Prepared to Watch
Mark 1:1-8
by Jim Westmoreland
His name was John. People knew him locally as the Baptizer. Some would describe him as a religious eccentric. Others less kind would dismiss him as being simply a nut. He did not have a warm, pleasant message that mesmerized the multitudes and made them feel excited and good. The religious leaders did not look at John and exclaim, "He's the one preparing the way for the Messiah's coming!" He just somehow doesn't seem to fit in with shepherds and wise men and the other characters that we traditionally associate with the Christmas story. Yet, this was God's unlikely servant chosen to herald the spectacular events that would soon follow. A most unlikely advance man to be sure, but God's man nevertheless. His job was to Prepare the Way. Let us prepare to watch and observe how John prepared the Way for others to receive the Messiah.
From the very beginning everything about John was unique. His mother Elizabeth was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Elizabeth conceived six months before Mary. But Mary happened to be very young by our standards. Most scholars put her probable age at thirteen. But, it was not unusual for a girl in that day and time to be of childbearing age at such a tender age. It is not unheard of even today in many places of the world.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, was a woman who was in the golden years of her life, past the age for child-bearing, and she had never given birth to a child. You would think of her more in the category of great grandmother than mother. Yet, she and her aging husband, a priest, were the unlikely candidates.
And then, there was John himself. Being the same age as Jesus and being cousins, we can imagine them growing up and playing together. Yet, as they reached adulthood, they were different in many ways. When John began his ministry, he lived in the rugged, desert solitude of the Judean wilderness. He fed on honey and wild locusts and dressed in garments of camel hair. He was likely a member of an ascetic religious community like the Essenses, which produced what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in this same area. He brooded over the scriptures, especially the prophetic ministry of Elijah, after whom he modeled his own ministry.
John was not a respecter of persons or rank. He had an intimidating personality. Perhaps, for that reason those of the upper class rejected both him and his message. Luke 7:29 tells us more about this.
Yet, John gathered a respectable following. He attracted many hearers among the lower class, many of whom he baptized. John even drew a group of disciples around him, which is significant for two reasons. First, some of these disciples later became disciples of Jesus. Secondly, a number of people began to think of John himself as being the long expected Messiah. For that reason the writer of the Gospel of John felt obliged to specifically say, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John, He came for testimony to bear witness to the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light." Watch John and learn.
What drew people to John and his message? Well, John was far-fetched. His austere life style was a compelling reason to listen to him, and perhaps his strange ways convinced some people to follow him. I think many thought he was Elijah the prophet, who had returned. But there was more to John than simply a bizarre, strange life. John understood that God was about to do something that would shake the foundations of the earth, and he needed to prepare the way for that event. He did this in basically three ways. Let us watch John and learn.
First, John the Baptist prepared the way by living a godly life. In an age of corruption John the Baptist appeared as a clean, bracing breath of mountain air. In his passionate embrace of goodness he spoke out fearlessly against every form of corruption. When the religious leaders from Jerusalem turned up among the crowd, he did not express his delight to see them and take it as a compliment that they had done him the honor of attending. The impact of John's godliness prepared the way for Jesus.
The world has no answer to the godly life. Voltaire, the agnostic, French philosopher, was once asked whether he completely ruled God out. He shook his head. "I cannot," he said, "Because I once met Fletcher." John Fletcher was an Anglican vicar and a close friend of John Wesley. His godly life was a legend. It was he whom Wesley had designated as the successor to lead the Methodist people in the event of his death. But it was Fletcher who died first, and John Wesley preached his funeral. He referred to Fletcher as an exemplary man. Secular historians have even commented on the amazing impact of his goodness. There is no answer to that kind of life.
Some years ago, a communist newspaper reporter was conducting an in depth study of a Roman Catholic order of Nuns working in Paris. The cynical reporter, Pierre Giraud, was convinced that the good works, the loving philanthropy, the apparent tenderness of these women was just a cover for obtaining financial support for their institution.
He showed up to accompany one of the nuns during her work one day. She took him down some of the most dilapidated streets he had ever seen.. In the basement of one house was a man who was terminally ill. Giraud was accustomed to grim conditions, but these made even him wince. The dirt and smell were overpowering. Vermin scurried away as they approached. The sick man who was lying on a bundle of rags was indescribably dirty. He was trembling. His condition was the product of poverty, disease, alcohol and drugs. He had made some bad choices in his life.
The Nun rolled up her sleeves picked up a bowl, filled it with water from a tap upstairs and began to wash him. Suddenly, the sick man jerked up. "Sister", he whimpered, "I am scared." The communist reporter said, "I stared in unbelief as I saw this refined, cultured woman take that filthy wreck of a man and hold him in her arms like a baby. Suddenly, that dirty basement became heaven because love was there." Giraud was overwhelmed by the goodness, which he saw.
The world has no answer to the Godly life. The only appropriate answer is to try and find the secret of it, imitate it, and hope others will come to know it themselves. That's one way that John prepared. He lived a godly life. Let me ask you, is God preparing the way for someone else this Advent through the influence of your life? Let us be prepared to watch and to be watched for the signs of Christ's coming.
Second, John prepared the way by challenging the people's sins. John's message was, "Repent and be baptized." He called people out of the cities and towns to come out into the desert with him. The desert had been the place where Israel had been called after Egyptian slavery in the exodus. The wilderness was where Israel lost it way as the people rebelled against God's leadership and wanted to go back to their previous lives. Israel's defeat by Babylonia and the accompanying captivity was thought of as a "wilderness time." And, John is inviting Israel back into the wilderness to repent.
Israel, separated from God because of their sin, cannot come back to God unless they are summoned, unless God is willing to forgive, unless He will let go of His case against Israel and receive the chosen people back. Mark says that is what is happening in John the Baptizer's preaching. Israel is being called back to God. The Way, that straight highway through the desert, comes about through confession and turning away from our sins. The biblical word for this confession and turning from sin is called "repentance."
God calls to us through John to look within and see the wilderness that is a part of our lives. He wants us to see our loneliness, our wandering and our "I know what's best for me" lostness. God's call to face ourselves is the beginning of Good News! God cares for us. We cannot be saved from our downward spiral, as individuals, marriages, families, even churches unless we hear his summons to come into the wilderness to face ourselves honestly so that we can leave, not only refreshed, but on a new course. But that happens only when we repent. Without the repentance that produces resolve, commitment and consistency, we are condemned to repeat the failures of yesterday. We will go on blindly judging others while the beam is still in our own eyes. But Good News comes through repentance. Then, and only then, can tomorrow be different.
Third, John prepares the way by pointing to Christ who reveals Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, not one way among many. In v. 7-8, 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."
How do we get from the wilderness with John the Baptizer to the baby Jesus in the manger? The answer John gives is through repentance. Through John we come to Jesus, not proud, busy and demanding, but we come from the wilderness of facing our own needs and sins and shortcomings. We come humbly, honestly, confessing and repenting. Only then, do we kneel beside the manger, not as ignorant onlookers, not as one who acts entitled to or deserving of God's mercy, but we kneel like the publican in the temple who prayed "God be merciful to me, a sinner."
We can be prepared to watch for the signs of the coming of Jesus by watching John. John prepares the way through godliness; he prepares the way through facing and entering the wilderness to repent and be baptized; and he prepares the way by showing us where to kneel. We can worship Jesus in the manger because John has prepared the way. As others watch our lives, how do we prepare the way for them to come to know Jesus? Amen.
Century Christian Church, November 27, 2005 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
