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The
Second Sunday of Advent Based
on the Gospel: Mark
1:1-8 Mark
begins his gospel with a message of such hope.
He begins with a claim that he is the bearer of good news for the
world. He heralds in a new
beginning, a fulfilling of the Old Testament as God breaks into the
world in a new way. It is a
big claim to say that you have something that is good news.
What can be ‘good news’ for what is going on in the world,
either in the early church of Mark, or for that matter in our modern
world? Mark
sets the stage for telling the story of Jesus who is the Good News.
‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one bearing
good news to Israel and announcing God’s coming kingdom!’ He
announces John the Baptist, the prophet anointed by the Spirit to
proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberation.
John offers repentance as the way of entering into the kingdom.
He points beyond himself, offering hope through renewing a right
relationship with God. He
preaches conversion, metanoia. His is a call for a major change in direction.
It is a call for the whole nation to repent as preparation for
the coming of the Messiah. What
is the good news for Christians in the twenty-first century?
What could possibly be good news with everything that is going on
in our world? The good news
is that God still longs for the whole of creation to be transformed.
That transformation begins with you and with me.
Christian faith begins with a call to repentance.
It is a call to usher in the kingdom of God.
It is a call to be spiritually prepared for Christ to come in
whatever way that should come about. There
is a theory called synergy, which says that new knowledge comes to
people all over the world for some reason at the same time.
And so it was. Suddenly
many people began to talk one to another about God's return.
The odd thing was, it wasn't only Christians who suddenly had
this idea. People of every
faith - Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, - found themselves waiting
expectantly for the coming of the kingdom.
Now they did not all have the same idea about how God would
return. Just that it would
happen soon. And so they
began to prepare for that day. At
long last the revealed time arrived.
Candles were lit in churches, mosques and synagogues all over the
world. Huge numbers of people gathered in expectation.
Prayers were offered up. Hymns
were joyfully sung. A
very large group had gathered in a lovely cathedral in the inner core of
a large city. They had out
all the trappings. The
organ blazed forth the most glorious music.
The clergy were robed magnificently.
But nothing happened. Just
then a ragged individual came into the church.
Truth to tell he simply didn't belong in these surroundings.
He was dressed in the oddest assortment of hand-me-down clothing.
His hair was in dreadlocks.
It was painful to look at his hands, so scarred were they.
And what was worse, he brought with him the odours of the
streets. There he was,
boldly walking up the centre aisle.
Well, they dispatched him with haste and went on with their
liturgy. Meanwhile
under a bridge not too far away, a crowd of people came together as they
did every evening, for this, when the city didn't turf them out, was
their home. What a strange
assortment of people they were! Young
and old, whole and diseased, sane and insane, drunks and addicts, but
here on the streets they were a family.
They built a fire and began to prepare for another night in the
cold. Almost
unnoticed he walked into their midst.
He made his way up to the campfire and began to warm his hands. A young woman also standing by the fire reached out her hand
and he took it gently in his own. "What
happened to your hand, mister?" she asked as she stared at the ugly
scars. It was then she
noticed similar scars on his other hand.
"Some
people hurt me a long time ago." "Does
it still hurt you?" she asked.
"At
times. The pain reminds me
why I received the scars in the first place."
A
big burly man, the one who lead this raggle taggle community living
under the bridge, approached, extending a rough had in greeting.
"Welcome. I
don't know who you are or what you are doing here.
And we never ask. We
don't have much, but what we have we share."
A
young man, his eyes glazed and running, handed the stranger a dinner
roll he had found in the dumpster behind a plush restaurant.
Someone had taken a bite out of it.
He took it, turned his eyes upward, and said, "Baw-ruch ataw
Adonoi Elohaynu... " All
heads bowed as they whispered a prayer of blessing.
Then he broke pieces off the roll and gave each one a piece,
taking care not to forget those who lay outside the gathering, too ill
to move. When
he had finished, a woman, her face mirroring the hard life she had led,
gave him a cup of coffee from the thermos she had filled over at the
mission. "Baw-ruch ataw Adonoi Elohaynu..." he repeated, and
he passed the cup amongst them. When
he finished he held the remains of the roll in his hands.
It appeared to be untouched, and the coffee cup still steamed
with the hot dark liquid. On this second Sunday in Advent as we await the coming of the Day of the Lord, as we say 'maranatha', 'Lord Jesus come soon', let us reflect on where Christ has brought healing and salvation into our lives. Let us remember who has been the presence of Christ coming to us in love. Let us be prepared for the coming of the kingdom, for Jesus to come to us, to enter our souls and hearts. Let us recognize him in his coming.
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