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December 2002
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2nd Sunday in Advent (December 8, 2002)
“Beginning the Good
News”
Dr. Van Kemper
Text:
Mark 1:1-8
SERMON
This
morning, I would like to begin with a little quiz. Don’t worry, it’s very
easy. Think of it as a kind of
pre-test designed to establish where we are before we go on to the sermon
proper.
You
will need a Bible, so get one from the pew racks if you didn’t bring one this
morning. The first test item
involves finding in the Bible the phrase, “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.” If you find this phrase or know where it is in the Bible, please hold up
your hand. . . Well done.
The
second test item involves finding in the Bible the phrase, “In the beginning
was the Word” . . . If you find this phrase
or know where it is in the Bible, please hold up your hand. . . Well done,
again.
Most
Christians have very little difficulty identifying the beginning of Genesis or
the beginning of the Gospel according to John.
These certainly are among the most familiar phrases in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament. This
morning, on this the Second Sunday of Advent, we encounter a third
“beginning” – but one that is much less famous.
Squeezed
in between the twenty-eight chapters of Matthew and the twenty-four chapters of
Luke, we find the Gospel according to Mark.
This is an enigmatic gospel, far shorter -- with only sixteen chapters --
than the other gospels. And even
more puzzling is that Mark has two (or three) different endings. If you take a
look at page 55 in your pew Bibles, you will see that the regular
text ends at verse 8. But, the last
footnote points out that “other texts and versions” append a “longer
ending” as verses 9-20, while “other ancient authorities” add a “shorter
ending” after verse 8. No other
Gospel – indeed no other part of biblical canon – has such an array of
textual variants.
In
addition to its strange ending, Mark’s gospel also has a peculiar place in our
understanding of New Testament history. Most
scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel written among the four
gospels in our New Testament. So,
if we were to put the four New Testment gospels in chronological order, Mark
would be first instead of Matthew. (But, of course, if the entire New Testament
were arranged in chronological order, none of the gospels would be among the
first books – this pride of place would go to some of Paul’s letters.)
In
beginning the church year for 2002-2003, we are entering into what is known as
Year B in the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary. Year B is the
year of the gospel according to Mark, in the same way that Year A (just
completed) was the year of the gospel according to Matthew, and Year C will be
focused on the gospel according to Luke.
So,
let us begin with this gospel according to Mark. The first verse begins with a
statement filled with double significance.
First,
this verse serves as the “beginning” of the prologue section for Mark’s
gospel, which goes from verse 1 through verse 15.
Second,
this verse is a proclamation of the purpose of the entire gospel.
So, in a sense, we have two beginnings here:
The “beginning of the beginning of the good news” and the
“beginning of the good news” in the fuller sense of the term.
In this way, Mark’s gospel is like the book of Genesis. Genesis begins
with a statement about beginnings and is, in its fullness, an account of the
beginnings of God’s special relationship with the world and with humanity.
In
the broader sense of the term, Mark’s purpose is clear. He proclaims his work
to be “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” No
pussy footing around. No worrying
about building up the readers’ interest in a long and complicated story line.
Mark is transparent in proclaiming that Jesus is the “anointed one.”
Just imagine if
Agatha Christie or other famous mystery writers had opened their stories by
declaring, “The butler did it” – and then complicated the tale by offering
up two or three different endings. Far
from trying to build an atmosphere of suspense, Mark asks his readers to suspend
their belief, to listen to a story unlike any other they have ever heard.
But
Mark does not ask his readers to accept his proclamation on faith alone. In
verse 2, he proceeds to establish the historical credentials for this Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, by the time-honored device of saying “As it is written
. .” as a way to call upon the tradition of the holy writings. In this case,
Mark states that he is citing the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah.
Actually,
the passage here is not a simple quotation from Isaiah. Instead, the
first phrase (about the messenger) comes from Exodus 23:20, the middle phrase
(about the wilderness) comes from Isaiah 40:3 (this morning’s Old Testament
lection), and the last phrase (about preparing the way) comes from Malachi 3:1.
Regardless of his mixed sources, Mark’s main purpose in presenting this
passage is to bring forth God as the speaker, saying: “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.’”
And
just who is this “messenger” that God sends? In the Old Testament, it is
clear that the “preparer of the way” is a reference to Elijah. And for Mark,
the returning of Elijah is visible in John the Baptizer. So, Mark identifies the
“messenger” as John to his first-century audience.
And
just who is the “you” here in this passage?
