An Urgent Gospel — What now? What Now?!

Dan Harper August 01, 2024 5 3

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Mark 1: 9-13 (NRSVA)

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

What is your view of small talk? Do you enjoy talking about the weather? Are you happy to talk about the unimportant and inconsequential, or do you prefer to wade right into big talk, real talk, talk that gets to the point and keeps on going?

I have a friend who doesn’t like small talk. Conversations go in deep and quick, and it means a solid, intimate friendship is maintained. Work, health, family, and everything important get covered, although some of the fun fluff gets missed.

At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, narrative goes hard from the start. No genealogical intro to start the idea of Jesus. No birth narrative introduces Jesus. Jesus is here, and Jesus is now, and Jesus is publicly baptised and his ministry starts.

So, what now?

It is only with special people that conversations over coffee start with medical results. It is those closest to us who will answer the phone and are told of redundancy before hello. It is only the best of people that get invited into the raw places, and the invitation has no preamble, but ends with the question, “So, what now?”

The pace of the narrative at the start of Mark’s Gospel is blurting out “Jesus is here, so what now?”

With big news in life, life changes. With the good news of God, what changes?

So, what now? Life changes quickly. And we must respond. When we are faced with situations that burst into our lives, a quick response is often needed. Let’s make our default response one of humanising accepting compassion. And if we did that, then even in the most immediate of situations, we would be visibly journeying with God.

Prayer:

God,

Give me an urgency to show your love to those on the margins.

Amen