“A LITTLE PREP PEP TALK”
MARK 1:1-8
[1:1] The beginning
of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[2] As it is written
in
Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your
face,
who
will prepare your way,
[3] the voice of one
crying
in the wilderness:
‘Prepare
the way of the Lord,
make
his paths straight,’”
[4] John appeared, baptizing
in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins.
[5] And all the country
of
Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in
the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
[6] Now John was clothed
with
camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild
honey.
[7] And he preached,
saying,
“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not
worthy to stoop down and untie.
[8] I have baptized
you with
water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
It’s a commercial
that you
see every year in the weeks leading up to Christmas. A wife puts a blindfold on her husband and leads him to the
front door. Then when they’re
outside the blindfold comes off and there sitting in the driveway with a big
red bow on it is a brand new Lexus.
Now I don’t know
about you
but that commercial drives me crazy! First of all the people who came up with that
commercial need to be asked a question and the question is simply this. What
color is the sky in your
world? I mean come on now. Are you
serious? Who buys someone a brand
new Lexus for Christmas? Here’s
another question that needs to be asked.
Are you supposed to put the car keys in a little box and use it as a
stocking stuffer so you can put the really expensive gifts under the Christmas tree?
Merry Christmas indeed! I bet that commercial also isn’t very
popular with the people in the Occupy Movement. It certainly isn’t a commercial for the 99% of us who have
to live on a budget when buying Christmas presents. The reality for most us is can be seen in a poem that goes
like this:
Twas the day after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Every creature was hurtin' yes even the mouse.
The toys were all broken, their batteries dead;
And poor Santa passed out, with some ice on his head.
Wrapping and ribbons just covered the floor,
While upstairs the family continued to snore.
And I in my T-shirt, new Reeboks and jeans,
Went into the kitchen and started to clean.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the sink to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the curtains, and threw up the sash.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a little white truck, with an oversized mirror.
The driver was smiling, so lively and grand;
The patch on his jacket said "U.S. POSTMAN."
With a handful of bills, he grinned like a fox.
Then quickly he stuffed them into our mailbox.
Bill after bill, after bill, they still came.
And he shouted and whistled and called them by name:
"Now K-Mart, now Wal-Mart, now Penny and Sears
Now Best Buy and Target, your due dates are near.
To the tip of your limit, every store, every mall,
Now chargeaway--chargeaway--chargeaway all!"
He whooped and he whistled as he finished his work.
He filled up the box, and then turned with a jerk.
He sprang to his truck and he drove down the road,
Now driving much faster with just half a load.
But I heard him exclaim with great holiday cheer,
"ENJOY WHAT YOU BOUGHT.......
YOU'LL BE PAYING ALL YEAR!"
That’s what Christmas
is all
about. Actually, we need to be a
little more specific here. That’s
what the secular Christmas is all about.
The secular Christmas is all about excessive gluttony and extravagant
greed. It’s all about
receiving gifts. It’s all
about consuming calories. Going
to Christmas parties and filling yourself up with Christmas spirits. The sacred
Christmas, on the other
hand, is all about preparing the way of the Lord.
That’s what makes
Mark’s
Gospel so special. Mark’s Gospel
begins with the words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. As it is written in Isaiah
the prophet, ‘…the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of
the Lord…’” Mark’s Gospel is all
about preparing the way of the Lord.
In fact, did you know that Mark is the only gospel that doesn’t mention
anything about the birth of Jesus?
It’s true. If you take a look at it later today you won’t find any
shepherds or wise men; no Christmas card scenes with a star shining brightly
above a rustic little stable. It’s
almost as if Mark is saying, “Let get right to the point here.” Christmas
is really all about preparing
the way of the Lord.
That’s what John
the Baptist
was doing out there in the wilderness.
He was preparing the way of the Lord. So, there’s a big difference between preparing for the
secular Christmas and preparing for the sacred Christmas. The secular Christmas
leads to credit
card bills and clothes that are too tight. It leads to the stress and strain of shopping and wrapping
and decorating and baking and making out Christmas cards. I saw that just the
other day. When I asked someone if he was ready
for Christmas, he replied, “Yeah.
Ready for it to be over!”
The sacred Christmas,
on the
other hand, invites you to “prepare the way of the Lord.” It’s
an invitation that leads you
to peace on earth and good will to all. It’s an invitation that fills your
heart with joy to the world and your mind with the ability to sleep in heavenly
peace.
So, how do you to prepare
the
way of the Lord? How do you clear
the way for the Bethlehem child to enter more fully into your life and the
lives of the people around you? The answer can be found by going back to John
the Baptist. When you look
at what John did out there in the wilderness you see that he made one thing
very clear. John made it
very clear that it wasn’t about him. In fact, the first thing he says in Mark’s
gospel is this: “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose
sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” If you turn to John’s Gospel he says something very similar
there. He says, “I must decrease
so that he may increase.” (3:10) In
Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized John also
says, “I ought to be baptized by you…”
(Matthew 3:13)
John made it very clear
out
there in the wilderness. He
basically said, “Let’s get one thing straight here. This isn’t about me people.” That’s a message that is completely different from the message
in that Lexus commercial. It’s a message that is completely different from what
the secular Christmas is all about. In the sacred Christmas there is an
invitation to step away from the me, me, me centered society that we live
in. When you do that you make room
for the Bethlehem child and wonderful things start to happen. Christ’s healing
grace, his truth that sets you free and his life giving love will come alive
for you and the people around you.
Daryl Ward understands
that.
It’s why he did something very special when he started a church out in Dayton,
Ohio. Now most churches have names
like the First Congregational Church or the First United Methodist Church. Nobody
wants to be the Second
Congregational Church or the Third United Methodist Church. Rev. Ward’s church
though is different. That’s
why they named it the Omega Baptist Church. Now that’s really cool when you think about it because
omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. When God says, “I am the alpha and the omega” it means
“I am the first and the last.”
So, when you come right down to it the name of that church out in
Dayton, Ohio is really the “Last Baptist Church.” The message is “This isn’t about us. We’re here to
serve. We’re here to pray for
others and give to others and make Christ’s love real for others
It’s an attitude
that you can
also see in something that some children in this Body of Christ did
recently. With their mother’s
permission I share with you this email that she sent to us. She wrote,
I
owe some gratitude to you and the congregation for helping to raise my
daughters. We try and instill a sense of caring and giving all year, but I
think that being part of this church also has so much to do with their thought
process. With the Sunday School, Advent Workshop, pageant, Frosty's Fair, Youth
Groups (they will join as they get older), Bells, Choir and other activities,
it is making it easier to aid in their growth as responsible, healthy children….
Recently, our Great Uncle Charlie lost his house due to an electrical fire. He
was left with a wallet, a lock box and his land to sell. My girls heard of this
and wanted to have him over for dinner. After dinner, they each came up to him
and gave him all of their allowance, to help him get some things that he might
need... Sometimes people don't recognize the goodness in this world and I just
wanted to let you know that I appreciate it every single day.”
I
invite you to carry that story with you into the coming week as you ponder one
single undeniable truth.
There are only 13 more shopping days till Christmas. That may not be enough
time to get all
of your shopping done but it’s plenty of time for you to prepare the way of the
Lord. Amen.
Rev.
Dr. Richard A. Hughes
December
11, 2011
