December 8, 2002
Advent II
St. Mark’s Copperhill

Sermon: "Some Thoughts at the Outset of Mark"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

During this church year, most of our Gospel readings will be from the Gospel According to Mark. Not all readings will be from St. Mark, but most of them will be. Thus, your patron saint will get the most press this year.

Today we read the opening of the Gospel According to Mark. There are three words in our reading today that are especially significant in this reading and throughout the Gospel of Mark. And, those words are “beginning”, “gospel”, and “wilderness.”

The very first words of St. Mark’s Gospel are “The beginning.” This should remind us of the first book of the Bible, whose opening words are “In the beginning.” St. Mark’s Gospel is the oldest of the Gospels, even though it appears second in order to St. Matthew in our Bibles. Therefore, it is especially appropriate that this oldest Gospel starts with words similar to the opening of the first book of the Bible.

God’s first act of love toward humankind was creation. The story of that act of love – along with many others – is told in the book of Genesis. And, as we have said, the first words of that book are “In the beginning.”

Then, God’s culminating act of love toward humankind was the sending of His own Son, Jesus Christ, for our sake. The record of that loving deed is found in the Gospels. Thus, again, it is appropriate that the first Gospel opens with “The beginning”, and that reminds us of the opening words of Genesis.

The action of love performed by God in creation was fulfilled in a wonderful way in the sending of Christ. Indeed, this represented the highest expression of His love. Yet, while this event marked the fulfillment of what had happened previously, it also was something new … a beginning. The coming of Jesus Christ into the world marked the beginning of a new era – the era of a world visited in person by God. Christ’s coming was the beginning of a new people – people signed by the mark of his crucifixion on their foreheads. The coming of Christ was the beginning of a New Covenant – the covenant in which God freely gives undeserving sinners His grace. And, in our service today, we recall and renew that New Covenant, the covenant of our Baptism. A new era, a new people, a New Covenant – all started by this new beginning.

The second word to examine this morning is “gospel.” St. Mark writes, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ”(1:1).

The term “gospel” has a history that predates the four books called “Gospels” in our Bible. Indeed, the term was well known previously in both Roman and Jewish cultures.

In the Roman world, “gospel” meant “joyful tidings”, and it was used especially on the occasion of the emperor’s birthday – a secular event. Evidently, imperial birthdays were celebrated as festival occasions throughout the empire … great holidays. In fact, notice of such imperial birthdays was distributed widely and with fanfare. For instance, the inscription from a ninth century BC calendar announced the birthday of the emperor Octavian in these words: “The birthday (of the emperor), the beginning of joyful tidings which have been proclaimed”(New International Commentary of Mark, p43). If “joyful tidings” is a translation of the word “gospel”, then those words announcing the emperor’s birthday are the same as the opening of the Gospel of Mark: “The beginning of the Gospel.” Thus, the people of the Roman culture would know from those words that such a proclamation announced an event of great importance … of joyful tidings for everyone.

The word “gospel” also had significance for the Jewish world. For them, the term meant “good news.” It meant to them that the promised Messiah had come … or, at least, that the one writing the gospel believes that the Messiah had come. Jews would understand “gospel” in light of the future salvation that had been promised by the prophets. Thus, to use the term “gospel” meant to proclaim that salvation has come and that the prophecies of old have been fulfilled. For St. Mark to begin his work as he did was a sign of excitement and hope for the Jewish world.

As Christians, of course, we take both these understandings into our heritage. From the Romans, we gain the idea that the gospel is a proclamation of glad tidings … the announcement of a festival event of great importance for all people. And, from the Jewish culture, the gospel provides the word of fulfillment of God’s promises of old … the proclamation of good news and of our salvation.

Finally, we read in our lesson a third term of great significance to St. Mark – “the wilderness.” It is so important because this is the setting for the opening of this oldest Gospel. Thus, the first two terms – “beginning” and “gospel” – relate directly to this third one, “wilderness.” According to St. Mark, the Gospel begins here. He writes, “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness”(1:4). John is the first person described by St. Mark … and he is identified as the forerunner of Jesus Christ.

Then, Jesus himself is introduced by St. Mark, also in the wilderness. This Gospel has no birth narrative, no Christmas story. The important proclamation is that God came into the world – not how He entered the world, but that He did so.

Throughout the first part of St. Mark’s Gospel, the setting is the wilderness. In this case, reference is to a part of the Jordan River Valley. Here it was that Jesus was summoned by the call of John the Baptist. Here it was that Jesus was baptized. Here he spent forty days of temptation prior to his public ministry. Finally, it was from the wilderness that Jesus came forth to begin his ministry, a ministry that would change the world for all time.

However, St. Mark may refer to a different place as “the wilderness.” For instance, a wilderness place is one of solitude, of quiet, of non-involvement in worldly problems. Also, a wilderness time is one of contemplation, of prayer, and of self-examination. In those wilderness places and times, our Lord gained strength that he then expended in the service of others.

This going back and forth from wilderness to civilization, from solitude to involvement with others, from prayer to action … this is an important movement to understand in St. Mark. Further, it is important for us to travel this path in our own lives as well.

Therefore, today I commend to you the message of St. Mark the Evangelist, your patron saint. In particular, I call your attention to three key words at the start of his writing: “beginning”, “gospel”, and “wilderness.” May each of us be led from the beginning of this Gospel, through the wilderness of our lives, to proclaim the lordship of the One whose birth we will celebrate on Christmas! Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee