The Kingdom is Near

Text: Matthew 4:12-23

Focus: Calling

Function: To help people see the urgency of the times.

¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles—
¹⁶the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned.”

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Good morning to the beloved Children of God. May Christ’s peace fill your hearts and minds today and always!

I titled this sermon: “The Kingdom of Near” because of verse 17 whereby Jesus starts his ministry with the message that the Kingdom of God has come.

I want to warn you that this sermon is on the politics of love that Jesus taught and I repeat to you as often as I can because loving others is the greatest commandment.

When I say it is the politics of love, I am saying that it is neither left nor right, but instead it is going to focus on the teachings of Jesus.

I don’t want to offend the right, because I don’t want to lose my audience, but at the same time, I believe that these are desperate times and desperate actions need to be taken.

So let us look at the calling of the disciples.

I never noticed that Jesus began his ministry by himself and then called the disciples to his side.

Jesus was the Messiah which means the Anointed one from God who comes to set thing back to the right where they have gone wrong and where people are not being loved by others as Jesus commands.

Because he was anointed he was the one who began the change in human society that was so significant we started year zero to honor him.

And it is important to understand that his anointing came when he was baptized and the Spirit of God descended on him with a physical manifestation that looked like a dove.

The same Spirit that dwelt in Jesus dwells in us.

We have the same power to love others that Jesus had.

Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is at hand.

And again, his first sermon was on how his mission was to fulfill the promise of God from Isaiah 61 to set people free from the people who oppress them.

When he said the Kingdom of God is near, he was telling them God was bringing the change that come by the power of the Holy Spirit to transforming people from selfishness to being loving, kind, generous and full of mercy and living in the beloved community.

So, here is Jesus, on the scene beginning to preach a very radical message. Charles Krabybill one of our theologians calls it the upside down kingdom.

It is upside down because it reversed the social order and took a stand against the way people were being treated by those in power.

Jesus was a revolutionary.

We don’t know how long Jesus carried on his mission single-handedly before this passage and the calling of the apostles. Apparently, it was long enough for him to establish his identity in Capernaum after moving from Nazareth and in those days, that took some time.

And at that time he decides to call his disciples. Now, they were aware of Jesus and we see that from other accounts in the gospels. Some of them had previously followed John who was just murdered when this story takes place.

A cording to the text, it appears that John’s murder influences Jesus deeply.

It is at this point, perhaps realizing he won’t be here forever, that he decides to share the ministry with us and he calls the disciples.

And the thing that is awesome to me is the way they responded immediately.

They gave up their livelihood and decided to follow Christ. They chose to live by faith in God’s provision for them.

And when after Jesus died and rose again and those same people who left everything to follow Christ started the Church by the power of the Spirit of God they asked the same of the new believers.

When people joined the early church, they had a similar economic experience as the apostles who left everything to follow Christ as they then gave up their possessions to share them so that no one lacked.

They worked, they kept their jobs, they kept at their lives, but instead of hoarding as if they were afraid to trust Christ, they shared generously.

It was the Spirit of generosity that Jesus had taught them and they put it to practical use so that no one would lack.

The politics of love changed society and they began to share.

I don’t know what you call it except it was an ancient type of commune which they called “The Way” but the point was that it was completely and radically different from the economic structure of their day, and ours. The politics of love demanded that they share with those who had less.

And the apostles courage to leave everything behind and follow Christ is an example for us. They saw the right thing to do and they did it. And by obeying, when we read through the book of Acts, they were able by the power of the Spirit to do incredible acts because of their courage.

I mentioned at the start of the sermon that we are living in desperate times that contradict the politics of love.

We have Haitian brothers and sisters in the faith who live close enough for us to be involved who are likely facing deportation in an inhumane and that contradict the kingdom of God and the politics of love.

Perhaps God wants us to pray about how God to be involved.

Springfield, Ohio was a city in great decline until 15,000 Haitians, most of them brothers and sisters in Christ came and sparked life into the community. Philip tells me his Haitian workers at F&P are some of his best workers. They have that positive can do attitude.

So, I wonder what I, or even we, can do? I know that we are limited in our physical ability but Jesus told us to deny ourselves and pattern our lives after his model. God is always calling us to take part in Their radical love for the world.

I hope to find a way to be a blessing and a source of light and hope in this midst of this darkness through the politics of love instead of the world’s politics of division.