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Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

 

The Wild One

The figure of John the Baptist is a reminder that following Jesus involves urgent challenges! (Mark 1:1-8)

 

Context

  • There has been much in the news in recent days about the COP 28 meeting in Dubai not least the comment, startling to many of us, made by the President of the meeting that challenged the need for the phase out of fossil fuels. The link between the Gospel of John and creation is clear from the way that John 1:1-5 echoes Genesis. It may not be as obvious in Mark’s Gospel – but it is certainly hinted at, as the Gospel begins with the word ‘beginning’ – which seems to allude deliberately to the use of that word in Genesis 1. The implication is that what we are hearing about is a ‘new creation’. This surely must have implications about the relationship between our care for creation and our Christian faith!
  • This week’s commentary on Mark 1.1-8 in the Roots materials refers to the fact that the opening scriptural quotation (Mark 1:2-3) isn’t (just) from Isaiah but includes words from Malachi as well. It is important also to notice that the one word (in Greek) that appears in both parts of the quotation is odos = way, journey, road. This is the ‘key’ that opens the Gospel. Mark’s Gospel is fundamentally the story of the physical and spiritual journey, the ‘way of the Lord’ (odos), that Jesus makes from Galilee to Jerusalem and the cross. Odos is a word that will recur at key moments in the Gospel (e.g. 8:27; 10:32, 52). On this ‘way’ there will be those, such as the ‘disciples’ that will quite literally ‘follow’ him. There will also be on this way one, John the Baptist, who will go before him, as his ‘forerunner’. It is interesting that the word ‘forerunner’ (prodromos in Greek) is precisely how John the Baptist is regularly described by Eastern Orthodox Christians. Then after 1:14 he will disappear completely from the story for several chapters. It is important to note that, when he reappears in 6:14-30, it is to be told of his passion and death at some length. Given Mark’s sparse writing it is intriguing that he goes into so much detail – the answer is that John is the ‘forerunner’ (prodromos) of Jesus in death as well as in life. It is telling that Jesus’ entire ministry takes place in the shadow cast by John’s ‘arrest’ (1:14).
  • Back to COP28. What other links present themselves to this week’s theme and material? Two occur to me. The first is the importance of being on a journey, a way, a road – we may not be able to see the final destination yet – but it is important to set out – at whatever cost – on a direction of travel. In which of course we may find ourselves following in the footsteps of those strange ‘outsiders’ like John the Baptist. We cannot see the end of the journey and yes, it may involve us in self-sacrifice or suffering, but we do not have the luxury of just standing aside and not ‘beginning’. The second (and linked) is that question of urgency which permeates the first few chapters of Mark’s Gospel. Advent is a time of urgent choices. It is interesting how much Advent imagery has a cosmic dimension – perhaps it is a helpful way of drawing links to the ‘urgency’ of our tackling the global crisis of creation.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

  • There is a fascinating song/hymn by the hymnwriter Brian Wren which focuses on John the Baptist called ‘Welcome the wild one’. For copyright reasons I do not quote it directly and completely. It would provide a vivid launch point for a sermon on John as ‘the wild one’. It links in my mind with a Bible study given at the recent Racial Justice Conference of the Diocese in Europe - Breathing Life. Dr Sathianathan Clarke’s first Bible study was called ‘The Uncivilised Outsider’ and focused on John the Baptist. Dr Clarke told a story against himself of a time in Washington, USA, where he lives. He had been preaching on John the Baptist in a church where many of the members were themselves homeless. Afterwards one of the congregation came up to him and commented that he had not mentioned that John the Baptist is perhaps the biblical figure that can be most easily identified as ‘homeless’ – and that it was a pity that Dr Clarke had not mentioned this, as John was someone with whom the homeless could identify.

 

Questions for discussion

  1. Who are the people in your context who might identify with John the Baptist? Who are the ‘John the Baptists’ in our world today?
  2. The notes above have picked up on the theme of ‘way’, ‘journey’ (odos), as central to the Gospel of Jesus. If John the Baptist is the ‘forerunner’ on this ‘way’, what does that say to and about the disciples, and to us who follow on this journey? Why is it important to be ‘on the way’?
  3. As hinted above (and see prayer below) there is a sense of immediacy and urgency in the Gospel of Mark, certainly in its first few chapters. We have highlighted climate change as one area where ‘urgent’ action is needed. What other areas might you identify?

 

Prayer

God of passion and power,
insistent, immediate, challenging,
compelling us with your story’s breathless beginning.

Walk us into the wilderness,
to hear your voice where silence reigns.

Give us insight, the vision beyond all seeing,
so we may look upon heavens torn open
and know that the time of good news for all creation
is always now.
Amen.

Dr Clare Amos is currently honorary director of lay discipleship in the Church of England Diocese in Europe. Until her retirement she worked in the areas of interfaith relations and theological education at the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Communion Office.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

In the news this week we are seeing a number of people being challenged for what they have done in public life: Boris Johnson is being questioned by the Covid enquiry; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been confronted by families of those taken hostage in the conflict in Gaza; and the president of the next COP summit on climate change (happening in the United Arab Emirates) has been angrily defending himself, after arguing with the UN about the need to continue drilling for oil.

Our reading this week shows that the story of God coming to us is not about warm fuzzy feelings around a stable or empathising with Mary and Joseph being turned away by innkeepers. Instead, God has always sent prophets like John the Baptist to tell everyone to get ready to meet with God. John challenged all who came to him: Jewish religious leaders; Roman soldiers; poor farmers; or rich tax collectors. He told them to get their lives in order – to get the sin out of their own life so they would be able to recognise God when he came.

For us, there are two priorities: to check our own lives as to whether we’re ready to meet Jesus when he returns; and to speak ‘truth to power’ – challenging others to hold to God’s standards of justice, mercy and love. Who should we be speaking up to, this week? How are we preparing the way for Jesus to come?

Steve Taylor is joint-vicar of St James Alperton CofE church near Wembley. He shares the job with his wife, Ali, and shares his house with their two children, two cats and numerous fish.

 

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