December 7, 2008 Message

2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8
"Found At Peace"

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.” This first verse from Mark raises some important questions.

QUESTION 1: What is the "beginning of the gospel"? Is this particular sentence or the specific story that follows “the beginning” of the gospel or is the entire writing of Mark the "beginning?" If the last verse of Mark (16:8 “And afterwards Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”) doesn’t really end anything, then perhaps all of Mark is the beginning of the gospel whose end has not yet come. The story continues even today as we proclaim the good news everywhere (16:20). Maybe, just maybe, it’s important for us to begin every year at Advent time – hearing once again the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God.

QUESTION 2: What is the "good news" of Jesus Christ? Is it what Jesus taught, or is it something shared “about Jesus Christ,” or is it both. Regardless of how it is defined, the “good news” is something that is meant to evoke a response - like shouting, "We won!" If it matters to those hearing it that we’ve won then there is shouting and jumping and waving of arms. “Good news” is more than just information. It is an event that deeply effects those hearing it for the first time. Imagine if Mark’s opening words were: "The beginning of the victory of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God"? How might that influence our reading or hearing of the rest of the story?

And QUESTION 3: What does Mark mean when he writes, “Christ, the son of God?” Christ is a Greek word for "anointed" or "Messiah," which probably would have made little sense to Mark’s original audience. The Greeks among them had no concept of messiah while the Hebrews spoke of anointed ones usually in reference to kings and prophets. So, when Mark refers to Jesus as “the son of God,” his Greek readers probably would have had this image in their mind of a physical son, like Hercules son of the god Zeus, while the Hebrews would have had an image of a powerful king.

It seems then that Mark’s beginning words are loaded. As Donald Juel, in his book A Master of Surprise: Mark Interpreted, suggests, "Good news" equals military victory, while "Christ" & "son of God" equals an anointed conquering king (or Greek "super-hero"). Mark begins here so he can then surprise us by radically redefining these terms throughout his story of Jesus as the Son of Man -- the one who will be crucified.

This is really then the beginning of something more than Mark’s book… or of a story about John the Baptist, who points to someone greater, to Jesus who prepares the way for the coming of the Lord God. This IS the beginning of the good news?

For Mark, the beginning of the gospel is not about the birth of Jesus that is found in Matthew and Luke. The beginning is not about Mary, Joseph, angels, manger, shepherds, or wise men. That is what Christmas is all about! For Mark, the beginning is about something else. For Mark the beginning is about John the Baptist, a prophet screaming and baptizing in the wilderness of Judea – a man announcing the coming of someone greater. For Mark, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.” was about announcement, it was about hope and it was about repentance.

People were drawn to John because he was… well… different. And they were drawn to his message because he understood that God was about to do something that would change people’s lives forever. John was preparing the way for that by living a godly life, by challenging those who had turned away from God, and by pointing the way to the coming Christ who would bring the peace of God to a troubled world.

In the second lesson, Peter describes our wait for the Lord’s coming not as reason to worry but as a gift of time so we might patiently prepare ourselves. We can best understand this by reminding ourselves that the purpose of our discipleship is our preparation for our time with Christ in eternity. Through the work of the indwelling Spirit we are daily molded into the image of Christ. We are made holy. So, we prepare for the day by living as disciples of Christ in three particular ways: 1) by seeking to walk uprightly in the presence of the Lord through prayer, devotion and worship, 2) by living by faith rather than sight and by building up the Christian fellowship by equipping and encouraging, and 3) by reaching out into the world, seeking the lost in the power of the gospel, both in word and deed. By doing these things, the Holy Spirit works within us to change us. It is the Spirit’s doing, not our own.

So, although we approach the coming day living "holy and godly lives", we know that in the end being "found spotless, blameless and at peace with" God is a gift of grace that comes to us through faith. Peter says, God is patient with us. That IS good! I would hate to imagine what would be my just reward if God were not. And still, I am not off the hook, nor are you.

Brian Stoffregen, a Lutheran pastor in Marysville, CA, has written: "Perhaps we need to look at the Advent/Christmas season as a time to begin to hear the good news again for the first time." Maybe as Mark seeks to redefine the good news and Jesus as the Christ/Messiah and Son of God, so Mark seeks to redefine what following Jesus actually means and what life immersed in the Holy Spirit means – all of which point to the cross, a sign of victory or good news for God's anointed, the Son of God.

As we enter the fantasy of the commercial Christmas season, it may be good during Advent to be reminded of the real costs of following that baby who will be born. Maybe it will be the very first time we have heard it. While we probably don't have the same misconceptions about "Christ " or "Son of God" as the ancient Greeks and Hebrews did, our understandings of Jesus’ "victory" and what following him means probably could use some redefining, just as it did for those first readers of Mark.

The way that is being prepared is a way that will lead to suffering and death on the cross. Yet it is also a way to a new beginning - with the cleansing and promising gift of the Holy Spirit. No longer need we be prisoners of the past. No longer are we bound to our idolatry or regret, our greed or our fears. We can begin again.

The sentence “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God,” is not just an introduction; it is, in fact, part of what it anticipates. The good news of Jesus was already at work in the expectancy and preparation, the beginning of the beginning, the “good news” in which we can all be “found at peace?”

Peace to you in Jesus Christ who has come, who is come, and who will come again.