with water

                                    Jesus will baptize us with fire.

Mark says this is the beginning of the Good News.

It starts with saying, “I’ve failed. I’m sorry.”

It only gets better from there!

It gets better when we break bread and pour wine,

            when we are forgiven our sins and offenses

                        and empowered to go change the world.

 In Advent we wait for Christs’ coming back,

            and we change the world so that it’s ready.