Has anything ever happened to you that has changed the way you look at everything? Has there ever been a moment in time when the light bulb in your head clicked on and all of your priorities changed?
Our lectionary readings for today focus on just such times for the people of God. They all show us that when God intersects with humanity, life as we know it is disrupted. Nothing is the same. The things that we thought we knew to be true are a mere shadow of what life is really about. That's what happens when God shows up in our lives.
With Jonah, it was the fact that good could come out of Ninevah-that they could change and turn toward God. In the psalm nothing earthly, not even riches can be trusted-only God. And in 1 Corinthians possessions and the joys of this earth are nothing. The present form of the world is passing away. This is how God interacts with humanity. God is constantly challenging the way that we look at the world and our place in it. God urges us to think not of this world, but of the Divine realm.
In our passage from Mark's gospel, we hear Jesus beginning His ministry. His first words are these; "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." What time has been fulfilled? How has God's kingdom come near? What is the good news?
Immediately (everything happens immediately in Mark) following His proclamation, Jesus calls the first disciples. He says to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." This is not a kindly request, but a command. Follow me in the Greek literally means come after me, follow where I lead. This was common language used to describe the relationship between teachers and their students, a rabbi and his disciples. The teacher walked ahead, the students followed. They were literally followers. They are to drop their fishing nets, leave their lives behind and venture forth, following one whom they had never met and know nothing about. And they do so. Two by two, the disciples follow where Jesus is leading. Not only do they leave their boats and their nets, they leave their families, their father Zebedee as well. Their lives are turned upside-down. Immediately.
To me, it is not the physical following of the disciples that is the most amazing part of the story. Yes, it is almost incomprehensible that these men could pick up and follow Jesus without so much as a word to their loved ones. But human beings do that from time to time. They follow the whims of their hearts. They follow a leader into the unknown.
But the truly amazing thing to me is the radical shift in their values and priorities that occurs. They are living in one of those moments in time when everything changes. They are no longer living in a time of waiting for the Kingdom of God, they are living in the time of the Kingdom of God. The time is there because Jesus is there. Will Willimon says "Where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God." It is as simple as that.
When Jesus commands the disciples to come after Him, He is not merely asking them to change their lifestyles and give up their work and families, to change how they spend their days. He is asking them something that is much bigger. Jesus is asking that they change their priorities and their motivations. He wants their ultimate life loyalty to be to God and God alone. He wants their full attention to be given to the coming kingdom. He wants what they think is important to be changed, to be turned upside-down.
Like the disciples, Jesus calls us into ultimate loyalty to the Kingdom of God. He challenges us to ask ourselves what is most important in our lives and why we do the things that we do. When God comes into our lives, it is disruptive. Let me in and let me take over, says Jesus. He urges us to question what motivates our choices in everyday life. Like Paul to the Corinthians, Jesus calls us to think of the present world as temporary, and focus on the eternal, the Divine.
We need to ask ourselves if we live in earthly time or if we live in God's time. Do we live by the cultural standards that surround us, or by the leading of the Spirit of God? Jesus tells us that the time is fulfilled-that we are living in Kingdom time. Sometimes I wonder if we are aware of that.
He also makes an appeal to us and calls us to repent. Repenting means to turn around or to change your focus. When Jesus calls us to repent, He is speaking specifically of turning away from the world and turning toward God. Focus all of your energy on God-that is what is important, Jesus says. That is what is lasting. I am here, and that is the good news. Believe it. Repent. Turn toward God. The time has come. God has invaded your life.
May we live in the time of the Kingdom. May God turn our lives upside-down. Amen
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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