December 10, 2023 

Today's Reading: Mark 1.1-8

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:20-27:13; 1 John 4:1-21

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ starts with John, not Jesus. No Christmas joy. No angel choir. No kids in bathrobes pretending to be shepherds.  A preacher preaching repentance and baptizing for the forgiveness of sins.  It might be better.  The good news of Jesus Christ begins with the Word being given to sinners for repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  

It’s a reminder of how God advents today.  He is where the Word is preached. Where the Sacraments are administered.  This is how He is with us always, even to the end of the age.  Advent is a God who shows up.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t start without Him.  He is being given to those who need Him.  Your church works that way too.  Jesus isn’t at a manger we journeyed to, met by our best efforts and gifts and well rehearsed lines someone else made you memorize.  He’s preached to sinners in the wilderness.  

When you look around your sanctuary, your home, your life, and Jesus feels far, when the people the book says listen to are weird, and when the season feels a little off like it does some years, God advents. The Word-made-flesh is preached. Your sins are forgiven. 

Mark skips the pleasantries and sometimes it’s good to be reminded we have permission to do it too.  There are weeks that are too heavy for small talk. The bad ones where the guilt piles up.  Where the things said and done since last Sunday still haunt you.  Those are not the weeks for Christmas pageants and small talk after about how big the kids are getting.  So you can go to church and you hear your pastor dispense with pleasantries. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Your Baptism.  You confess your sins.  He forgives you in Jesus’ stead.  You can look around and it might still feel off, but God advents there. Shows up. To meet you in the wilderness of your worst week. To forgive. To save. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 

-Pastor Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.