Mark 1:14-20[1]
This is the time of
the year when many of us are thinking about making changes. Some want to shed a
bad habit, while others want to start a new regimen. For decades, most of us
have operated on the assumption that it takes about 30 days for a change to “stick.”
In fact, a 2009 study found that it probably takes more like two months, and maybe
even longer for some of us.[2] And, as it turns out, breaking a bad habit is likely to be harder than simply
establishing a new one. Especially if that habit has been literally engrained
for years. Not surprisingly, we have to have a strong motivation to put forth
the effort—one that’s strong enough to keep us on track for as long as it takes
to change.
The Bible is filled
with calls for us to change our behavior. We often associate that with a
confrontation of “sin.” And that leads us to guilt. I would have to say,
however, that while guilt may motivate us to make short-term change, it’s been
my experience that guilt cannot motivate us to make any kind of lasting change
in our lives. And when it comes down to it, that’s what really
counts—re-orienting our lives from simply fulfilling our own wants to making
our faith in God the impulse for everything we do. Of course, it will take us
all a lifetime to achieve that goal. Fortunately, we don’t have to do it on our
own.
In our Gospel lesson
for today, Jesus begins his public ministry by announcing his motivation: “the
good news of God” (Mk 1:14). That may sound strange to us, but we’ve seen it
before in Isaiah 61. There the “servant of the Lord” declares that he was the
one “anointed” by God’s Spirit to set right all that was wrong, to relieve all
suffering, and to enable all people to thrive together, equally. It was a
promise of true justice and righteousness, which in the Bible means things like
sharing food with the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked
(Isa. 58:7). And the promise was that this kind of “righteousness” would spring
up and flourish like a lush garden (Isa. 61:11).
You may be wondering
what this has to do with our Gospel lesson. I would say it has everything to do
with it. When Jesus defines the “good news of God,” he says, “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (Mk 1:15). That might not
clear things up for you. Most of us think the kingdom of God is something that
comes “in the sweet by and by.” If it impacts our lives now, it only does so by
offering a hope that might help inspire us to keep following Christ in our
daily lives. Otherwise, I’m not sure that the “kingdom of God” plays much of a
role in our faith.
But in
Jesus’ ministry, the “kingdom of God” was front and center. When Jesus referred
to the “kingdom of God,” he was talking about everything that God is doing in
this world to set things right, to heal and restore those who are wounded and
broken, and to bring peace and life to all people and all of creation! The good
news that Jesus proclaimed was that through him, God had entered this world
definitively to make all things new. And the story of Jesus’ ministry was one
in which he spread the new life of peace and freedom that God’s kingdom creates
to all he encountered.
In some
ways, I’d have to admit that the “kingdom of God” remains a promise that has
yet to be completely realized in this world. But the “good news of God” is that
the process of making that new world a reality began with Jesus. And God is
still working among us to establish his kingdom. It may be hard for us these
days to see it, but I think the signs are there: wherever those who are bowed
down with the burden of injustice are lifted up, there is the kingdom of God.
Wherever those who are strangers living in an unfamiliar place find welcome and
embrace, there is the kingdom of God. Wherever anyone who is suffering or in
want or need finds comfort and support, there is the kingdom of God.
If this
is God’s work, you may be wondering what we’re supposed to do about it. Jesus
says, “repent and believe” (Mk. 1:15). I would say we don’t like “repentance”
any more than trying to break a bad habit. To repent takes time and work. It
means being aware that we’ve done wrong, acknowledging that we’ve done wrong,
and deciding that we will stop doing wrong. In biblical terms, to “repent”
means turning back to God. But Jesus called for more; he called for us to
“believe.” We tend to view faith as something private and personal. But I would
say that when Jesus told people to “believe,” he was calling them to live out
their faith by aligning their lives with everything God is doing in this world.
These two responses to God’s kingdom, “repenting” and “believing,” are connected. If we are truly going to turn back to God, it will mean changing the way we live. And, like trying to change a bad habit, we have to replace what we have done in the past with something positive. That’s not something that happens just automatically. If we want to “turn back to God,” it will not only mean deciding to stop living the way we have been, it will also mean making the commitment to direct our lives toward carrying out the work that God is doing: establishing the peace, justice, and freedom that enables us all to thrive together. [3]
[1] ©
2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 1/24/2021 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Phillippa Lally, Cornelia H. M. Van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, Jane Wardle, “How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world,” European Journal of Social Psychology 40 (2010), 998–1009.
[3] Cf.
Henri Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit, 56, where he says
that the deepest meaning of our history is “a constant invitation calling us to
turn our hearts to God and so discover the full meaning of our lives.”
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