Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the good news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Reflection Can you hear yourself crying in the wilderness? “What is going on here? I have worked hard to be safe and secure still I am under siege by a shape shifting virus. I have cared for my family and established my social standing but the sources of my affection and esteem are in quarantine. I have made my mark in the bureaucracy yet I have neither power nor control in the current Covid climate. Surely there is a better way of living.”
Could it be that we, like the bug eating baptizer John, are standing in the wilderness between worlds, between the way life has been and the way life could be? Could it be that we are ready to change our lives and bravely join the people of the Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem to begin something new? Are we ready to join ALL the people looking for a better way of living?
Here I believe the operant word is ALL. The transition from the way life has been to the way life could be occurs in the company of ALL the people. And so the question before us is, “Are we ALL ready to walk into the wilderness, step into the Jordan river, die to the way life has been (life that is all about me) and begin a new way of living (that is all about we)?
By every measure the way life has been is not good enough. It is not good enough because too many people do not have access to dignity and a decent life and as a result, they have lost hope. When hope is lost, fear and anger conquer humanity and we all suffer, we ALL suffer.
Let’s be honest. We are creatures of habit. We prefer predictability and frequently choose a negative outcome rather than risk uncertainty, a sure and certain way to lose hope. But every chapter in life’s book has an ending that offers the possibility of a new beginning. It is up to us to turn the page. When the way life has been is not good enough it is time to choose to begin again because our lives are not the artifact of our circumstance. They are the result of our choices.
And so we begin again by letting go of the story of how good things used to be. We stop complaining about the things we have lost or miss. Instead of thinking of change in terms of cost and fear of failure, we embrace it like a personal operating system upgrade that corrects errors and enhances our lived experience.
When we choose to join John the baptizer in the wilderness standing between the way life has been and the way life could be, we have an opportunity to manifest the one thing that makes a real difference. Hope.
Hope is what gives people the energy to act. In the absence of hope we either sink into despair or erupt into anger, neither of which foster new or renewed life.
Please consider just a few of the insidious idioms for the way life has been. “Every man or woman for herself.” “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” “Better look out for number one.” There is no ignoring the tragic consequences of these invocations. Suddenly John the baptizer’s call to repentance makes sense. Repentance is not about blame or shame. It is about making a conscious and conscientious choice to turn away from the way life has been and adopt new words for living, words that foster hope.
Perhaps Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.” Or Mother Teresa, “Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same - with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.” Finally, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.** Words that foster hope.
Poised between the way life has been and the way life could be we tremble when we hear John call, “Prepare the way of the Lord” because we know we must choose one way or the other. Will we cling to life as it has been, all about me procuring my private security, safety, esteem, power and control? Or will we step out of our comfortable ruts? Join ALL of the people, step bravely into the river of life and be the new beginning of “Good news of Jesus the Christ for ALL people?”
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