Preaching: Mark 1:1-8 Part 2
After Thanksgiving, many Christians anticipate Christmas. They see Santa
in the mall. The media are filled with Christmas music and advertisements. At
church, however, on the First Sunday of Advent, the focus turns to the Second
Coming of Jesus. On the Second Sunday of Advent we encounter John the Baptist.
Even when the congregation regularly follows the Christian Year and the Revised
Common Lectionary, some folk are confused. "When we are unpacking the
nativity set at home, why do we hear in worship about the return of Jesus
in glory, or about a person munching bugs and dressed in camel hair preaching
repentance?"
Because of such confusion I encourage the pastor to orient the congregation
to the reasons for the eschatological emphases at the beginning of Advent. The
redemptive work demonstrated through the birth and life of Jesus is not complete
until the eschatological consummation. Advent is a season of preparation, especially
through repentance, for the conclusive coming (advent) of God into history. A
little education can demystify these connections.
One sermon might take its cue from the fact that repentance is the main
theme of the text for today. The preacher could develop a doctrinal sermon that
traces the meaning of repentance in the First Testament and the importance of
repentance in the Second Testament.1 The sermon should include special
attention to John the Baptist inviting the people to repent. The sermon could
meditate on repentance in Christian tradition and theology. The sermon would
help people repent as individuals and as a congregation.
Because many people associate repentance with negative emotions (e.g.,
feeling sorry for one's sins), the preacher should stress that repentance is
a positive, dynamic action: turning away from beliefs and practices that deny
God, and turning toward the ways of God that lead to blessing. The preacher can
help the community identify specific situations for which they need to repent,
and specific actions of repentance. Repentance prepares us for both Christmas
and for the Second Advent.
Another sermon might focus on the theological symbolism of John's dress
and message. According to Mark, the reign of God is the time and place when all
things (all relationships and circumstances, involving human beings and nature)
conform in every way to the purposes of God. The present world, characterized
by the reign of Satan and the demons, will be completely refurbished when the
rule of God comes. According to Mark, the ministry of Jesus from the baptism
through the resurrection manifests the reign of God in a preliminary way. When
Jesus returns the reign of God will be manifest throughout the cosmos.
A key theme in the Jewish apocalypticism that furnishes the background
of this text is that the end time (the eschatological fulfillment) will be similar
to the beginning time (the world as it was at creation). John is dressed in skins
reminiscent of the skins worn by Adam and Eve as they were expelled from the
Garden of Eden (Gen 3:22), and of the dress of the prophets (e.g., 2 Kings 1:8).
The people leave the cities and towns (in ancient Jewish literature often
symbols of degradation and the distortion of divine purposes) and come to John
in the wilderness for baptism. By repenting, people leave the present corrupt
era and move toward the gate of the garden of the new world, the reign of God.
The preacher can help the congregation identify persons, communities, and situations
in our world that, like John in the wilderness, lead us toward the reign of God.
How can we join them?
A sermon could trace the role and function of the figure of John the Baptist
in the narrative of Mark. John is a prophet in the tradition of the classical
prophets of the First Testament. He announces the coming of the reign of God
(Mk 1:1-8). When John confronts Herod, Herod has John beheaded (Mk 6:14-29).
Herod is an archetype of the rulers of the old age whose old era behavior destroys
God's purposes for human community. According to Mark, John fills the apocalyptic
role of Elijah—prophet from heaven whose appearance signals the beginning
of the last days (Mk 9:9-13; Mal 4:5). Mark uses the suffering of John as a pastoral
warning to the Christian community; they, too, will suffer when they witness
to the gospel (Mk 8:34-9:1; 13:9-23). The preacher could help the community realize
that we are called to speak the John-like prophetic word to the Herods of the
world today. The church should not be surprised when these rulers react to this
message as Herod reacted to John.
Since I am a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in which
baptism—the immersion of the believer—is a dramatic act, the reader
would expect me to suggest a sermon on baptism. Baptism was a multi-layered symbol
in antiquity. It represented washing off the old life and being prepared for
new life, initiation into a new community—in this case the community of
the new age, returning to the waters of chaos (as in Gen 6-8) and emerging into
a new creation. The water is similar to the womb: those who emerge are born into
a new family.
These themes are appropriate for Advent. Baptism is God's gift of assurance
that, even as we live in the midst of this old world, God has claimed us for
the new. Baptism is God's mark. The experience of baptism is a miniature of the
cosmic transition of the ages. As we are submerged, we feel the end of an old
era. We feel entombed. As we are raised, we feel new life. By experiencing this
transition in the ritual of baptism, we can be confident God's grace will carry
us through the difficulties that accompany the end of the old world, and God
raising a new community of love and justice.
Ronald J. Allen
Christian Theological Seminary
Indianapolis, IN
NOTES
1. For a sterling example of a doctrinal sermon on repentance, see Barbara
Shires Blaisdell, "Repent, For God's Sake and For Yours," in Ronald
J. Allen, ed., Patterns of Preaching: A Sermon Sampler (St. Louis: Chalice
Press, 1998), pp. 172-176.
