Have you ever considered that you are a part of God’s story? Seriously, have you ever sat down and considered that all that Jesus Christ is up to in the world is not simply ancient history contained in a musty old book, but rather that everything Jesus is up to is a story that continues to this day through you. The devoted preacher who wrote the gospel of Mark thought so anyway. He titled his gospel simply: “The Beginning.”
You did not know that, did you? The first words of Mark’s story about Jesus’ life and ministry are not simply another form of “once upon a time,” but rather, the title of the whole book: The Beginning. Mark is saying that you are about to hear the story about the very beginning of Jesus’ eternal ministry, but not necessarily the end.
And, that clears up the mystery of the last words in the gospel of Mark. Countless people who have actually taken my suggestion and read the shortest gospel, Mark (because it can be read in one sitting), have asked me, “Why does the story end with the women running from the tomb of Jesus Christ in fear?” What happens next?
The end of the gospel of Mark is like getting out the popcorn, oil, salt, and pan; popping the popcorn in the pan until the lid lifts, and simply leaving it there…no pouring into the bowl, no salting, and no eating. Why does the book of Mark end in such an incomplete way?
The answer is simple really: because the end of Mark’s book is not the end of the story. The story has sequels; one of which even includes you.
That puts everything into perspective a little bit, does it not? You see, it is one thing to go to church on Sundays, be kind to our neighbors, and to allow God to be a part of our story from time to time, but it is quite another thing for us to be a part of God’s story.
Have you ever thought that years from now, believers could be reading about you just like we read about the disciples? It is possible, because you are a part of Jesus’ continuing story!
That makes life infinitely more interesting. I now want to know what God was doing when he threw me into an internship congregation that eventually closed its doors. The closing of a church seems to most of us like a dead end. Surely, God knew that was a part of the story.
Yet, Jesus still led me there to serve. Why? I honestly do not know. Did God use me to contribute to a story that is still playing out even today? I have no idea, I doubt I am that important, but I am still fascinated by the idea that those people’s place in Jesus’ story is far from over, despite the church closing.
I also want to know what God was doing when God allowed the toilet paper to run short at the beginning of the pandemic. I have no idea how not being able to clean oneself advances the story of the kingdom of God, but even considering the idea has just made life infinitely more interesting.
All joking aside, here is the absolute truth. The end of the story has not come, and Jesus is still up to something in this world through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Maybe, we are still in the beginning of the story? Maybe, the preachers of doom and gloom are all wrong and they have no idea where or when any of this is going to end. Maybe, there is much, much more of the story to be written? I do not know. I am not the writer of the story, Jesus is, but he certainly has me intrigued.
Keeping that in mind, I am very cautious about making any predictions about the chapter of the story in which we currently live. For example, I have never claimed that the pandemic is leading to the end of the world. Jesus clearly tells us clearly in scripture that even he does not even know when the end is coming. So, maybe before we claim that our current mess must be the end, maybe we should consider the possibility that it is, instead, a new beginning, a new sequel currently being written by God.
After-all, the world has fallen apart before! The world of the ancient Jews fell apart in a massive way when God allowed the Babylonians to come and destroy their cities and destroy their faith. People were ripped from the own God-given land, and it seemed like the end.
But not so fast, Isaiah 40 tells God’s people to look out to the horizon. And, if they were to do that, they would see that God is on the way. “See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”
The people were at the start of a new story.
Of course, we have the convenient advantage of knowing that the shepherd of the people did come. John the Baptist pointed right at the shepherd: Jesus Christ. John called out (in what I imagine to be a crazy sounding voice, filtered through the stuck legs of grasshoppers in his teeth), “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.”
Not that I would have ever really considered a guy in the wilderness with a loin cloth and grasshopper breath to be all that powerful, but I get his point. Jesus is the one with the power to heal the destruction of the past. Jesus will be the people’s shepherd.
Threats of destruction, famine, plagues, and death do not always mean the end of the story. In fact, none of them as of yet have brought about the end of the world’s story. I am right? We are still here, are we not?
To the contrary, the destruction of the Jew’s homeland was just the “beginning” (there’s that word again: beginning) of a new chapter in God’s story: a story that would eventually lead to Jesus Christ. And, like a cherry on the top of a sundae, Jesus’ story is a glimmering and luscious story of new life and resurrection on top of a story that includes hardship.
Come to think of it, when you rise from the dead, maybe there is no end to the story?
I think that the writer of Mark understood this. He writes no end to Jesus story because when
death is not the end…what ending could you possibly write?
Jesus is the end. The Bible teaches us that he is the Alpha and the Omega…the beginning and the end. And, since life and love are a part of Jesus’ very existence, pumping through his veins, then I imagine that the end of his story is nothing like the horrors we imagine.
In fact, I am here to tell you today, O people of God, that no matter what junk is filling up your story right now; no matter what hardship is threatening to tear your life apart; no matter what confusion has been brought into your life, none of it is the end of your story. Life and love is the end of your story. Resurrection from hardship and death is the end of your story. Jesus is the end of your story.
I should not have said it that way, because your story is Jesus’ story, and his story is not coming to an end. Rather, a new chapter is beginning. New life is on the way.
Look out to the horizon, O people of God. Jesus is on the way. As Isaiah says, “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” In other words, clear out anything that is in the Lord’s way! Jesus is on the way. A new chapter in his book is about to start.
And, that brings me to the part that John the Baptist really wants to talk to you about. So, get ready to hear some grasshopper leg laden words. Do not get distracted John tells us. I know, this coming from a grasshopper eating man who is very distracting. None-the-less, John wants you to hear that that there is likely stuff in the middle of the road of life, making it hard for you to see Jesus coming on the horizon.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Are there sins or vices or pleasures or addictions blocking the path and keeping you from seeing Jesus clearly? Are there other, more important concerns like jobs or perceived family obligations or political expectations getting in the way of your vision of the savior? Or, perhaps, you are one of those people who see Jesus clearly, but the Jesus you see is not the type of person you expected. Do you have images of God that need to be cleared out of the way so that you can finally see the one, true God on the horizon?
In response to all that blocks you from seeing Jesus, John the Baptist dunks you under the water shouting, “Be baptized! Repent of your sins!” He truly hopes that all that sin, all of those things that turn you from God, might be washed away for good.
How did we get to this point anyway? What happened to cause us to forget that we are a part of Jesus’ story?
Did you forget that your life matters to God…and matters to those around you? Did you forget that you have been baptized, not just with water, but with God’s very presence through the Holy Spirit. Did you forget that today’s problems and struggles are not the end of the story?
You are a people of the one true story. You are a people of the resurrection story. And, you are a people who wait for Jesus.
You are the people of God who look to the horizon and see Jesus coming near. You are the people of God who wait patiently to see where Jesus will lead; waiting to see how the story will play out; and waiting to take the next step in life and love with your savior.
Jesus is your shepherd after-all; the one who will lead you into the next chapter of his story. So, wait patiently, and excitedly, for the Lord to arrive.
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