December 4, 2011 2nd Sunday in Advent Mark 1: 1 - 8

Angels of Hope, Dublin Castle, Dec. 2009
Tears of Repentance: Raindrops of Hope

"I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  Mark 1: 8

He is coming.  His advance man is preparing the crowd.
Repent, Confess, Go into the waters.
A crazy man, a messenger, a weirdo, calls you--join the crowd at the river; everyone is there!

Will you go?
Will you confess your sins?
          BTW what are they, your sins, that is?
Will you be baptized by him, the wild one?
          BTW who this Advent is your harbinger of the coming of "Jesus Christ, the Son of God?"
Will you be at the river when he, the great one, comes?
          BTW how are you present to Jesus this Advent?

Here's the whole passage.  Read imagining you are there!
The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
Watch closely: I'm sending my preacher ahead of you;
He'll make the road smooth for you.
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God's arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
4-6John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins. People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life. John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey.
7-8As he preached he said, "The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will change your life. I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out."