The Gospel or the good news according to Mark, is very different from the other gospels as far as Advent is concerned.

Mark begins his Gospel by saying:
1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”.
Mark does not write about the birth of the Messiah. There is no angelic visitations, no dramatic narrative of the a birth in a manger, no shepherd and sages trekking to that special stable…, no genealogies, no stories of childhood adventures…

The gospel writer jumps straight into the baptism scene of Jesus, already as an adult, by John the baptizer, in the river Jordan.

Our commemoration of Advent and celebration of Christmas may be different as well because it seems we are jumping straight to Christmas from the Lenten Season (March) and observing the Pentecost and whole Normal time (November) in lockdown. Practically we were in lockdown from March to November which is called normal time. This is quite opposite. We were in a not-so-normal situation of a pandemic in normal time of the Christian Calendar!

There seems to be a haste in Mark’s writing. Considering that Mark is the earliest or the first book written about the life and ministry of Jesus, the author did not have the luxury of presenting an elaborate advent story unlike Matthew and Luke who wrote their gospels basing on Mark’s writings.

There is a sense of urgency to explain about the ministry, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. About the good news of Jesus, God’s Son.

In many meetings, consultations and conversations by our church leaders, elders, ministers and lay, there is also a sense of urgency in being able to know what to do next once the church doors are re-opened for the face-to-face gathering of the congregations. There is this sense of urgency in the question, ‘What is the message we want to bring to the wider community we are part of?’.

What is the good news in this pandemic and in the COVID-19 normal?

Another notable difference is that Mark prologues his gospel by quoting directly from prophet Isaiah’s proclamation, in poetic form, about their God, Yahweh.
3A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40).
“Here is your God!” 10See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Mark, in a way, was laying down his gospel in the tradition of the prophetic work of Isaiah whom we regard as one of the major and central prophets in the the Old Testament. Isaiah, we have read, is a tough speaker. While Isaiah prophesied against kings who were found evil in the sight of God, Isaiah also exposed and decried the unrighteousness of God’s chosen people.

There is a common characteristic between John the Baptist, Isaiah and even the gospel writer Mark, they are all like a voice in the wilderness –  that lone voice that cry out painstakingly against a tide of unbelief and sometimes hostility and condemnation.

If someone tells you that you are a voice in the wilderness, how would you feel. I have been told that I was not once but many times in my life. Even today there are times I feel alone in what I say or do.

We may be uncomfortable with where Mark begins. Or we may be uncomfortable to begin our Christmas celebration with how Mark writes about his gospel without an Advent story and instead begins with a wilderness story.

In one of our PEPP ministers’ conversation, many compared the pandemic experience to a wilderness experience. Many of you might also feel the same. That the pandemic is compared to a wilderness experience, the question is why?

If we are going to run a survey today what will your answers be?

a sense of loneliness in the wilderness
a feeling of uncertainty
a sense of not being safe and that the threat is just out there somewhere
a sense of being left alone to your own devices (literally – mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and gadgets)
a sense of being abandoned by God…

If such was our wilderness experience in this time of pandemic, why was it that Yahweh, through Isaiah, was instructing the people to “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” As if God was asking the people to return to the wild?

Or in today’s terms: to go back to the pandemic and the lock downs?

Why?

I believe God was reminding his people that it was in the wilderness that God was always present with them. God is experienced in the wilderness. And indeed this was the case. It was in the wilderness that God showed God’s hands in allowing them to cross the Red Sea and decimated the Pharaoh’s army who were in hot pursuit of the escaping Israelites.  It was in the wilderness where God fed them with bread from heaven and meat from quails. It was in the wilderness where God gave them the commandments because the law was not yet written in their hearts. It was in the wilderness that they began to evolve into a people and into a nation.

Was God present in your wilderness experience? Did you notice God’s presence in your family devotions? Did you feel Christ’s protection throughout this 8 months of clear and present danger of infection? Did you see Christ healing hands and comfort through the medical front liners and hospital staff? Did you hear stories of courage amidst pain and suffering, stories of compassion in times of great need and uncertainty? Did you see the Holy Spirit’s movement in those virtual and online worship services?

A preacher commented: The wilderness is a critical context for Advent, after all. As soon as we find ourselves comfortable in an Advent that simply sits around in anticipation and waiting, that comfort will quickly turn into complacency. As soon as we treat Advent as nothing other than looking forward to and toward the big event of Jesus’ birth, we have bypassed the wilderness for the sake of easing our own consciences and placating our constituencies. As soon as our waiting turns into idleness, we have to admit that we are neither willing to risk rejection nor are we willing to be labelled a “John the Baptist.”

Perhaps what God is teaching us is that God is always present in our lives. And when we forget and lose our perspectives and our direction, there is always a way back. There is always this highway in the desert we can cruise along and not fail to see that it always lead to God.

As we celebrate the Holy Communion, let us remember that this symbolic highway became a person through Jesus the Christ who proclaimed: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6 NRSV).

This is the good news of Jesus Christ that was heralded by the voice that came from the wilderness. Amen.