Accept Jesus’ Invitation

Matthew 4:12-23

I am a big fan of the book of James in the bible. I like it particularly for one verse (though many verses are straight fire) that you likely would recognize: “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (James 2:26 NRSVUE)

That verse grounds my faith, and helps me stay Christian. It makes Christianity more than just having the “right beliefs” or attending the “right church.” It’s claim is that Christianity is more than doctrine, it is a way of living.

When Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, his call to “repent for the king of heaven has come near,” is full of subtext. Repentance is not a passive act, it is the action of going the opposite direction from where you are heading.

If you were a tax collector immorally skimming extra money off of the top by collecting more than you should from your neighbor, repentance might have looked like ceasing tax collecting all together and then giving the money back (like Zaccheus!). If you are someone whose behavior and speech leads to combat and violence, repentance looks like apologizing and then behaving and speaking in such ways that create peace. You get the idea.

Repentance is not just stopping what you are doing—repentance is a u-turn. And this u-turn is what Jesus was inviting his community to do two thousand years ago, and his invitation still applies to us today. Before we can live into the way of faith Jesus teaches, we have to repent and do a u-turn from all of the ways we are living that contradict our values and teachings of Jesus.

While belief is important because belief informs our actions, our belief is meaningless if it does not result in fruit. So sometimes repentance might be a u-turn from doing nothing at all, to doing something that helps build that kin-dom which Jesus cried out in the Gospel of Matthew “has come near.”

It is still near us today. Even in the midst of crisis and chaos. The kin-dom of heaven has come near. And it is the actions we take that bend that moral arc of the universe toward justice. It is the actions we take that build, brick by brick, kindness by kindness, compassion by compassion, the edifices of God’s kin-dom here on earth.

So let’s accept Jesus’ invitation to repent and get to work!