Out Our Way: The Gospel according to Goliath

The beginning of the Gospel - Good News - about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

"As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will send my messenger before you who will prepare your way - The voice of one calling in the wilderness (says) 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for Him.'

"And so John came, baptizing in the wilderness region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

- Mark 1:1-4

Out our way, most trails have a history.

Most of the time when Goliath and I come across a cattle or game trail, we know there is a lot of trail we haven't seen. Trails begin in one place and end somewhere else - and the part we are riding is not the whole trail. Now, most of the time that doesn't really matter, but when it comes to trailing the story of Jesus Christ, you want to begin at the start and work your way along so you don't miss anything. There are lots of false trails out there, but if you start at the head of the real trail the others won't lead you astray. That's why Goliath and I have decided to trail along with Mark and let him lead the way. Staying on Mark's trail will keep us from wandering off onto a dead end - and will also help us learn to read sign - so we aren't quite so apt to be tricked and get ourselves lost.

So as we begin to ride with Mark, we start where he does - at what he calls the beginning of the Gospel.

The word, "Gospel," as you may know, is an old Saxon/ English word: "GudSpiel" which means simply "Good News." So Mark is inviting us all to saddle up and ride with him along the "good news trail."

Sounds like a Vacation Bible School campaign, doesn't it? Well, why not? We aren't all Ph.D.s in theology - and God never wanted us to be. You would be amazed how lost some of those boys get in the arroyos and thickets - getting so caught up in the hoof prints that they miss the whole cow!  

Fortunately, Goliath has taught me "horse sense" theology - and part of that is to focus on the main thing instead of the minutia. And the main thing about the good news of Jesus is who He is. Right there at the head of the trail, Mark plants a big old sign to tell you whose trail you are on. Jesus the Christ,  the Son of God.

Back when Charley and me were checking cattle, we were sent out to look for a missing bull. "Junior," as you may recall, was a tad undersized, but oh, how the heifers loved him. After the season when the bulls sort of went off to the BS club and left the ladies and the kiddies alone, we discovered Junior was missing. So we began to checking trails and cover - not just to find a bull ... but to find the bull. We found and counted all the big boys, but they weren't the one we were after - so we kept following cattle trails until we found one that looked promising. Lots of tracks and fresh. And so after an hour of going up and over and around the prairie, following the trail, we found Junior and his harem. Mission accomplished.

Now, there were lots of cattle trails out there, but this was the most promising and we stuck to it until we found what we were looking for. Same with Mark. Lots of folks running around the desert claiming to be the Christ - the anointed one of God - but because of the prophets he had sign to help him tell the right trail from the wrong one.

Isaiah the prophet had spoken on the One who was to come and also there was the prophecy that one would come out of the desert leading the way and announcing the Christ. And so it was, looking around for that sign, up pops John the Baptist, suddenly claiming he is the messenger sent to prepare the way just as the prophet had said.     

If you can read sign, you know you are on the right trail, and so that is where our ride begins, with John the Baptizer preaching the coming of the Christ in the wilderness, just as God said he would be. There he was - there was the fresh trail for those willing to take a look for themselves. And that is all the Gospel asks of us. Mark will show us fresh sign that we are on the right trail, but he will not force us to follow it. But I hope you will join Goliath and me and tale a look for yourself.   This the trail head - we got fresh sign. You're invited to ride along!

(Pastor John Bruington can be reached at [email protected]. The Goliath Gospel, sermons and Bruin Town Tales will be available each week at http://www.havrepres.org . "Out Our Way: Theology Under Saddle," is available on Amazon.com)