Proclaiming Good News

During his lifetime Jesus spoke about a world in crisis.  Imagine Jesus speaking on the national media from Washington or New York about the issues that confront us today: peace in the Middle East, violence, inequality, those who are hungry and homeless.  Jesus’ message is that our security must be grounded in the reign of God where the promise and hope for peace and justice, for love and kindness, for mercy and faithfulness, is to be found.

           

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people."  He called for repentance as John the Baptist had done before him, and he proclaimed “the kingdom of heaven has come near.” His was a ministry of preaching Good News and healing diseases, both physical and social.  You and I are called to preach the good news of God's reign, and to heal every disease among the people as well as to minister to those who are sick and burdened with grief or despair.

Jesus appeared to Simon and Andrew, James and John, while they were at work casting their nets into the sea.  He called them to follow him as he carried out his ministry throughout Galilee.  His meeting with them, according to the Gospel account, was so brief that Jesus spoke only one sentence, and they said nothing.  Maybe they had heard him preach before, or maybe they heard John the Baptist who also said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."  This was nothing new.  So why are the words new when they come from Jesus?  Why does the appearance of Jesus by the sea cause four people to leave home and family, their work of fishing, and follow him?

Jesus' message is that God's reign is very near.  It may be as close as the people in our community who are poor and hungry and who cry out for a renewed sense of economic justice and adequate nutrition.  It may be as close as those who work for an end to bigotry, hate, and prejudice toward others who are different because of race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnic origin.  It may be as close as those places in which the sick are healed, captives are set free, and good news of compassion and hope is proclaimed.  It may be as close as a very sick patient who is asking for merciful relief from pain and incurable suffering.

Jesus identified the kingdom of heaven with righteousness, a biblical word for justice.  Matthew's central claim is that Jesus is the way to God.  The epiphany, the complete manifestation of Christ to us, is in the story of his birth when the wise men from the east declared him king; in his baptism in the Jordan River when the Spirit affirmed him as God's anointed; in his ministry when he healed the diseased and relieved the oppressed; in his crucifixion, the hour of his ultimate vulnerability; and finally, in the victory of his resurrection when the earth quaked and the angels appeared.  God's reign breaks in among us through the wholeness and the entirety of Jesus' life.

The two brothers, Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew, and two other brothers, James and John, saw God's approach in Jesus by the sea.  They had known the haunting pull of death's shadow in the deep regions of the expansive lake where they fished, but with Jesus, the light broke across the waves.  "Follow me," he said, and they left to go with him to bring others into the presence and power of God's reign.

That is what we are called to do, to bring others into God's reign.  We are to preach the Gospel of Christ and heal the diseased people in our world by relieving suffering and working to end violence so they, too, can hear the Word of God and live faithfully with hopeful expectation for new life as members of our common humanity.

Christ calls us to follow him as the way to God.  As Paul appealed to the Corinthian Christians, there can be no discrimination and no division.  In our worship of praise and thanksgiving, in nurturing our spiritual growth and development, in providing pastoral care for one another, in reaching out to the wider community, and in celebrating and caring for all that God provides, we dedicate ourselves to God through Jesus Christ.  Amen.