20^th December 2011

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 4 December 2011

Lessons -- Psalm 85:8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-13; Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.(Mark 1:1)

Mark's Gospel begins without fanfare. There are no heavenly visitations to Mary or Joseph, no wise men nor shepherds, no angelic choirs. Yet, in his understated opening, Mark invites his audience to see, in the coming of Jesus Christ, an event so awesome that it can be compared only to God's creation of the world. 'In the beginning, God . . .' (Genesis 1:1). This is no ordinary story.

We usually miss this today. 'The gospel' has become shorthand for 'good news' of any kind. In those days, however, it signified momentous events:
fabulous news about military victories or the conferring of divine honours on the emperor. So when Mark proclaims 'the gospel', he points to the momentous things that have taken place already in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. He is writing, not as a detached newsreader reporting the events of the day, but as a person who has been so captivated by what God has done in Christ that he is compelled to be an evangelist -- a 'preacher of the gospel'.

What is so momentous about 'the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God'? We are given a clue by the fact that these events take place in 'the wilderness'.

This does not seem promising. In the wilderness God confronted his arrogant, grumbling people. There they experienced hostility from pagan neighbours -- and God's absence! It is a symbol of desolation where hopes are dashed and fidelity to God and their vocation to be a 'light to the nations' is sorely tested.

The wilderness is a harsh place where, against the odds, hope emerges!

When John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, hope seems a distant prospect. His severe, unpalatable message does not seem to be 'good news'.
He puts the hard word on them, preaching a 'baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins' (v4), a message confirmed when Jesus too 'preaches the good news of repentance' (v14).

If this is 'good news', what counts as 'bad news'? Is not talk of confession a relic of a bygone age? Surely, the really 'good' news is that, because Jesus accepts us as we are, we are OK? Let's 'accentuate the positives' and be done with repentance that is so harmful to a healthy self-image!

Instead of being struck by the splendour of our creation in the 'image of God' and painfully aware of our failures to image God in our lives, we have become comfortable with ourselves. We are not saints, but nor are we criminals! So let us get on with 'doing our best' and forget all this stuff about repentance!

Pre-occupation with sin can cause problems! But if we are astonished by the magnificence of our creation and of God's grace, then we should be prepared to face ourselves in the mirror of God's righteousness and mercy.

Notice that John the Baptist (and Jesus) speaks of 'forgiveness of sins'.
That is, our failure to live as God intends is named and set aside. There is no escaping the fact that we do not love God and others as Christ loves them -- and as we have been created to do. Astonishingly, though, God is merciful and just.

This is 'good news'. It is a word of hope that has come in 'Jesus Christ, the Son of God' (v1). He embodies the mercy and goodness of God and also reconciles sinful men and women to God! This is momentous news that declares Jesus to be 'mightier than John the Baptist and the prophets'.

The specific nature of his 'power' is spelt out throughout Mark's Gospel.
Jesus heals, chastises and forgives people in a way that is unlike any godly prophet or political leader. The names used by Mark to describe Jesus as the One who embodied 'the Gospel' -- 'Christ' and 'Son of God' -- were given new meaning because he captivated his followers in ways that they could never have imagined from their previous experiences of prophets or kings. The 'power' that John the Baptist identified in him was unlike that of any other messianic figure. In him 'good news' took on a completely new meaning.

This unlikeness is evident throughout Mark's 'gospel'. For example:

* Immediately after John the Baptist's testimony to the one whose sandal straps he is unworthy to untie, Jesus is baptised by John (v9). Jesus'
unique power is displayed by his willingness to identify himself with broken humanity. Here is a sign that Messiah conquers sin by reconciling sinners to God.

* Jesus is shown to have a unique relationship with God. He is the 'beloved Son' in whom God's love for the broken world is uniquely embodied.

