Not too long ago, we celebrated Christmas. Unfortunately, some would like to keep Jesus as a baby. The Christmas Jesus is no threat to our adolescent views of the universe or our self-serving views about faith. Christmas Jesus says nothing to us about taking up a cross or saving a dying world. Some want to have a Jesus who never challenges us, never provokes us, and never paints a picture of what we can yet to be.
Mark in his gospel gives us a picture of a grown-up Jesus. Mark tells us, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” In the “The Message,” another translation of the Bible, it says, “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” The Modern Bible translation says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”
This is a message that we need to hear today. The reign of God in human life is at hand. No longer shall we function as if God does not matter in our world . . . No longer shall we function as if justice and righteousness are irrelevant in our modern society . . . No longer shall we say that we need to wait until tomorrow to do good…No longer shall we function as if life has no meaning and that there is no hope. The Kingdom of God is with us now. We may not fully experience it for now, but we can get to experience a part of it.
The Rev. Martin Singley wrote a sermon that appeared on the Internet a few years ago in which he shared some of his thoughts about the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven the terms are interchangeable in the New Testament. He wrote, “I used to believe that Heaven was a place to go to when you die. This was before I met Dan. Dan was 19 or 20 years old. Brilliant athlete who went off to college on an athletic scholarship. One day, Dan came home from college on vacation and got together with some old high school friends at the town park. After a few beers decided to go swimming in the town pool. Dan was the first to dive in. But in the darkness, he could not see that there was no water in the pool. In one instant, Dan’s life was changed forever. When I met him, he was a bitter, distraught, wheelchair bound quadriplegic struggling to make it through each day. On the one hand, he feared that he might die, and on the other hand, he feared he might have to live this way forever. How sad it was to watch Dan blow into a tube to make his wheelchair move left or right or start or stop.”
“Dan’s tragic circumstances made me re-think my views about Heaven.
You see, it is all well and good that someday when Dan dies, he can experience the freedom and new life of Heaven. But what about in the meantime? You see, Dan does not only need Heaven tomorrow! And for the first time, I heard the Gospel of Jesus in a different light.” (1)
Pastor Singley is right. Dan needs the Kingdom of Heaven in his life today! Dan needs to know that God cares about him in an intimate and personal way today. He also needs to know that God is at work through dedicated men and women working to reverse his situation. Someone needs to tell him that miracles are occurring every day. He should not give up hope. And he needs to know, above all else, that by the power of God, his life can still have meaning today. The Kingdom of God is near to those who will hear Christ’s message and believe that message.
Yes, the Kingdom of God is not just here. It is now. Contrary to the teachings of many, Christianity is not a religion primarily concerned with life after death. Christianity is concerned with life here and now. Its message is not only about dying and entering eternal life. Christianity’s message is also about living. Christianity is not only about the Last Day. It also talks about today!
Many people think that when Jesus talked about the Kingdom, he was talking about Heaven, someday in the sweet bye-and-bye that we must prepare for. But I believe he was talking about God’s reign here and now. On one occasion he told us not to worry about tomorrow. It is today that matters. So do not put off your living until tomorrow. Experience God’s love in your life right now.
In our meeting of the University Spiritual Life Council, it was pointed out that there are many competing voices today claiming that they have the truth. And the social media is full of these. In this passage from Mark, we read about Jesus telling us how we can experience this new life in God’s Kingdom today.
The first is repentance. If you are not experiencing God’s reign in your life right now, ask yourself if there is anything unhealthy in your life that you need to do something about. Any relationship that you need to fix, or how you spend your time.
Christ is telling us to choose the kind of life that we are going to live. Are you living a life of anxiety and fear? Are you living a life where you do not know what to do? You may have material things; you may have a lot of people around you. But do you still feel empty, lonely, and looking for something?
Here, Jesus is offering us a different kind of life. It would be best if you made a choice. That is what repentance means, especially as it is used in this text. It means turning from our life of anxiety and fear about the demons that possess our life and choosing the life that God is giving us, the life of freedom from these fears and anxieties.
Over the years, the word repentance has come to take on a negative and moralistic meaning. For most people today, repentance means saying, “I am sorry” and even paying for things that you have done in the past. In other words, repentance has come to mean something like penance.
But they miss the point of the gospel. Repentance means, choosing the life that God is offering you now. Repentance means living a life that you want to live. And the coming of Jesus into our world means the time of waiting is over, the new age is here.
Everlasting life does not begin in the far-off unknown. It begins the moment we give our heart over completely to God. It is then and only then that our guilt, fear, anger, and a host of negative thoughts and emotions can be washed away. At that moment we begin living in the Kingdom of God. Then life offers possibilities that we cannot even imagine.
But we do not have to just repent and let the Reign of God come to us. We are to help bring about the Reign of God in our midst. In Verse 20 it says, “Without delay, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
I know talking about our faith and sharing what we believe can be a challenge. When someone asks us about our faith, we suddenly act like we are either in the secret service or we try to keep the Good News to ourselves. Or there is a fear of rejection and fear of saying something wrong and getting into an argument.
In an old Charlie Brown cartoon, Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I would have made a great evangelist.” Charlie Brown answers, “Is that so?” Lucy says, “Yes, I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion is better than his religion.” Charlie Brown asks, “Well, how did you do that?”
And Lucy answers, “I hit him over the head with my lunch box.” (2)
We do not want to be perceived as those kinds of Christians. So, out of fear of rejection, fear of saying something wrong, fear of being labeled and fear of not knowing what to say, we end up not saying anything. But that is not what Jesus called us to do.
How do we help bring about the Reign of God without becoming overbearing? You know, we celebrate Christian Unity, but we are still divided in many ways. One of the reasons is that there are groups of Christians who believe that they are the only ones saved. They have a monopoly on salvation.
A mother who works for a pizzeria has the job of picking her daughter up from work every evening. When her daughter would get into the car, she tells her mother that she smells so much like pizza that oftentimes Mom would go back into the store and buy a pizza.
When we give our lives to Christ, when we spend time with Christ and seek to live for him; when we let His love, grace and forgiveness cover us, then we will have Christ’s aroma of Grace and the light of Christ will shine through us. His love will spread and shine through us for others to see and breathe in. And when we live like that, our lives become an invitation. And when our lives are an invitation, others will be compelled to seek him and ask questions about our faith.
Not only that, but when we serve Christ and live for Christ, our eyes, ears, and hearts will be attuned for opportunities to share, in non-confrontational ways. And when that happens, we need to be ready to share our faith.
We do it not out of our gifts alone, but out of the inspiration and guidance of the Indwelling Christ. Jesus said, “I will make you fishermen for me.” Not only does that suggest an imperative — but it also suggests that Jesus will equip us for our witnessing task.
Lastly, the Kingdom is at hand right now, so do not put off your living until tomorrow. Experience God’s love in your life right now. Repent and believe the good news!’
__________________________________
Author’s email: [email protected]
