Jesus Calls You to Die
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
The Conversion of Paul
January 25, 2009
Mark 1:14-20
In the Gospel reading we have an end of an era, a beginning of an era,
and the one who stands in the middle of it all. John the Baptist was
on his way out. Peter and Andrew, James and John, they were on their
way in. Jesus, He was always there—before John was ever born, and long
after the last apostle was laid to rest.
The Gospel, then, is never about John, or John, or his brother James,
or Peter and his brother. It's never about you and me, but always
about the one who is in the middle of it all, the one who has been
around long before we ever knew there was a Gospel.
If you look at what happened to John the Baptist and what would happen
to Peter and John and their brothers, you might wonder exactly what
good the Gospel is. John the Baptist gets arrested, and then
decapitated. Peter, Andrew, and James, and all the other apostles were
likewise martyred. John was the only one not martyred, and even then,
he was sent to the island of Patmos to live out the rest of his days
in isolation.
Where is Jesus in all of that? Jesus didn't go get John the Baptist
out of prison, He simply called more men to be martyrs for Him. And
that's exactly what He calls you and me to. Today. Every day. For our
whole lives.
It doesn't sound so great, does it? Maybe even kind of dreary… But
it's right there, in His very own words: Repent and believe in the
Gospel. He is calling you to die. And in calling you to die, He is
calling you to life. Just as He did with John the Baptist; just as
with Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John. This wasn't the end of
one era and the beginning of another, after all. It was simply what
our Lord has been doing ever since His first promise of the Gospel in
the Garden of Eden. Calling sinners to repentance. Calling them to
life.
When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said Repent, He called for
the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. When Christ
calls a man, He bids him come and die.
Everybody dies. There is no escaping death. The question is, what kind
of death are you going to die? When Christ calls you, He calls you to
life. But true life can only come through death. You cannot circumvent
death. So He gives you life through death. Repentance is death to
self. It is the drowning of the Old Man and the resurrection of the
New. Repentance and faith go together: Repent and believe in the
Gospel. Repentance turns away from the wretchedness of selfishness and
sin. Faith clings to Jesus Christ and His righteousness. There is no
true life without death to the sinful nature.
Jesus is always there in the middle of it. He didn't go get John out
of prison. He didn't prevent John the apostle from being incarcerated
on Patmos. Didn't step in when the other apostles were martyred.
Jesus, in fact, was only around for three years in His Ministry.
That's what He came for.
He came to do His thing. Not get us out of jams. Not pave the way for
us so that things would go smoothly. Not to make everything work out
for us. He came to minister. To serve. To save. He came, in fact, to
die. That's why He came. And that's why He calls us. He calls us to
die, too. He came to die in order to bring life. He calls you to death
in order to bring you to life.
In that prison cell, John the Baptist had life. In his prison cell on
Patmos John the apostle had life. In the moments before their
martyrdom and in their deaths, the apostles had life. Jesus had given
all of them eternal life in their Baptism. Daily they lived out their
Baptism, repenting of their sins and believing in the Gospel.
You have this same life. Because you have died the same death. You,
too, have been Baptized. You too, repent of your sins. You also
believe that Jesus is your hope and salvation. You, too, have been
called by Jesus. And you also endure suffering for the sake of Christ.
There may come a day when you, too, will be martyred on account of
Christ. There will come times when others see you as weak for leaning
on a God you cannot see for your help and your hope. You will be
derided by those who are offended at your certainty that there is
salvation in no one other than Jesus Christ. Your life on this earth
ultimately isn't what your life is about. Your life in Christ is. Your
life on this earth continues because you sustain your life. Your life
in Christ is sustained by daily dying to sin.
As you go through life Jesus isn't standing next to you, but He's in
the middle of it all. He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End, the one in whom you live and move and have your being. He is,
He was, and He always will be. He is the eternal God who died for you.
He is the eternal God who bids you die to bring you life that has no
end. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. God
comes to you in His Son. He comes as the one born a baby of Mary, the
one who was Baptized by John, the one who called Peter