* Jesus' unique 'power' is displayed supremely in the crucifixion. The Roman centurion (not a Jew nor a disciple) says, 'Truly this man was the Son of God.' (15:39)

* In Christ's life and ministry the Holy Spirit (v8) is revealed, not as a vague, disembodied spirit, but as the Spirit of God's costly, self-giving love for humanity.

This is 'momentous news'. In the wilderness -- symbolic of desolation -- the word of hope comes to the sinful, the dispirited, the sick, the afflicted, the dying and the persecuted. From the human point of view it comes where life and faith are threatened -- where evil thrives and God seems absent.

In this place, John the Baptist announces the coming of Messiah to defeat the dread powers that afflict life. As we see after the baptism (vv 12,13), Jesus does this, not from a safe distance as you might expect of a heavenly figure, but by withstanding temptations that appear when everything seems desolate.

In these few understated verses at the beginning of his good news story, Mark anticipates the completed work of God's power in the whole ministry of Jesus Christ, Son of God. Here, says John the Baptist, in a person like no other, God is acting to overthrow the powers of evil. Apart from what God has done in him there is no hope for broken, flawed humanity!

Today, where 'the news' merely reports the endless cycle of triumphs and tragedies, conflicts and failures, and the opinions of celebrities trump concern to uphold what is right, the 'good news' urgently needs to be heard.

This is particularly necessary at the moment when, despite the outward appearance of social harmony and tolerance, Christian beliefs and practices are being relentlessly undermined in the Australian community.
We may think that, compared with many other places in the world, we are living in an oasis. In fact, we are starting out on a long journey through the wilderness.

How else can we explain the amount of time given to one-sided reporting about the virtues of same-sex marriage, an issue that, if enacted in law, will change the meaning of marriage and rob children of the right (under United Nations Human Rights charters) to be raised by a father and a mother?

We have moved well beyond understanding, empathy for and opposition to vilification of people living in same-sex relationships. The relentless pursuit of 'gay marriage' by the Greens, and the decision of the Labor Party yesterday to endorse it as national policy, are not signs of greater virtue but of the need for repentance. Despite what many public figures are saying, it is not 'good news' when the splendour of marriage between a man and a woman, as wonderfully designed by God, is undermined and attacked.

In this situation, the 'good news' about repentance needs to be heard. It is 'good news' that, in the wilderness, we may 'repent' of our conformity with the world -- that, in the words of our Moderator (in CrossLight) we may live a life that is 'counter-cultural'. As individuals, as citizens and as members of the Christian community, we are free to see ourselves in the light of the goodness that is God's will for the human family, repent of our failures and rejoice in the mercy that is embodied in Jesus Christ, Son of God.

It is a great freedom to repent in this way. We do not have to fool ourselves about who we are. And we are free to stand against beliefs, attitudes and policies that mock God's good purposes as revealed through John the Baptist and others and displayed in Christ. The churches must resist the push for same- sex marriage, as have 19 church leaders (but not the UCA) in a press release yesterday.

At the same time, as our text makes very clear, we must not give in to despair. In the wildernesses of life, when God seems to be absent and unrighteousness seems to be all-powerful, hope emerges unexpectedly.

Now -- and not for the first time in history -- the Christian churches are being called to live faithfully in the wilderness. We should pray to be spared from pessimism in God's seeming inability to judge evil, forgive sin and renew us in hope. It is enough that we are called to preach the 'good news' of repentance -- knowing that our personal and collective illusions have been shattered by the grace of God so that we may proclaim the Gospel in words and deeds.

Sometimes this is hard. But we need not be dismayed. The 'wilderness' was the place where John the Baptist proclaimed the 'gospel' of 'Jesus Christ, Son of God' and recalled the people to live boldly in the world with a freedom born of genuine repentance. Moreover, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in which we participate today, is the sign that Jesus Christ, Son of God who suffered desolation on the cross, has triumphed over evil and forgiven our sins. So may we gladly proclaim this momentous news: that Christ himself is the sign of hope for our broken world.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.