The Beginning of the Good News, The Reverend David R. Williams, Advent II--Year C--Dec. 4, 2005

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Mark’s opening words sets a tone of anticipation and expectation for his rendition of the story of Jesus. For the listener two thousand years ago, this story was new – a story of birth and new hope, a story of Jesus and a story of the listener, each one of us who stops to hear.

The Good News begins here, today. We, as the listeners of old, live at the eve of the Gospel story. Each generation through the centuries encounters the Good News story of the Spirit in the Son, Jesus.

Last week, the first Sunday of our Season of Advent, many of us asked questions after the worship service. Our worship was different. The church did not look the same as the Sunday before Thanksgiving!

“Why did we sing the Doxology after Communion instead of during the return of the offering plate to the altar?” “Why was the altar against the wall?” “Those blue hangings – I never saw them before today.” “Since when do we start the service with the Confession?” “The Advent wreath looks terrific. I understand that one.”

“The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ…”

Of all the changes noted, the Advent wreath, the most familiar originates from an ancient pagan ritual, reminding us of the earth’s vegetation and greenery in the midst of winter darkness. The wreath each Advent Sunday reminds us of a life-giving “beginning” and leads us to the Christmas Eve illumination of the Christ Candle.

The Doxology is one of four Psalm verses interspersed in song throughout each Advent worship service. The most appropriate time to “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” is in exultation after we have prayed and been fed by our Lord’s Sacraments.

It is the celebrant’s stance that changes, not the altar. During the season of Advent the Priest faces the same direction as every person in the congregation. We all anticipate the coming, the arrival, the birth of the Lord. The transcendent God of mystery gathers us in the darkness. We prepare for a new guiding light.
The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

John, the baptizer, comes from the dark wilderness and recites the words of Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” John is contrary to the softer image we might expect of a messenger of the Messiah. John is rugged. He demands that we remember our mortality – our frailties, our transgressions, our painful past. Remember, John says: repent, confess, be cleansed.

Maybe we are the John the Baptizers of today – the unexpected people to prepare those around us for the Good News. Nobody would expect me, or you, to be the one to introduce the Messiah.

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Blue seasonal hangings of royalty, solemnity, purity. The blue of Advent we prepare a way for the King.

Comfort, O Comfort, my people says the Lord. Speak tenderly to the people of Jerusalem. What strange language from a prophet. Where is any reference to the harsh, judgmental words of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament? Comfort – speak tenderly to the people of God. Prepare. Promise – God’s promise- the uneven ground made level, the rough places made plain. Prepare.

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Tragedy, loss and exile besiege the people of Israel. The nation seeks a voice of hope and promise. Israel seeks a Messiah. And the prophet speaks of comfort and gentleness.

Our own dear Kenneth and Bettie Gant begin their day during the first week of Advent and learn of the sudden death of their adult son, Kenny. Three years ago, their daughter Alex suddenly dies after a viral illness. No warning. Exile, loss. A rude awakening to mortality. Losing a child is unthinkable, and then the loss of two children…

A local pastor’s family is thrown into the depths of darkness with the news of the self-imposed death of their young adult son.

Writer G. K. Chesterton writes, “It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all.” “As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is a mere flattery or platitude; like all the Christian virtues, hope is as unreasonable as it is indispensable.”

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

A Jewish Rabbi emphasizes the virtue of memory. “The teaching of Judaism is that while the world changes (births, deaths, wars, seasons), there is permanence. There is continuity in memory, in connections between people, in God. The Rabbi says, “Although much in this world might be lost, it is reclaimed through recollection. Even something so fixed and durable as a home (as a job, even a child, as a loved one, as a friend) is not ultimately what lasts. The abidingness of life is found in each other today, and in God.

The wise rabbi says, “In the end, the answer of faith is that somehow suffering serves, that it answers to some purpose.”

John the Baptist calls us to remember the wilderness, the dark sad places of our own hearts and souls, to repent, to confess, to be cleansed.

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ. A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said futilely, desperately, painfully, “What shall I cry?” The words are not there. I am numb with guilt, with loss, with hopelessness.

“The grass withers, the flower fades…surely the people are grass.” The world changes ever so abruptly. The seasons change – the leaves fall, the flowers fade, the cool wind blows. Winter darkness takes hold. Surely the people are grass. We ask, where is the permanence? Where is the promise?

It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all.

Remember. Recall the moment at the table as he raises a piece of bread and breaks the break. Remember, Jesus says – remember me in this bread.

The grass withers, the flower fades. But ….and here we may listen to one of the greatest and most inspirational words in all Scriptural record. Words put to music by Frederic Handel in his wondrous work, Messiah. Words passed down through the centuries. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand forever…

“Behold your God. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear, say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

“The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Amen.