Too early, I know, but necessary preparation for the trip to Fort Wayne
symposium.
ER
Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Repentance is Believing the Gospel
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. In today's Gospel, St. Mark says that Jesus was preaching, "The
kingdom of God is at hand; repent AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL."
There is another way we could translate Jesus' Words in this Gospel. It is
not incorrect to translate Jesus' sermon as, "Repent and believe the
Gospel." However, it might get us a little bit closer to St. Mark's point
if we translated our Lord's Words here as, "Repent-that is to say, believe
the Gospel. Repent, which means, believe the Gospel. Believing the Gospel is
how you repent!"
Dear Christian friends,
If a man walks into an emergency room with his arm or shoulder slashed open
by a knife, he does not need the doctor to announce to him, "You are
bleeding." The man with the deep cut in his arm has probably already figured
out that much for himself. The man needs the doctor to say to him, "I am
here to help you, to bind your wounds, to ease your pain, and to save you
from death."
If a child screams in the middle of the night, mommy or daddy might say to
the child, "You have had a bad dream" or "You need to go back to sleep." But
those words are not the sort of words the child really needs to hear. The
real help and comfort for the child is when mommy or daddy says to him, "You
are safe now. I am with you. I will protect you from everything that makes
you feel afraid."
Sometimes, when God's people finally make it back into their pews on a
Sunday morning, it has been quite a week. Some of them have limped around
all week with the arthritis of loneliness and grief that aches for the
spouse they buried years ago. Some continue to feel stabs of regret for
things they now wish they had never said or done. Some of God's people have
fallen again and again into those habitual ditches of sin that they keep
promising themselves they will no longer fall into. Some of the saints hate
the fact that they are so impatient with their children, angry with their
parents, resentful toward their spouse, or afraid of tomorrow's sorrows.
Maybe even one or two Christians felt a little self-conscious about being in
worship, since it has been so long since the last time they came to worship.
A bleeding man does not need to be told he is bleeding; a frightened child
does not need to be told he is afraid. Sometimes, too, poor miserable
sinners do not need to be told they are poor miserable sinners. They have
already managed to figure that much out for themselves. A bleeding man is
better served by being assured that he will be healed. Comforting words and
soothing promises give better help to a frightened child do instructions to
go back to sleep. We would never want to say that God's people do not need
the law or its condemnations. But maybe life has already given that to
them-and sometimes in sermons it might be much more helpful and comforting
for them to hear not threats, but promises; not fire and brimstone, but
soothing assurances and thirst-quenching promises.
Many Bible scholars can agree that the people to whom St. Mark wrote this
Gospel were experiencing some dark and fearsome times. St. Mark appears to
have written this Gospel to Christians in Rome during a time when Rome was
not feeling very appreciative toward Christians. Persecution was in the air.
Death in the arena or at the top of a burning pole had become a distinct
possibility. God's Law does the important job of making people afraid
(Apology XII.34)-but St. Mark's Christians did not need to be made afraid.
They were already fearful enough. The Law, as Luther said, performs the
ministry of death (AE 2, p. 160)-but the fear of death was already creeping
around outside these peoples' doors. In another place, Luther also compared
the Law to a cattle prod that drives you toward Christ "for the sake of
life" (AE 26, p. 345). St. Mark's Christians needed to be prodded nowhere.
They were already herded up and gathered around Jesus because there was no
place left for them to go.
So St. Mark wrote to his dear Christians about the things that Jesus
preaches:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel
of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
St. Mark is describing Jesus as saying, "Repent-that is to say, believe the
Gospel. When you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God [Mark
1:1], you are by definition repentant. Believing the Gospel is what it means
to repent!"
St. Mark has written this way because of what he read in St. Matthew's
Gospel. In St. Matthew's Gospel, John the Baptist is the first guy who came
preaching repentance. But St. John is breathing fire. St. John rails against
his hearers, calling them names and warning them of horrible things if they
do not change their ways:
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand". When he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with
repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our
father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children
for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree
therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire" (Matthew 3:2, 7-10).
Wounded men do not need to be told they are bleeding. Children
with nightmares do not need to be told they should be afraid. Maybe St. Mark
is also thinking that those frightened and condemned Christians in Rome who
are hearing his Gospel do not need to hear about fear and judgment right
now. So St. Mark departs just a little bit from St. Matthew's Gospel. St.
Matthew describes Jesus as continuing John the Baptist's preaching. "Jesus
began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'"
(Matthew 4:17).
As far as St. Mark is concerned in today's Gospel, that is not
telling enough of the story. St. Mark wants his Christians in Rome to
know-and he wants you also to know-that your repentance does not consist of
feeling afraid or sorrowful or regretful about your past. Your repentance
has to do with believing the Gospel. So today's Gospel gives you a few more
details about Jesus' preaching than what St. Matthew previously gave. St.
Mark adds a few words that St. Matthew omitted.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel
of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Even better, "Repent-that is to say, believe the Gospel. When you believe
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God [Mark 1:1], you are by definition
repentant. Believing the Gospel is what it means to repent!"
When I was a seminary student, my professor evaluated my preaching
by saying that I don't do as well with the Law as I do with the Gospel. I
would like to think that St. Mark would let me off the hook for that. A
bleeding man does not need to be told he is bleeding; a frightened child
does not need to be told he is afraid. Sometimes-perhaps even many
times-poor miserable sinners do not need to be told they are poor miserable
sinners. They have already managed to figure that much out for themselves.
The Law has been written into their lives; it is sewn into their daily
circumstances; it follows them to work and to school and it sits on the
couch waiting for them when they return home again.
The Gospel comes only from Jesus, and you do not find it many
places outside of your gathering for worship. You will, by all means, hear
God's Law from this pulpit. There is no avoiding it. But I never wish to
leave this pulpit on a Sunday morning without first being certain that I
have preached to you the Gospel so that you may "Repent-that is to say,
believe the Gospel."
· To those of you who feel yourselves cut and bleeding, like a
wounded man in an emergency room, Jesus is for you the doctor who assures
you, "I am here to help you, to bind your wounds, to ease your pain, and to
save you from death."
· To those of you who feel yourselves terrified of the darkness, like
a child with nightmares, Jesus is the loving parent who rushes to your side
and assures you, "You are safe now. I am with you. I will protect you from
everything that makes you feel afraid."
· To those of you who feel yourselves to be Christians cowering in
Rome, herded together because you have nowhere else to go, Jesus opens His
arms and says to you, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
· You who are guilty: Jesus forgives you your sins and lifts your
guilt. You who are limping: Jesus will not allow you to stumble and fall.
You who are lonely and grieving: You shall be comforted by the One who comes
in today's Gospel, "proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying, 'The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.'"
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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