Creekside Church Sermon of December 8, 2002 "The Perfect Gift for Christmas: Forgiveness" Mark 1:1-8	Rev. David Bibbee
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There once was a beautiful woman who was a heart-throb to many would-be suitors. But no one could win her because of her staunchly protective father. He intimidated so many suitors that the daughter feared all the eligible men would give up. To allay her fears and his concern that she have only the finest mate, he devised a test. A notice was sent to all bachelors to come to a designated site. When they gathered, the father led them to the end of a long, narrow pool. He said, "Whoever can swim to the other end wins my daughters hand." And to make the contest more interesting, the pool was filled with ravenous alligators.

Father and daughter stood at the far end, watching the men doing cost-benefits analysis at the other. They looked at the daughter's eyes, the alligator's eyes, and each other's eyes. None stepped forward. But just as the father was about to close the contest, "Kersplash!" one of the men dove in. The brave soul swam frantically while around him the water boiled with slapping tails and snapping jaws. Miraculously, he made it and crawled out unscathed. The father was moved by the young man's bravery. "You have proven your character. As I promised, you may have my daughter's hand, and if there's anything I can do, just let me know," the father said. Still panting for breath, the man said, "Well, sir, there is one thing you can do." "What's that?" "Find out which one of those clowns pushed me in!"

Think of all the stories where a person or prize is sought and the pursuer must first penetrate a fortress, slay a dragon, or walk a tightrope over a fiery cavernous pit to get it. This is how I feel on the second Sunday in Advent. Christmas is coming. The lights and sights, the candles and carolers, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, the birth of the Savior. Christmas is such a special time. But before we get to it we must swim through a gator pool.

The Gospel of Mark doesn't have Jesus' birth story. It simply says, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Boom! Short and straight to the point. But the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God doesn't begin with Jesus. There are no swaddling cloths. No baby's breath. Just camel's hair and locust breath. No holy infant so tender and mild, but an eccentric prophet so firey and wild called John the Baptist.

To get to Jesus in Mark's gospel, we must first face John. If you have come to Advent worship expecting no turbulance and a serene Christmas landing, forget it. John was all business. His job was to get people ready to receive Jesus. John didn't know whose way he was preparing. He didn't have any names. He didn't know when he would show. He hardly knew anything about him at all, except that he was unfit to untie his shoes.

Receiving the Messiah required preparation. This was John's calling…to clear the path; to wake people up and get them ready. He did it by preaching one sermon over and over…the necessity of a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And you're sitting there thinking, "Lighten up, pastor! We're supposed to deal with joy and peace and hope. Let us feel good about ourselves for a change. Put this sin and forgiveness business in Lent where it belongs. For the love of Gabriel, it's Christmas!" But are we ready to receive the graces and gifts of Christ if we take lightly the state of our souls? It's hard to appreciate the birth of Jesus apart from our need of forgiveness.

Huston Smith is an authority on world religions. In a lecture he walked through each of the great religions emphasizing what made each one unique. He spoke of the devotion to prayer in Islam, and the self-emptying of Buddhism, and the complexity of Hinduism. "What makes Christianity unique," he said, "Is forgiveness, and even more, Jesus' demand for forgiveness." Jesus forgave those who killed him. Jesus told his disciples to forgive those who would harm them. The world hadn't heard anything like it before. Wherever Jesus went and whomever he touched he said, "Your sins are forgiven."

What is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Forgiveness. Before we plead our case to God, before we try to make things right, before we ever acknowledge a need of it, God's forgiveness is already present. God made the first move to bring us back. What a Christmas gift -- a package for everyone containing this message: "You are forgiven!" Christianity is the religion of the second chance, the new start, the slate wiped clean.

Forgiveness, whether giving or receiving it, probably isn't at the top of our Christmas gift list. But is there anything more necessary to get us through our lives? Hannah Arendt said, "Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act, would that it were, would be confined to one single deed from which we could never recover; we would remain the victims of it's consequences forever, not unlike the sorcerer's apprentice who lacked the magic formula to break the spell."

