Straight from the Heart of God

December 4, 2011

Advent 2
Mark 1: 1- 8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “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.’”John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “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. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Sermon
Today is the second Sunday of Advent and so we continue our preparation for the coming of Jesus. We look forward to his entering our lives, asking ourselves “What does this mean?” What does it mean that he is coming? What should we do? What to think?

Today’s gospel lesson from Mark gives us some help. John the Baptist appears and barks the command, calling everyone to attention. There are a variety of ways we can get into this story. There are a variety of ways to get on to what the Bible is saying. And I would have to say that the three best on-ramps to the Bible’s message today can be summed up in three words: Resistance, Resolve, and Re-birth.

Resistance.
One of the truths of life is that where there is movement, there is friction. That’s because friction is a byproduct of resistance. When John the Baptist calls attention to the movement of God’s work in the world, things get heated. He calls people to get ready. Calls them to a new life. Calls for them to straighten out their lives, get their acts together, and walk the straight and narrow. John is very effective. Here he is, laying into people, and they come in droves to the wilderness. They beat a path to him and present themselves for a new day. And people were genuinely enthusiastic. They were enthusiastic in their openness to John’s message. But there were some who were enthusiastic in their opposition to John’s message. People who rubbed the wrong way.

These would be the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and other experts in religion. They did not approve of John so much. They wagged their finger at him. Shook there heads in disapproval. And said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? Where does he get off talking to us like that? And they pushed back on John. Resisted him, they did. They would resist Jesus as well.

But lest we get too high and mighty in our verbal smack of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, let’s not forget that they were not the only ones who pushed back on Jesus. They were not the only ones who resisted him, but Jesus’ closest peeps did as well.

Surely you remember when Jesus was walking along with his disciples and was cluing them in on what lay before him. “The day is coming,” he said, “when the Son of Man” (that’s what he called himself) will be delivered into the hands of his enemies and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Then, Peter squares off with Jesus. He says “Over my dead body. You can forget it Jesus. Not gonna happen. I won’t allow it.” He resists Jesus. He resists the path Jesus takes them on. He pushes back against the road Jesus is trying to make. All the disciples, in their own way, resist Jesus’ move in their lives. They see that he wants to break some new ground and route the way of God in areas that perhaps they are not open to.

Pushing back against roads is something we know something about in Indiana. Some of the state’s biggest battles have been over highway projects and proposed highways. Governor Mitch Daniels “Major Moves” campaign where he leased the Indiana toll road in the northern part of the state created some major pushback. But that resistance is small potatoes compared to the resistance the I-69 project has created. For more than two decades, since the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) under then President Clinton, a new superhighway linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico, has been planned. It cuts right through the middle of the state. And there are people who stand up and say “Not in my backyard! Not on my watch!” And they push back on the road that is coming their way.

Just like Jesus’ first disciples, those who broke bread with him and shared a cup of wine, there is something inside us that resists the directions God wants to move. There is something within us that pushes back on the way of Christ.

Resolve.
The second word that will give us access to the flow of this passage is resolve. Just as it is true that in some way or another we resist Jesus’ way in our life, it is also true that God is resolved to see happen. It’s gonna happen. The Bible says today that a highway is being built in the wilderness for the coming of our God.

In the ancient world highways were constructed by conquering monarchs to help move troops and create places for celebratory parades. From Babylonian hymns and from archaeological evidence we know that the high street in Babylon was like the Champs Elysees in Paris, leading to the Arc de Triumph. In the Roman world, the conquering and triumphant ruler would approach the city with great pomp and circumstance, displaying the mighty power of the king. Often they would drag along captives from the conquest in the parade, as Titus did to the Jews after destroying the Jerusalem Temple.

The road, street, or highway in the wilderness is just one of those ways. The Bible says that a way is being prepared in the wilderness for the coming of our Lord. There is nothing that he let stand in his way. There is nothing that is going to delay or prevent is coming. The rough places are made smooth and the low places are raised up.

If you have done any driving along State Road 135 in the past two years, you’ve had a close up view of the process. While it seemed to take 20 years instead of two to finish it was interesting to watch. Did you see how they cut out hillsides to make room? They didn’t wind around the hill. They cut into it. Made it fit their plans. Did you see how they raised up certain depressed areas? They didn’t have the road follow the topography of the land. They made the topography fit the road. Construction workers were determined to clear out any obstacle to give a clear and straight shot from one point to another. They even dug stuff up under the ground. They relocated underground utilities. They even relocated a grave yard. Nothing living or dead, animate or inanimate was going to obstruct the creation of the road.

As you think about the coming of Jesus into your life, whether you think of him in terms of a little baby in a manger or a great and glorious king at the end of all time, know this there is nothing that is going to inhibit or prohibit his coming. He is removing all obstacles, uprooting and unearthing the living and the dead to clear a straight path from one point to another. He making a way for the passage of all the blessings of his kingdom, all the love of his heart, all the forgiveness from the cross, and all the healing from his hands straight to your life. As Paul says in Romans (8:38-39),

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You can resist all you want, but he is coming. You can give him a stiff arm, but he’s just going grab it and pull you in for a bear hug. You can tell him to talk to the hand as turn the other way, but he’s just going to take you by the hand and go with you wherever you go. You can try and hide behind lock and key in the deepest dungeon in your heart, but you will wake up to the reality that he has joined in you in jail. Not even death will curb his plans.

There is nothing that will forestall his entrance into your life. The highway is there and he is on the road.

Rebirth.
The third word that will help you enter the stream of this story in Mark is Rebirth. As you know well, John the Baptist makes a real splash in the Bible. He makes his presence known to the world at the Jordan River calling people to a new life. And as they come into the river, something happens for each one of them. As they go under for baptism the water is broken. As they come up out to the surface through the broken water they are new and reborn as children of God. There is a new life. Baptism becomes for us the beginning of a new life. Here's what the Bible says . . .

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away;

see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Just imagine! Your life as God always intended. Holy, and Pure. There is so much in this world that can drag us down. The pull of sin and self-destruction is like the constant undertow of the ocean at your favorite beach. Once in a while, a rip tide grabs hold of you and pulls you under for what feels like the last time. So random, so unpredictable. When you think of Jesus’ coming into your life, whether it is as the babe of Bethlehem or the cosmic Christ, know this he makes all things new.

This Advent season is one of waiting and watching for Jesus’ coming. As we gather together today, please be aware that in some way of another we all resisting Jesus’ forward progress in our lives. For some reason or other, our minds, and hearts, and spirits are not moved by his gestures. Be that as it may, he is resolved to love you. There is nothing you can do to stop him or slow him down. And be prepared to get wet.