The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ

 

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

This is how the Gospel of Mark begins.

And as the Gospel unfolds, it is an action-packed message where the characters presented are in your face – calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, and a reordering of one’s life so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.

This good news of Jesus Christ, as delivered by Mark, is counter-cultural to our experience of church and understanding of what happens here, and what is expected of us. In Advent we focus on hope, peace, love, joy – we have taken the characters as presented by Luke, Matthew, and John  - and fallen in love with them; the shepherds, Mary, Elizabeth, the angels, the wise ones. We have fallen in love with the beauty of words: “in the beginning was the Word, the word was with God, the word was God.”

The characters from the Gospel of Mark, cry out, THIS is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ –

Be forewarned, be prepared, this good news upsets the world as you know it; it upsets the very foundation of who you think you are. It most definitely upsets people and systems with power and authority – for their ears do not hear the voice as good news.

 

Mark in his opening paragraph introduces two characters – one with a description that is a character of characters.

John the Baptist is introduced as a voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

Dressed like a wild man, he is preaching and teaching, offering ritual outside of the Temple authority. People are flocking to him. Religious authorities are upset. So too is the Roman endorsed ruler, as John points fingers outing the ruler’s sin. Because of the good news, John the Baptizer is beheaded.

 

Jesus, the second character, is first introduced to us by John the Baptist as– one more powerful than I

Similar to John, Jesus teaches and preaches, performs miracles, and people, especially the poor, flock to him. Religious authorities get upset. So too the Roman authorities get upset. Because of the good news, Jesus is crucified.

 

The Gospel of Mark quickly tells the story of the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the shortest of Gospels, every word testifying to the nature of Jesus and the good news. The original ending of Mark ends at the empty tomb with an unfinished sentence, they (the disciples) where afraid for…

 The gospel doesn’t end; Mark doesn’t write, “Here ends the good news of Jesus Christ.” The good news continues through time with characters that bear witness – that cry in the wilderness- calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, for people to reorder their lives so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.

 

There are a lot of characters who have filled this role through the centuries. In the first two weeks of December the Church commemorates a number of good news bearers; today I will mention 4 and a group. Such characters are commemorated on the day of their death – it is astounding that the following characters’ deaths fall in the season of Advent, a season of repentance, turning our hearts to reorder our lives so that nothing gets in the way of the Christ’s coming.  The characters are, like John the Baptist -crying in the wilderness- to the twentieth century church.

 

Four American women – Dorothy Kazel, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan-

These women were missionaries in El Salvador; Catholic activists who protested government oppression of the poor, provided humanitarian aid and in that role were accused of promoting political opposition to the regime. Because of the good news, Dorothy, Ita, Maura, and Jean were abducted, raped, and murdered Dec. 2, 1980

 

Francis Xavier –A missionary to Asia, the first to Japan, he was a Jesuit who had taken a vow of poverty and chastity. Francis faced opposition and in places practiced Christianity with new converts underground to avoid persecution. He spoke out against Spanish-Portuguese colonists when he discovered their oppression of the Indigenous people he was sent as missionary to.  Because of the good news, Francis died Dec. 3, 1552 -from an acute illness while waiting on a boat for permission to enter mainland China.

 

Nicholas or better known as St. Nicholas- Was Bishop of Myra which is in the territory of Turkey. Legends of his work describe devotion to God and love and advocacy for the poor; redistributing wealth, providing doweries, secretly giving. His voice in the wilderness included speaking out against heretical factions in the early church and refusing to comply with traditional religious practices of the Romans. Because of the good news, Nicholas was imprisoned for a time. He died Dec. 6, 342

 

Ambrose – Was governor of Northern Italy. He converted to Christianity, was baptized and became Bishop of Milan. He gave away his wealth and served the poor. He was a famous preacher who defended Christianity and spoke out against opponents of the faith. He took on the role of trying to mediate conflict between Emperors; his political views and actions related to his faith. Because of the good news, on one occasion, Ambrose and a group of believers were threatened by Gothic soldiers. He died Dec. 7, 397

           

Sancta Lucia- was a wealthy young woman who, on becoming Christian, devoted her life to God and gave her possessions to the poor. At the time Roman persecution of Christians was in full steam; she took food and aid to the Christians hiding in the catacombs. Because of the good news, Lucia is martyred Dec. 13, 304

 

The Sunday resource, Sundays and Seasons by Augsburg Fortress c2023, for this week wrote:

The beginning of a TV series is about world building: we are introduced to the characters, places, and events that are important to the unfolding story. We may encounter new people along the way and new truths may be revealed, but the beginning sets the parameters for the narrative. Final episodes of long-running show are much anticipated as we wonder how the story will end. Like an excellent pilot episode, the beginning of Mark’s gospel begins to build a foundation for the dramatic narrative that will follow. We are introduced to characters: Jesus the Son, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist, and the people in need of confession and forgiveness. A defining event – John baptizing in the wilderness – and foreshadowing the One who will bring about reconciliation and resurrection set the stage for the narratives that will follow.

 

When we investigate the characters presented, there are clear parameters – the voice calling in the wilderness – calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, and a reordering of one’s life so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.; the good news changed the very essence of the characters. Receiving the good news, the characters devoted themselves to God and gave their possessions to the poor; they spoke out against oppression and held firm to the faith…even when – or particularly when- it was counter-cultural and meant persecution, imprisonment, death.

 

The end of the story – the end of the Gospel of Mark – the end of the good news of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed… the good news of Jesus Christ is being written as I speak, as we live. The characters described this morning, are voices crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. This moment in God’s time, it is on us to repent, to be changed in understanding and being, to reorder our life’s so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming. It is time for us to live as voices in the wilderness, the living of our lives by completing the sentence, because of the good news of Jesus Christ…