Jack Hardaway
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This just in- John the Baptist has been sighted again.
He simply appeared, like he always does, out of nowhere.
In that same way that Elijah suddenly went missing in the sky, John the Baptist just drops back in out of the blue.
This time he was seen out at the Anderson Motor Speedway, revving the engine of a souped-up lawn tractor.
The race started, and all those racing lawn mowers spat up mud, and smoke, and grease.
John was reportedly in the lead when he took that last turn and just— kept on going, making a straight line, out of the speedway, around the barriers, the parking lot and out into the fields and woods, just tearing it up on the way to somewhere, making a way, willi-nilly across the county.
The last report is that all these people have started up their lawn tractors and are taking off after him, following in the way, making a run for it, an exodus. Who knows where they are going, with all that mud, and smoke, and oil.
Wherever it is, they are on the Way, Briggs and Strattons and all. You can hear them even now, choking, spitting, back firing. Is your lawn mower ready?
John the baptizer.
What a way to start. John just appears, out of nowhere, like Elijah plopping back out of the sky.
He is such a wild character that I like to indulge in a little imaginative story telling on this Sunday every year. Thankyou for indulging me yet again.
John was so wild that St. Jerome described him as “a shaggy man.”
And that is how Mark’s Gospel begins: wild, and shaggy, and out of the blue. We’ll be spending a good bit of time on Mark’s wild ride over this next year.
Good news of freedom, the freedom of forgiveness, tearing up the road, leading another exodus, another genesis, another creation, leaving behind the way of bondage and crossing over into the milk and honey of promise.
The possibility, and the power of forgiveness. The promise and the hope of freedom, from out of the blue. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Like a pack of roaring racing engines taking off across the county, it is a surprise.
Do I dare join in? Race on the Way, God’s Kingdom motor speedway?
Do I dare freedom, do I risk forgiveness, do I gamble with faith in the Holy Spirit?
Something good is happening.
Out of the blue, unexpected, racing down the aisles of the Church, God heading out into the world with the crazy story of starting over, starting over for real and true.
Crazy wild times, shaggy times. Start your engines. On your marks. Get ready. Go!