Sermon preached by The Reverend Dr Sam Cappleman
Second Sunday of Advent 2005
A Sense of Urgency
Each of the gospels has a distinct style
and emphasis which gives us an insight into the gospel writer
For Mark, I get the sense that if mobile phones and SMS messages had been
around at the time it had been written (generally though to be written my
Mark as told to him by Peter around AD 65 – 70 in Rome) it would have been
written using the cryptic style of SMS messages
It the shortest gospel and has the content outline that Joan covered last
week
One of the words which occurs in it typifies it style. Mark makes repeated
use of the phrase ‘immediately’ or sometimes translated as ‘at once’, Greek
= eutheos
In Mark a sentence about Jesus going to Jerusalem would probably be:
‘Immediately Jesus went to Jerusalem’
Matthew, who we were studying last year, would probably have as the same
sentence: ‘Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary, knowing that the writers and
the teachers of the law were in the Temple Courts, went to Jerusalem, a
day’s walk away, to meet them’
Luke, who we study next year, would probably write: ‘Jesus went on his way
to Jerusalem and on His way say a woman who was sick. Filled with compassion
He stopped to help her, to heal her sickness and forgive her sins’
John would probably write: ‘Knowing it was His destiny to meet with the
scribes and the Pharisees, on the third day Jesus went up to Jerusalem so
that the scriptures could be fulfilled’
You get the sense that Matthew’s house would be very orderly with all the
ornaments precisely set out on the mantelpiece with almost Hercule
Poiroit-esque order
Luke’s house would probably be full of people all of the time, John’s full
of candles and books, and Mark’s looking like a whirlwind had just hit it,
post still on the table and Mark nowhere to be seen…
Mark just seems to focus on the immediate, the important and the urgent,
sometimes not giving us the time to think or understand the background. He
assumes we know it or can find it somewhere else
But he does give us a sense of urgency about the gospel message and the
coming of the Messiah and what our response should be while He comes
What are the important and urgent things we need to think about in Advent?
Certainly it’s about Christmas and we need to remember that we need to get
prepared for Christmas soon, sending the Christmas cards, buying the
presents, making the Christmas cake and puddings, putting up the tree,
spending hours on finding out why the lights don’t work when they did when
you put them away last year…
Some of those things we need to do urgently, its getting late to send
Christmas cards abroad, if we don’t do it soon it will be too late, 12
December the last date for Air Mail from the UK to the US this year…
But we need to remember too that the most important thing about Advent and
Christmas is Christ Himself, the Messiah who became fully human and came to
live among us
The Messiah who will come again so that we can live together with Him
In all the important things we need to do and in all the important things we
need to remember at Christmas we need to remember Christ, the very meaning
of Christmas itself. He is the reason we have Christmas, we celebrate His
birth and what it meant for the world
But it’s also important at Christmas to remember those who are less
fortunate than ourselves
Those who have less than us, those who are ill, those who are lonely, those
who can’t get out, those who don’t get many Christmas cards and presents
Those who suffer and need our help and support if they are to begin to
understand the meaning of God’s love coming in person and reaching out to
the world at Christmas
At St Mark’s we are supporting Mildmay, a Christian charity which works in
the UK and abroad with those who suffer from HIV/AIDS
Those, who in the words of Lord Carey if Clifton, need our compassion not
our condemnation, those who Mildmay reach out to on our behalf as Sir Cliff
Richard expresses it
At Putnoe we’re supporting a local children’s charity and are focusing our
giving there
We are thankful of the gifts we have been given, physical, financial and
spiritual, and in God’s economy we’re called to share those with others less
fortunate than ourselves
Thank you for all your generosity to the work of God in this place and
beyond
But the message of Mark is also important to us today because of its sense
of urgency
There is a sense of urgency that we need to be preparing the way for Christ
and His return, we need to be sharing the good news of Christmas with those
around us who need to hear it, perhaps we need to hear it again and be
reminded of the importance of Christ and Christmas in our lives
Perhaps too, we need to be reminded of the sense of urgency we should have
as we reach out with God’s love and respond to the needs of others
There’s always a reason to put off giving of ourselves, our time, our
talents and our money
Mark reminds us that some things in the Christian life are more urgent than
others, some things are just too urgent to put off until after Christmas
when we have a bit more time
Mark challenges us this Advent to look at our lives, our priorities and look
at what are the really urgent and important things we need to do for
Christmas
The Rev Dr Sam Cappleman