In my reading, it seems clear that Mark intended his readers to identify
the “you” with Jesus himself. Speaking
through the prophet, God announces to Jesus that he [God] will send a messenger
before him. Mark’s purpose here
is to emphasize the intimate relationship between God and Jesus at the very
beginning of this story. You may
recall that later, in verse 11, Jesus is the only one to hear the heavenly voice
at the time of his baptism in the river Jordan – “And a voice came from
heaven, ‘You are my son, the Beloved, with you I am well
pleased’” (1:11). In contrast, Matthew’s gospel tells the story of
Jesus’ baptism as if the whole crowd could hear the voice from heaven, who
said, “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).
The
good news that Mark proclaims in this prologue and throughout his gospel is a
special kind of good news, the good news “of Jesus Christ.” In New Testament Greek, this phrase “of Jesus Christ” had
more subtle meanings than is obvious in our modern English translations.
First, the phrase “of Jesus Christ” could mean “the good news about
Jesus Christ (i.e., an “objective genitive”) or it could mean “the good
news that Jesus Christ himself announces (i.e., a “subjective genitive”), or
it could be a combination of the two.
A
parallel construction is found in Revelation 1:1, where we read about “The
revelation of Jesus Christ.” This is about Jesus Christ and also the
revelation that Jesus Christ himself announced.
In
effect, Mark’s work here is not only the good news about Jesus, but
also the good news that Jesus himself proclaimed through his life and ministry
and through his crucifixion and resurrection, as told throughout Mark’s gospel
(cf. Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8; The Anchor Bible, 2000, pp. 146-147).
Which
brings the story to us, here in Oak Cliff and Dallas nearly two thousand years
later. We are “beginning”
another church year with the Advent Season, and we are entering into the spirit
of the Christmas season (which the merchants seem to keep pushing further and
further back in the year – so that now we see the first beginnings of
Christmas well before Halloween!).
But
these “beginnings” of the church year and the Christmas shopping season –
as important as they are in our lives – pale by comparison with our
opportunity to act as messengers for the “good news of Jesus Christ.”
While we are not the messenger who comes before Jesus, we can take
some pride in being the messengers who come after him.
Not pride in the sense of being haughty or high-handed, but pride in the
sense of feeling honored and blessed to have been chosen for this mission of
sharing the good news about Jesus Christ and sharing the good news that Jesus
himself proclaimed.
A
literal reading of the second verse of chapter one in Mark’s gospel gives us
our warrant to take some pride and to be very open and positive in sharing this
good news. Where the NRSV offers the phrase “See, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you,” a literal translation would be “Behold, I send my messenger before
your face.” This is a way of
personalizing the message, a way of saying evangelism is all about getting
someone’s attention, or as many of our youth like to say, “getting in
someone’s face.”
The
spirit of new beginnings is visible throughout our community. For example, the
Board of Directors of the Oasis Housing Corporation recently has taken actions
to expand significantly the program and impact of their work in transitional
housing for the working poor. We
will hear more about the new beginnings at Oasis in a few moments, when Scott
Goddard speaks to us during a Minute for Mission before the time of Offering.
Other
Presbyterian congregations in our area also are facing new beginnings: new
pastors are being called to the congregations in Lancaster and at Oak Cliff
Presbyterian.
And with the departure this past summer of its
long-time pastor, the Rev. Horacio Quiroz, to a new call in Arkansas, the
congregation of the Iglesia Presbiteriana Emmanuel also has been facing new
beginnings. Since their departure
from Wynnewood two years ago, the folks at Emmanuel have been nesting at First
Presbyterian Church in Irving. Recently,
the building at First of Irving has been listed “for sale.” As a result,
both the First of Irving congregation and the folks at Emmanuel are facing new
beginnings.
And here at Trinity, new “beginnings” are all around us.
Since September, the session of this congregation has committed all of us
to becoming a more welcoming congregation and to pursuing new paths of inclusive
ministry. Here in our congregation
we are witnesses to new faces among us, especially the new faces being shuttled
back and forth from Grace Presbyterian Village.
Our ministries – including the Oasis Housing
Corporation, the English-as-a-second-language program, and the soon-to-be-open
computer laboratory (and our soon-to-be-launched Website) – also reflect new
beginnings in our efforts to reach out to our neighbors.
The
gospel of Mark seems to me to be especially appropriate for where we are in
the life cycle of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Mark’s gospel has a clear message, proclaiming the beginning of the
good news of Jesus Christ -- both the good news about Jesus Christ and the
good news that Jesus himself announced to all who would listen.
We face new beginnings in the year before us.
Amid the challenges that always accompany new beginnings, we need to stay
focused on what matters. In
everything we do, in every action we take, individually and corporately, we are
acting as evangelists, we are serving as the messengers of Jesus Christ, and –
in the end – we are “beginning the Good News.”
Amen.