Good news – 5 December 2014

This year the emphasis in the gospel readings shifts to Mark, probably the earliest of the NT Gospels.  And this Sunday, Advent II, we get the opening words in Mark:  The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ…  In Greek, ευαγγελια – it is colloquial Greek and it means simply that, good news, not primarily religious good news… any good news.  John the Baptist announces this good news.  He appears, not at the holy temple, but in the desert; not as one of the respectable in religion, but somewhat suspect and embarrassing: 

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.” [Mark 1:4-8]

This good news tells of a fundamental shift in our understanding of God, faith and life and what we have to do.  It is so startling and unexpected that some sectors of the church perennially struggle to grasp it, and revert to the old more familiar ways instead.  Once again I need some help from Rowan Williams, who puts this in words I would not have been able to assemble.  He wrote:

A human being is holy, not because he or she triumphs by willpower over chaos and guilt and now leads a flawless life, but because that life is showing the victory of God’s faithfulness in the midst of disorder and imperfection.  The church is holy, not because it is a gathering of the good and the well-behaved, but because it is speaking of the triumph of grace in the coming together of strangers and sinners who, miraculously, trust one another enough to join in common repentance and common praise – to express a deep and elusive unity in Jesus Christ. 

That is the shift and that is the good news – it is about God, not about us or our behaviour.  Jesus is good news because he embodies God who actually loves what he has made, whose love is, as St Paul put it, unfailing, who brings enemies together and heals memories.  That is the good news, that God is not and never was our adversary. 

But we are conditioned to think in good and bad terms, categorising, struggling through the years to be better, to do better, as we think.  We are conditioned to assume we can hardly receive what we are not good enough for.  All of the rest of our life is about qualifying or not, deserving or not, achieving or not, winning acceptance and approval…  In contemplative life and prayer this is set aside because (if I may be so presumptuous) it is extremely boring to God.  The good news is that the transforming power is the Holy Spirit, the power of God in grace and mercy, peace and love.  What is asked of us is our humble consent.