Jan 22, 2012 3rd Sunday of Epiphany

Mark 1:14-20

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." 16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb'edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

 “Repent and Believe”

To repent is seen to be negative.  It is a sign of how bad we have been.

To believe is seen to be positive.  It is a sign of how good we are.

We try to believe enough so we won’t have to repent.  We don’t see anything good about repentance.  Much religious effort is spent to keep us from having to repent.

Whereas, the truth is, repentance is a positive act whenever and however it happens, which enables something new and creative and beautiful to happen in our lives.

To repent is to open oneself up to change.  It is to open one’s heart, mind, and soul to new possibilities and to dare risk trying a new way of living.  It is a positive thing we

all need to do more often.

It is our beliefs which often get us in trouble, not our repenting, for repentance leads to life.   To believe the Gospel of Jesus is to be open to change in one’s life, including change in one’s beliefs.  For with Jesus all things are possible!

“Come, Follow Me”

For some reason beyond human understanding, through the course of history, God has chosen to use human beings - not angels, but mortals - to do what God wants done.

Simon, Andrew, James and John, said yes to Jesus’ call to follow him and then found out how big the catch was.  It asked more of them then they ever imagined possible.

To follow Jesus, as the one God sent, is not just to be saved.  It is to be thrust into a hostile world there to have to do what we don’t want to do - be merciful as our God is merciful!   Forgive as our God forgives! 

This is where the action comes. 

It means getting involved in life for God.  Or better yet, letting God get involved in life through us.  It means we are called to do what Jesus would have us do, not what we want to do.  Be compassionate as God is compassionate!