Change

CHANGE
MARK 1:14-15

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming 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.”

In the name of Jesus:
Change is in the air, and you can feel it! After the hot summer months, you can now feel the drop in the temperatures. Nights are now met not with the whir of the air conditioning unit trying to keep the temperature down in the home, but with windows open and the feel of cool breezes cooling off our bedrooms. Change is in the air, as jackets are worn when stepping outside in the morning going to work. Plants are beginning to lose their greenness and are starting to change color. Change is in the air, as the days grow darker earlier.
People today talk a lot about change. Politicians always seem to talk about change but things hardly ever seem to change. When things do change, people gripe and complain wanting the status quo. In the church, the culture around us HAS already changed, as we find ourselves living among people who are less inclined to go to church. In the good old days parochial schools were busting at the seams with full enrollment, church membership was on the upswing, and people were going to church. Nowadays, church schools are closing, Pre School and day cares find fewer children enrolled, and fewer people are inclined to go to church. More and more people seem to be openly critical and even hostile to the Church and to its teachings, saying that the Church is out of date and those who believe in traditional values are irrelevant or hate mongers. Things need to change, people need to change. The change needs to begin with each and every one of us.
When Jesus began His ministry, Scripture records His words. Not for posterity, but for purpose. Jesus could have said anything He wanted but Scripture records that when He speaks for the first time in His ministry, these words are important, and serve to set the stage for what follows. We all remember Jesus’ first words as recorded in Scripture, when He as a boy the age of twelve. He was teaching the learned in the Temple, and when asked by His parents as to what He was doing, Jesus replied that He was simply going about doing His Father’s business. Those words capture the essence of Jesus’ ministry, that Jesus was sent to do the will of the Father, but not being served but being a Servant so that He would give His life as a ransom for many.
But Jesus’ first words as He begins His ministry are telling. These set the stage for what follows. And what does He say? Does He say God is great, God is good, and so we should thank Him for our food? Does He say that I just want to praise the Father for all that He has done? No, the Gospel writer Mark records that after John was arrested, that Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God saying: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
The time is fulfilled, that is to say, the long awaited time as come! The Promised One in the Old Testament has arrived. The One promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden, the One pointed to by the prophets is here! King Jesus, God’s One and only Son has been sent by God the Father to do the Father’s work. Jesus has come to seek and save the lost, namely, all who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus came to fulfill all of God’s promises concerning the world’s salvation. Throughout His ministry Jesus invites sinners to live under His gracious rule and righteousness. Come to Me, says Jesus, you who are burdened by your sins and the changes of life, and I, your Savior and King, will give you rest.
We need that type of rest, that type of change in our lives, don’t we? I do and you do too. All too often we find ourselves like the rich young man in the Gospel of Mark who asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. He knew the Commandments, in fact he told Jesus point blank what a fine religious person he was! Jesus told him that he lacked one thing, a heart that followed Jesus. This young man needed to change but he didn’t want to. He turned and went back to life of possessions and self-righteousness. His life was full of things, and himself. How many times do we act like this one did, with lives full of things and stuff and gadgets which are supposed to make our lives easier and yet in the end we still seek the peace that surpasses all understanding?
When we talk about change, it is usually spoken about in terms of what others need to do. The person who has wronged me must change the way he treats me. The person I don’t get along with needs to change his attitude. It usually is someone else’s fault. But note Jesus’ words. He says that you need to change. You need to repent because God’s Kingdom is at hand.
When Martin Luther started the Reformation by nailing the 95 theses to the Church door in Wittenberg, his first theses set the tone not only for the Reformation but for life of the believer in Christ AND the life of the Church. Luther wrote: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said repent he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Consider this for a moment. Let’s have a Lutheran moment here; a what does this mean moment. Jesus is calling you to repentance, for you are a sinner. You have tried to justify your own actions in your life and have fallen short of God’s commands. It is not just the people around you who need to change, you need to change. You need to see yourself in the light of God’s commands and realize that you are a poor wretched sinner. The good that God wants you to do you can’t do perfectly, and the evil He forbids you end up doing! Who will save you from this sinful state? Not your reason, not your strength, not your words and not your actions. Christ will and has. Only Christ.
So Jesus tells you and me to turn from your sin and trust in Jesus. How can that happen? It has! In your Baptism God the Holy Spirit has washed away your sin and given to you a saving faith in Jesus. Luther explains it in this way: “In Baptism the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever, for St. Paul writes: “We were therefore buried with Him through Baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4).”
What God demands He gives to you in Baptism. Do you want change in your life? God has already changed you in Baptism, and He invites you to live a changed life daily. How? By remembering your Baptism, repenting of your sins and trusting in Christ who lived, died, and rose for your salvation. Do you want others to change? Then live the changed life that Christ has given to you, letting the Light of Christ shine forth in your life so as to give glory to God. Do you want others to believe in Christ? Then begin at home, teaching your family and witnessing to them the love and power of Christ. It is not by accident that Luther, in his Small Catechism, begins each section by stating: “As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.” Change begins at home. Personally and as a family. Witnessing begins at home and as an individual. Rather than wringing our hands at the state of things in our world and the Church, perhaps it is high time to let the change begin with you, with me, with each of us assembled here.
To change our life by seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. To be glad when it is time to go to the house of the Lord. To place the Lord and His work as a priority. To become students of the Word by daily devotions and in corporate Bible study. To seek to share the blessings God has given to us with others, so that they might be blessed. The change we seek begins with us.
Change is inevitable in life. Seasons change. Today will soon change to tomorrow. The challenges we face will change. But one remains---Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Repenting of sins we rise to follow Jesus, to announce to all His Kingdom is here! The age-old problem of sin and human failure will be with us. However in Christ you are forgiven. In Baptism you have been changed! And you are sent to announce to others what Jesus offers and gives.
“Lord, help us to see you clearly and so believe that your Kingdom is still among us. Move us to a steadfast hope for the future and to daily repentance and new life. In Jesus’ name. Amen