Mark 1: 1-8
The second Sunday of Advent is a time for all of us to remember the humility of honoring those who came before us. We all have ancestors in our callings, people who prepared the way. The second Sunday of Advent has a liturgical focus on Peace. This Sunday we have lit the Candle of Peace. However, Mark’s Gospel opens with language from the Hebrew Prophets.
Mark’s world was on fire. Jerusalem was under siege. Growing numbers claimed to be followers of Jesus. The majority of Jerusalem’s people wanted a savior with a sword – a leader skilled in battle. For that majority, Jesus’ teachings of love and justice seemed to be a weak and inappropriate response to Roman oppression. The battlefields in Gaza and Ukraine seem to repeat the turmoil and violence of 70 CE. Where is peace? Will suffering end?
Mark opens his Gospel proclaiming that he invokes the words of the prophet, Isaiah. “A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3:) However, Mark also weaves a text from Malachi 3:1 into Isaiah’s passage. “See, I send a messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.”
John the Baptist said, “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.” People willing to follow someone at least want the reassurance that they are following the right person. Who wants to follow the one preparing the way for someone else? John could have kept his thoughts about better and future saviors to himself until they had all agreed on a smooth transition plan. But John is not operating from that perspective; he is a servant of God. As a servant, he is called to cry out the truth.
So we, the audience, see John the Baptist in the wilderness in the form of Elijah. It is worth noting that John insists on focusing on the future and the one who is to come. John is dressed in Elijah’s style. John’s camel’s hair outfit is the clothing the prophet Elijah wears.
Politicians never mention the person they replaced. If the price of gas falls, they usually take credit for the reduced price. If the stock market and the economy rise, they also take credit for this. They often behave as though their appearance on the scene marks the beginning of something new without history. Our culture loves everything new and quickly forgets history. Leaders often portray themselves as agents of change and hope. Sometimes, leaders present themselves as “saviors.”
Jesus, the real Savior, modestly makes an appearance. Mark’s Gospel makes a clear distinction that before he arrived on the scene, even Jesus had some help from the past. The Gospel of Mark starts the Jesus story by looking back to Isaiah, who said, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'” Even the “Son of Man” needs people to prepare the way.
The second Sunday of Advent is a time for us to remember the humility of honoring those who prepared the way for them. We all have parents, mentors, and events that lead to our callings. People prepared our way. My mother, Helen, and the church I was raised in made me an ordained pastor serving in the United Church of Christ. I was also called to be a teacher and serve students for 33 years.
After declaring Isaiah’s prophecy, “A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, makes his entrance. Followers and admirers of John may have believed that he was “the One.” Instead, John looked to the future with a humble heart and imagined the one who would be called “The Son of Man.” He did this by invoking the prophets of the past.
Imagine the reaction among his followers when John said, “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.” People willing to follow someone want the reassurance that they are following the right person as Savior and will turn against the person who seems to falter or fail. Who wants to follow the one preparing the foundation for someone else? If John had not been prophetic, he probably would have kept his thoughts about a more incredible future savior to himself. Still, instead, he announced and agreed on a smooth transition plan to the Reign of Christ.
Thank God for those humble enough to acknowledge that they are a link in the chain with a past and a future. Had John not prepared the way and proclaimed it, Advent would not have been a season of anticipation for Emmanuel. The people who proclaim their membership in this church and other churches prepare The Way for the future by living their lives in the constant affirmation of Love, the core of Christ’s Way.
Waiting for the Savior humbles us. It makes us admit that the world does not operate on our schedule. In waiting for the Savior, we must confess that our Savior is not here yet. However, if he is not here, that rules out the possibility that the Savior is one of us. It guarantees that it is not me.
We are like the crowds listening to the prophet John, seeking direction for our future. We look for God’s definitive intervention to set things right. John points us to Jesus, who came so long ago and is yet to come for us. Jesus may shock us when he comes and shows us who we are before God. Our only hope is to join John in confessing and looking to the true Messiah’s coming. The Prince of Peace will Come, and Peace will reign in the Kingdom of God. Be with us, Holy Spirit, for we will not know the day or time of Christ’s return.