Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

In his first sermon of 2018, Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture is the story of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, taken from Mark 1:4-11. Baptism is one of the sacraments – and sacramental moments are times when heaven and earth are opened to each other. With the help of an unanswerable question and a golfing analogy, among other things, Geoff explains how the sacraments help us know the real presence of the living Lord.

Click here, if you would like to download a copy of the sermon in PDF format.

Mark 1:4-11 (New International Version)
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The Boston Globe, which carries a daily column designed to answer readers’ queries, listed the top ten unanswerable questions.

Here’s one:

“I am nine years of age and have a cat that eats regularly and needs to go on a diet. He also eats mice when he is out. How many calories in a mouse?”

Our Gospel text today raises at least three big questions which seem to be as unanswerable as that one.

• Why did Jesus need to undergo a baptism of repentance when we understand him to be without sin?
• Did God adopt Jesus as his Son at the point of baptism?
• How can the Holy Spirit ‘proceed from the Father and the Son’ as is stated in the Nicene Creed when clearly the Spirit descended upon him at his baptism?

There’s enough there to keep us going for the rest of the year.

In fact, there’s enough there to keep us occupied for a lifetime!

And you may be relieved to hear that I’m not going to dwell specifically on any of these questions today but instead I’m going to attempt an all-encompassing answer that takes us away from the nitty gritty theological arguments and presents us with a way to practise and live which embraces the questions and makes sense of them in who we are and what we are becoming. [Read more…]

John the Baptist has already featured in this year’s Advent sermon series and, for the third Sunday of Advent (17 December 2017), Rev. Geoff McKee has texts from Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel, in which mention of John the Baptist almost seems to be an interruption of the flow of the prologue to that Gospel. Geoff explains John the Baptist’s significance here and, with reference to the well-known song, “This Little Light of Mine”, why the “little light” that shines within each of us, as Christians, must not be hidden away.

Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon.

John 1:6-8 (New International Version)
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

…

John 1:19-28
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptise if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptise with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

What would we do if we only had John’s Gospel at this time of year?

A Christmas nativity based on John’s Gospel would only have one child, speaking one line in front of the curtain:

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth”.

There would be great savings in the costume and props department but we might be left feeling short-changed.

We do have a kind of alternative Advent pageant today, with just one character – with very little to say – who manages to shake us awake to the significance of the season.

The lectionary reading begins in the middle of the Prologue to John’s Gospel.

This established the place of Christ, the Word, in the cosmos.

This curious little section about John the Baptist appears to interrupt the flow of the Prologue and so seems to be, at best, misplaced and,, at worse, clunky and awkward. A bit like the season of Advent!

We’re so taken up with the Christmas preparations that we struggle to identify with what appears to be awkward and maybe even sounds unnecessary to our ears.

But that might just be a warning to us that we’ve got something wrong.

We might even be a bit annoyed because we’ve got another dose of John the Baptist this morning. What were the lectionary compilers thinking about?

John the Baptist, the patron saint of loneliness and sorrow, really clashes with the tinsel and jingle-bells.

And he has to, because the tinsel and the jingle-bells crowd have got it all wrong.

The Prologue to John’s Gospel presents the gift of the incarnation within the wider glory of God himself. [Read more…]

Jesus was born, lived and died a Jew. In his sermon for the second Sunday of Advent (10 December 2017), Rev. Geoff McKee’s text is from Mark’s Gospel, which sets out how John the Baptist “prepares the way” for Jesus. The Old Testament quotes in this scripture and the echoes of Elijah (Old Testament Prophet) in John the Baptist point to the fact that Jesus – and his coming as bringer of good news to the world – can only be fully understood against the background of the history of Judaism. This sermon contains a discussion about why we can only understand Jesus in the context of his Jewish roots.

Click here if you would like to download a copy of the sermon as a PDF.

Mark 1:1-8 (New International Version)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

A calendar inscription on two stones, dating from 9BC, was discovered in Asia Minor.

Part of the inscription read as follows:

“Since Providence, which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a saviour, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance excelled even our anticipations, surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good news for the world that came by reason of him.”

Good news brought in the person of a Saviour.

Does that sound familiar to you?

How does Mark’s Gospel begin? – “the beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Messiah”.

• Here was the riposte to the self-assured arrogance of Augustus Caesar.
• Here was the message of assurance to the beleaguered Christians clinging on desperately as the forces of Rome under the command of the newly proclaimed emperor, Vespasian, bore down upon Jerusalem and its temple in the year 70AD as Mark was writing his Gospel.

Who was the bringer of good news?

Was it the Roman Emperor or was it Jesus of Nazareth? [Read more…]

Following on from a disturbing Gospel passage in last week’s sermon, the first Sunday of Advent 2017 sees Rev. Geoff McKee addressing “The Little Apocalypse” – Mark 13:24-37. He explains the 3 features of apocalyptic writings and why a wake-up call is always needed by Christians at this time of year. There is an ongoing battle between good and evil. We are all caught up in that conflict. We must be active participants.

Click here to download the sermon in PDF format.

Mark 13:24-37 (New International Version)

24 “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

I lived for almost fifteen years right next to the Glasgow Central to East Kilbride railway line.

When I first moved into the house, I can remember the noise of the trains passing every half hour or so. It was especially noisy when the train was pulling away from Giffnock station up the hill past the house.

But, you know, it wasn’t long before I got so used to it that I didn’t notice it any longer.

How many people have said to you: “How can you live in Lossiemouth, with the sound of the jets?”

“How do you stick it?”

We all know that, after a while, we tend not to notice them most of the time.

Human beings have an incredible capacity to adjust to surroundings to the extent that we can fail to notice something that would be strikingly obvious to a visitor.

Advent is the visitor that comes to us every year to remind us how things really are.

Advent arrives as a wake-up call; a call to get ready for a big event. [Read more…]