So Christmas, is now becoming a
distant memory right. We are a month away from Christmas and so it is now
relegated to that place in our memories of a warm time when family was
together, opening presents, and having a wonderful memory. For the most part it
is that warm and fuzzy time of the year. Just think, there are only 11 more
months till we get that warm, fuzzy feeling again…you're welcome for the reminder.
Our Gospel reading for today can be
related to a memory. It may not be that warm fuzzy feeling, but there is a
memory all the same. John is arrested and in jail; Jesus is down at the Sea of Galilee.
He made his home there. He has moved out of his parent’s home and is on his
own. I wonder if he had a waterfront view, but I guess that is for another
time. So he is all moved in…and we don’t know how long he has been there; but
we know what it is like when you move to a new area. You start meeting people
and making friends.
With Jesus, were not so sure if he
started making friends but Jesus has something to say. He starts telling people
to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” Where have we heard that
before? We heard it right before Jesus was baptized. John was going around
telling people and the Pharisees “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come
near!” Jesus is saying the same thing that John was saying. I guess it really
is the year to hear things twice.
I think we need to look at this
phrase “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” I think this word
“repent” is a misunderstood word. Typically, when we have heard the word
repent, we tend to think of one act that we have done and apologize. That’s it,
we are taught that repenting for that one act is repentence. So we end up
having to repent for each mistake or wrong that we have done. The problem is
that we can tend to make mistake after mistake and so this repentence continues.
It can become a real pain.
This word repent is not about
apologizing for each individual act. The repenting that John and Jesus talks
about is VERY different. This word repent is talking about more than just
seeking for forgiveness for one particular instance.
This word “repent” would be best
described as a turning around. The act of repenting does mean that the
listeners…and we the readers…do seek forgiveness from the mistakes we make and
come with repentant hearts to the cross seeking forgiveness. But it also means
turning away from those acts. For example, let’s say you really liked your
friends. You like them so much that you will do quite anything to be with your
friends. In fact, you like your friends and want to be with them so much that your
family time suffers because of being with your friends. It may sound like a
childish example but we adults are not immune to it. So, You miss out of family
dinners…not thinking about how the family feels…and then having to apologize.
Here is another example. You like the people you work with and some of them may
be trash talking faith in Jesus and in God. They ask you this question “you’re
not one of those Holy Rollers, Are you?”
Those questions and situations may
cause you to respond in a way that God is not hoping you will respond.
Repentance calls you to think about what you are doing. This turning around
that Jesus is proclaiming calls you to think about your actions before you act.
Jesus is calling you to think about other people’s feelings and the
consequences of our actions. In the case of the family, maybe God is calling us
to say that our family loves us so much that the AND I don’t want to be
separated and so I am going to spend time with my family. In the situation
of whether someone wants to know if you
ARE a “Holy Roller” maybe God is calling you to respond about how you feel
about Jesus Christ…God…and the blessings in your life.
The point is that Jesus is calling
us all to look at our behavior; the good and the bad. Jesus is calling us to take
stock in our lives; not just one instance here or there, but the whole part of
our lives. This is all about changing our future actions and what our actions
and reactions will be in the future. There is a saying about diets. “diets are
fads” and do you know why? Because they are supposed to last until you reach
your goal weight and then they end. Once you reach that goal weight, you stop
the diet and the weight eventually comes back. I know this from personal
experience. But in order for the weight to stay off, your whole life has to
change; you have to take what you have learned through the process and change
your way of thinking. So that your new eating habits take root in your brain
and your actions change and you begin new habits. It is the same with diabetes,
quitting smoking, and with addictions.
But the same is also true with our
faith and this whole concept of repentance. If we turn our lives toward God and
away from things that can get us in trouble OR participate in things that
distract us from God and our faith THEN we, too, will have to think about our
actions, responses, and consequences. What Jesus is calling us to is a changing
of our lives from this moment on. That is a pretty tall order! And we may want
to say, but I have turned to God and I don’t need to turn any more…my turning
is done.
I would love to and have thought
that. But I also learned that this turning toward God is a constant process. I
will give you an example. In our scripture, Jesus calls two fishermen and then
two more. Well, I have fished a couple of times in my life, but I am not a
fisherman. For these four it was their business. Well, I have to adjust my
life…I have to turn toward the Gospel to see that this does not apply only to
fishermen. I have to look at where Jesus is. He is in Galilee; it is the land
of the gentiles. This is a Good Jewish boy. The one that God sent to the Jewish
people to save them and here he is in the land of people who may not know God
because until then the people were in darkness, as our Gospel says, and now
they have seen this great light. Turning away from this darkness means that I
need to see the light.
In our daily modern lives, we have
seen so many things. We have seen the invention of telephones, cell phones,
computers, many of us watched three men travel to the moon, land, walk around,
and then come home. We see medical breakthroughs in the treatment of cancers
and other diseases. Our world has changed from that time of Jesus and this
Gospel. Each one of these things that I mentioned can cause us to turn toward
God and the Good News that Jesus brings into the world that we are loved and
blessed. These things can cause us to take stock in our lives and to keep us
centered in God’s love and the teachings of Jesus Words and actions to know
that God is present in this world and active.
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven
has come near. Those are the words that God wants us to hear. Know that there
is another way in the world. It is not an easy way, but it is a way that tells
us that we always have a place to go in times of joy and in times of sorrow. It
is a place where we can lay our burdens at the foot of the cross of forgiveness
and it is the joy of an empty tomb and the praise of resurrection.
Jesus does not promise that his call
is an easy one. His call of turning toward the Gospel does promise that we are
not alone. God gave us the gift of one another to go through this together and
share our joys and struggles…to help one another and celebrate together God’s
blessings. Thanks be to God!
No comments:
Post a Comment