It’s just 14 days to Christmas. Many people are looking forward to it for various reasons; presents, parties, or time off work. The real reason to look forward to Christmas is because it’s when we celebrate Jesus coming into the world.

Between now and Christmas Day, a lot of people will be busy with all sorts of preparations; cards, decorations, food, presents. Yet the most important preparation, and part of the preparation that we can so easily neglect is the inner preparation; what goes on in our hearts and minds, having our minds open to receive the truths of Christmas and our heart open to God’s love.

That is what we are going to think about this morning, being prepared in our hearts for Christ to come to us. When Mark, most probably the first of the gospel writers began his gospel, he didn’t tell the Christmas story at all, there is nothing about a baby born at Bethlehem; but he does tell us about the importance of people being prepared for the coming of Jesus.

So as we look at the opening verses of Mark we will let them help us prepare our hearts for Christmas. Mark opens his gospel by telling us about John the Baptist, the man sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus.

John was an unusual character. He lived in the wilderness apart from society. In fact from before his birth he had been destined by God for his special task. By being apart from society he was better able to look at things in a true perspective, we can see things better some times when looking at them from the outside.

The message of John was that people needed to repent. As John looked at society there was much wrong with it. There was oppression; Rome ruled Israel and its soldiers bullied and extorted the population.

There was greed and inequality with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. There was hypocrisy on the part of the religious people. So John called on them to repent, to turn from their selfish violent and deceitful ways and be fair and generous to their neighbours.

His message is just as relevant today. Our society has a tendency to selfishness. Bullying is still a reality. Our worship can sometimes be pretence. The tragic thing is that we can be complacent about it all. Repentance is not a one off act. Time and again we need to examine our hearts and come clean with God.

The message of John was that as people turned in repentance to God, they received forgiveness from God. It was a wonderful offer that drew the crowds. It’s the same offer that’s available to us through the gospel. Repentance is turning afresh to God in humility.

John’s message was to repent, but he also taught people to mark their repentance by being baptized. Many of us have been baptized, some of us some considerable time ago. But for all of us it’s good to reflect on baptism and what it means. It means turning away from what is wrong. Part of the symbolism of baptism is leaving the old selfish way of life behind. Going down into the water symbolises burying our past with its guilt. Coming up out of the water symbolises a new birth, a new start. With the passing of the years our appreciation of what our baptism meant can become dulled. Advent is a good time to renew and affirm the things we experienced in Baptism and the truths that it symbolises.

Baptism also symbolises cleansing. It’s not the water that does the cleansing, but it symbolises the fact that we have been cleansed from sin through Christ’s death on the cross. This afternoon two members of the Chinese Church will be baptised. They have come to believe the wonderful truth that God loves them and accepts them through Jesus, what a wonderful way to prepare to accept the Saviour’s coming. Yet each of us as we recall the meaning of baptism can know afresh the reassurance Christ has cleansed us.

The next thing that John reminds us of is that Christ imparts the Holy Spirit. John assures his listeners that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. It’s a wonderful reality. That to every believer God sends the Holy Spirit. People’s experience of the Holy Spirit can be different. But the Holy Spirit comes to the believer and gives them assurance of God’s love for them. The Holy Spirit pours God’s love into the heart of the believer to enable them to give out that love to others.

The Holy Spirit gives appropriate gifts to each believer. But you know, so often we neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit. We need to stir up the gift that is in us. Often people grieve the Spirit by their unbelief or stubbornness. If we are to be prepared for Christ to come anew to us this Christmas, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to hold sway in our heart and life.

Then finally Mark tells us that Jesus comes on the scene. He comes from Nazareth, the place where he has worked as a carpenter. He has come among ordinary men and women. Amazingly John baptizes him, just like anyone else in the River Jordan. That is the wonder of the incarnation. God’s son has stepped onto the stage of history.

That was made clear to all when the voice came from heaven. Christ had pleased God by coming and identifying with ordinary men and women. Jesus had come to share in the experience of living in a fallen world.

He had also come to experience the reality of temptations. Mark does not go into details, but Jesus was not spared the power and reality of temptations, Mark tells us that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days being tempted by Satan.

Jesus experienced birth; childhood, work, suffering and temptation just like any other human being. Yet there was something profoundly different about Jesus. Unlike human beings who sometimes give in to temptation, Jesus did not. He triumphed over the tempter.

Jesus was baptized; but unlike everyone else who has been baptized, Jesus had no need of baptism or repentance. You see human beings by their very nature need to be rescued from their guilt and helplessness; Jesus was the one who by identifying with them made that possible. Where everyone else has failed to live a perfect life, Jesus succeeded.

Jesus coming into our world was the culmination of God’s plan to restore mankind to the purpose for which we were created. We were created for fellowship with God. We were created in God’s image to be custodians of the beautiful world God created. So God speaks and confirms that Jesus is his son.

And Mark tells us that heaven was torn open. We do not know what that looked like. But we do know that Jesus had come into the world to open a way between heaven and earth. He opened a way for the Holy Spirit to come down to earth from heaven.
He had also come ultimately so that the way could be made open for alienated men and women to have access from earth to heaven. He came that their relationship with God might be restored, and that they might ultimately experience eternity in God’s presence; the coming of Jesus means heaven has been opened.

As we reflect on Christ’s coming to us at Christmas, may it restore for us a right priority. May we treasure Jesus as the most precious gift of all. And may we have the courage to receive his transforming Spirit so that we play our part in bringing his light to our world.
 

Amen.

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