"There is an intellectual desire, an eros of the mind. Without it there would arise no questioning, no inquiry, no wonder." Bernard Lonergan

"It seems clear that humans cannot significantly reduce or mitigate the dangers inherent in their use of life by ccumulating more information or better theories or by achieving greater predictability or more caution in their scientific and industrial work. To treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it." Wendell Berry

"Do not be afraid, my little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Coming After Me: Mark : 1 - 8


image of John the Baptist found at www.catholicism.org


Coming after me?


Usually we see “coming after me” and we think of money we owe or a person we have wronged or a loose end left untied and might be coming to find us. He, or she, is “coming after me” often connotes something bad.

But not always. 

Sometimes it can suggest forethought, foresight, or even planning.  Sometimes it can show concern or trust.  As in:  “I am less interested in what is happening to me today than I am in what is coming after me.”  Or, “not so much for myself, but for my children who are coming after me.”

The former connotes fear.

The later demands faith and devotion.

I have no doubts as to which one is better.  (Too vague?  Always go with faith over fear.  That is a rule which will serve you well!)

The text for this week is the first 8 verses of Mark’s gospel – words that we will read together on Sunday morning.  If you read it you’ll see that it begins with an assertion that this testimony is good news, that it is gospel.  Then it quotes Isaiah, grounding itself in a tradition, a voice older than itself.  Then it introduces us to John the Baptist – he is the messenger of Isaiah’s dreams, he is the one who stands in the Jordan, raising fist and voice against the hypocrisies he perceives to be all around him.  Mark tells us that “all of Jerusalem” was coming out to the Jordan to be baptized and to be cleansed:  cleansed from sin and sorrow and disappointment. 

I wonder – how much did the crowds, the “all of Jerusalem,” praise him?  How special did they tell him that he was?  How much adoration did they heap upon his head, kisses on his brow, tears rubbed into his lapel (which was made of camel’s hair)?  How much did they praise him?

I have always imagined quite a lot.   

And then John the Baptist, according to Mark, does the next to impossible.  He resists the praise.  He downplays the spectacle.  He expresses humility, servant hood, and self-denial.

He says, “I am not the one you should be praising.  The one coming after me – that is one you should be praising.”

Coming after me.

Not me.

Somebody else.

How many of us, with the crowd chanting our name, hoping we’ll lead the team to victory, the people to freedom – how many of us wouldn’t want the ball?  How many of us, just when it was all on the line would tell the fans that the next guy in, like the backup quarterback, is going to be better.  “You think I am good, wait ‘til you see the next guy?”

I know you are thinking it, this almost never happens.   When the crowd goes wild, humility is nearly always the first causality.

Not so with John the Baptist.  John really is the patron saint of Advent.  John is the the one who waited and deferred.  John is the one who sat uneasy with the praise and passed the mantle to the “one coming after me

What have we passed on?  What should we pass on?  Do we defer out of fear or expectation?  It may be that these questions lie near the heart of Advent faith, and close to unlocking the theological brilliance of John the Baptist.

Coming after us?  What is it we want to leave behind, and to who is it that we want those who shall follow us to go?



One more thing…

Be sure to check out the Advent Devotional at www.d365.org and be sure you are following along with WMPC’s Advent Devotional book.

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