Sunday's Message - Hearing Jesus Again for the First Time

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the First United Presbyterian Church, Brilliant, Ohio and First United Presbyterian Church, Mingo Junction, Ohio on Sunday, January 24, 2020.

Mark 1:14-20 [Contemporary English Version]

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!”

As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake. Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.

Hearing Jesus Again for the First Time

This past Wednesday, I did the exact same thing I think I’ve done every four years since 1977. You see, for the last 44 years, I’ve watched the newly-elected President take the oath of office. And I’ll tell you, over that time, it didn’t matter whether he was a Republican or a  Democrat. It didn’t even matter whether I voted for him or not. I guess, when it comes to presidential pomp and ceremony, I’m just a nerd. What can I say. And if that’s not nerdie enough, I’ve got to tell you, every single time, I’ve been moved by the words that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court says and that our new President repeats:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. [The Constitution of the United States of America, Article II, Section 1, Clause 8]

And I’ll tell you, the fact that it moves me, well, I think that’s kind of amazing. I meant, even though I’ve heard these words twelve times, every four years it’s almost like I’m hearing them again for the first time.

And this morning, we’re going to do the same kind of thing with what Jesus said right at the very beginning of his ministry, words that I think most of us have heard before. You see, we’re going to try to hear Jesus again for the first time. And I’ll tell you why I think that’s important. Personally, I believe it’s really easy for something to become so familiar that we kind of overlook it’s importance and power. My gosh, that’s what happened to the boy who cried wolf, didn’t it? Just to get attention, he said the same thing so many times that folks no longer even listened to him until it was too late. Now that’s what happened to him, and I’ll tell you, I think this same thing can happen to us as we hear some of those wonderful stories from the Bible and even repeat some of those powerful statements of faith. We either hear or say them so often that they lose some of their significance and punch. For example, I remember back when I was around eleven or twelve, I learned The Apostles Creed, something that we said during worship every Sunday over at Ocean View Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Virginia. And I also remember, some of my buddies and I used to see how fast we could say it. Man, there in the back of the sanctuary, we’d work on speed every single Sunday, and we got so good at it that we could say it without even thinking about the words. I guess that was the closest I ever came to speaking in tongues. You see, we said it so often and so fast that The Apostles Creed didn’t mean a hill of beans, at least not to us. And so I know this kind of thing can happen.

And for that reason, we’re going to slow down a little bit this morning. And we’re going to focus on what Jesus said right at the very beginning of his ministry. You see, we’re going to spend a little time talking about these two little stories found in the Gospel of Mark, and for each, we’ll consider not just what Jesus said back in the day, but also why it might be important for us right here and right now. Now that’s the plan.

For example, first, at the very beginning of this passage, I think we can hear a proclamation that can completely change our perspective, if we take to the time to listen. As a matter of fact, I think this just might be single most important proclamation in the entire gospel of Mark, because, according to the Evangelist, this was the very first time Jesus spoke. I mean, just think about it; after being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit and after being driven into the wilderness so he could be tested by Satan for forty days, Jesus was ready to start his actual ministry. And this was now the evangelist described it: 

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. He said, “The time has come! God's kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” [Mark 1:14-15, CEV]

Now that’s what Mark wrote, and I think these are words that most of us have probably heard before.

But just think about what they meant to folks hearing them for the first time. I mean, one, Jesus was offering a pretty powerful promise, wasn’t he? According to what he said, something brand new was beginning, and it was going to be centered on the one on whom the Spirit descended and who heard God say, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.” Remember, just a little while ago, “John [the Baptist] ...told the people, ‘Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!’” [Mark 1:7-8, CEV] Well, according to what Jesus said, that time had arrived, and it shouldn’t be surprising that it came after John had left the scene. The time had come. But not only that, Jesus said that “God’s kingdom will soon be here.” In other words, God’s rule, a reality that Jesus would later compare to a mustard seed and leaven in a lump of dough, something that it would be hard for the wealthy to enter and yet that Joseph Arimathea, a respected member of the council, waited for, I’m talking about the very thing that we ask to come on earth as it is in heaven, man, that kingdom was coming. You see, that’s what Jesus promised. That’s one. 

