The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — the Third Sunday After The Epiphany:  Just do it: Repent and believe.  Gnaw away!

Mark 1:14-20

After John’s arrest, Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God:

“This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Change your hearts and minds, and believe this Good News!”

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw the brothers Simon and Andrew casting their nets into the sea, since they fished by trade. Jesus said to them, “Follow me; I will make you fishers of humankind.” They immediately abandoned their nets and followed Jesus.

Proceeding a little further along, Jesus saw the brothers James and John Bar-Zebedee. They too were in their boat, putting their nets in order. Immediately, Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee standing in the boat with the hired help, and went off in the company of Jesus.

The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?
Immediately. It’s a word Mark loves to use. Mark’s Gospel doesn’t waste any time. Here we are not even midway through the first Chapter and already Jesus is calling the disciples. He does it with a simple message: “God is doing something new and wonderful: Repent and believe.” And what do we hear? “Immediately they left their nets … Immediately they left their father … and followed him.”

There is an urgency to Mark’s Gospel from the very beginning. He races from story to story like a child who can’t wait to tell you about the coolest thing in the world they just saw. Mark’s telling of Jesus is not a cool breeze but 50,000 volts! It invites us not to linger over it but to dive into it with equal urgency. If Mark were describing Jesus as a car he would say he went from zero to sixty in 0.3 seconds!

It can feel like the Gospel of Jesus is incredibly complex. How in the world do we make a love like this fit into our lives? How do we balance it with everything else we’ve got going on? Mark tells us plainly that it’s not complex at all. In fact, it’s incredibly simple. You don’t try to balance it. You don’t try to “make it fit.” You just do it. Repent and believe. Leave everything else behind and follow Jesus. It’s incredibly hard … but it’s pretty simple!

A few things to chew on:

*The first thing Jesus called the people of Galilee to do was repent. The Greek word Mark uses is metanoia. The term comes from the Ancient Greek words μετά (meaning “beyond” or “after”) and νόος (meaning “perception” or “understanding” or “mind”). Traditionally, it’s been interpreted as “transformation” or “a 180-degree change in direction” … but think about it in terms of that etymology. Repentance is literally “beyond understanding.” In his commentary “Mark for Everyone,” N.T. Wright says repentance meant “turning away from the social and political agendas which were driving Israel into a crazy, ruinous war … (and) calling Israel to turn back to a true loyalty to YHWH, their God.” Perhaps “beyond understanding” is the best way to see this. Not trusting in human understanding … the logic that has given us war and poverty and segregation … but instead trusting in that which is beyond human understanding. Which leads us to…

*The second thing Jesus called the people of Galilee to do was “believe in the gospel.” Believe … in Greek [4]pistevo … is not just about an intellectual assent but complete trust and reliance upon. Think about falling off a cliff and trusting someone to catch you … that’s pistevo. We reach beyond our human understanding to trust in what? In the gospel. In good news that “the Kingdom of God is at hand,” that God is doing something new. That the love of God is the most powerful force in the cosmos and that all things are being made new. Trust … completely rely on … step off the cliff and know that you will not be dashed against the stones but that you will be borne up and taken to places beyond your understanding.

Try This:

“I will make you fishers of humankind.” That’s another way of saying “You never knew it could be this good!” Sometimes following Christ isn’t about taking on a whole bunch of new things but about doing what we are already doing differently.

This week, take some time at the beginning of each day to think about what gifts you have. What skills you have. What passions you have. Think about how you have used them in the past and then invite God to inspire you and lead you into new ways of using those gifts, skills and passions … new ways of being in the future. What is the difference in your life between fishing for fish and fishing for humanity? How is Jesus saying “follow me” to you?

This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand!

A couple weeks ago on a Monday night, many of us were part of a crowd that packed the Pasadena City Council chambers to register our outrage at the savage beating of Christopher Ballew by officers of the Pasadena Police Department and to demand the city council take action by, at the barest minimum, calling for an independent investigation of the beating and removing the officers from active duty while that investigation took place.

At one point in the evening, an elderly black woman was testifying and she suddenly turned her back on the city council, mayor, city manager and the police chief and began addressing us in the crowd. The frustration in her voice rang out as she yelled to us:

“You all raising hell for nothing. They’re not gonna stop!”

She was speaking out of 70 years of pain. She was speaking as someone who had stood in front of the city council and other similar bodies again and again and again and had seen change happen in painfully slow increments, if at all. And as she spoke, my head began – almost involuntarily – to nod.

And indeed, by the end of that meeting, it looked as if she was right. Only one city council member, Tyron Hampton, even went so far as to demand that the officers be taken off the streets and assigned desk duty while the department’s own internal investigation was happening … and raise the possibility that maybe it was time to reform the Pasadena Police Department’s use of force policy.

Video evidence of a savage beating. The district attorney finding insufficient evidence that Christopher Ballew resisted arrest in any way. Nearly two hours of public outcry.

No action. No change. Nothing.

Change happens slowly. Justice must almost always be demanded over and over and over again. As Theodore Parker said and Dr. King more famously quoted, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Yes – it bends toward justice. But just as surely, it is very, very, very long.

And yet…

As followers of Jesus. As the Body of Christ, we proclaim with Jesus:

“This is the time of fulfillment.
The reign of God is at hand!”

It is not naivete. It is the sure and certain hope that we share. That God is always breaking through – right now! That now is the time. That the reign of God is at hand!

We gathered at that city council meeting to make the same proclamation. Freedom is coming. Justice is coming. Love is coming. It will not be stopped.

We gathered at that city council meeting to beg our leaders as Jesus begged the people:

“Change your hearts and minds, and believe this Good News!”

We have no control over how anyone will react to this plea. We can just keep asking. We can just keep striving to change and believe ourselves. We can just keep trusting that love is more powerful. Justice is more powerful. Freedom is more powerful.

The woman who wailed her frustration was a prophet. She was the voice of Christ proclaiming the frustration of the people. Her truth rang out strong. And she was not wrong.

And still it is true. Still we proclaim. Still we believe.

Now is the time.
This is the time of fulfillment.
The reign of God is at hand.

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Check out the rest of Sunday’s readings

The Lectionary Page has all of the readings for this Sunday and every Sunday.

Collect for Sunday: Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel.

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Want to read more?
“The Text This Week” is an excellent online resource for anyone who wants to dive more deeply into the scriptures for the week.
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Gnaw on This is a weekly publication written by Mike Kinman, rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena.