Isaiah 40:1–11
Elsewhere in the News
All people are grass, and what good will it do
To say what is right, and the truth to pursue?
How fickle the people, so blown like the wind,
And now we're embarrassed, each day we're chagrined;
Oh, where is our strength, and oh, where is the way?
Oh, what can be said in these darkening days?
More news is at hand than what now meets the eye,
The news of a God who no money can buy,
Who'll rescue and save, 'though you can't believe how,
Whose promise is better than all earthly vows;
The LORD is still Lord, and, yes, you are the one
To tell and to show that God's loving's not done.
Scott L. Barton
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
+ + +
Mark 1:1–8
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665):
St. John the Baptist Baptizes the People
Musée du Louvre
We're now in Year B, and Mark's very first sentence with no verbs in it makes it a bit unclear just what "the beginning" is; but maybe it's not just the first chapter. Maybe it's even his whole book. I thought of Julie Andrews singing "Doe, a Deer, a Female Deer" in “The Sound of Music,” and the poem took off from there. Keep the tune in mind as you read the poem, and have fun! It’s probably too late to arrange to have your choir to sing it in these remote-worship times, but maybe a soloist would be game!
The Sound of Mark
(Possible choir anthem for Advent)
Let's start at the very beginning,
A very good place to start;
When it's Matthew it's genealogy,
When it's Mark it begins with John the B.,
John the B.,
The one Isaiah calls us to see,
John the B.,
He won't grace your Christmas tea:
In the wilderness he cried,
"God forgives I now proclaim,"
People from the countryside
And the capital all came;
They confessed and were baptized
By the wild and crazy guy,
Even so, he still surprised,
Saying one will come not I!
(So stand by!)
Thus, the good news has begun,
Mark's whole book is just the start,
For the story's hardly done,
Each of us can play a part;
Jesus is the one who came,
He's the key for your life's scale,
Make his love your constant aim,
For his grace today prevails—
(prevails)
Lives Christ and loves! and, yes, Christ gives!
Gives, Christ, and yes, loves, and Christ lives.
Amen!
Scott L. Barton
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
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