Thomas J Parlette
“The Time is Fulfilled”
Mark 1: 14-20, 1st Cor. 7: 29-31
1/21/24
Just when everything seems as normal as it could be, just when life is humming along as usual, sometimes, something can happen that shakes things up – and suddenly your life is re-prioritized and start to think differently.
I remember back in 1989, an earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay area, causing the double-decker Bay Bridge to collapse. I remember it well because the quake struck during a World Series game being played in San Francisco that night. I was in my second year of seminary and I was watching the game in the basement of Alexander Hall, with a bunch of other students, some of whom from the Bay area. All of a sudden, the picture on the screen started shaking, and the announcers tried to explain what was going on – we were watching the effects of an earthquake live.
When the quake subsided, I remember watching an interview with one of the players – I don’t remember who it was. But he had been one the players who ran out onto the field and was frantically searching the bleachers. In the interview, he said that he did that because his family and young son were at the game that night and he needed to see that they were okay. Then he said, “Baseball just didn’t seem that important.”
It was an interesting comment from a professional baseball player about to play in a World Series game. His whole life had been working up to this moment, to these few games. He might never get this opportunity again. Before the earthquake, he probably would have ranked this among the most experiences in his life. And then the ground shook, and his priorities and perspective changed. Suddenly the most important thing in his life, didn’t seem so important anymore.
Events can intrude upon us that force us to re-evaluate and perhaps reorganize our priorities in life. What seemed most important to us – like work, sports and making a living, can take a backseat sometimes.
I think that happened in April 1999, as we watched the school shooting unfold at Columbine. Life changed after that. Going to school and what that meant changed forever. And we’re still dealing with the aftershocks.
I think that happened during the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. Life changed forever. Suddenly our priorities were different. The control we thought we had over life, suddenly gets up-ended.
I wonder if we have a similar moment in Mark’s passage this morning. Sometimes we think of Jesus as the one who strolls around through the beautiful Galilean countryside, offering teachings and sayings and parables to those who come out to hear him. He offers his compassionate touch when he heals people and sometimes you might get a picnic of bread and fish for coming out to see him. But Mark paints a scene with a bit more urgency than we sometimes expect.
Mark announces the arrival of Jesus saying that Jesus was proclaiming the goodness of God. Mark uses an interesting word here as he re-works the word usually used to describe an important announcement from the Empire. Right from the start, Mark positions Jesus as the harbinger to a new kind of empire, a new kind of kingdom, coming into existence right under the noses of the all-powerful Roman Empire.
“The time is fulfilled,” says Jesus. “The kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”
Notice that Jesus did not say – “The Kingdom of God is here.” No, he said, “has come near,” meaning it is not here yet, the Kingdom of God is not fully present. It remains our ultimate destination, the goal towards which we work – but it isn’t fully here yet.
In the novel Windows of the Heavens, by Henry Brinton, a Methodist pastor named Harley Camden reads his congregation a line from the book of Revelation: “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life… and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Then Harley turns to his congregation and says, “Begin with the end in mind.”
“Today’s scripture is the end of the story,” he says. “It is the goal to which God is moving, from the first day of creation to the end of time… God wants there to be harmony between water and cities, and between plant life and human developments… The city and the river and the tree of life all live in harmony. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Harley pauses to let that message sink in, and says: “Begin with the end in mind.” (1)
J.K. Rowling did that when she began writing the Harry Potter books. Rowling made pages and pages of notes on all the characters and their backgrounds. She always knew that Harry’s story would begin with Hagrid bringing Harry to Hogwarts, and she always knew what her ending scene would be. Not to give away too much – but she knew that Hagrid would be the one to carry Harry back to Hogwarts. She began with the end in mind.
So, let’s keep the end in mind as we begin the story of what it means to follow Jesus. The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom has come near. And the Kingdom will come near again at the end of the story. But for now, Jesus begins calling his disciples to join him on the journey.
