The Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany - 22 January 2012

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

• I know that we've heard this passage time and time again. It is used in Lent a lot. It reports the content of Jesus' first preaching and we find that it was a lot like the preaching of John the Baptizer. In fact, later in Jesus' ministry, Herod begins to wonder if Jesus and John were the same person.
• The message is simple. “It is time now for God's promises to be fulfilled. God's reign is just about upon you. Change your minds and change your lives. Believe this to be true; it's worth basing your lives on.”
• The “Reign” of God or the “Kingdom” of God is a ancient idea in the Bible. It is the place and time where the will of God will be done without a problem. The prayer we call “the Lord's Prayer” reflects this. God created all that is, but things were twisted out of shape so that the world bears very little resemblance to what God originally wanted. The Kingdom of God would set things all right.
• Throughout the history of God's relationship with his people, promises were made; promises of a homeland, a earthly king, freedom from oppression, from want, and abandonment. There was a final promise that God would dwell with his people, living with them where ever they might be.
• The Kingdom of God might not be what everyone expected, but it would be what God promised. God would be true to his promises.
• Jesus proclaimed that this time was here and the Kingdom would follow like the dawn follows the dark night.
• The call to repentance comes from this promise of the Kingdom of God. Repentance does NOT mean beating ourselves up for past or present wrong-doing, nor does it mean constant self-hatred or negative feelings or thoughts about ourselves. It does mean being willing to leave behind whatever in our lives that keeps us away from God. It does mean making the center of our lives the Kingdom of God and all that it brings – in action, in speech, in attitudes, and in direction.
• This is why Paul writes what he does in his first letter to the Corinthian Church: “I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short... For the present form of this world is passing away.”
• It becomes a matter of priorities; we all have them in one form or another. We hold certain things to be important and some of those things to be of primary importance. Those things differ from person to person. For those who hold God and God's kingdom to be of singular importance in their lives, all other things – and there can be others – take, at best, second place.
• Repentance that does not lead to a reordering of personal priorities is not repentance. It is as simple as that. It is also simple to say that repentance is a long term activity, one that needs to be done and renewed time and time again. There is a lot good about each and every one of us... and there is the not-so-good as well. Because of this, repentance is not a once and done thing. Until all the promises of God are fulfilled, it is a way of life. This has long been known. Luther's 95 Theses begins with these words: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
• We might say to ourselves “This sort of talk is tiresome and not very modern. There can't be any need to talk about this any more. Sin and repentance are both so passé. Nobody talks about that any more” That may be true. It may also be true that such talk has caused some people to walk away from the church.
• That may be so; I don't know. We may be in danger of that here.
• What I do know is this: there is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, possibly a cost like the first disciples paid, the ones Mark says were called from their nets and boats and families by Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. For us, the cost is repentance and a reordering of priorities, directions, and what we hold dear. Simon, Andrew, James, and John changed their direction and priorities on that stretch of beach and their changes did not end there, as we all know. They did not get it right the first time, but we all know what they became.
• Did those first disciples actually leave their nets, boats, and families at what appears to be a few words from Jesus? Who knows? The Gospel says they did, but it also says they struggled with the call and with what they were called to.
• It has been the same for us. We have been called and we have responded... somehow, someway.
• For our time, the question might be “are we members of a church or disciples of Jesus Christ?” We can be both. It is also possible to be one or the other or neither. We can be a member of a church and completely ignore the teaching of Jesus Christ. We can be a disciple of Christ and hold the community of believers in disdain. We could refuse to be either one, rejecting both Christ and the church. There are real consequence to any of these paths.
• And we could be both member and disciple, proclaiming the grace and power of God to all, supporting other disciples and telling the good news to those who haven't heard the Word in their own language. The first step is to do just what Jesus says: repent, and believe in the good news. That's where it starts but not where it ends.