Churches With Heart

Moody First United Methodist Church

Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” (vs14) Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. This marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry! He begins in Galilee. Not Jerusalem, the home of the Temple and Judaism, but in Galilee, the place he called home. [That is an interesting side note. Jesus began at home. You've read the bracelets - WWJD. What would Jesus do? He began at home... Not a bad place to begin]

Jesus started proclaiming the good news in Galilee. An entire Samaria from Judea, Bethlehem & Jerusalem. How does he begin his ministry? He proclaims the good news. He shares with the people around his home that God loves them, that God has sent One to save them from their sins. He shares the good news of a Savior. He shares the good news of God’s grace, that unmerited love so freely given.

A little boy came to the Washington Monument and noticed a guard standing by it. The little boy looked up at the guard and said, “I want to buy it.” The guard stooped down and says, “How much do you have?” The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter. The guard said, “That’s not enough.” The boy replied, “I thought you would say that.” So he pulled out nine cents more. The guard looked down at the boy and said, “You need to understand three things. First, thirty-four cents is not enough. In fact, $34 million is not enough to buy the Washington Monument. Second, the Washington Monument is not for sale. And third, if you are an American citizen, the Washington Monument already belongs to you.”

We need to understand three things about God’s grace. First, we can not earn it. Second, it is not for sale. And third, if we are breathing, we already have it.(1)

You see God’s grace is available to us even before we are aware of it. The Holy Spirit begins working in our lives drawing us into God’s loving arms. While we are incapable of saving ourselves, God is already preparing the way.

We have baptized Ashley today. Ashley doesn’t really understand what that is all about. She does know she is loved by her family, and that the love of her family helps her to understand a little about God’s love.

Will Willimon in his book, Remember Who You Are, reminds us of how the baptism we have witnessed is a demonstration of God’s grace. He says, “The only advantage babies have over us adults is that babies may be less confused than we about the limits of their ability to save themselves.”(2) In the baptism of Ashley, we acknowledge that God is working in her life in this very moment.

Today’s scripture readings from Jonah and Mark are calls to commitment. Henri Nouwen describes baptism as a call to commitment. He writes, “Baptism as a way to the freedom of the children of God and as a way to a life in community calls for a personal commitment. There is nothing magical or automatic about this sacrament. Having water poured over us while some one says, ‘I baptize you in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,’ has lasting significance only when we are willing to claim and reclaim in all possible ways the spiritual truth of who we are as baptized people.”

He goes on to write, “In this sense baptism is a call to parents of baptized children and to the baptized themselves to choose constantly for the light in the midst of a dark world and for life in the midst of a death-harboring society.(3)

In our baptism liturgy, we are called as the Body of Christ to nurture one another in the Christian faith and life. We make the following vow:

With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround the ones baptized with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their service to others. We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life. In other words, we promise to be disciples, followers of Jesus, proclaiming the good news.

According to Mark, Jesus immediately shares the good news of God. He then turns to Peter and Andrew, James and John and calls them to follow. Jesus has called them to join him in sharing God’s good news. By the time Mark completes his gospel, he makes it clear that Jesus is calling us to join them as well.

Who needs to hear this good news? The church likes to call them “The Lost.” Who are the lost? What does it mean to be lost? Last week, I had the opportunity to sit were you are sitting today. In Billy Strayhorn’s sermon, I heard a great definition of LOST in terms of non-Christians. He used an acronym: LOST, Living Outside Salvation’s Touch. Billy reminded us that “those who are LOST, those who are still Living Outside Salvation’s Touch still think they are the center of the Universe. The word SIN is proof of that. It’s a little three letter word with a capital “I” in the middle. And when we live with “I” as the center of life, we’ve got it all wrong. And we’re LOST. We’re Living Outside Salvation’s Touch.”(4)

Billy also pointed out that there are those within the church who are LOST. He describes them as Losing Our Spiritual Toehold. Henri Nouwen describes this condition as losing touch with our center, our true call in life, our mission, our spiritual task. He adds, “Losing our souls means becoming so distracted by and preoccupied with all that is happening around us that we end up fragmented, confused, and erratic.”(5) The hymn we will sing in a moment says, “Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store, from each idol that would keep us, saying, “Christian, love me more!”

Jesus’ first words are, “The time is fulfilled.” (v. 15) The time is the Greek word, kairos. The Greeks have another word, chronos, to denote chronological time. Kairos is significant time — the moment of truth — the decisive moment. When we talk about the number of days that a ship takes to go from one port to the next, we are talking chronos time. When we say, “my ship has come in,” we are talking kairos time. If we miss our departure but are able to sail a day later, we have lost only a day of chronos time. However, if we are running for our lives and miss the last ship, it is an altogether different matter — kairos time. To miscalculate chronos is inconvenient, but to miscalculate kairos is tragic. Jesus says that the kairos “is fulfilled.” The decisive moment has arrived. God’s reign is at hand. Heads up! Pay attention! Don’t miss this one! Your life is at stake!(6)

Baptism is a beginning. When we baptize someone we promise to nurture them so that when they hear Jesus call, they will drop their nets and follow him. The time is fulfilled. To miscalculate is tragic.

1. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 218-219.

6. Richard Donovan, SermonWriter for Epiphany 3b (Jan 26) Mark 1:14-20, e-mail subscription