11
THE GOOD NEWS IS HERE
Mark 1:1
Rev. Paul Wrightman 12/24/24
HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?
MARK BEGINS HIS GOSPEL
WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT
OF THE COMING OF THE GOOD NEWS.
IT IS THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST,
WHOM MARK AFFIRMS TO BE "THE SON OF GOD."
THIS, OF COURSE, IS WHAT ADVENT IS ALL ABOUT:
A TIME TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF JESUS
INTO OUR LIVES AND INTO OUR WORLD.
THIS IS THE MOOD AND FEELING
THAT IS CAPTURED BY THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPIRITUAL:
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
OVER THE HILLS AND EVERYWHERE;
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN,
THAT JESUS CHRIST IS BORN.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS WAS BORN
IN AN OBSCURE VILLAGE
IN AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY PLACE
THAT WAS BARREN AND UNKNOWN.
TODAY, CHRIST COMES
TO THE SHADOWY AND BARREN PLACES
OF OUR LIVES.
THIS IS WHAT ADVENT IS ALL ABOUT.
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS!
JESUS WAS BORN AMID
THE POVERTY AND OBSCURITY
OF THOSE JUDEAN HILLS,
BUT THE FACT REMAINS
THAT HE TRANSFORMED HUMAN LIFE
IN THE FIRST CENTURY.
IT ALL BEGAN IN SUCH LOWLINESS
AND UNPRETENTIOUSNESS.
TODAY CHRIST COMES
TO THOSE SHADOWY AND BARREN PLACES
OF OUR LIVES
AND BRINGS THE LIGHT
OF GOD'S LOVE AND GRACE.
IT WAS GOOD NEWS FOR THE FIRST CENTURY,
AND IT IS GOOD NEWS FOR OUR CENTURY.
IN BETHLEHEM HEAVEN TOUCHED EARTH
AS NEVER BEFORE.
TODAY, THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL
TOUCHES OUR HEARTS AND LIVES
WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT
THAT GOD IS WITH US.
JESUS WALKED ALONG THE SHORES OF GALILEE,
BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT TODAY
HE WALKS OUR CITY STREETS.
LOOK AT THE HUMBLE BEGINNING
WHERE THIS MESSAGE OF GOOD NEWS
FIRST APPEARED.
IT DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE
A GHOST OF A CHANCE OF SURVIVING.
THE BIRTH OF JESUS
TOOK PLACE IN A TINY COUNTRY.
ISRAEL IS ONLY ABOUT 150 MILES
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.
IT IS ABOUT THE SIZE
OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
HOW COULD THE GOOD NEWS
THAT CAME TO THAT SMALL COMMUNITY
EVER BECOME GOOD NEWS
FOR ALL THE WORLD TODAY?
JESUS WAS BORN INTO A JEWISH FAMILY.
THE JEWISH PEOPLE OF THAT TIME
DELIBERATELY ISOLATED THEMSELVES
FROM OTHER CULTURES AND OTHER COMMUNITIES.
HOW COULD GOOD NEWS
THAT CAME TO A COUNTRY
WHICH HAD A DELIBERATE POLICY OF ISOLATION
BE GOOD NEWS FOR ALL THE WORLD?
THE GOOD NEWS FIRST APPEARED
TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE,
BUT AT THE TIME THEIR COUNTRY
WAS UNDER ROMAN OCCUPATION.
HOW COULD THIS GOOD NEWS
THAT CAME TO THOSE WHO WERE SO ISOLATED
AND OCCUPIED BY A FOREIGN POWER
EVER BE GOOD NEWS FOR ALL THE WORLD?
THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE.
THE MESSAGE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST
IS A MESSAGE ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS,
RELATIONSHIPS BETEEEN PERSON-AND-PERSON,
PERSON-AND-NEIGHBOR, PERSON-AND-ENEMY,
PERSON-AND-COUNTRY, PERSON-AND-PLANET,
AND PERSON-AND-GOD.
