Spoiler Alert...

How do we proceed when we already know the outcome?

“The beginning of the good news ofJesus Christ, the Son of God.” Our contemporary society loves movies with twistendings, unexpected upsets in sports, and pop songs with at least onesurprising key change. So, what do we do with the opening line of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark? Before any action has taken place the ending has been given away—Jesus is the son of God. After one verse might we be better off simply skipping to the ending?

Spoiler alert: When Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out in 2005 a man drove passed a Barnes and Noble release event for the popularchildren’s book series. The moment he got in front of the line that was out the door he yelled out the ending of the book, which ruined the anticipation and enjoyment of reading a good book in the process. Do the first lines of Mark’s Gospel account do the same thing for us?

We really do not like spoilers in our country, and it’s not only with Harry Potter. There are videos of grown adults runningaway from people trying to tell them what happens in Star Wars. Apps now give people the option to hide the score of others games when watching a replay broadcast. The advent of DVRs and Netflix has made it such that people will cover their ears and yell, “LALALALA” when someone talks about a show they have not yet watched. So what do we do with Mark’s Gospel account when the first line spills the beans?

The truth is most of us hear the claim that Jesus is the Son of God before we ever read an entire Gospel account for ourselves. Perhaps if someone grew up un-churched they could happen upon the good news with fresh eyes and ears. And yet, even those who are reared outside the church will almost certainly hear from others in society that Jesus is God’s Son before they get to encounter the story of God in Holy Scripture for themselves. On the one hand this is no big deal, but on the other hand what is it that we bring to the table when we make such a big claim before ever reading a word? I wonder what it was like for those who encountered Mark’s account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a spoken story in the first century. I wonder if we might hear like them. I wonder if we might enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

In this season of Advent, as we begin this church year I wonder if we might ask God to have new eyes. Can we see beyond our preconceived notions about Jesus, about God, and about us? Are we able to read the good news of Jesus Christ without our regular set of assumptions, without mixing the Gospel accounts together, and without skipping over the parts that truly challenge us? Is it possible to wonder anew what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God? Or, do we already know it all, so we impatiently skip ahead to the ending?

Greetings Favored One

Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

I love Christmas movies. I know we aren’t in Christmas yet, but I can’t help but watch them at this time of year. I’m sure the Liturgical police will issue me a citation, but I have a hard time not getting ready for Christmas by viewing some of my favorites. My friends in college would laugh at me because I could never make it through Love Actually without crying. When my family first saw Elf we laughed so hard that I thought we would be kicked out of the theater. That movie along with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and It’s A Wonderful Life all seem to be on a similar theme of the protagonist figuring out who he is and what is his place in the world.

My family tends to watch another movie along this same line over the Holidays, although this year we watched it around Thanksgiving. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? Harry Potter is a wizard. Maybe you already knew that. Now some of the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s books are pure garbage, but this one, at least in my humble opinion, does the fantasy writing justice. Without fail though whenever I watch this movie I cannot help but weep uncontrollably, even worse than watching Love Actually. Yes, I’ll admit it. I cry big alligator tears watching a movie about a teen wizard. Let me explain.

Harry Potter attempts to save Sirius Black and himself from dementors

Throughout this film Harry Potter, a teenage, orphaned magic maker finds himself chased by dementors. Dementors make one feel as though one will never be cheerful at all every again. These death-like creatures suck the happiness right out their prey. Typically they are used to keep prisoners held within Azkaban, the maximum security containment facility for the most heinous criminal witches and wizards. Yet, they have been summoned to protect Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s school.

All happiness and life itself begins to leave Sirius Black

The scene that makes me cry the most happens two times. A criminal named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban supposedly to find and kill Harry. The dementors have been called to keep Harry safe, but the truth emerges that Sirius never committed a crime and he escaped to protect Harry, his godson. Dementors suck so much joy from Harry and Sirius, as they chase them through the Forbidden Forest that for a moment life appears to leave Sirius. All of a sudden, Harry sees the shape of a stag made out of pure light and joy and life charge through the crowd of dementors sending them in a hundred different directions. Now why on earth would I cry about this scene?

Harry passes out from all that has happened. When he awakes he believes that his father, who had been dead for over a decade, came back to save Sirius and him. Harry had discovered earlier in the movie that his father could cast this stag-producing spell, so he thinkis his father must have produced it in the forest.

A twist occurs in the story that causes Harry and his friend Hermione to go back in time to rectify some things. Wouldn’t that be nice this time of year? So we see the exact same scene from a different vantage point. Harry waits and waits and waits for his father to come, but he does not appear. Finally Harry realizes that it wasn’t his father, but he himself who must cast the spell. He must send a beam of happiness to cast out the life sucking dementors. Now you might think I’m strange for crying at this point in the movie, but it’s probably not for the reason you think. I cry when I see this scene not because Harry saves the day, but for some other reason.

Harry Potter's Stag Patronus

We are here at St. John’s Church a mere four days from Christmas Day. Perhaps you have checked off everything on your to-do list. Maybe everything this year turned out exactly as planned. Possibly all relationships in your life are as bright as they seem to be on the Christmas cards we send to friends and family. However; things might not be exactly the way you had hoped they would be at this time of year. Things are left undone. The list has not been completed. The budget has been abandoned. Family members are angry. At a time when everything is supposed to be “merry and briii-i-i-ight,” you may feel sad, stressed, or like you will never be cheerful at all ever again.

At the Rite I service just before we receive Communion we pray what sounds like a dreadful prayer, the Prayer of Humble Access. It begins, “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord,” we begin and often take an untimely breath here, which makes it sound like we are miserable scum. Some theologians might even tell you as much. “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy great mercy.” We cannot trust in our own righteousness, our own right relationship with God, but we can trust in God’s mercy. The prayer continues, “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table, but Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.” In a season of the year when I myself can feel so gloomy and overwhelmed and over budget despite all the advertisements that I should feel differently this prayer helps me to gain my bearings. It’s not about me, it’s about mercy.

Harry Potter did not feel worthy. He kept waiting on someone else to come and save the day. He was unsure of trusting in who he was and the abilities that he was given. We can believe just as much today, and a poor young woman so long ago might have felt the exact same way.

The virgin’s name was Mary. According to someone much smarter than I am, “She is young in a world that values age; female in a world ruled by men; poor in a stratified economy. Furthermore, she has neither husband nor child to validate her existence” (Luke Timothy Johnson; Luke, 39). I grew up in a church that had Mary everywhere: in front of votive prayer candles, on church hangings, and even in a chapel dedicated to her. So it is hard for me to remember that Mary came from NOTHING! She was worthless according to society.

She is unworthy, just like we might feel unworthy. And yet, God chose her not just to prove a point, but to bring salvation into the world. She did not know what to say when Gabriel came to her. We may not know what to say or what to do when God comes to us. We may believe that sinking feeling within us that we are unworthy; however, the story of Mary bearing God into this world proves to each and every one of us that we are not worthless.

Mary responds to God after her confusion wears off saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.” You, like Mary are chosen. You are chosen to bring God into this world. God’s Spirit dwells with you just like it overshadowed Mary. In this season when so loudly you hear that you are not worthy until you get everything accomplished on our list, everything wrapped under the tree, and every relationship just like on a Christmas card God is trying to tell you something else. “Greetings favored one! God has found favor with you, do not be afraid, for the Holy Spirit is with you and you are called to bring Christ into this world.” You are chosen. God has made you worthy. Now bear Christ into the world!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.