3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
January 25, 2015
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
What Good News?
“After
John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”[1] What was the good news of God that Jesus
shared? Usually, when we talk about
sharing the good news of our faith, it has something to do with Jesus’ death
and resurrection and our salvation. But
Jesus hadn’t died yet, much less rose from the dead. Today’s Gospel story comes at the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry, we’re in Mark, chapter one. So, what was the good news that Jesus announced? He couldn’t proclaim his death and
resurrection. He couldn’t claim he had
died for our sins. He couldn’t preach
the message of the cross, because that hadn’t happened yet. What was the good news that Jesus shared?
First,
Jesus said, “Now is the time!”[2] Other translations say, “The time is
fulfilled.”[3] Either way, the right time has come, and the
time is now. The good news is that the
wait is over. Israel was waiting for a
Messiah, a Savior. They’d been waiting
what must have felt like forever for
the Holy One of Israel to come and redeem them.
In this particular case, Jesus doesn’t say he’s the one to save them,
but he does announce that their wait is over.
The time is fulfilled, the right time has come. What are you waiting to be saved from? What place have you been waiting for Jesus to
enter? What are you waiting to do? What are you waiting to see? Dare I step out in faith and say, “Now is the
time”? Your wait is over. Now is the time. Your salvation is at hand.
Isabel’s
favorite TV show right now is “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and a line from the
theme song says, “It's a brand new day, whatcha waitin' for? Get up, stretch
out, stomp on the floor.”[4]
In other words, get going! Get your butt in gear and get moving! The wait is over and the time is now. Whatcha waitin’ for? Or, instead of quoting Mickey Mouse, in
today’s epistle lesson, the apostle Paul also gave a sense of urgency, writing
that “the time has grown short.”[5] Since there is not much time left, Paul
explained that we are to live as if
other people matter, as if we
ourselves are beloved of God.[6] The time is now, we are out of time. How do you live differently if time’s
up? In 2004 country artist Tim McGraw
released a song “Live Like You Were Dying.”
Some of the activities he’d do if he lived with more of a sense of
urgency included things like sky diving and Rocky Mountain climbin’. Other things included loving deeper, speaking
sweeter, and forgiving those he’d held a grudge against. Time is up.
The wait is over. You don’t
necessarily need to go sky diving, but we should live as if we love other
people and as if we, too, are beloved of God.
Why
is the time fulfilled? Because next,
Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is here.” Some translations say God’s kingdom is near instead of here; the King James says God’s kingdom is at hand. Whether it’s near to you or here in front of
you, either way, his kingdom is close, and that is good news, too. God’s kingdom is a different way of living,
it’s a different way of seeing the world, it’s a different way of treating
others and treating yourself. In God’s
kingdom the first are last and the last are first. Those who are sick are made well. Those who are broken are healed. In God’s kingdom those who are hurting are
cared for, the hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, and the homeless are
sheltered. That’s what God’s kingdom
looks like. And we get to see glimpses
of it from time to time, which is how we know it is near us, if not here in
front of us if we had the eyes to see it.
We get glimpses when we reach out to those who are hurting, when we visit
the sick, when we work well together and build each other up, when we help
those who need help. When the church is
the church, then God’s kingdom is here among us, as we live into who he is
calling us to be. God’s kingdom is here.
When we honor his name, when we do something that is worthy of being
called Christian, when we forgive, when we pray, when we gather together in his
name and are about his business, then we get glimpses of God’s kingdom. It is
near to us and we help bring it about. We pray “thy kingdom come.” We work to
help bring in God’s kingdom.
“The
time is now. God’s kingdom is
here.” Next, Jesus said, “Repent.
Change your hearts. Change your
lives. Turn away from your sins. Seek forgiveness. Change your actions.” We’re three weeks away from Lent, but already
we’re hearing about repentance. Jesus
seems to say, you don’t need to wait three more weeks to repent. It’s time now. Lenten discipline? How about a lifelong spiritual discipline? The goal of a spiritual discipline is to draw
you closer to God, whether it’s a commitment to prayer, or bible study, or
service, whether you’re adding something or taking something away. I read recently that a former professor of
mine from Duke preached about listening as a spiritual discipline. Listening can draw you closer to God. If you practice it well, or just practice it
a lot, what happens? What do you learn
about the person you’re listening to?
What do you learn about God? What
do you learn about yourself?
In
our Old Testament lesson, the city of Ninevah listened to Jonah, although they
really didn’t have any reason to do so.
The modern-day Iraqi city of Mosul, Ninevah was a place of power, built
by King Sennacherib, and heavily fortified with thick city walls, huge
buildings, and strong foundations. There
was absolutely no reason for Ninevah to listen to a no-name foreign street
prophet, much less one that was proclaiming their destruction if they didn’t
repent and change their ways. That was
Jonah’s message: “In forty days, Ninevah will be overthrown.” If this was today, you might imagine a great,
big doomsday clock counting down the forty days. Talk about urgency! Time was up for Ninevah, and, most
importantly, the Ninevites recognized it.
For some reason, they listened to Jonah’s message and took heed. All of the Ninevites, from the greatest to
the least, listened to Jonah and repented, ceased their evil behavior, and
changed their ways. And, as a result,
they were saved. God didn’t destroy
them, because he saw the change that took place in them. Not being demolished is good news. To put it positively, being saved is good
news.
Finally,
the last thing Jesus said was to believe
the good news. All this has
happened: the time is now, God’s kingdom is at hand, salvation has come; the
last step is to believe it. Do you
believe time is of the essence? Do you
believe God’s kingdom is near? Do you
believe your salvation has come? Simeon
was an old man when he met Jesus as a child in the temple. The Holy Spirit had promised Simeon that he
would not die until he had seen the Messiah.
When he finally saw Jesus, he praised God, saying, “My own eyes have
seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.”[7] Simeon believed. Do you?
Have you seen God’s salvation?
Why is believing the hardest part?
Because it means walking by faith and not by sight? Because it means accepting that there aren’t
always scientific explanations for God’s miracles?
There
is a story later in Mark about when Jesus heals a boy who is possessed by an
evil spirit.[8] In the course of the conversation with the
boy’s father, Jesus says, “All things are possible for the one
who believes,” and the father’s immediate response is, “I believe! God help my unbelief!” Does that statement resonate with you? I believe.
God help my unbelief. I do have
faith. God, help me with my doubts. God, help me live into the faith I
believe. Instead of “live like you were
dying,” how about “God, help me live like this is all true”? Help me believe the good news. Help me believe time is urgent. Help me believe that your kingdom is breaking
through, that in spite of all the bad news, there is good news, that the church
can be the church. Help me believe that
I need to change, that I can change, and that other people can change,
too. Help me listen to your
prophets. Help me turn away from my sin,
to see it as sin, to hate it, and not just its consequences or that I got
caught. Lord, help me be a Christian,
and not just a Christian, but a saint.
Help not just believe the good news, but live like it’s true. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
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