Christ Episcopal Church
January 22, 2012
3 Epiphany B
When I was a child, the first day of school each year was spent trying to figure out the teacher. My friends and I would analyze the teacher’s actions to try to determine what kind of teacher he or she would be. Homework on the first day was a bad sign. Letting us out early for recess was a good sign. Did the teacher seem to favor the boys or favor the girls? Or, even worse, did she seem to favor no one? What would happen if we forgot our lunch money, were late for school, left our homework at home, and on and on. Perhaps we were trying to read a bit much into those first few hours with a new teacher, but the reality is that we grown-ups do that all the time, too. My adult classmates and I did the exact same thing. By the end of the first class session, based on the syllabus and little other evidence, we had figured out whether the professor and the class would be impossibly difficult or simply impossible. As adults, we look at the very first inaugural actions of the president, whether of the United States or the company for which we work, to try to gain an understanding of what this person will be like. Those first words and actions set the tone for what is to follow.
This morning, we hear Jesus’ inaugural words and actions; the first words and actions of his public ministry in Galilee. Mark’s gospel moves very quickly, so in the first 13 verses of this gospel, which is the entire gospel prior to our reading this morning, we have seen John the Baptist baptizing in the Jordan River, watched him baptize Jesus is that river, and heard about Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Now Jesus comes into Galilee and proclaims the Good News of God, saying "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news." Then Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, and James and John, who immediately put down what they are doing to follow Jesus.
What do these inaugural words and actions tell us about Jesus’ ministry?
Clearly, there is an urgency to Jesus’ work. The time is now. The Kingdom of God has arrived. Repent and believe. The message is short and to the point. We are not told what time is now. We are not told what the Kingdom of God is. And we are not told what to believe, other than in the Good News, whatever that might be. Jonah’s message was even more succinct and urgent in Nineveh this morning "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The urgency of Jonah’s message was so compelling that the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast. Later in the passage, when the King of Nineveh hears Jonah’s message, he extends the fasting and sackcloth to include not only all the people, but all the animals as well. I have visions of trying to convince our dog Fang to fast and wear sackcloth! The point of the story, however, is the complete and utter repentance of the entire city of Nineveh so that God would not destroy them. And, indeed, when God sees the actions of the Ninevites, God spared the city.
Even Paul’s message in I Corinthians reflects urgency this morning. "The appointed time has grown short," Paul writes. "The present form of the world is passing away." There is no need to marry, or mourn, or rejoice, or purchase for soon all things will pass away.
Like the Ninevites, Jesus’ first disciples respond to Jesus message and his call with quick action. Simon and Andrew dropped their nets and followed Jesus. James and John left their father Zebedee sitting in the boat with the hired hands and followed Jesus. Clearly we are to hear a message of urgency in Jesus’ words. But how are we to respond to that urgency?
On the one hand, Jesus words seem to impel us to do something. After all, the people of Nineveh fasted and put on sackcloth. Simon, Andrew, James and John gave up their livelihoods, their security, and presumably their families and followed Jesus.
On the other hand, we have the wonderful words of the psalm this morning. "For God alone my soul in silence waits." Where do those words fit into this sense of urgency? For God alone my soul in silence waits urgently? I don’t think so.
When Jesus calls Simon and Andrew away from their work catching fish, Jesus says to them "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." The older, more accurate but less inclusive translations have Jesus say "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." The difference between the translations is not simply one of inclusive language. Jesus is not giving people a new job description: now you will fish for people rather than fish. Jesus is giving people a new identity: now you are a new sort of fisherman. With a new identity will come new tasks. When we become get married, or become parents, or enter a new relationship or a new vocation, we get a new identity. With that new identity will certainly come new opportunities and new tasks. But the primary change is to who we are, not what we do. The same is true of becoming a follower of Jesus. Simon, Andrew, James and John, and you and I got new identities when we became followers of Jesus. The urgency is not about our new job descriptions as followers of Jesus. The urgency is about our new identity.
Nothing we can do will make the Kingdom of God arrive any more quickly. In fact, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God has already drawn near. Jesus calls us to be people who believe that. Be people who follow Jesus. Be the people Jesus calls us to be. And our lives as followers of Jesus will proclaim that the Kingdom of God has drawn near. For the future fullness of that Kingdom to arrive, our souls in silence wait.
Amen.
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