1-24-21 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Get to Know Jesus: In His All-Encompassing Call January 24, 2021 Jesus Calls That All… Mark 1:14-20 1) People Repent and Believe 2) Christians Follow Him

As I have come to realize throughout this coronavirus pandemic that, we, as a planet full of people, are becoming connected to each other more and more. Not just that when a butterfly in China flaps its wings it’ll eventually create a light breeze in southern California, but also in the things we experience together. The world’s nations are beginning to debate about what to do with the Summer Olympics that were postponed from last year. As smartphones and internet access becomes more common, we see how quickly information flows to and from the remotest corners of the world. Or even how a local weather system can affect global supply chains as seen with bare shelves or rising price tags.

As globalization becomes more and more the case, we recognize how we are connected to people we’ve never seen. And this is true, not just in what we experience and strive for, but in what we also need to hear. Even though it’s been 2,000 some years since our Savior Jesus walked this earth as described in Mark chapter 1, he continues to issue a call that encompasses all people to this very day about what they need to hear. And what is this all-encompassing call? First, how Jesus calls all people to repent of their sins and believe in him for salvation so that they may be in the kingdom of God. And second, how Jesus calls all Christians to follow him wherever they are in life above all else.

1) People Repent and Believe About 6 months have passed since John the Baptist signaled the start of Jesus’ public ministry with a baptism unlike any other. Throughout that time, John has been preaching his message of repentance and belief to all people, including King Herod. And that got him into some hot water because John was calling on Herod to repent of his sinful marriage to Herodias that was against Old Testament law in a number of ways. King Herod, tired of hearing John the Baptist, quieted him by imprisoning him. In John’s absence, Jesus continues preaching this message of repentance and belief to all the people in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.

We hear a summary of what Jesus was preaching where he says, “The time is fulfilled…The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) The time of waiting for the Promised Savior was finally over because the Old Testament’s prophetic words had been fulfilled. The kingdom of God was now nearby. In case you’re wondering what this kingdom is, it’s wherever God is reigning as king whether it be physically in heaven or spiritually in every believer’s heart. As it was then, so it is now – if a person has faith, they are dual citizens of God’s kingdom and wherever their passport is from.

It’s because of these two truths that Jesus calls upon all people to repent and believe in him.

When we speak of repentance, we typically include its 3 steps: 1) Genuinely confessing your sins to God, 2) trusting in God’s promise to forgive those sins, and 3) living a life that tries to be free from 1

Pastor Tim Patoka Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Get to Know Jesus: In His All-Encompassing Call January 24, 2021

those sins. But in order to truly practice repentance, a person must also believe in Jesus for salvation. If a person doesn’t know who their Savior is or what his gift of forgiveness is, what does repentance end up being? Nothing more than an exercise in self-punishment because nothing comforting comes out of it. It is this call for repentance based in belief that Jesus issues to all people, believer and unbeliever alike.

Yet so often, we have questions about Jesus’ call to repent and believe. Even though our technology and standard of living is much better than it was in the days of Mark chapter 1, many of our core problems are the same as back then. Christians live as God commands and suffer for it like John the Baptist did in prison. Authoritative leaders misuse their power to suit their sinful desires like King Herod did instead of living as God’s representatives in the Kingdom of the Sword. Are we sure the time of waiting has truly been fulfilled? We ourselves struggle to repent in these 3 steps. It’s not fun to do that first step and genuinely confess the wrongs we’ve done. It’s hard to do that second step and accept the forgiveness that God gives for our own sins. It’s not easy to do that third step and live free from the sins that we secretly enjoy or can’t ignore. Or perhaps we doubt with the very core of our belief, that all our hopes are founded in one single person who lived, died, and rose 2,000 some years ago. That’s seems too simple or too outlandish for our modern minds!

It’s true, it’s not easy to listen to Jesus’ call for all people to repent and believe, whether you are a believer or an unbeliever. But when we include our Savior and his promises, we see how this regular repentance based in belief is well worth our while to practice and to encourage from others. The time of waiting for the Promised Savior is over because Jesus has fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy about the Christ. We talked at length about this around Christmas, so I won’t do it now. But rest assured, whatever was promised about the Christ in the Old Testament has been fulfilled in Jesus.

While it’s true that our core problems are similar to the days of Mark chapter 1, our eternal problem of sin has been taken care of for all time. Even though each step of repentance is difficult to take, God will forgive our sins as he has promised, even the ones we’d dare never mention to another person.

This in turn helps us see ourselves as God already does – his beloved child who is wiped clean of all guilt and a part of his holy family. It’s Jesus alone we point to for the core of our belief who lived, died, and rose for us 2,000 some years ago. It’s as simple as that and as wonderful as that, even for our modern minds.

Jesus calls all people to repent of their sins and believe in him for salvation. He issues this call to unbelievers so they can be in God’s kingdom as he reigns in their hearts through faith. He also issues this call to believers so that we can remain in God’s kingdom and enjoy all his blessings on a daily basis. And so, let us do just that – to repent of our sins and believe in him – so that we never lose our place in his wondrous kingdom.

