The Third Sunday after Epiphany --- January 26, 2014

When I reached the church on Sunday, I realized that I had forgotten my keys to the building! Add a continuing snowfall, a congregation of 18, and a few slip-ups I made in the worship service, it made for an interesting day.

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

• This is the message with which Jesus began his ministry. Essentially it is the same message John preached and it wouldn't be far off the mark to say that the prophets of Israel all preached the same message. If we were to look, we'd see that the Book of Jonah is almost all about this message.
• The call to repent is a funny one. It usually brings up mental pictures of a hairy, robed, unkempt, sandalled man shouting “Repent!” at the top of his lungs on a street corner. Or it might bring up an image of a fire-and-brimstone preacher pointing an finger at all who might hear, accusing everyone around of every sin possible and condemning them for those sins, real or imagined.
• I have a different view of this proclamation of repentance. I find this statement to be good news in the best Gospel sense,
• First off, the call to repentance does involve the acknowledgement of sin and sinfulness. There's no way around it. I believe we all understand that... especially if we know ourselves the least little bit. Repentance does require recognition of sinful behaviour and the existence of sin in the world. It will also require an acceptance or at least an acknowledgement of our own sin. I don't know anyone who enjoys this. It is real and it is not fun.
• Secondly, Jesus' call to repentance is not one of condemnation. Rather it is a providential and hopeful call. It is providential because it proclaims grace. It is hopeful because a call to repent of sin carries with it the promise of forgiveness. How much hope would there be in a call for repentance that “might” be followed by forgiveness by God? What good would repentance be if there were only a slim chance that there might be forgiveness?
• Jesus calls his listeners to repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. This is a message of good news, for the kingdom of heaven is one of justice, mercy, and peace. It is one of judgement, but the righteousness and judgement of God is mercy.
• Jesus' call to repent is one of telling people to prepare for what is coming and telling them what it will take for the kingdom of God to be good news to them. For those who are willing to “turn around” - the original meaning of the word translated as “repent”- and to look and go in a different direction, this will be good news. The nearness of the kingdom will bring about a renewal in their lives and in their way of living. They will “turn around” and look in a new direction and look at all that is and all they have in a new way. Those who will not “turn around” will remain with their eyes fixed on lesser things than God and God's kingdom. They could be described as distracted and just like any other distracted person, they will miss what they were looking for even though it might be right before their eyes and will end up accepting poor substitutes and things or relationships of lesser value – things that will never satisfy, let alone save.
• Repentance in this sense means more than simply saying we're sorry. There is always the aspect of changing our lives. Were we to think that this idea is not “Lutheran”, listen to the first thesis of Luther's 95 Theses: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. ”
• This is one of the reasons that the Confession and Forgiveness precedes so many of our services. It is there to have us honestly face our failings “in what we have done and in what we have left undone.” It doesn't end there; it also honestly brings us face-to-face with the gracious and life-giving promise of Jesus to forgive our sins. When the pastor assures us of God's forgiveness, the pastor also proclaims to us the forgiveness of God! This is a promise fulfilled in our hearing, to use a Scriptural phrase. In hearing these words and believing them, the Kingdom of God HAS come near. Actually it was always near; we've just become better aware of it through our faith.
• The words of Jesus to us in the Gospel we've heard today -"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."- those words are a grace-filled and hope-filled call. We can hear it with joy rather than with terror, or sorrow, or fear.
• Remember... the two things we quite often hear Jesus saying in the Gospels are “Repent!” and “Don't be afraid!” Wouldn't you agree that those phrases are good news indeed?