THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

January 21, 2024

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Warwick, R. I.

 

 

Jonah 3:1-4, 10; I Cor. 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

 

 

One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is the one that we’ve just heard in the Gospel: “After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the good news of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”

 

We’ve probably all heard many times that the word “gospel” comes from the old English word meaning “God’s message,” or “good news”—and this verse uses the word Greek word meaning “gospel” or “good news” not once but twice. 

 

The point is that any announcement from God is always good news! For God himself is infinitely good, all his works are good, and for us, his people, he desires only good.

 

Even the message from God that Jonah proclaimed to the people of Nineveh— “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”—was in its own way good news and the promise of hope. Prophetic warnings of God’s judgment always contain within themselves the invitation to repent and return to the Lord, which is precisely what the people of Nineveh did in response to Jonah’s preaching.

 

Today’s readings remind us that God enlists human agents, like the prophet Jonah in the Old Testament, and the disciples Simon, Andrew, James, and John in the Gospel, in the work of proclaiming and sharing the Good News. As our Lord says to Simon and Andrew: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

 

Furthermore, both the Good News itself and the call to share it are life-changing. In today’s Epistle reading from Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Saint Paul calls his readers to a complete reordering of priorities in the knowledge that the time is short and the form of this world is passing away. At the preaching of Jonah, the Ninevites repent of their evil ways with fasting and sackcloth. At the Lord’s call, the fishermen Simon, Andrew, James, and John drop everything, leaving their boats and their nets, their homes, occupations, and livelihoods, to follow him. Such is the power of the Good News. It’s a complete game-changer.

 

The Collect of the Day wonderfully sums up all these themes: “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and all the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works …” So, today’s Collect and readings together invite and challenge us to consider how we might be called to hear and share the Good News, not only as individuals, but also in our families, communities, and, not least, in this parish church.

 

For the Good News is not only about the great things that God has done in the past—creating the universe out of nothing, reconciling a fallen world to himself in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and giving us the hope of eternal life and glory in the world to come. Sunday by Sunday, and day by day, the Church throughout the world celebrates these mysteries of faith until the Lord returns.

 

But the Good News is also about what God is doing here and now, in this place, and in this community. So, here’s something to think about in the coming days: If someone were to ask you to share the Good News of what God has been doing here at St. Mark’s, Warwick, Rhode Island, how would you answer?

 

Well, having been here among you nearly three months now, I think I can offer one or two observations that I hope will be helpful. First, rest assured that God has been doing, and he will continue to do, wonderful things in your midst. Hold on to that assurance, and don’t let it go.

 

In June, you bade farewell to your beloved rector of fourteen years, Mother Susan, and many here are still grieving her departure. That’s normal and to be expected. Fourteen years is a long time. The average tenure of a rector in the Episcopal Church today is six years. So this parish has been blessed.

 

The interim period between rectors can be unsettling and maybe even a little scary, but it also contains exciting possibilities. During this time of transition we all have the opportunity to reflect at length on the questions that I’ve just posed. What wonderful things has God been doing in our midst? What unique gifts has God distributed among us? And how might we be called now, and in the coming years, to develop and share those gifts? By seeking the answers to these questions, we open ourselves to receiving the grace to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation so that that all the world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works.

That may seem a tall order, and it probably is. But don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time in the coming few months to consider, pray over, discuss, and come to new insights on these questions. So, be not afraid.

 

What I will say now, however, is that it’s crucial not only to ask the right questions, but also to ask them in the right order. The questions that we naturally want to be asking first are: What do we need to do to help this parish survive, grow, and prosper in the years to come? And what kind of new rector do we want to help us make that happen? 

 

Valid and important as those questions are, the problem is that they’re all about us. And the questions of top priority really need to be about God. Not what do we want, but what does God want for Saint Mark’s? What kind of parish is God calling Saint Mark’s to be? And how might God want to use Saint Mark’s to serve his purposes and further his mission in the world? Seek the answers to those questions first, and the rest will fall into place. God will be with us, and in his own good time he’ll reveal the way forward and send the right person to be this parish’s next rector. And that, I believe, is the good news that I’ve been called to share with you today.