A pastoral letter First and shortest sermon preached by Jesus After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"Mark 1:14, 15 (NIV) By Rev. Steve Strickler The Layman Online Friday, January 26, 2007 Just imagine … a four-point sermon in only 16 English words – 15 words in the Greek – and, since Jesus preached this sermon in Aramaic, we have to rely on Aramaic scholars to tell us how many words Jesus used for his message. Jesus – with this short, powerful message – begins his earthly ministry in Galilee. The points he makes are clear: Point I: The time has come. Point II: The kingdom of God is near. Point III: Repent! Point IV: Believe the good news! The ministry of John the Baptist was now over. His purpose was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, the one whose sandals, John said, he was not fit to untie. John was faithful to his calling, even unto imprisonment and eventually death. He did his job. I. The time has come. The way is clear. Jesus has arrived back in Galilee to begin a ministry that will transform the world. "The time has come," he said. The time is now. For those keeping track of prophetic and messianic time – not its passage, as in kronos (according to the clock) but, rather, its fulfillment, kairos (according to God's timing), Jesus' words declare that the kairos moment is upon us now. The wait is over. In the fullness of time, Jesus has come. The time is now. Many years of history have gone before. Many years of history will follow, but now is the culmination of history – his story. II. The kingdom of God is near. "The kingdom of God is near," Jesus announced. With his arrival, in fact, the kingdom of God is here. "The word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (NIV) The king of Heaven has sent his Son, Jesus, to usher in, and bring, the Kingdom to us. III. Repent! Pay attention here. This is how it works. Jesus says: "Repent!" To "repent" (metanoia in the Greek) means to change one's mind – not just slightly, but to undergo a complete turning around in the ways in which we think and, consequently, in the ways in which we behave. Literally, to repent means to stop, do a 180-degree turn and head away from the direction in which we were bound. Travel plans are changed. A complete remaking of our itinerary takes place. Our Father in Heaven shows us in Jesus how we'll journey through this life. We are to do it his way. Our Father calls us and empowers us by the Holy Spirit to give up our way of thinking and to turn toward Jesus Christ and trust him and his way. When we admit that we are wrong and he is right, it is called confession. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9 (NIV) What is sin? In this day and age, many people don't seem to have an idea about what sin is. But it really isn't that hard to know. God's Word is unequivocal. It's not difficult at all to know what sin is. Just agree with the Lord about what he says is sin – it's in the Bible. Just turn away from everything he names sin as an act of will, and trust the Holy Spirit to supply us the strength to obediently follow. We're not perfect, but we have the perfect remedy for our sinful condition – Jesus himself. In the Greek, to confess is to "say the same." Say the same as the Lord says, and he will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. IV. Believe the good news! Jesus finishes his sermon with part two of what it means to repent: "Believe the good news." With newly changed minds, we're ready to believe in the gospel, the good news. Truly, it is good news. If we agree that we've been heading in the wrong direction, toward danger and ultimately toward death, then we're ready to "say the same" again and confess the gospel. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father but through him. "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) Believing in the gospel means trusting in the one who has determined "the way things are." It doesn't matter what our opinion is. We can't get away with, "You believe what you want and I'll believe what I want, just as long as we are both sincere about it." How you or I feel about what is true is irrelevant. Truth is what matters, and Jesus is truth. Feelings will get sorted out according to that truth. Made in the image of Yahweh our God, we have the capacity for great understanding and accomplishment and, so, the temptation to assert our will and our way is all the more at hand. Over the centuries, for example, we human beings have grown in our collective knowledge of the natural and social sciences. We've looked at the Earth from the moon and we think we know it all as when, for instance, a Russian cosmonaut reportedly radioed back from space: "I don't see God." The gospel is good news: the reality of our sin, and the assurance of the Father's grace in Jesus Christ! A changed mind agrees with the way our Father has designed things. What he says goes! It really is that simple. So, we confess our sin and confess the gospel by contending for the faith once entrusted to the saints. We trust the plain reading of Scripture illuminated by the Holy Spirit in the fellowship of the church. We use Scripture to interpret Scripture. We read it in context. We obey it and we teach it. With humility and respect, yet with joy and confidence, we proclaim its truth. Jesus' message, 2,000 years old, is as fresh now as it was then. Now is the time. Not tomorrow, not when I feel like it or when I grow old. Now! Jesus is the one, the only – crucified, dead and buried, resurrected and ascended. He is seated at the Father's right hand. His presence and work is mediated by the Holy Spirit, who brings us into the Father's family, now and forevermore. Therefore, we have but one response: metanoia, repentance, confess our sin, "say the same." "All have sinned and fall short of his glory." Romans 3:23 (NIV) Therefore, we have but one response: metanoia, change of mind, believe in and confess the gospel, "say the same." "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV) "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (NIV) The Rev. Steve Strickler was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1984. A former pastor in New Jersey, he is the director of church relations for the Presbyterian Lay Committee. He can be reached at sgpstrickler@layman.org.

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