Mark 1:1-8 · John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way" -- 3 "a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " 4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

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Mark 1:1-8
Sermon
by David E. Leininger
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Everybody loves a good story. We begin our earliest understandings through stories. The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Ugly Duckling. We learned lessons in behavior from stories like The Little Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf ’ and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The tradition of storytelling is as old as humanity itself. Ancient cultures have stories to tell younger generations about their heritage. Go to the earliest chapters of our scripture and see how our own cultural forebears answered the questions of their children and grandchildren.

“Grandpa, where did we come from?’

“Ah, my child, let me tell you a story.” And what followed was the account of a man (Adam, which in Hebrew means simply man), a deep sleep, a disappearing rib and voilá, woman. Then …

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., The 2,000 year-old preacher: 21st century sermons on 1st century texts : Cycle B sermons for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany based on the gospel texts, by David E. Leininger