We’re in a new Church Year. And the gospel for our readings at the Sunday Eucharist changes. Last year it was Matthew whose symbol in religious art is the man. This year our gospel readings come from Mark. And what is his gospel’s symbol? It is the lion.
His gospel roars into action from the start. This is the beginning of the Gospel, he states baldly. It’s the good news of Jesus who is the King. Immediately he quotes the prophet Isaiah;
Look! Take note. I am sending my messenger in your face. Yes! Your face! It’s you I’m calling and I’m asking you to pay attention.
The messenger will prepare your way. Yes! Your way, your path, your life journey. You thought you’d got your life all planned out, didn’t you? Well, look out ! Take good note! I am preparing the way for you.
Now listen. There’s the voice of someone shouting out in the desert of this world. All of you, get the Lord’s way ready. What’s happening here is not just about you, it’s about everyone. The Lord, the King, God even, is on the move. Clear the path. Don’t get in the way.
No wonder the lion is the symbol of the Gospel according to Mark. We’re off to a roaring start with this gospel. As the phrase in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has it, Aslan is on the move. If the lion (he’s not a tame lion you know) – if God is on the move, be prepared to be shaken up, disturbed, changed.
So who arrives? John the Baptist. Our own patron saint here at the Church of John the Baptist, Peterborough. Not a comfortable patron saint to have. He dresses strangely: camel hair shirt with leather belt as an accessory. His diet is weird too: locusts and wild honey.
This is deliberate branding by John. This is how that most uncomfortable of Israel’s prophets presented. It’s there at the beginning of 2 Kings. King Ahaziah is seriously wounded. Messengers, seeking a prognosis for the king from an idol god, by chance meet the prophet and report back to the king. ‘What was he like?’ the king asks. ‘Hairy with a leather belt’, they say. And the king said, ‘It is Elijah.’
Elijah is the one who the people believed would come before the great and terrible day. And here he is. He is there right at the start of the good news of Jesus. He’s here to kick start things.
His message is simple. Prepare! Repent! You thought I was strange. Well, someone is coming whose shoes even I am not worthy to tie up. You thought my baptism was enough. That was just with water. His baptism is with fire!
Preparation: do we know the situation we are in? What is the state of our lives? Am I aware of my self and my actions? Are we as a society aware of our situation? Are we aware of our global situation? Left to our own devices we stop being aware of the desert we are making of the world and our own souls. The old Prayer Book rightly called the situation ‘the wilderness of this world’.
Penitence: even if we took the trouble to examine our lives this morning before coming to the Eucharist with its permanent offer of the chance to say sorry to our Lord and king – even if we took the trouble to do that, did we not see that we are inextricably bound into a world tainted and managed by greed – greed that makes others suffer? The slave trade which made our nation prosper. Climate damage that we with others have caused – climate change one of the great drivers of migration. We cannot jump out of these situations. Lord have mercy is the only prayer.
God is on the move. Jesus is coming. He is the good news. He is salvation for us, our nation and our world. He gave himself completely for us on the cross. He triumphed in his resurrection and he has sent us the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus baptises with the fire of the Spirit.
Prepared and penitent we meet Jesus. We meet with him here this morning. We have communion with him and he gives himself to us in the sacrament of the altar. Brother Roger of Taize, whose community was and is so attractive to the young, – Brother Roger said, ‘He does not ask too much of you, but he does ask for everything.’ Can this be true? It can be true and it can be good news because in holy communion, at the altar, God gives us everything, all his love all his justice all his peace. And our lives can become all love, all justice and all peace.
It’s Advent 2023. It’s all change. God is on the move.
Service: Canon Bill Croft. 10th December 2023. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Isaiah 40.1-11; 2 Peter 3.8-15a; Mark 1.1-8