He starts with Simon and Andrew, doing what they do every day. They are fishing, working hard to support themselves and their families. It’s what they have done every day of their lives. Jesus interrupts their humdrum, normal routine and says, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” At this point Mark breaks out one of favorite phrases – “Immediately.” Immediately they left their nets and they followed him. There is an urgency about this story as Mark tells it. He presents this as one of those moments that come out of the blue and re-prioritize your life. This is the kind of moment when the earth shakes and what you thought was important doesn’t seem so important anymore.
Next up, a little farther down the beach, Jesus stumbles into the lives of two brothers, James and John. They are fishermen as well – they are in the boat mending their nets. Immediately Jesus called to them and they dropped their nets and followed him. Again – an urgent moment of decision. As Mark presents it – you’re either in or out, there is no time to think about. All four of these fishermen could feel the earth move, they could sense that this was a moment when nothing else was more important than this decision. This is the moment when their lives were re-prioritized. The most important thing was not working and making a living – it now becomes following Jesus and committing themselves to a whole new way of life – today – now – as soon as possible.
Years ago, a couple in a Bible study group shared a story from their own lives that demonstrates what can when the new reality of Christ’s love intrudes on our lives. This couple was in the habit of leaving notes for each other all over the house. That’s not unusual – a lot of us do that. We have a sticky note on our kitchen counter that is running grocery list of everything we need. But these folks left notes for each other that said things like “I love you” or “I’m thinking of you.”
One day a plumber was doing some work for them and he happened to see some of their notes. He asked about them and the couple said that was just their way of letting each other know how they felt. Well, this plumber thought that was a pretty good idea and he decided he wanted to try that at home.
So, one day he left a few notes around his house for his wife and kids, telling them how much he loved them and how much he missed them. he went about his day, anxious to get home and see his family’s reaction to his notes.
When he walked through the door after work, his wife, his son and daughter were all sitting at the dining room table looking very serious and concerned.
“Honey, are you Ok? You left all these notes for us. We’re concerned. Are you dying?” (2)
The new reality of love breaking into our lives can be a little shocking. When Jesus calls us to follow, we may be a little shocked by what that entails, and it may catch people off guard.
Paul once wrote some words that many have found troublesome over the years:
“From now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
In answering the call of Jesus, life changes. All normal expectations no longer apply. The world expects itself to be constantly buying and selling, working hard and taking care of ourselves. We know that realistically, we still engage in buying and selling, grieving and rejoicing, working and playing. Those things are a necessarily part of life. But only a PART of life. They are not LIFE itself. Are life is to be found in God – who gives us the Divine self through his Son. That’s the Kingdom coming near – Jesus being here with us.
The German theologian Helmut Thielicke once wrote:
“At the beginning of World War Two, I stood in the bell tower of St Katherine’s Church in Danzig with the church organist. He sat down at the keyboard of the carillon to play a hymn on the hour. His mighty proclamation of the gospel rang out over the whole town. The bells beat upon my ears and the sound of their message so filled me that no other sound could intervene.”
“Far below, though, I could see people going about their business. They were building an air-raid shelter. The excavator clattered, drills hammered away and traffic surged along. No one looked up to listen to the music that was pounding in my ears and filling me to the brim. What sounded all around us up above remained inaudible down there amidst the noise of daily work.”
“Have we heard the sound that comes from above? We certainly cannot stop our machines. Nor should we try. But we can pay attention to the sound that filters through our earthly noise. For the air is full of promises, and we would lose everything is we failed to hear them.” (3)
Today, once again we begin our journey of discipleship.
Today is the day to listen to the voice of Jesus calling us to join him.
Today we begin with the end in mind.
The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God has come near.
We are invited to join Jesus on the journey of discipleship
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved 1/4/24.
2. Robert Elder, “Time’s A-Wasting”, Sermons on the Gospel Readings Cycle B, CSS Publishing Inc., 2008, p 72.
3. Resources for Preaching and Worship, Year B, edited by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p 51.
