SERM: Mark 1:1-8, Advent 2, LSB B
THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Listen again to how St. Mark begins his divine book: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” These Words may be rightly applied, not only to our Lord Jesus, but also to you and to me and to the infant Hunter Bredeman, who was baptized into Christ today. In the same way that Mark has written, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” today is also “The beginning of the Gospel of Hunter Bredeman, the son of God.” So, too, on the day of your Baptism: “The beginning of the Gospel of [your name here], the son of God.” Dear Christian friends, You might want to turn in your bulletin to page 5, where the Gospel of the Day is printed, so you can see how Mark’s important Words fall into place. As you look at that page, ask yourself the · QUESTION—According to Mark’s book, what exactly is “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”? · Here is Mark’s ANSWER: “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Note it carefully and mark it well! Jesus’ Gospel—that is, the Gospel concerning Jesus; the Gospel about to Jesus; the Gospel belonging to Jesus—this Gospel News begins with a guy baptizing people and then preaching about Baptism. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. … John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Baptism is the beginning of the Gospel. Yes, Mark stuck a quotation from Isaiah between the words “the beginning of the Gospel” and the words “John appeared.” But that quotation is not the beginning of the Gospel. That quotation from Isaiah is simply telling you that you should not feel surprised at what Mark is telling you. The Isaiah quotation is showing you that God had earlier promised that Baptism would be “the beginning of the Gospel.” After all, John is “the [promised] voice of one crying in the wilderness.” And “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” This connection Mark makes between “the beginning of the Gospel” and Holy Baptism is nothing less than meat-and-potatoes for everyday life. This connection allows you to look at your own personal life in same way that you look at the life of your Lord Jesus, about whom Mark writes in the rest of his book. Think about the Words, “the beginning of the Gospel.” If something has a beginning, it also has a middle and an end. By drawing his connection between “the beginning of the Gospel” and Baptism, Mark is positioning you to compare the beginning of Jesus’ life to the beginning of your life; the middle of Jesus’ life to the end of your life; the end of Jesus’ life to the end of your life. AS FAR AS MARK IS CONCERNED, LIFE BEGINS IN BAPTISM One of the most beautiful things about Mark’s writing is that he does NOT do what Matthew and Luke did. Matthew and Luke take tell about the conception, birth, and infancy of Jesus. Mark does not bother with all that. It is not that Mark rejects the Virgin Birth of Christ. Jesus’ birth and infancy are simply immaterial to Mark’s point. Mark wants to focus on Baptism as “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” If Baptism is the beginning for the story about Jesus, why shouldn’t we think of Baptism as the place of where each of our stories—each of our personal Gospels—begins, as well? Hunter Bredeman was born a couple weeks ago in some hospital somewhere north of here. Those details do not matter, as far as Mark can see. What matters is: · “the beginning of the Gospel of Hunter Bredeman Ramey, the son of God,” formally and eternally adopted into the family of God by Holy Baptism on December 4, 2011, at Grace Lutheran Church in Versailles, MO. · what St. John elsewhere calls “birth from above” (John 3:3); birth of “water and the Spirit” (John 3:5); birth “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Mr. and Mrs. Ramey, today’s Gospel allows us to think that you have done a really good thing by bringing your infant son to the baptismal font. Today’s Gospel seems to think that baptizing should come before preaching or teaching about Baptism. Mark does not say that John came, preaching about baptism and baptizing. What does Mark say? “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” In other Words, get the child into the water! After that, spend the rest of your life explaining and proclaiming to the child what just happened to him! BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS In a few weeks, when we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, Mark will tell us more about Jesus’ Baptism in particular. For
SERM: Mark 1:1-8, Advent 2, LSB B
Continuing with the Beginning Second Sunday in Advent December 7, 2008 Mark 1:1-8 We know the way it begins: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. You'd expect the beginning to begin with the beginning. You'd also expect the story to move on from there until it gets to the end. But this story has no end. The story continues; it moves on from the beginning. But what it moves on to is other beginnings. Such as the one we have today in the Gospel reading. Mark tells us that what he is going to tell us is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We might have expected talk about beginnings last Sunday when we actually began the new Church Year. But here on the second Sunday in the Church Year what is appointed is talk about beginnings. That's because the story didn't begin only at Genesis 1:1. The story doesn't just continue, it continues with beginnings. That's what this story is, a story of beginnings. There was never supposed to be an end. There was the threat of an end, if Adam and Eve decided they didn't like the whole idea God set up of living forever in perfection and glory under God's gracious hand. But even then, when they decided to bring it all to an end, God loved them too much to bring their blessedness to an end. So He created a new beginning. That new beginning He brought about immediately upon their fall into sin. The beginning of the Gospel Mark is talking about in our Gospel reading was brought about way back there in the Garden of Eden. God promised to save them. He promised to send a Savior. Even though they wouldn't die then and there, they were condemned in their sin and all their offspring would be born in sin. For the Gospel to be the Gospel, for it to be effective, it had to begin right then and there. When all their hope was lost God brought about hope from the beginning. You can imagine that with this second chance there was relief on the part of Adam and Eve. Their children and grandchildren and many descendents were grateful that God didn't bring it all to a halt right then and there when Adam and Eve chose the path of death. You can also imagine that there was much struggling with God and with each other, having inherited the sinful nature Adam and Eve chose for themselves. You can imagine what it was like to wake up each day and still be bound to that Old Adam you were born with. You can