JAN. 27, 2008 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
IS 9:1-4; PS 27:1, 4-9; I COR 1:10-18; MT 4:12-23
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Repent for the kingdom of God has come near…
Our Gospel for today describes the opening steps of Jesus’ public ministry. His decision to begin teaching and preaching, healing the sick and seeking the lost, is strangely tied to the fate of his cousin. The arrest of John the Baptist acts on him like a catapult, casting Jesus from what appears to be a quiet life into a calling that will, in a spiritual sense, re-create everything, from the largest star to the smallest speck of dust.
These two men were, in many ways, twin sons of different mothers. Both experienced an extraordinary birth; they sprang from a similar serving of genetic soup; each showed an intense spiritual sensitivity; and, get this: they spoke the very same sentence to start their service to God. Says John in Matthew, chapter 3, and says Jesus in Matthew, chapter 4: Repent for the Kingdom of God has come near…
What do those words mean for John & for Jesus…what do they mean for us?
Well, John’s aim is the sharpest. His intent is revealed when members of Jerusalem’s upper crust come out to see what the fuss is all about: some to experience the spectacle, some to hear this wild man’s preaching, and some even to participate in his baptism. Says John, as a word of welcome to these religious and political elite, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Obviously, he’s not running for any office! Instead, he calls to mind images of the prophets of old. With fire in his eye and a two-edged sword for his tongue, John calls people to change their lives, to repent, to turn around, to turn away from their sin and be washed, be cleansed by God’s Holy Word.
What would you say is JESUS’ aim when he proclaims: Repent for the kingdom of God has come near? The words the two men use are the same…are their meanings the same as well?
It seems to me that where John clearly calls sinners to turn away from sin, Jesus seems to call sinners to hop on board, join the parade, to love and serve, care and fish for those who are hopeless and homeless, sick and sad, lost and alone. John seems to wield the word repent! like a whip: stop sinning, change your evil ways, refuse to give in to temptation! Jesus, on the other hand, seems to use it more as an invitation to celebrate the good that God is doing, to lift up our heads and feel at home in God’s grace.
Which approach, do you think, is more effective in changing people’s hearts and lives? Both serve a purpose, but I find that John’s is the more tempting of the two: as Genesis 1 tells us, God simply speaks and the sky is littered with stars, the sea is filled with fish, plants begin to grow and people begin to breathe. I covet that kind of power – as a parent, a husband, a pastor, a citizen – to speak and make things happen. But it doesn’t exist that way among us mortals. Still, that doesn’t stop us from trying…
Yet it’s almost always the case that the invitation to bask in God’s grace and acceptance and love, works more and better miracles than any threat of punishment and pain. This theme is wonderfully captured in a delightful video called Chocolat.
Though the story takes place in a quiet French village back in the middle of the 20th century, the separation of time, space and culture disappears in a tension that is as old as creation: between the rule of the Law and the invitation of the Gospel.
The town is run by its zealous mayor, Comte De Reynaud. He is a religious puritan and works hard to shepherd his flock along a narrow path of self-denial and seriousness of purpose. Certain that his austere approach to life is the only way to live, the mayor even edits the sermons of the new young priest in town. He removes all references to joy and grace, and substitutes, instead, calls to repentance and confession of sin.
But then the story takes a shift. His peaceful, predictable and prohibitive pace of life is suddenly disturbed one day by the appearance of a free spirit. A woman moves to town and dares to open a chocolate shop…in the middle of the season of Lent, no less! The mayor tries his hardest to prevent people from indulging in her tasty temptations. He even stoops so far as to spread rumors about his suspicions of her loose morals and service to Satan.
And yet, as it can happen in life, so it happens here. While the mayor is trying to rid his town of this perceived evil, Vianne, the chocolatier, ends up doing the work of the church. She ministers to her customers, she gives them strength, she offers them acceptance, hope and love. Certainly Vianne is far from perfect and has her own baggage to carry. But where the mayor seems to channel the severe sound of John the Baptist, the chocolatier seems to be singing Jesus’ song of invitation.
Repent for the kingdom of God has come near…
Are we being called to a life that denies delight and demands devotion, that rebukes all who seem less than rigorous in their religion, that questions people’s commitments, that is suspicious of their sense of servant-hood and service? Is that all there is to life? Is this as good as it gets? Jesus’ answer, I’m fairly certain, is a loud and lusty “No!” Says the Lord (John 10:10), I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.
By the end of the film, all the main characters have come to a sense of repentance. The mayor has a melt-down – he can’t stand it anymore and breaks into Vianne’s chocolate shop at night where he stuffs himself with her sweets…the experience leaves him a little more humbled and a lot more human. Vianne repents of her temptation to flee whenever life becomes complicated. The priest repents of his fear of the mayor and proudly begins to preach about God’s goodness and grace.
So is John’s call of repentance one that we can afford to ignore? Certainly not. The humility and healing that can happen when we confront our sinful selves is a great step in keeping us human and aware of our neighbors.
But instead of beating us over the head with our faults and failings, Jesus beckons us with an invitation much sweeter than chocolate and much more satisfying as well: Repent!, he says. Look around! The Kingdom of God has come near, full of grace and truth – for you and for all people. Amen.