In the first week of Advent, we look to the opening lines of Mark's gospel to find his version of the Christmas story. However, instead of finding Mary, Joseph and a baby in the manger, we are simply told about the voice in the wilderness saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord." Over the next month, there are plenty of details that will stir us in the ministry of John the Baptist. But right from the get-go, we discover John preparing the way by disrupting the sleepiness of sin. He calls people into the wilderness, into the river of baptism and into the way of realignment through confession and repentance. As the forerunner to the Messiah, John begins his leveling work by addressing the fundamental need of humanity- the separation that happens from sin. May we listen to his disrupting voice.