imagine what it was like to long for hope even as God gave hope to Adam and Eve when they were in utter despair. You can see the need for a new beginning. And you can see that it's needed every day. You can imagine all this and know the need for God's hope because you live this existence every day, as all who have gone before you have. You know very well how deep it is as you see it on a daily basis in others and as you catch yourself doing things wondering what might have possessed you to do them. You know very well what it is like to hope for a second chance. This is how the story goes in the Old Testament. God always going back to the promise—the promise of salvation, the promise of the Savior. The story progressing by going back to the promise, which brings about new beginnings. The people of God, just like us today, choosing that path that Adam and Eve chose, and God giving them hope, a new beginning. There are countless examples in the Old Testament, today's Old Testament reading is one of them. The people of God are the people of God, but they need to be constantly given that hope, constantly given new beginnings. So Mark begins his Gospel account in that way. He says the Gospel began this way: Centuries before, Isaiah prophesied the messenger to pave the way for Christ. John was preparing the people for a new beginning, he himself the product of the promise of a new beginning—that the Messenger would come. What does the Messenger do? He baptizes. Baptism is all about new beginnings. In Baptism you are given new life. So the way to prepare for the coming of the Savior was to show the people that this was all about new beginnings. Without repentance they would be left in their sins. They would be left for dead spiritually, so they needed a new beginning. John came preaching. He came baptizing. He came talking about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The messenger God sent to usher in the Messiah baptized with water. The new beginning would come shortly with the Messiah bringing a Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is Baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is God's continuing act of creation in you. It doesn't take us long for us to mess things up. Adam and Eve managed to take care of that shortly after creation. Our daily lives as Christians are new beginnings. Daily in repentance you are created anew. As He gave you a new beginning in Baptism, He continues to create in you new life daily in repentance and recalling your Baptism. The Gospel is what saves you. The Gospel is what gives you new life daily. When the
SERM: Mark 1:1-8, Advent 2, LSB B
Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent Where Jesus' Gospel Becomes YOURS Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In today's Gospel is St. Mark chapter one verse one, the starting point in this Evangelist's history of your Lord's Good News for you: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. St. Mark then goes on to explain to you that, as far as he is concerned, the Gospel belonging to Jesus begins in Baptism: John appeared (more literally, John came into being or John happened), baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Dear Christian friends, When Luther spoke about the forgiveness that your Christ won for you, he spoke about it in a way that not many people speak today. Luther spoke about the message of forgiveness as though it was his own possession. Luther repeatedly spoke about my gospel and my theology, a habit he probably learned from the apostle Paul (Romans 2:16, 16:25, 2 Timothy 2:8; cf. Philippians 4:19.) a.. For example, when he described his now-famous Luther seal, which our children learned about in their Vacation Bible School, Luther stated that this seal is a symbol of my theology (AE 49, 358). a.. When speaking about the way he had come to believe what he now believed, Luther said, I didn't learn my theology all at once. I had to ponder over it. (AE 54, 50). Luther also believed you and every Christian-not just pastors and theologians-but you and every Christian should likewise speak in these same terms: A Christian often says: This is my message, my Baptism, my Christ, my God, my Gospel, although, strictly speaking, they are not his. He [the Christian] did not invent them; they did not come from him; they are not of his making. And yet they are his, his gifts, given to him by God (AE 23, 224). There you have a very good way to look at today's Gospel, dear saints. St. Mark speaks about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and St. Mark places this beginning into the Baptismal font for you: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. By speaking in this way, St. Mark shows you where Jesus' Gospel becomes YOUR Gospel; where the Good News concerning Jesus becomes the Good News now concerning YOU; where Jesus' God and Father becomes YOUR God and Father; where the History of this only-begotten Son of God becomes YOUR history and the history of all the adopted sons of God. Amazingly, St. Mark wants to tell you about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but he tells you nothing about your Lord's birth! St. Luke's Gospel has the decree from Caesar Augustus, the crowded Bethlehem, the manger and the shepherds keeping their flocks. St. Matthew has Joseph's worries and the angelic intervention and the naming of this Child Jesus. Here today at the beginning of his Gospel, St. Mark sweeps everything off the table that has to do with our Lord's conception and birth. St. Mark goes straight to Baptism: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. With these words, St. Mark downplays, not only Jesus' miraculous birth, but also the miraculous birth of John the Baptist. St. Mark carefully states, John appeared. These words could be more literally translated, John came into being or John happened. It is almost as if St. Mark would have us think that the Baptizer materialized out of nothing. The news of childbirth-of Jesus and of John-the news of childbirth is beside the point for this particular Gospel writer. We should not misunderstand St. Mark. We should not take him to mean that your Lord's birth is totally unimportant or that St. Mark would deny Jesus' birth of the Virgin. Later in his Gospel, St. Mark speaks about Jesus' mother and brothers (Mark 3:31). St. Mark also describes the indignation felt by the people of Nazareth when Jesus preached in their synagogue. St. Mark describes their indignation in terms of Jesus' human nature and birth of a woman: 'Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?' And they took offense at Him (Mark 6:3). For these reasons, we do not need to think that St. Mark intends to deny Jesus' birth by the way his Gospel focuses its beginning on Baptism. St. Mark merely wishes to emphasize a point that can never be overemphasized: Jesus' Gospel, as far as St. Mark is concerned, begins in Baptism. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
