A glorious lifestyle

James Cathcart December 11, 2017 0 0

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Mark 1: 1-8

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
    “Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight”’,

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’

Christmas can be overwhelming. There is pressure from family, friends, colleagues, and the supermarket - to live up to the impossibly shiny happy lifestyles advertised all around us.

The marketing machine is selling lifestyles, not turkeys. For the classier brands it is too crass to say "You’re hungry, we’re cheap." It is more profitable to speak to our aspirations, than our needs. Our stomachs can be easily filled but the appetites of our hearts and minds can be continually fed while never being met. That perfect family meal shimmers on the horizon, just out of reach. There’s always next year. In the meantime the products give us a way of showing ourselves and others that we are pilgrims on the path.

Before we get too cynical - these adverts are only giving us what we want - a glimpse of fulfilment, nourishment, and connection. 

Humans are fundamentally communal, we rely on one another for survival. We are psychologically tuned in to pick up lifestyle markers from one another. Children learn by copying adults and we continue to emulate one another.

John the Baptist, then, would have been sending a pungent mix of signals to the people who saw him. He was not focus grouped, market tested, or calibrated to ‘go viral’. He was odd, eccentric, he didn’t fit established categories. His lifestyle seemed hard to emulate. And yet his lifestyle choices - what he ate, what he wore, who he spent time with - all did point to a bigger picture, a bigger glory - a definite fixed point. One that begins - not with a need that cannot be met - but with a need that has already been met, by our saviour Jesus Christ.

Dear God,
Help us to live lifestyles that point to your glory
not our own.
Interrupt us staring into the vanishing point of that cooler, more authentic, more vibrant version of ourselves that we want to be. 
Instead help us make lifestyle choices that point towards your glory - your wondrous, generous creativity.
Help us to discover that we are actually already cooler, more authentic, and more vibrant than we give ourselves credit for,
Amen.