2) Christians Follow Him And, as his believing children, let us follow him, which he also calls us to do. We see how 4 Christians in particular did this as Jesus went by the Sea of Galilee in our verses from Mark chapter 1.

As mentioned in the worship folder’s side margin note, these 4 men already knew who Jesus was because of their time with John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God. By the Sea of 2

Pastor Tim Patoka Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Get to Know Jesus: In His All-Encompassing Call January 24, 2021

Galilee, Jesus first comes across Simon Peter and his brother Andrew who are doing what fishermen tend to do – casting their nets into the sea to catch fish. When he sees them, Jesus calls out, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) And immediately, Simon and Andrew leave their fishing nets behind and follow Jesus. Not long after that, Jesus comes across two more fishermen, called James and John, who are mending their nets alongside their father Zebedee and his hired servants. Jesus calls out to them in a similar fashion and they too immediately drop everything and follow Jesus, leaving behind their tattered nets and father Zebedee. And so Jesus gains 4 full-time apostles – Simon, Andrew, James, and John.

Jesus’ call to these 4 men to follow him is very different from the call that Jesus gives to us Christians today. First of all, these 4 men were part of the original 12 apostles who not only literally followed Jesus everywhere he went in and around Israel, they continued to follow him as leaders of the early Christian church. Some of us at Grace have received a similar call to serve our Lord in the fulltime public ministry. This includes your pastors, our teachers at the Child Learning Center, staff ministers at other places, and any of you who might join our ranks as a first or second career. (By the way, if any of you are interested in this, let me know and I’d love to talk with you.) But the large majority of Grace’s membership don’t follow Jesus in the public ministry. Rather, they do so in their own vocation, which is much more common yet no less important.

Our Pastor Kassulke has been teaching about this idea of vocation in our Adult Bible Study where we learn the biblical truth that we all can follow our Lord by serving him in whatever place of life we are in or how long we’ve been in the Christian faith. For more information about this, I encourage you attend our Adult Bible Study whether it’s online or in-person. But whether it be in the pulpit, in the classroom, wherever we work, or quarantined at home, we can follow our Lord in the same willing way as were Simon, Andrew, James, and John.

Yet this too can be a struggle for there is fear of the unknown. These 4 apostles had a familiar routine to life that included fishing. But to leave it all behind so they could follow Jesus as his apostles?

That was a big unknown. Might we let our fear of the unknown prevent us from following Jesus as we best can simply because we’re too cautious or too set in our ways? Perhaps we struggle to follow Jesus because of a selfish attitude. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee, like many of our essential jobs today, wasn’t glamorous or easy. Yet, it provided a stable income for these 4 men. To give it all up and follow Jesus as his apostles was anything but logical. Might we be tempted to do what’s best for ourselves at the expense of following Jesus? Or maybe our struggles come from peer and family pressure. We’re not told, but you have to wonder what Zebedee thought of his two sons leaving him behind just like that. Was it with silent approval? Sheer disbelief? Speechless disappointment? How many times have we let others people’s reactions stop us from mentioning church in our weekend plans? How many of us have gone along with the crowd to do something we’d dare never talk about in God’s house?

As we looked to Jesus to help us listen to his call to repent and believe, so we look to him again to help us follow him above all else. When it comes to that fear of the unknown, let us remember what Jesus has promised – he will provide for all our needs and work all things, even the sad and painful things, for our eternal good. As such, we have no need to fear as we follow our Lord into the unknown.

When it comes to that selfish attitude, let us consider how Jesus put us first by giving his own life up so 3

Pastor Tim Patoka Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Get to Know Jesus: In His All-Encompassing Call January 24, 2021

that some might believe in him and have eternal life. As we imitate our Savior by putting him first, he continues to put us first in everything he does. When it comes to that peer and family pressure, let us remember how Jesus faced widespread rejection by most everyone and anyone he knew. No matter what other people think of us, there’s only 1 opinion that truly matters – and that’s God’s opinion of you. He says that you are his child, wiped clean of every sin, holy in his eyes, and bound for heaven.

As such, build your self-esteem and ground your self-image in God’s opinion of you and not in what others think of you as you continue to follow your Savior.

For that is what Jesus has called all us Christians to do – to follow him above all. We ensure our ability to follow him in the first place by practicing regular repentance that’s based in belief with its 3 steps: genuinely confess our sins, trusting in God’s promise to forgive, and living a life that tries to be free from those sins. If we do this, we will very likely remain in the faith and in God’s kingdom. As John the Baptist and Jesus preached this message of repentance and belief to all, so do us for our Savior has issued this call to all people, believers and unbelievers alike. As we hear how Jesus calls all Christians to follow him, we consider how we ourselves can do so in our own vocation. Whether it be the public ministry, essential jobs, working from home, or bedridden prayers, we can all serve our Lord wherever we are and however long we’ve been in the Christian faith. And while there are competing influences out there that want us to do anything except follow our Lord, let us instead imitate the 4 men whom Jesus called to full-time apostleship and be willing to drop and overcome whatever necessary so that we may follow our Savior as he has called us. Amen.

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