Isaiah 40:1-11
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.
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.”
Conversation
- How many make a habit of watching the news?
- Why do you or why don’t you watch the news?
- What are the major recent news stories that stay with you? (Bill Cosby, Ebola, Ecole Polytechnic, cold case murder, war in Ukraine
- Are there many good news stories?
Sermon: The good news of Jesus.
Good News…what is that? Stories which dominate and are repeated news cast after news cast…are rarely good news stories. Recent world stories are about extremists taking over in distant places like Syria and Iraq. But their extremism is also attracting discontent youth from all over the world who are being radicalized. Many of these youth are leaving home to join in the fighting. Now two incidents involving radicals have happen in our own country. A major health story involved the Ebola epidemic in western Africa. The story focuses on poor knowledge the local people have about the disease, the lack of doctors and treatment centers, and the relatively poor financial response that the world has made to help these people. Other stories which dominate the news closer to home are about celebrities who are sexually abusing people who have trusted them.
The news stories which seem to receive the most time are filled with doom and gloom. They cause feelings of frustration and fear. We worry that these stories will hit closer to home and that we may be personally affected. We are afraid that recent citizens or their children may become radicalized…we’re even afraid because youth with Canadians name who have been radicalized and killed. We are afraid when aid workers return from places with serious health concerns…of them becoming sick and spreading it to us. Sometimes the gloominess of the news is so burdensome and heavy…to the point that we feel prisoner to it. Considering the news…we wonder whether things will ever change…and we wonder whether people will ever be able to live together peacefully.
The situations we face in our modern world are not all that different from the situations that the people face during any time or place in history. According to the prophet Isaiah the people of Israel are having similar feelings. They feel like they are prisoners who are being punished doubly hard…feeling helpless to change their condition. They see themselves as grass …which is green one day but withered and brown the next…or flowers which bloom one day but faded the next…
Again in the day of John the Baptist the people of Judah have similar feelings. They again feel like they are in prison in their own land…living under the oppression of the Roman Empire… They are slaves to the Romans. A vast majority of the citizens are treated as slaves working to produce products for the Empire. Some citizens are collaborating with Romans so are benefitting from the occupation. Mean-while other citizens are promoting rebellion and revolution. They are imprisoned and there is no peace to be found anywhere.
During Isaiah’s time the people who feel imprisoned by their situation…ache for words of glad tidings… During the time when they are oppressed by the Roman Empire…the people of Judah ache for words of good news. During our time when extremist organizations and armies are striking at innocent people…when individual are attacking soldiers…or when disease is killing many and threatening the health of the world…we also ache for words good news.
Into these situations when life is filled with turmoil…when the people of Israel are oppressed…when there is no future…and when finding peace is impossible…through the mouth of a messenger …God speaks. Isaiah… the herald of good tidings… says: “Comfort, O comfort”… and “Here is your God!” His glad tidings inform the people of Israel that their punishment is over… They remind the people about how God has always been present. He reminds them about how God feeds them…leads them… and about how God has carries them in his bosom.
During the time of the Roman oppression…Mark says the good news of Jesus begins with the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ The voice of good news is John the Baptist who appears proclaiming…and preparing the way for the one who is coming after him … John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
When we think of the word repentance… very often we think that it is all about being sorry and confessing our sins. But the word repentance has a much deeper meaning than simply confessing and saying that we are sorry for what we have done. The true meaning of repentance is more about rethinking or about thinking from a different point of view. Repentance is about completely changing the way we think.
Often our thinking or repentance centers on what is important only to us. We think about John’s baptism as a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin is only for our own personal benefit. We think about our sins…we think about how we must ask for forgiveness…before God gets to punishing us. We think by saying sorry for sinning will set us free.
But John the Baptist says that repentance is more that the smallness of saying we are sorry so that we will not be punished. John the Baptist begins proclaiming the good news…Jesus the one that comes after him will baptize with a different baptism. It is a baptism with the Holy Spirit. In this baptism the Spirit opens our minds to truly repent and think again in the ways Jesus thinks. Jesus sees the world through much different eyes that we do. Jesus sees everything and everyone through the eyes of love.
This is the good news of Jesus…who see everyone through the eyes of love. Through his eyes of love the world no longer looks the same. While we see people in need and do generous things during the Christmas season…making our hearts feel good…Jesus is always generous… While we are disgusted by the way some people hurt others… while we despise extremists or criminals and demand punishment for them…Jesus dies so they may be forgiven… While we forgive only those who ask for it…Jesus forgives us before we ask…while we are still sinners. While we refuse to be reconciled to each other…Jesus brings peace. This is the good news of Jesus.
Jesus baptizes us with the Spirit which gives us his eyes…so we will love the ones he loves… so we will be always compassionate …so we will seek forgiveness before punishment…so we will forgive before we are asked. This is the good news of Jesus.
Let us then receive the baptism of the Spirit…and the eyes of love. Let us be truly loving…truly generous…truly forgiving. And let us live together in peace…and let it begin with us. Thanks be to God. Amen
A very good sermon, much like the one I heard in my own parish. Hope all is well in your end of the province. Have a very Merry and Christ filled Christmas!!!!