January 25, 2015 – Mark 1:14-20
Mark 1:14-20
The Urgency of the Good News
Third Sunday after the Epiphany [Lectionary 3] – January 25, 2015
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
After last week’s sermon, Chrystl invited me to slow down!
I know, I know: I was pretty jacked up about the Target sermon and the cart escalator and all!
But I’m afraid I have to delay taking Chrystl up on that invitation for at least a week!
Because the Gospel reading this morning has an immediacy and urgency about it.
Did you notice?
We’re 14 verses into Mark, and Jesus is already underway in his ministry.
We’ve heard about John the Baptist and his ministry. Check!
We’ve heard about the Baptism of Jesus by John. Check!
We’ve heard about the Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness by the devil. Check!
And we’ve heard that John has been arrested by Herod. Check!
All in 14 verses!
Mark cuts to the chase because in his mind there is no time to lose.
And so he streamlines his account because what God is up to in Jesus is urgently important.
The kingdom or reign of God in love and mercy and inclusion and justice is
breaking into the world in Jesus and it can’t wait.
Upon hearing of John’s arrest, Jesus doesn’t sit around contemplating what to do.
He immediately takes up the torch and carries it forward.
He doesn’t want to work alone, so he immediately calls some disciples,
who will turn out to be absolute blockheads.
Maybe, we think, Jesus should have taken a little more time in discerning who he calls to
follow him and help him in his mission to love bless and heal this world and
every person in it.
But he doesn’t.
He sees Simon Peter and his brother on the shore, common fishermen, and he says,
“Hey! You guys! Let’s go! We’ve got work to do!”
And immediately, says Mark, they followed him.
Jesus goes a little way further, and sees a couple more ordinary guys, James and his brother John,
and he says to them, “Hey! You two! I need your help! Let’s go!”
And immediately they follow him and leave their boat their poor dad Zebedee with
his mouth hanging open.
I happen to think Jesus already had a prior relationship with Simon and Andrew and
James and John.
I happen to think they probably knew something special was happening in and through Jesus.
But now, when the call comes for action, they immediately take it up.
Immediately is probably Mark’s favourite word.
He uses the word 40 times throughout his Gospel. 40 times!
Sometimes it is translated “Immediately.” Sometimes it is translated “At once.”
Sometimes it is translated “Straightaway.”
But it is always the same word.
Things are urgent in Mark’s Gospel.
God is doing stuff.
It’s time – the right time, Kairos time in the language of the New Testament, time to
do stuff, to grab the bull by the horns, and make a difference.
Love has come to you, broken into your life, broken into the present,
and calls you into a transformed future.
So what are you waiting for?
That is the question Mark poses to us.
Okay: time to slow down for a bit.
By nature, I am a reflective person.
I am not hasty, like the Ents in the Lord of the Rings.
I like to take my time over decisions, think long and hard, weigh the options,
and usually – I’m not proud of this, but to be perfectly honest –
have time to consider what is best for me in the long run.
Many of us are probably like this, right?
I like to gather all the data, look at the reviews, check out Consumer Reports,
ask friends for advice, spend time in prayer, ask myself, What would Yoda do etcetc etc.
And usually this is the advice I give people who are making important decisions.
And I think it’s pretty good advice.
We can be so driven by emotion and we know emotions can be fleeting,
so doesn’t it make sense to spend some time thinking carefully about what we are to do?
Well, yes. Of course it does.
But there are some drawbacks.
For one thing, it means we can miss the opportune moment.
The right time can come and go and so an opportunity to do something meaningful passes.
How many times have we thought we should give someone a call,
write a note, send a card, make a visit to the hospital – and then we overthink it and
The moment passes and the opportunity is gone?
For another thing, taking too much time to reflect means we can think,
“This is not the right time, I’m not ready for this,”
when really it is the right time and you are ready for it.
We sell ourselves short, and we sell God short, when we think that way.
When we think, “I don’t have what it takes to do this thing God is calling me to do.”
Congregations often get into this trap: If only we had more people we could do so much!
If only we had a bigger budget we could do so much!
If only we were in a better location we could do so much!
If only, if only, if only . . . and then you end up doing nothing very significant.
Friends, I’m here to announce to you that you are full of gifts.
I’m here to tell you you have everything you need to
do the amazing things God is calling you to do.
Remember when Jack gave his amazing Stewardship Talk last fall?
And he said it is a blessing to be at 580 Victor Street?
Not a liability, not even an asset, but a blessing?
Mark would be so proud of Jack!
Yes: you have what you need!
You have the people! Who have all the gifts! Who are in the right location!
Who have the money for the right budget!
The time actually is now.
Time to take up the torch of all those generations of Christians who have carried it up till now.
Who pass it on to you.
Jesus doesn’t hesitate to take it up.
Simon and Andrew don’t hesitate to take it up.
James and John don’t hesitate to take it up.
And do you know why they don’t hesitate to take it up?
It’s not so much that they trust themselves to be all great and super and perfect:
no! they are actually blockheads!
It’s because they trust that God is working, that God is doing something,
that God can bring tremendous good even from their blockheadedness.
In the words of the late priest and writer Henri Nouwen,
they trust that their very limited and conditional love can be
the gateway for God’s totally unlimited and totally unconditional love.
Okay: I’m gonna slow down and say that again, because that is the key to
being able to take up the ministry immediately:
They trust that their very limited and conditional love can be
The gateway for God’s totally unlimited and totally unconditional love.
It’s God’s way of saying that we can never take ministry for granted.
Each of us matters, each of has a call from Jesus, each of us can make a difference.
Each of us has a place in the ministry of this congregation.
Each of us is called to follow now.
It’s time for us to think about our ministry and our budget as
our Annual General Meeting approaches.
The time is now.
The right time is now.
So much is happening: God is clearly at work here!
Granting us grace. Forming us into a very caring and nurturing and beautiful community.
Sending us in mission outside our walls in very meaningful and life-changing ways.
Now is the time to jump on the bandwagon!
Now is the time to say Yes!
Now is the time to make an increased financial commitment!
Jesus is on the shore calling.
Jesus is on the shore inviting you to take up the torch.
Jesus is saying: This is your time!Time to know you have what it takes!
Time to follow, immediately!
So together, let us take a deep breath, get ready to say yes, and together let us say, “Amen.”
(And, by the way, this sermon was written in a rush of words
in exactly 33 minutes from beginning to end.
No reflection. No stopping. No stopping to consider. Just immediacy.)
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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