PRAYER: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that you have inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation, and that you will empower our application. Amen
MESSAGE: I don't know if you noticed but there is something remarkable about the Gospel of Mark that we read this morning. It is as though Mark is saying to himself as he writes this opening chapter: "If I can get the frame work laid out in a series of easily identifiable steps, then all those who read this in future will have to do, is go through those steps and then they will see and understand." Let's take a quick look at the message of Mark 1 9-15. 1.) Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John 2.) as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 3.) a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 4.) the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness 5.) He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan 6.) he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. 7.) after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee 8.) proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark doesn't waste any time is laying out the highlights of the beginning of Jesus ministry. Baptism, identification, wilderness, temptation, return, proclamation. In fact Mark only takes eight verses before he launches into the heart of who Jesus is. Those eight verses are a brief, concise, summary of thousands of years of prophecy and prediction. It is almost as though Mark is a reporter who has arrived on the scene of monumental event and wants, as quickly as possible, to get the background out of the way so he can deal with what is important, to him, and to everyone who will read this account. There is a breathlessness about Mark's introduction. He launches into answering an unspoken question with the assumption that all his readers know what that question is. Mark assumes that we are asking, as everyone in his time was asking: "So, how do we know Jesus is the Messiah?" Well, let us look at what Mark tells us: "This is the Good News of Jesus." "We were told to look for a Prophet - a voice calling in the wilderness." "Well that's obviously John." Mark then says that John only has one purpose and that is to identify the Messiah. “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Then we are introduced to Jesus and with a degree of confidence which should stop us in our tracks Mark goes ahead and outlines even more succinctly than he did with John the Baptist who Jesus undoubtedly is. Jesus must be the Messiah. Not only is he identified by the prophet in the wilderness, but when he is baptized a series of things happen that can only be interpreted one way. Jesus is the Messiah. Then Mark moves to establish Jesus' role as the Messiah. He proclaims the Kingdom of God is at hand! The time has come for people to bring their lives in line with the values of the Kingdom. It is a straight forward process. Repent and believe in the good news. So as we read through the Gospel this morning how should we respond? Well, as we read in 1 Peter 3: 18, this is our opportunity to consider, and to respond to what Jesus did for us. "Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God." Jesus, as the only righteous person, has made this sacrifice for us the unrighteous. How are we going to respond? Are we willing to accept this role of Jesus? Is this what we expect from the Messiah? How do we understand Baptism because of this event? Again from 1 Peter 3, this time verse 21: "And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," Jesus fulfills the role of the Messiah, because through his death and his resurrection, he gives new meaning and power to Baptism for us. At our Ash Wednesday service one of the things that I love is that we have the opportunity to pray the Prayer of Humble Access. I think it is worth repeating here this morning: "We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us." Amen All of us have the opportunity to come into relationship with our heavenly father through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And, praise the Lord we do not have to depend on our ability to be righteous to gain or maintain the relationship. I am very grateful for our Episcopal Church polity, which is our form of church organization, which draws so much from the rich history of the church. Our Creeds and our Prayer Book lead us to trust and rely on the words of faith created for us. Now, you all know that I often quote from the Collect of the Day to end my messages. I find that the Collect can bring clarity and understanding to our readings. So, I am going to end this morning leaning into the words that Mark quotes from Jesus at the end of Gospel reading this morning: "Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." Or as the Collect puts it this morning: "Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save," May the Lord bless and keep us as we trust the words and the works of Jesus to bring us to new life. Comments are closed.
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