In Jesus Holy Name December 6, 2020
Text: Mark 1:1 Advent II Redeemer
“No Price Too High”
In a Charlie Brown cartoon, little brother Linus is looking very forlorn. He asks big sister Lucy, “Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?” Lucy, looking very self-righteous, replies, “I just think I have a knack for seeing other people’s faults.” Linus turns indignant. “What about your own faults?” he asks. “I have a knack for overlooking them,” says Lucy.
It is true that some people think they are Lucy. They overlook their faults. Most of us know that does not work. Broken values. Broken ethical values. Broken commandments can be buried for a time but they will always come back like Acid Reflex after a big meal…..it always leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
God can not over look our faults, our failure to keep His commandments. That is why Mark begins his gospel…. “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There is no story about the angel appearing to Mary and Joseph. There is no story of the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem.
Mark gets right to the point…. God’s grand design from the beginning of creation was to come Himself and break the power of Satan by providing His own blood (Acts 20:28) on the cross and His own resurrection from the grave. No price would be too high to bring about our forgiveness and redemption.
If you and I were God, and we had to decide if we wanted to save sinful, disobedient humankind, we probably would say: “No.” “Price too high.” God our creator knew our world was saturated by sin, disobedience, broken ethics, and broken commandments by His wandering, runaway children.
Moved by the depth of His character and love, moved by grace and mercy, rather than saying: “No” “Price too High”.. He fulfilled the promise to Adam and Eve and came to the universe He created. He chose to be born in a Bethlehem manger, and took upon Himself the name Jesus.
That plan said there is no price too high to grant forgiveness and eternal life for His
beloved creation. You and me.
Mark then quotes the prophet Isaiah, Behold, I send my messenger…who will prepare the way for the coming Messiah, a voice of one crying in the wilderness. John appeared, calling for people to repent and receive baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
John is a child of the desert. Leathery face. Tanned skin. Clothing of animal skins. What he owned fit in a pouch. His walls were mountains and his ceiling the stars. His was a courageous voice of repentance? Unfortunately not accepted by all. Herod rejected repentance and eventually John lost his head. (quote from Max Lucado)
John invited people to step into the water and be baptized. Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers. Would feel comfortable marrying someone who wanted to keep the marriage a secret? Neither does God. It’s one thing to say in the privacy of your own heart that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. But it’s quite another to walk out of the shadow and stand before family, friends and colleagues to state publicly that Christ is your forgiver and Savior.
Baptism is like a precious jewel. By itself, it is nice and appealing but has nothing within it to compel…but place baptism against the backdrop of our broken commandments, our broken ethics and turn on the light of the cross,… then the jewel of baptism explodes with significance.
Baptism at once reveals the beauty of the cross and the cost of our sin. As a stone has many facets, baptism has many sides. ( Max Lucado) Cleansing. Renewal. Resurrection. The power of baptism rests not in the drops of water, but the water combined, infused with the promises of God. (Martin Luther) It is God’s mark of ownership. God’s promise of forgiveness. Because He said so.
This public step into the water raises the ante. Jesus commanded all his followers to prove it, to make the pledge, by public demonstration in baptism. Among his final words was the universal command to “go and make followers of all people in all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19).
It may seem odd to some that this untamed, locust eating figure of John the Baptist is one of the key figures in celebrating the Christmas season. His wild and probing message continues to cry in urgency. “Are you ready.” It is a cry to prepare for the “doctrine of the Incarnation.” God coming in flesh and bone. Are you ready to respond to the infant that came into the world through a virgin, found resting in a wooden manger. He is the great “I Am”.
If you want to go to heaven, you must repent of your sins and trust Jesus for your forgiveness. This is not only God’s desire; it is also God’s command. As all good soldiers know, when a command is given, you don’t discuss it or debate it. You have but one choice—to obey. If you don’t, you are guilty of insubordination.
No one likes to be commanded to do anything. But here is a command from Almighty God that applies to every man, woman, boy and girl born on this planet. God says you must repent. No excuses will be accepted. If you do not obey God’s command, you will someday face a divine court-martial.
