Office of Church Relations

Begin Again!

“Begin again.”  Her name was Mrs. Griebenow and she said these words often.  Mrs. Griebenow was my piano teacher growing up and she would say these words when she would see me struggling with a piece of music.  Sometimes she would say these words when she wanted me to get something just right.  One time, she said “begin again” because she let me start with my “dessert” which consisted of my favorite pieces before having me go back and start again with my scales.

            Mrs. Griebenow always spoke these words when I would leave her home after the lesson.  “Now, begin again Eric.”  Maybe she spoke these words in hopes that I would see the week ahead as a new beginning.  Maybe she hoped I would change my practice habits.  (In my later years of taking lessons my practice habits were as sporadic as my diets are today).  For many years, Mrs. Griebenow had higher aspirations for me with the piano than I had for myself.  But, I did not like going to piano unprepared.  Sometimes the words “begin again” would give me a new lease on my life as a piano student.  Sometimes I would actually begin again. 

            Advent is yet another opportunity for us to begin again.  Many people miss church the Sunday after Thanksgiving thus missing the beginning of Advent.  There is still time to get the Advent wreath out and encourage family devotions as we begin our march towards Christmas.  There is still time to carve personal time out in the midst of holiday havoc that our consumer world pushes on us this season.  Begin again.

Link to the First Lesson (Isaiah 40:1-11)

Comfort, O comfort my people, says our God.  These words are repeated in the beloved Advent hymn (LBW 29).  These words come as a new beginning dawns for God’s people.  Commentators tend to agree that at chap. 40 of Isaiah, we move from the threat of Babylonian victory to the completion of that victory.  Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s mind have now paid for their sins at the hands of the Babylonians.  It is in the midst of defeat that these stunning words come to a now exiled people.

            The prophet Isaiah now delivers words of hope.  “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  As we begin again we can know that some things never change or as the old saying goes, “The more things change the more they remain the same.”  God again acts mercifully toward the people of Israel.  As we read the stories of Adam and Eve and the fall, Noah and the flood, Israel in the wilderness, Jonah and the people of Nineveh etc. etc. we see a God who punishes yes, but always comes back with mercy and an invitation to begin again.  Through times of exile and loss of the people’s trust, God begins again never losing hope that humanity will change its ways. 

Link to the Second Reading (2 Peter 3: 8-15)

Part of the Advent theme is also to “be prepared” as “we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.”  As we continually look to begin again the writer of II Peter exhorts the followers of Jesus to strive for peace without spot or blemish and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.”  As always we stand in the mercy of God.  As we pray for Christ to come again we strive to live as the baptized.  Each day we are to be “born again” as we remember our baptism.  Through baptism we have been marked with the Cross of Christ and that mark invites us into a life of being Christ’s body in the world.

The Gospel Reading (Mark 1: 1-8)

I see this Gospel lesson and the Gospel of Mark as a whole telling the story of God beginning again with creation and with us.  This shortest of Gospels is my favorite because in it God’s Son is sent to change the way that God will deal with this world forever.  The story we get in Mark’s Gospel is not to be the whole story of Jesus the Christ.  The first line tells us this, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Here we have the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection.  The whole story of Jesus continues with our story as the body of Christ in the world.  We come to church not only to hear about the past works of Jesus, but to think about how life could or should unfold in our own lives because of Jesus.

During this season of advent, our Bible stories bear the promise to us that our own exile, however that may take form, shall not be the last word in our lives.  We know exile don’t we.  Some of us know exile in the literal sense, having been exiled from our country of origin.  But all of us know what it is to feel detached and separated from that which is important to us. 

We know what it is to feel separated from loved ones and even from ourselves.  Some of us know what it is to feel separated from our neighbors and the actions of our government.  All these things can bring fear and uncertainty to our lives.  To this world Jesus comes with the invitation, begin again.

  Where in your life is Christ inviting you to begin again?  Have you been away from church for a while?  This is the place you are fed and nourished with word and sacrament, the invitation comes, begin again!  Have you started down the path of holiday havoc stuck in stressful schedules with too much to do after promising yourself that this year you would keep focused on keeping things simple?  The invitation comes, “begin again!”   

In verse 8 of today’s Gospel, John the Baptist says of Jesus, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit….”  Jesus continues to help us begin again when it looks like we have no place to turn.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t go with Jesus to dwell back up in the heavens; she continually comes with Jesus renewing in us the gifts of forgiveness, love, and new life. Because of Jesus, we will never again be left to ourselves.

Questions for Discussion

1. Where in your life is Christ inviting you to begin again?

2. What would you change about your life if you knew Christ was coming tomorrow?

3. What traditions do you have during this season that helps you keep your mind on Christ?

4. Where in your life do you feel you have been exiled?

5. Do you find the idea of Christ coming again as hopeful or scary?