A Voice in the Wilderness

Gospel: Mark 1: 1-8

John is not preaching on a topic a lot of people like to hear: repent and reform your lives!  And yet people are coming out into the desert from all places to hear John and be baptized.  Why is his message connecting with people.  First, John is not exempting himself from repenting.  He dons the hair shirt, eats only wild honey and locusts, and he lives out in the desert.  He is aware of his need for repentance as well. 

John is also not speaking only of certain sins and to a partial audience.  He is not a tool of the ruling class only talking about the sins of the commoners.  At the same time, he is also not a self-righteous activist only talking about institutional sin.  Both are addressed equally.  Finally, John's message comes at an important time where people were open to hearing it.  Roman occupation was hard and people were powerless over it.  But in changing their lives they had control over something, and in changing their lives they gained some power over their situation as well.  

So, what does this mean for us today? Let us be John and repent of our own sins.  Let us avoid being tools of an empire or tools of culture warriors or social justice warriors: let us speak the whole truth about sin and redemption.  And let us see that in taking control of our own lives and faults gives us some power and control over the world around us and how we see that world.  It is broken just like us, but also redeemed and loved by God as well.