Heather Atwood's mother often left lists of things for Heather to do around the house. When she was eighteen years old, Heather started giving her mother trouble. She would stay out late and kept the wrong company. But her mother was afraid to confront her, so she did the angry parent thing, giving chilling glances and slamming cupboard doors. Returning late one night, Heather found a list pad beside her bed stand. It said in large letters, "Wash Guilt."

What was she saying? Wash guilt? Was she venting more anger? Heather left the pad put. Her mother left in the morning before Heather, so nothing was said, but those words followed Heather everywhere. Wash guilt. What was it about? Why couldn't she just yell at her? That evening the pad was still there. When the two met in the kitchen there was silence. She knew her mother would be looking for a reaction, some sign of a change, but her eyes never found Heather's face. Heather wondered:

Did she regret the dagger she put into my heart? If so, why didn't she remove the pad? If she moved it she would have to acknowledge that it had been there, but if she let it be, we could both pretend it hadn't been written. Didn't I just see a look? Is she inspecting my demeanor? No…she only looked interested in making dinner.

The next day Heather woke and there were the words "Wash Guilt." She spent the day with them again. That evening her mother said nothing, and on it went for a week. Nothing was said, and the words followed Heather everywhere. They met her each night. It seemed like a parrot was screeching "Waaaash Guilt." Sometimes it seemed like a monk was standing over her with the pad in hand. Heather's behavior didn't change much, but she wore the words like a hair shirt. Then one day she came home, went up into her room and looked at the pad once more in the sunlight. It read, "Wash Quilt."

Suppose there was a pad on your pillow that said, "Wash Guilt." What thoughts would race through your mind? Would there be a hamper full of stuff in need of washing? Absolutely. None of us would have to dig deep to find dirty laundry…moments when we caught ourselves being ourselves doing and saying hurtful things, harboring jealousies and resentments, entertaining lurid thoughts, refusing to forgive those who have hurt us.

Of course, we have our reasons and rationalizations, but finally it all comes down to this…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Notice how often this theme comes up in our Advent and Christmas hymns:

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, born to set thy children free, from our fears and sins release us…

O Holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray, cast out our sins and enter in, be born in us today.

Hark! The herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.

It would be a lot easier to skip this sin business and get into some Christmas cheer-take a detour around the wilderness so we won't be upset by John's bellering about our condition. It would be easier, but we would be less appreciative of the great, perfect gift God has given us in Jesus Christ.

Advent is a time to remember what makes the good news Good News. The beginning of the gospel is that for all who will accept it, God forgives. Jesus has a lot to tell us in Mark about life and how finding our way is often hard and how we often fall, but it all begins with forgiveness. Christmas is about our relationship with God restored, no matter who we are or what we have done. Christians, of all people, have the courage to be honest about themselves. And Christians of all people have a burden to share the forgiveness they have received from God to others.

One of the nice things about not forgiving is how good it makes you feel. You can point to someone and recite all the things they did to hurt you. You claim the higher moral ground because compared to them, you are pretty good. It's a great help to have somebody to blame for why you have ended up being the person you are. "It's their fault I'm this way!" And we get caught in the leg trap of sin again. By refusing to forgive, we refuse our own forgiveness.

Lord knows we have much to be forgiven. We are capable of some very ugly stuff. It is easy to get touch with the guilt of the things we've done. In a fit of pride and self-centeredness I betrayed a friend and had to live with the fallout for two years. We would cross paths at meetings and the chill between us was palpable. Then one day, the thing I feared happened. We had signed up for a conference which brought us face to face in a small group. I felt what Hannah Arendt had said, "We would remain victims of our deeds and consequences forever."

But I received a gift…unexpected, and certainly underserved.

(This is where Pastor David's printed sermon ends.)

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