And two, after making that promise, in his first proclamation Jesus offered a two-fold command, beginning with “turn back to God.” Man, turn away from all those values, all those loyalties, all those treasures associated with this world, so you can turn back to God. And when you’ve done that, “...believe in the good news.” In other words, trust in the victory that God has won, and have faith in the one that Mark described at the very beginning of his gospel: This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." [Mark 1:1, CEV] You see, right here, in these words, Jesus promised that, paraphrasing Bob Dylan, the times, they have changed and that right here and right now, folks can turn to God and trust in his good news.

And in my opinion, this is a proclamation we need to hear anew over and over again, and I’ll tell you why. It reminds us that God is still involved in our world. And it doesn’t matter who’s the president or how quickly a vaccine is going to be released to the public or what changes are taking place in our world or our country, our community or our congregation, even our families or our own lives; in spite of all that stuff that draws our attention and increases our fear, say it with me,  “The time has come! God's kingdom will soon be here.” And because that promise is being fulfilled, in other words, that mustard seed is growing and that leaven is changing the dough, we still have the chance to turn away from all the stuff that rusts and decays so that we can turn to God and believe, trust, have faith in the good news of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. You see, as we approach this little, two-verse passage, we can listen to the proclamation. And that’s the first thing I believe we’ll receive when we decide to hear Jesus again for the first time.But brothers and sisters, trust me, that’s not all we’re going to hear.

Because second, again if we pause and listen, I think we’re going to hear a call that can absolutely change our lives. I mean, right after Jesus offered his proclamation, this was what happened:

As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake. Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him. [Mark 1:16-18, CEV]

You see, they heard and responded. And I’ll tell you, just to show that this wasn’t some kind of fluke, Mark wrote, “Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.” [Mark 1:19-20, CEV] Now that’s what happened.

But let’s think about the call itself, you know, what Jesus said to those fishermen that got them moving. And you know, I think it’s really interesting that in the proclamation we talked about a minute ago, Jesus gave a promise and then a command, but when he called Peter and Andrew, James and John, he reversed the order. I mean, at the very beginning, he gave them a command, didn’t he? According to the Contemporary English Version, he said, “Come with me;” although a better translation is probably “Come after me.” As a matter of fact, in the original Greek, the same word used here was later used when Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” [Mark 8:33b, NRSV] In other words, Jesus was commanding those fishermen not just to follow, but to put themselves physically, spiritually, emotionally, even financially behind Jesus, something that I believe they did when Peter and Andrew “...dropped their nets...” and when James and John “...left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.” And why did Jesus give this command? Just listen to the promise: “I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” You see, for those four men, who got up and left behind every they knew, Jesus promised to give them a new job. He was going to make them fishers of people.

And you know, I believe that command and promise is just as real for us as it was for them. I mean, even though the proclamation is for everybody, the call is directed to us. Man, that’s why we’re here. You see, if we listen, we know what Jesus wants us to do. He simply wants us to “come after him,” which means that we’ve got to get behind him and to let go of all the stuff that may get in the way, and I’m talking about the emotional baggage we carry from our past and the personal goals we may have set as we look to the future and all that stuff we treasure right now. Man, we’ve go to let it go, because we’ve decide to come after Jesus. And when we do, when we’ve made that decision, then we’ll be ready to start fishing, won’t we? And how can we do it? Well, personally, I think there’s probably no better way than by sharing through both the words we use and the lives we live the same proclamation Jesus himself offered: “The time has come! God's kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” [Mark 1:15b, CEV] You see, this is what God has called us to do. And that’s the second thing we’ll receive when we hear Jesus again for the first time.

Like I said a little while ago, on the twentieth, I watched the inauguration of our new president, and I heard him repeat the same oath I’ve heard twelve times before. But I’ll tell you, this time, well, it really was a little different, because after talking with her on the phone this past Wednesday, I know that my daughter heard those words for the first time, at least live at an inauguration. And I’ll tell you, I hope that, something in the future, she’ll be able to say that she’s heard them used after twelve different elections.

And for us this morning, I believe we can approach this story just like Maggie approached her first inauguration. In other words, we can intentionally focus on the proclamation, you know, that “...the time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” And we can intentionally focus on the call, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” You see, right here and now, we can make the decision that we’re going hear Jesus say these words again and again and again for the first time.