Repent means to stop going in one direction and turn around and go back. Stop walking away from God and turn back to God because Jesus offers forgiveness and eternal life.
I love my GPS. Have you ever watched the little Google car traveling you neighbor hood recording streets, dead end streets, addresses. How that works at every upcoming exit I don’t know. But I have yet to decide if I want my “google” GPS voice to have a British accent or American accent from the south. Have you ever wondered by the voice is a woman’s voice and not a man’s voice?
But I can guarantee that if I make a wrong turn I hear the word…. “recalculating”
Sometimes the soft female voice will say..…. “turn around”. Repent means to stop walking away from God and turn back to God because He is patient and desires that all people come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness and eternal life.
What is the Gospel? What is the good news? The gospel deals with the human problem. When I have broken a commandment of God…. I feel guilty. If I don’t believe in God but have my own rules for living….what happens when I have broken my own rules…There is still the guilt of failure. .Is there forgiveness? How can I make amends? What good deeds can I do? Will the good deeds be enough to erase my failures?
Since the fall into sin, God has been listening as individuals tried to justify their sins, explain their transgressions, make excuses for their disobedience. You need read no further than the first few chapters of Genesis to see this is so. When the Lord caught the first sinners, Adam and Eve, in their transgression, they didn't say, "Oops! You got us there Lord. Yes, we sinned." That would have been too easy.
Adam, said, "Maybe I did, but I only did so on the advice from my wife... who, by the way is the woman that You gave me Lord." You see, in Adam's eyes, he might have been kind of guilty... but the real culprits were Eve and the Lord, Himself. When God approached Eve, she had an excuse too. She said, "It's true, Lord. I did sin... but I only did so after receiving some expert advice from... from... that talking snake."
You see how it goes. Excuses. Adam and Eve had children. Cain and Abel were the first. As you know, boys will be boys and it didn't take too long before Cain, in a fit of blind jealousy and rage, killed his brother and disposed of the corpse. When God came to visit with the two brothers, one was uncharacteristically absent. Although the omniscient Lord was fully aware of what had happened, He still asked, "Hey, Cain, have you seen your brother around here anywhere?"
Cain pretended to be shocked by the question. Drawing himself up in a pose of righteous indignation and acting as if he had been insulted, Cain replied, "Brother? Brother? Oh, you mean my little brother Abel? You don't really think I'm his babysitter, do You? Lord, being big brother doesn't make me my brother's keeper, does it?" (From sermon by Rev. Ken Klaas)
Yes, they were all guilty of sin, but almost all felt they had a reason, a perfectly good reason for their dark misdeeds. Repentance needed. A Savor needed. When it came time for God to send His Son to offer His life as the ransom price to free us from our sins, He also sent a forerunner, a messenger, a man to prepare the way. Jesus begins with the same Message as John the Baptist, “repent”.
When Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany in 1517, he began with this crucial statement: “When our Lord and
Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” In a sense the entire Protestant Reformation hangs on those simple words. If you are a Christian, repentance ought to be part of your daily life.
Repentance is to be part of our daily walk with God. It is foundational to a growing Christian life.
Now the BIG Question: “Who can forgive sins?” We tune to Mark chapter 2:1-11 tells us that a paralytic was brought to Jesus. What was the first thing Jesus did? He said: “Your sins are forgiven.”
For over 1000 years where and how are sins forgiven? Exodus; Leviticus 17:11; the tabernacle; the temple in Jerusalem, “for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. So… Pharisees are correct in their criticism. Who are you Jesus? You have no right!!!!!! But He did! Jesus was the long expected Messiah… He had arrived in person.
Come to Bethlehem and see…but do not let your focus remain there. Follow the miracles, the words of God the Creator who became incarnate, present in flesh and bone found lying in a manger. Follow Him to the cross and empty tomb. Acknowledge His ascension to the throne in heaven. Let His Holy Spirit urge our heart to repent of your broken ethics. When you do your heart and life will be refreshed by the promises that come in the waters of baptism.