THE NATURE OF RELATIONSHIPS DOESN'T CHANGE,
SO THE MESSAGE OF JESUS
IS RELEVANT FOR ALL TIME.
JESUS CAME TO MEET THE BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
OF THE FIRST CENTURY, OUR OUR CENTURY,
OF ALL CENTURIES.
JESUS ENTERED INTO LIFE "THEN AND THERE;"
JESUS ENTERS INTO LIFE "HERE AND NOW."
JESUS MET THE NEEDS
OF THE FIRST CENTURY WORLD,
AND THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT
HE MEETS THE NEEDS OF THOSE IN TODAY'S WORLD.
AS WALTER WINK REMINDS US
IN HIS CHALLENGING BOOK ENGAGING THE POWERS,
"JESUS IDENTIFIES TODAY
WITH EVERY VICTIM OF TORTURE,
INCEST OR RAPE;
WITH EVERY PEASANT
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
OF AN ENEMY PATROL;
WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE
OF THE FORTY THOUSAND CHILDREN
WHO DIE EACH DAY OF HUNGER …
WITH THE ALZHEIMER'S PATIENT
WHO IS SLOWLY LOSING
THE CAPACITY OF RECOGNITION
AND THE AIDS PATIENT
WHO IS BARELY HOLDING ON TO LIFE."
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT IN JESUS
GOD BECAME FLESH
AND KNOWS LIFE EXACTLY AS WE KNOW IT,
EVERY PAIN, EVERY TEAR,
EVERY SORROW, EVERY JOY.
EMMANUAEL, GOD-WITH-US.
THIS IS GOOD NEWS!
THE MESSAGE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS
WAS EARTHSHAKING
FOR THE FIRST CENTURY WORLD.
FOR THE FIRST CENTURY GREEK MIND,
THE IDEA OF GOD
WAS ONE OF ABSOLUTE DISTANCE,
A DISTANCE WHICH NOTHING IN HEAVEN OR EARTH
COULD AFFECT.
THE GREEKS UNDERSTOOD GOD
AS DISTANT, ISOLATED, UNTOUCHABLE,
AND FREE FROM ALL FEELING OR EMOTION.
IN THE GREEK WORLD OF THE FIRST CENTURY,
THE IDEA OF GOD WAS ONE OF
DETACHMENT AND INDIFFERENCE
TO HUMAN NEED.
THE PREVAILING IDEA OF GOD
IN THE ISRAEL OF JESUS' DAY
WAS ALSO ONE OF DISTANCE.
IN THE CASE OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL,
THE DISTANCE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT
BY GOD'S ABSOLUTE HOLINESS,
A HOLINESS WHICH HUMAN BEINGS
COULD NEVER ATTAIN.
THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS
REVEALED A GOD WHO CARES PASSIONATELY,
A GOD WHO WANTS TO BE INVOLVED
IN ALL ASPECTS OF HUMAN LIFE.
BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR
CAPTURES SOMETHING OF THE MYSTERY
OF THE INCARNATION --
THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN AFFIRMATION
THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON
IN JESUS OF NAZARETH --
WHEN SHE WRITES:
"WHEN YOU LOOK AT JESUS, YOU SEE GOD.
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO HIM, YOU HEAR GOD.
NOT BECAUSE HE HAS TAKEN GOD'S PLACE,
BUT BECAUSE HE IS THE CLEAR WINDOW
GOD HAS GLAZED INTO FLESH AND BLOOD --
THE PORTHOLE BETWEEN THIS WORLD
AND THE NEXT,
THE PASSAGEWAY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH."
THAT WAS GOOD NEWS
FOR THE FIRST CENTURY WORLD
AND THAT IS GOOD NEWS FOR OUR WORLD.
NEVER BEFORE HAD GOD BEEN DEFINED
IN SUCH LOVING, KIND, GRACIOUS,
AND CARING TERMS.
THIS WAS UNTHINKABLE
FOR THE FIRST CENTURY WORLD
TO WHOM MARK WAS WRITING HIS GOSPEL.
AND IT REMAINS UNTHINKABLE
FOR MANY PEOPLE IN TODAY'S WORLD.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, MANY WOULD SAY.
TOO GOOD NOT TO BE TRUE,
ONE COULD SAY IN RESPONSE.
THE PRIMARY EXPRESSION OF THIS GOOD NEWS
IS GRACE.
GOD THROUGH GRACE HAS TAKEN THE INITIATIVE.
IN THE BIRTH OF JESUS,
GOD REMINDS US
THAT THERE IS AN UNBREAKABLE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN GOD AND US.
GRACE HAS BEEN DEFINED AS LOVE-IN-ACTION.
WHAT SURPRISES US ABOUT GOD'S GRACE
IN REGARD TO ADVENT
IS THE NOTION THAT GOD SHOULD TAKE ON FLESH
AND DWELL AMONG US.
THE FACT IS
THAT WE ARE ALWAYS SURPRISED BY GRACE.
BECAUSE IT IS GOD'S GRACE,
IT COMES TO US ON GOD'S TERMS.
GRACE IS THE UNMERITED, UNEARNED,
UNDESERVED GOODNESS OF GOD
THAT IS SHOWERED UPON OUR LIVES.
WHY IS IT THAT GOD HAS NOT GIVEN UP ON US?
WE HAVE SPURNED GOD'S LOVE,
POLLUTED GOD'S CREATION,
AND MOCKED GOD'S PURPOSE
WITH CRUEL ACTS OF INHUMANITY.
WHY DOESN'T GOD JUST GO AHEAD
AND ALLOW US TO SELF-DESTRUCT?
WHY? --BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING
IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH
SO DOGGED, DETERMINED,
STUBBORN, AND PERSISTENT
AS THE GRACE OF GOD THAT WILLS TO
HEAL, RECONCILE, AND RESTORE.
HAVE YOU NOTICED WHERE
GOD HAS PLACED
GOD'S TREASURE ON EARTH?
THE TREASURE IS NOT GOLD, BUT GOSPEL.
NOT SILVER, BUT GOOD NEWS.
NOT HARD, COLD CASH,
BUT GRACE AND LOVE AND PEACE.
GOD COULD HAVE LEFT IT TO THE POLITICIANS,
THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR COLLECTING TAXES,
BUILDING ROADS, AND PASSING LAWS,
BUT GOD DIDN'T.
GOD COULD HAVE LEFT THIS TREASURE
WITH THE THEOLOGIANS OF THE DAY,
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES,
WHO CLAIMED THAT THEY KNEW GOD
BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE,
BUT GOD DIDN'T.
GOD LEFT GOD'S TREASURE
IN THE LEAST LIKELY OF PLACES:
IN THE LOVE, CARE, AND NURTURE
OF A FIRST CENTURY PEASANT TEENAGER
CHOSEN AS THE "HANDMAIDEN OF THE LORD."
GOD'S TREASURE WAS LEFT
WITH THE MOST POWERLESS FIGURE
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
DOESN'T THAT TELL US SOMETHING
ABOUT GOD'S GRACE IN TODAY'S WORLD?
WE ARE CONSTANTLY SURPRISED BY GRACE.
GOD COMES TO US IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACE --
BETHLEHEM.
GOD COMES THROUGH THE MOST UNLIKELY
OF PEOPLE -- MARY.
GOD COMES TO US UNDER THE MOST UNLIKELY
CIRCUMSTANCES --
THE POVERTY OF THE GALILEAN HILLS.
KNOWING THAT WE CANNOT GO WHERE GOD IS,
GOD COMES TO US WHERE WE ARE.
THIS IS WHAT MARK CALLS
THE GOOD NEWS.
AMEN.