So why not now?
Advent 2B | Mark 1:1-8
The Beginning
From the end of the world as we know it to the beginning!
This is a foundational theme for the way we enter into this season of Advent. And it is fundamental to how we see our faith.
A faith illustrated in the birth of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Birth, life, death, rebirth.
And we experience this in our gospel readings, which close out the end of the liturgical year on the precipice of the Passion, to begin the next one with apocalyptic prophecy. Only to find ourselves the following week at the very beginning. Mark, chapter one, verse one.
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Mark 1:1
This beginning again mimics our own desire. Not just for this time of year, but throughout our lives. For many of us, even now, this very moment. To begin again. Start over. Or to at least sort of, restore our lives from a previous save point. Perhaps one where we’re a bit younger and less achy.
This desire is marked, too, in our gospel and tradition in the sacrament of Baptism. To turn our lives in a new direction, toward God through Jesus.
This is the message John brings.
Repent. Which means “turn”. Literally, turn from where you are heading and go in a new direction. And it will shortly be the request Jesus himself makes, to have this same turning. And then, to invite others into that turning, too.
This is what we wrestle with each year. Changing. Becoming. We recognize it in becoming older, of course. Perhaps wiser. But it is also about becoming generous. Hopeful. Joyful. The things we desire to be, but don’t always believe we’re capable of being.
This is the stuff we experience in Advent. That we begin at the end. Because the end isn’t the end.
The End
Let’s look at the end, then.
[Check it out here: Mark 16:1-8.]
This is how the evangelist we call Mark ends his gospel:
“…and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Mark 16:8b
The last word was afraid.
Scribes were so afraid of this gospel’s ending that they added to it. To make readers feel better.
But, as the theologian, John Shea writes:
“This is a story of a beginning that has no ending.”
—John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers, Year B, Eating with the Bridegroom, p. 24
The gospel’s last word proves that the story didn’t end. Just this telling.
This is the story Mark evokes at its beginning!
That this is, in fact, only the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because it will continue in those women. How do we know? Because we have the story. So they overcame their fear. There is more story than can be contained by this gospel.
And we don’t come to this beginning as a beginning. But as a return, again, to the beginning. Of a neverending story.
It Begins Before It Begins
Those who are familiar with groups or therapy may know the phrase “It begins before it begins.” We don’t seek help before we’re ready to receive it. So we don’t come when we’re at the beginning and know nothing, but when we’re at the end of our rope and know much.
The work begins long before we can get started. And it comes in a variety of people who populate our journey long before now. And even still, when we’re ready, it can begin now.
The story of Jesus begins, not with Jesus, but with John the Baptizer. He begins the work so that Jesus can begin.
And what is it, then, that John begins? The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And he comes as a holy prophet, dressed as a prophet, eating like a prophet. He is Elijah to them. And like Elijah, he bears a message from God to the people. A message of repentance, of turning from the path they are on and toward a new path that God is revealing.
And just like us, the people desire to change course. From lives built on greed or violence or hatred. Of working long hours and fearing how to feed their families.
They came to John because of real, material concerns in their world or sin that they have done. And they came in hope that the path John is showing them would restore them to wholeness with God.
Same with the disciples.
It begins before it begins.
As Jesus takes the baton from John, preaching repentance and baptizing people, the disciples begin after Jesus began. And they carried on this same mission of God. To help the world turn and see what God is up to.
And for two thousand years disciples, apostles, and saints have begun what is already begun. Sharing the good news of this better way.
And we receive it once again.
The message of beginning again. Turning. Again. Because there is no end to this gospel. It has begun.
So we are not reinventing the wheel—it has long been invented. So nothing is stopping us.
And in the same way, we can invent anything—because we come from a long line of inventors. They began long before we were born—but we can begin now.
This is what we celebrate, isn’t it? What we anticipate? Hope for? To be part of God’s great beautification project! To be of service. That our friends and families may know peace. And our neighborhood health and wholeness. That the promised reign of Christ comes here—God’s Kin-dom come. Here. Now.
And that our love has something to do with it. Our hope aligning with that dream of Shalom. That promise fulfilled. And too, our promise to God be fulfilled. That whole thing has to start somewhere. It already has. But we get to start somewhere. Again. Let it be now.