"Repent, See the Light" January 22, 2017

Isaiah 9:1-4 Matthew 4: 12-23 The last several weeks, in this Season of Epiphany, this time of witnessing life differently because God is With Us, we have read how John came from the wilderness, with the imperative: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” and all the people came to be baptized, because everyone knew their need for repentance. Last week, we read that the day after Jesus’ Baptism, John identified Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World” and two of John’s disciples: Andrew and James, followed after Jesus asking “Where are you staying?” and Jesus invited them “Come and See.” This morning, we read that after John was arrested, Jesus came from the wilderness, from Zebulun /Naphtali, preaching “Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” when he called the fishermen: James, John and Andrew and Simon, to be fishers of men. Why do we have two different stories about the calling of the same disciples? Why the emphasis on Repentance, what do we mean by “Repent?” is the Church really big on guilt, and Confession? Repentance and Guilt are not the same. To Repent requires we stop, which itself is a time of Sabbath. Sabbath does not mean Saturday, but a time of not continuing, of focus upon God, reflecting, rather than what we are doing, where we were going. Stopping to reflect, to consider other alternatives, and turn our lives around to God. Many of us live according to patterns similar to our parents, we may rebel against them, we may embrace technologies they never knew, but our sense of “Normal,” our right and wrong, our traditions, all came from what we knew. Repentance is actively considering, the way we have been living, the un-ending arguments we have had with our children, our parents, Steelers–fans. Structures we have followed have not worked, so are there other alternatives? Not that you have to feel guilt about those, but if they are no longer working for you, why not consider something else. In the Old Testament, Moses led the Hebrew people through the Wilderness to the Promised Land. As they settled, the Hebrew Tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali settled along the coast, interacting with people sailing from distant places. Because of storms at sea, flooding, because they were so far from Jerusalem, the rest of the Nation of Israel described Zebulun and Naphtali as people who dwell in darkness, who do not live in the light. It was a backhanded way, as people in Manhattan or Washington DC, might describe Upstate New York, because we do not have subways or skyscrapers. To live in darkness, is to live without the conveniences, to live with hardship. Metaphorically, any of us who have lived with darkness, with abuse, shame, unending anxiety in our lives. Seven Centuries later, the Prophet Isaiah described that a new vision has come, the Word of God has been Given to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali, the Light of God has been shown upon them, Zebulun and Naphtali are in the spotlight, in the headlines for all to pay attention to, not only because the Light of God is there, but that the Word of God in this time and place has overcome what was their darkness. John the Baptist united Repentance and Baptism, that part of Repentance would include a ritual cleansing, washing away our sins. When John was arrested, Jesus also preached “repentance” but instead of linking this to ritual baptism, Jesus recognized that people changing their perspective, naming their needs, asking others for help/asking God for help, was Repentance and a Call to Discipleship. The only occasion where Jesus demands, you must give up a practice in order to live life differently, is with the rich young ruler who must give away everything to the poor; in that act, and in the love of God, the forgiveness of Christ, the invitation to follow, we Repent and are called to See the Light. Early Christianity included personal confession in their worship of God, much like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting today. When Emperor Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity, this public Confession was changed to private confession to a priest. By the 13th Century it was required that believers make a confession at least twice per year, prior to receiving the Sacrament of Communion. In this congregation in the 1800s, Disciplinary trials for public dancing, swearing, drinking all were cause for excommunication, requiring repentance in order to be welcomed into the fellowship anew. In most churches today, confession has been replaced with counseling. With this shift has come a different understanding of Sin, as if there are particular acts and thoughts which are more sinful than others. In the early church, and in the Presbyterian Church, anything which causes us to feel alienation for God, anything which we hide from God, from one another and hide from ourselves is Sin. In an age of relativism, tolerance and acceptance, there is belief that everything and everyone is okay, instead of understanding that we each have differing perspectives, differing life experiences, and everything which to us is Sin causes us alienation from God, challenging us to repentance. In this way, Repentance is not a solitary act to be confessed before admittance, or re-admission to the kingdom of God, but life in this kingdom is a perpetual series of repentances. In this age, where few of us have any experience with Shepherding Sheep and Goats, Drawing Water from a Well, Planting a field of Seed, Wandering as a Nomad, living with Prostitutes or Leprosy, I am delighted that the image Jesus used for Discipleship is “Fishing for People.” I am especially delighted that within this Village, we have a Presbyterian Church across the street from an Anglican Church over a seawall from the Water of fishing. One of the greatest expositions of Fishing ever written, was authored by an Englishman named Izaac Walton, in a book titled The Compleat Angler. Walton was known for writing Biographies on John Donne, and each of the Anglican Theologians. But The Compleat Angler a book on fishing, describes Angles, and that in Anglicanism, there is a need to see the light through all the different angles, through our own experience of Life and our experience of Sin and repentance, which according to Walton comes through the Angle of Grace. The Presbyterian Church, comes from the Church of Scotland, in the lineage of Martin Luther not King Henry, and the Presbyterian Church instead recognizes the reality of Presbyopia! When our eyes become old, the lenses become fixed and often we can see neither distance, nor up close, and we need bifocals. Bifocals which allow us to reconcile both the big picture and the intimate. Our Call to Illumination and Litany of Confession this day, both dealt with the power of words and our need to listen to others’ perspectives. We live in troubled times, in which each faction, and we are factioned, have denigrated and insulted one another. We need as a Nation, as a people of God, to repent, all of us. To stop acting from the perspective we have been, and consider life differently. Part of the joy of fishing for me, is that you cannot always use the same kind of bait, throughout the day, in all seasons. Instead, sometimes in some places, minnows work best, at other times a dry fly, at other times a worm, sometimes the biggest fly, and other times, the tiniest. But to realize that we do not live in a world of our making, instead this is the Kingdom of Heaven. Wow! If anything does that not make you stop, and question what we are doing?