Mark’s gospel begins in a different way than the other gospels. Matthew begins his telling of the gospel with the birth of Jesus. Luke begins his telling of the gospel with an angel predicting the birth of John the Baptist. John begins his gospel with the beginning of time itself – In the beginning was the Word… But here we have Mark beginning his gospel with an adult John the Baptist searching for an adult Jesus. There is no infant Jesus in Mark’s gospel.

One of the first questions I ask myself when I look at the texts the lectionary has selected for a given Sunday is: Why was this text selected for this Sunday?

If we take a look around we can see that the Advent season has been co-opted by our society to consist of nothing more than a celebration of the nativity and keeping an eye out for Santa Claus and his sleigh laden with gifts. In fact, few people even realize that there is a season of Advent at all. The Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving.

But as we hear this beginning of Mark’s gospel perhaps we can capture just a little bit of what the season of Advent means in the church. Through the voice of John crying out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord," perhaps we can prepare ourselves for the coming Christ. With John’s call for the people to repent and change their ways, perhaps we can hear God calling us to change our ways.

I read a story this week by Rhonda Van Dyke Colby who tells about meeting John the Baptist at the local K-Mart. Instead of being met outside by a Salvation Army worker ringing a bell and monitoring a kettle for collecting change, she is met by no less than John the Baptist holding a sign reading, "Time for change." Over coffee at the K-Mart café, John looks over Rhonda’s day planner and gives her instructions for change. Through her conversation with John, Rhonda comes to see that Christmas isn’t about throwing loose change into buckets or following the crowds to the latest deal. She said that she "had been so preoccupied with following the crowd that [she] had neglected to follow the star." She sees that it is indeed time for her to change.

Maybe during his Advent season we need to meet John the Baptist outside the mall or retail store. Maybe we need to see someone holding up a sign telling us that it is "time for change." That is where this message from Mark’s gospel comes in. Just imagine John the Baptist coming out of the urban wilderness telling us that we need to prepare the way for Christ. The only way that we can make a path is for us to change.

Through Mark’s description of John the Baptizer, the people of Jesus’ time had a mirror held up to them to show them the ways they had fallen away from God. He came wearing clothing that identified him as a prophet and calling people to confess their sins and receive the forgiveness that God has already given them. John was calling the people to change. What might John be saying to us today? What type of change might we need to make?

On this second Sunday of Advent, while stores have Christmas carols blaring from the loudspeaker and inflatable nativity sets for sale, in the church we don’t hear the angels telling the shepherds of good news of great joy. We don’t hear of wise men searching for a child in a manger. We don’t hear of Mary pondering things in her heart as she lays her baby in a bed of hay. Instead we get an adult John the Baptizer calling the people to repent. This is certainly not a Norman Rockwell Christmas painting.

I doubt that there are any Christmas cards that show John the Baptist on the cover all decked out in camels’ hair and feasting on grasshoppers sweetened with honey and inside reading, "Repent." If you find one let me know, I would certainly like to see that one. But this is exactly the type of Christmas card Mark would have sent. Mark doesn’t begin with angels announcing an upcoming birth. Mark begins with John the baptizer crying out of the wilderness, "Repent."

John’s call for repentance is a call for a change in our fundamental orientation. John calls the people away from following the latest fads to following the path of searching for the Lord. John shifts the people from following their own way to following God’s way. If we borrow language from Rhonda Van Dyke Colby, we could say that John is calling the people away from following the crowd and toward following the star.

Mark’s presentation of John’s message comes as a reminder to us during this season that the manger isn’t the end. The manger scenes with the holy family glowing in the blessed light of the star are beautiful and meaningful scenes but that isn’t the end. We read this part of the good news of Jesus Christ today to remind us that the Christ child grew up.

It can be difficult for us to shift from viewing someone as a child to seeing him or her as an adult. I recently received the newsletter from my home church in Charlotte. In it they listed all the college students and their new addresses. As I looked down that list I remembered looking after many of them in the nursery. "There’s no way they could be in college yet?!" I would say to myself, thinking about how young they were when I first came to church there. But nevertheless the children have grown up and are adults.

I was also reminded of this when I went to a family gathering after Thanksgiving. It was amazing to think that some of my cousins are getting ready to graduate from college when I remember them when they were just small kids. But that’s what happens – right before our eyes – children become adults.

John the Baptizer in all his eccentricities calls out to us at this time to remind us that the child in the manger grew up and became the king on the cross. During this season it can be very tempting to remain too long at the manger. I saw one painting of a nativity scene. I don’t remember where I saw it or who the artist was but the memory of it is still sharp in my mind. Mary and Joseph are smiling in the stable, looking down at their child in the manger. The Christ child is reaching out happily. The whole family is bathed in a glow. But the one element that separates this painting from all the other paintings of the nativity is that the glow behind the Christ child is in the shape of a cross.

It can be very tempting to linger at the manger side smiling and rejoicing in the birth of a blessed child. But the challenge that we have is to remember that the child grew up and became a king.

A group of us have been tirelessly practicing for the Christmas cantata that we will present during worship on December 21^st. As we were practicing this Wednesday, we went over the song, "Mary Did You Know?" In this song we ponder whether Mary had any idea who this child in the manger would become. Part of the song says, "Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? / Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?" We don’t know all that Mary knew as she laid her child down to rest. However, we would do well to remember what we know – the child grew up – and became a king.

As I began to examine this text, I began to answer my first question: Why was this text selected for this Sunday? This text reminds us that Advent and Christmas isn’t just about looking for a baby in a manger. As we anticipate the coming of Christmas, we are also looking for Christ to come to us again. We are not only searching for Christ in the humble stables of Bethlehem but we are searching for Christ everywhere. Christ certainly surprised us once by his entrance into the world. Perhaps Christ will surprise us again.

Perhaps in this world saturated by nativity scenes focused on the child, we are to be like the adult John the Baptizer and keep an eye out for the Coming One. Hearing John’s cries at this time and in this place reminds us that Christmas isn’t just about one day looking at the manger with wonderment. Christmas is about looking every day for the ways we can follow the child in the manger who became the king on the cross. Christmas is about following the one who was born, grew up, died, and was raised so that we might have abundant life.

Maybe we need John the Baptist to meet us as we run our errands and make preparations for the holiday. Maybe we need to move away from following the crowds and move toward following the risen Christ. "It’s time for change," was the message that John the Baptizer brought to the people. He brings the same message to us. "It’s time for change – repent – receive forgiveness – and look for the Mighty One.