Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the Vestry door? While you’re sitting in your pew, waiting for the service to begin, behind that door, lots of things are going on in the five minutes before we begin. We have a run through the service to make sure we know what’s happening. We put all the gear on. We pray. But at the same time, we’re also listening for the signal to start the service. Whenever we hear the Richhill chimes, the clock striking eleven, then we know that the time has come, and we come out to start the service.
Just think how many times you’ve heard or said these words: ‘It’s time.’ It might be when you’re getting up in the morning, when the alarm sounds, and it’s time to get up. Or if you’ve been up and you’re now waking the other people in the house. Maybe it’s when the exams come around, there’s no more revising, you have to sit the exams. It’s time. Or your first day at a new job; an appointment; or whatever. It’s time.
And when 2pm on Friday 16th February rolls around, we’ll be saying it’s time. All the preparations will be completed, the doors will open, the time will have come. Love So Amazing will have begun, after months of anticipation. It’ll be time.
It’s that sense of the preparations being complete that starts our reading today. Remember, in Mark’s gospel we’re reading the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But last week we saw that, before Jesus arrived, John was the messenger preparing the way. John was getting things ready for Jesus.
And now, the preparations are complete. John has stopped baptising, and Jesus appears on the scene. Look at verse 14 with me. ‘After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.’ It wasn’t that John had retired from his baptising work - he had been given his redundancy. He’s in prison - that’s all we’re told here. You have to read on into chapter 6 to discover why he’s in prison, and what happens to him.
But it’s the fact that John is in prison that seems to be the sign for Jesus to begin his preaching ministry. And what is it he is proclaiming? ‘The good news of God.’ Jesus comes to proclaim good news. There can be all sorts of good news - hearing about a baby being born, or an engagement, or an act of heroism, or kindness. Good news is always being told, if we listen out for it. But notice that this is the good news of God. This is God’s good news. You might be asked, did you hear of Ermentrude’s good news? That she’s engaged. Or of Henrietta’s good news, that she had her baby... Well this is God’s good news. And what is the news? We see it in verse 15.
“The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.”
Three short sentences. And they sum up the good news of God.
The time has come. The right moment has arrived, after a long period of anticipation. It’s a bit like in a show, the announcer says, ‘And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for...’ The time has been fulfilled - like one of those egg timers, where the sand has fallen from the top to the bottom, and the very last grain has landed, the time is filled full. And what is it time for?
The kingdom of God is near. Look back to verse 2. Remember last week we looked at the promises made in the Old Testament that the Lord would come, and bring the kingdom? Just how long had they been waiting for these promises? The bit in verse 2 ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you’ - that’s from Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, written about 400 years before Jesus. The bit in verse 3, ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord...’ - that’s from Isaiah, written about 700 years before Jesus.
The other day, someone on Twitter shared a series of cartoons from the 1910s, imagining the embarrassment of having a pocket telephone (as they called them) - it ringing when you’re on the train, or when your hands are full, or when you’re at a concert. And less than a hundred years later, nearly everyone has a pocket telephone. (Is yours on silent?!) But the people of Israel had been waiting for 700 years for the kingdom of God to come.
Such a long wait, but the good news is that the kingdom is near, it’s at hand, it’s here. Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, is here. The rule of Jesus is beginning. But that demands a response.
Imagine this for good news. Imagine that I write you a cheque for £1 million. (It’s just imagining!) In one moment, I could make you a millionaire, or, if you’re already that, then you would become a multi-millionaire. What would be good news, wouldn’t it? But for that to happen, you would need to believe the good news. You’d need to do something with it. You would have to take the cheque, and pay it into your bank account. Only then would you believe it, and benefit from it the good news.
The £1 million cheque is just imagined. But this good news of God is real, and really good news. The kingdom of God is here - and Jesus tells us how to respond. ‘Repent and believe the good news.’ We’ve been living the way we want to; doing the things we want to; disobeying God’s kingdom rule. So we need to repent, turn around, change our mind, to instead obey God - by believing the good news that Jesus is proclaiming. The kingdom is here, because the King is here.
In the rest of the passage, we see what this looks like in practice. Jesus is walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He sees Simon and his brother Andrew. Look at what Mark writes next. ‘Casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.’ As if there’d be another reason for casting a net into the lake!
So they’ve thrown the net into the lake, then Jesus speaks to them: ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Jesus calls them to follow him. And with all the social media, we’re familiar with this idea of following - you can follow people on Twitter, or Instagram, or Facebook.
But this isn’t just keeping up to date with their pictures of their dinner, or whatever they’re tweeting. Jesus calls them (and us) to follow him - to be involved, to walk with him, to be part of what he’s doing. And do you see the purpose of following Jesus? ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’
Up to now, they were fishing for fish. Now, they will fish for people. It’s a picture of making disciples, as we go fishing. Gathering people in, bringing them to Jesus, introducing them to him. So what do they do? Well, they have a choice - Jesus calls: will they follow him or forget him? ‘At once they left their nets and followed him.’
They had thrown the nets into the water, but they left them behind. They believe the good news, so they turn away from what lies behind, and they go to follow Jesus. It’s the same story a little bit farther down the shore. James and John are in their boat, preparing their nets. Jesus called them ‘without delay’ and they left their father Zebedee with the hired men, and ‘followed him.’
What is it that you need to leave behind as you repent and believe the good news? It might not be your job, but there will be some things you leave behind as you follow Jesus. The old life of sin. Your fishing for the things you wanted. Choosing what you do and how you spend your time and money.
And how will you follow Jesus? We’re not literally walking behind Jesus as these two sets of brothers did; but we are called to follow him, to go where he wants us to go; to do what he wants us to do; and more specifically - to be fishers of people.
What a great opportunity we’ll have in a fortnight, as we welcome people in to encounter God’s amazing love. And you can play your part, to welcome and steward, to provide hospitality, to simply chat to people and share how God’s love has changed your life - and how it can change theirs too.
But we don’t need to wait for a special event. We shouldn’t just think of fishing here, in the church building. That’s like only ever fishing in a fish tank or garden pond. Wherever you are tomorrow, you can fish for people. As you might say when someone breaks up with their boyfriend or girlfriend, there’s plenty more fish in the sea. So don’t stay in the fish tank - go deep sea fishing! Look out for the person you can talk to tomorrow about Jesus. Share the good news that Jesus has come.
Jesus says: ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday 4th February 2018.
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