The Word

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus 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.”

Reflect

By Betsy Preston

My family loves a good story – especially Christmas stories. Every year we put out some of our favorites: A Christmas Carol, A Visit from St. Nicholas, The Polar Express, to name a few. And every Christmas Eve ends with hanging stockings and reading the Christmas Story from Luke. We also love to tell our own family stories of Christmas:

I’m often teased about the year I made Christmas cards from construction paper as an enterprising elementary child – complete with pricing – and sold them to family members for extra shopping money.

My brother wishes we all would forget the year he came home from preschool and asked to sing the O-O-O song, which my parents finally figured out was Angels We Have Heard on High – but in our family, it will forever be the O-O-O song. (Think: “Glo-o-o-o-o-ria, in Excelsis Deo.”)

We’re in our fifth generation of placing an apple, an orange, and a “bit of chocolate” in the toe of our Christmas stockings…a family tradition dating to the days of the Great Depression, a time when fruit and candy were extravagant Christmas treats.

Our family stories sometimes differ a bit depending on who tells them, and where we focus the narrative, but all are told with love and meaning as we pass along an oral history from one generation to the next. The story of our Christmas stocking tradition is especially poignant, as it reminds us each year of family members who came before and paved the way for what we share now. We, too, are conscious of passing along their strength to new generations.

As a church this year, we have spent time remembering and sharing our collective story, thinking about who has paved the way and who we are today. We are planning another trip to Israel with our Jewish friends to deepen our shared faith heritage, and we have been to Scotland to study our Reformation roots. We have reviewed and renewed Westminster’s response to racism and racial tension, beginning with Cliff Johnson’s sermons on these topics in the early days of the church’s founding and culminating with a visit to the American south that is further informing our congregational work decades later.

In our gospel story today, the evangelist Mark dives right into the action. He leaves the pastoral nativity to later-generation storytellers such as Matthew and Luke. Mark urgently focuses on the narrative of John the Baptist, who paved the way while telling the crowds that another was coming after him, more powerful and far more worthy. John baptized with water; the one coming after would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Mark wants us to know the arc of the generations in our faith family – not the “begats” of Matthew, but the ones who made the way. John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus and His ministry. Jesus paved the way for us to minister through the Holy Spirit. Mark tells the story differently from anyone else, and it is exciting for us to think about the reasons that Mark begins at the river, rather than at the manger.

As you contemplate today’s scripture, consider also your favorite stories and storytellers, in family and in faith, as well as the people of whom the stories are told. Who has paved the way and how are you paving the way for those who are yet to come? What part of the story will someone tell next?

Listen

By Dr. Ben Hutchens

This week, our adult bell choir rings in the season of Advent with the familiar carol, “Angels We Have Heard On High.” Though the source of the song is unknown, it is believed to have originated in 18^th century France; the earliest known printed version was in an 1842 French song book. The song was first translated into English in 1860 by James Chadwick, a Roman Catholic bishop.

American composer Barbara Kinyon provides a festive setting for us today. She begins with a “music box” pattern in the upper bells, then shortly after the piece begins, the tune appears in the middle bells. Kinyon makes good use of various handbell techniques—including shakes and martellatos (when bells are “hammered” into the table pad)—to highlight the resounding joy this piece brings to us.