Advent in Mark

As of November 27, the First Sunday of Advent, Shiloh has joined tens of thousands of congregations around the world in acknowledging a new liturgical church year. In Advent, the story is told again, from the beginning. The new year starts with expectation and anticipation. It moves through the fulfillment of Sacrament in the telling of the story of Jesus. It then moves through the sacramental work of the Church, relying on the power of God's own Spirit.

The structure of the liturgical church year allows the church to formulate its worship and organize its mission and ministry. Part of that structure is the organization of lectionary texts for each week, and each day, of the liturgical church year. Congregations and denominations that follow the structure refer to it as the "Common Lectionary." Since it has been revised from time to time, we now refer to it as "The Revised Common Lectionary."

The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of Biblical readings. It is based upon the theme that is derived from Synoptic Gospel texts. Put differently, it is a three-year, coordinated series of readings, based on readings from Matthew, mark and Luke. (The fourth Gospel, John, is interspersed throughout the three year cycle.) Each of the Synoptic Gospels is designated a year: A. is Matthew. B. is Mark and C. if Luke. The cycle repeats every three years.

On November 27, we entered year B. of the Revised Common Lectionary. The Gospel concentration is from The Gospel According to Mark. A few interesting notes should be considered from the outset. One: Mark is, chronologically, the first of the canonical gospels. It was written sometime around 68 in the common era, after the outbreak of the Roman/Jewish War, in 66, but before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70. Two: The structure of the Gospel of Mark is based on a one-year cycle around the Jewish liturgical calendar. Three: Mark lacks both birth narrative and post-resurrection appearance.

It is this final note that makes the Gospel according to Mark so interesting in Advent. If the Gospel includes no birth narrative, then just how is the Church to prepare for the birth of Jesus?

Mark is written in the midst of war, when the outcome of that war was becoming certain. The Romans were going to defeat the Jews, and a second Diaspora was imminent. The historical circumstances of the recording of Mark necessitates an extremely important theological shift. Instead of thinking of God's kingdom as imminent, this second Diaspora leads to a developing "delayed parousia." The kingdom of God is coming at some point in the future, perhaps far into the future. In the Resurrection Communities of the Apostolic Age, c.33-66 b.c.e., the imminent parousia focused almost exclusively on the salvific work of Christ in the process of Crucifixion/Resurrection. No stories of Jesus were told. No account of his teachings, miracles or travels were thought to be central to the coming reign. In the Resurrection Communities, Jesus was simply a man who lived out the model of Crucifixion?Resurrection, performing the work of Christ.

Because Mark is writing to those Resurrection Communities, who concentrate on Christ instead of Jesus, it is not important to the author to include a miraculous birth narrative. It is not crucial that Mark demonstrate the divinity of Jesus. Instead, his Gospel does precisely the inverse. In Mark, Jesus is a human being, adopted by God as Christ at his Baptism. It is the power of the Spirit that makes the difference in Mark's portrait of Jesus.

Anticipation of the "Son of Man" in Mark is therefore not expectation of a baby's birth. Instead, it is the anticipation of apocalypse, when the world is turned upside down to reflect God's will. It is the death of the world-that-was, a world characterized by violence and unrighteousness, unfaithfulness and hatred, greed and selfishness, to the world-as-it-shall-be. In this coming world, justice and equality become the fabric that ties each person to every other, that defines the ways that persons live. Kindness and mercy reign. Generosity and compassion rule the day.

Therefore, in Mark's Advent, apocalyptic is the theme. In the coming of the Son of Man, the world is forever changed. Our lives are redefined. New rules apply. I think that Mark's approach is a fresh way for the Church to consider the power of Jesus' birth. What if it is less about the person of Jesus and more about what that person brings, what he represents and what he will do? Maybe the season could be more intentionally about Christ. Perhaps Mark's apocalyptic can elicit from the Church a more powerful witness to the new world that comes with Jesus.

See You Sunday!