“… 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.” Mark 1:14c-15a | NRSV
A few weeks ago, just days before the Annual Conference, our mailbox received a couple of letters (on back-to-back days), each with hand-written greetings. That’s always refreshing in a world that most often delivers catalogs and pizza coupons, mail-ordered clothing in gray bags, and bills with bold deadlines. One letter was typed on beautifully embossed letterhead with hand-written words of grace in the closing. The other was a hand-written letter on a standard ruled “notebook” paper, ready for a three-ring binder, with a flyer included. Both envelopes utilized my true name in the address on the front: “Jonathan.” Both letters, in their own unique ways, were a blessing.
We believe that Mark’s Gospel is the first one of the four gospels written. Mark obviously had a message welling up inside him. For how long we cannot be sure, but this “good news” of Jesus is so important for Mark to convey that he doesn’t give us the same sort of pre-birth narrative that Doctor Luke does, nor the mysterious opening scenes we find in John’s Gospel. Mark skips to the chase and leads us to the wilderness, where a river runs through it, and we are invited to a baptism.
Following his description of Jesus’ baptism, Mark gives us one lone verse describing why Jesus spent the next 40+ days in the Judean wilderness, (the Spirit drove him, compelled him to go there). This is followed by one verse reminding us of how during this experience Jesus was (1) tempted by Satan, (2) lived among the wild beasts, and (3) was attended or waited upon by angels. (Mark 1:12-13)
By verse fourteen of chapter one, Mark has us with Jesus back in his home territory of Galilee. It’s here we get a glimpse of the sermon outline utilized most often by Jesus as he itinerated around the countryside preaching, teaching, and healing.
The time is fulfilled
The kingdom of God is at hand (has come near)
Repent, and
Believe IN the good news.
I think of the flyer enclosed in my hand-written letter, with its cover posing the question: “What is the Kingdom of God?” It wasn’t a United Methodist publication but it asked an important question, nonetheless. Mark reminds us that the Kingdom of God was important to Jesus. I guess it’s implied that the Kingdom of God should be important to us as well. The Kingdom of God – the rule and the reign of God – right here – right now – “at hand/come near.” Jesus dispels any notions that this rule and reign of God is some kind of futuristic, pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by, reality. He declares (two thousand years ago) that the rule and reign of God is HERE and NOW. It’s like Jesus is saying: “You want to know about the Kingdom of God? Well, take a look at me! See in me, right HERE – right NOW what the rule and reign of God looks like.”
According to Mark, Jesus always brought the good news message home with an invitation to ALL who would hear: REPENT and BELIEVE. Repent is not just thinking differently – it’s walking differently and in a new direction. As the tent revival preacher once noted: “It’s not how loud you shout or how high you jump, it’s how straight you walk when your feet hit the ground!” “Believe IN the good news,” Jesus concluded. This means the good news of the kingdom is bigger than we are. We fit inside the good news of the kingdom – not the other way around. The good news shapes us – molds us – and sends us… As one hymn-writer prays this: “melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.”
So what if God delivered a handwritten letter to your mailbox this week? Can you imagine receiving a letter inviting you to surrender yourself to the ONE whose Kingdom will not end – to embrace the rule and reign of God – RIGHT HERE – RIGHT NOW? What if that letter could be used by God to convince us that we can stop focusing our energies on fixing ourselves or others, or even the church, and BELIEVE IN the good news of this Kingdom that Jesus first proclaimed in Galilee? What would life look like, in our HERE and NOW, if you and I actually set down our plans and agendas and focused our full energies and attention on celebrating God’s rule and reign? It begs the question:
Is this good news still good news?
Still In ONE Peace,
Jon (the Methodist)
