January 25, 2026 "It's time..."

Third Sunday After Epiphany

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

grace and peace to you

 from the one who proclaims the kingdom of heaven

 and calls us into relationship. Amen

How do we know when it’s the right time?

 The right time for something new,

 the right time to take a stand for or against something,

the right time to repent,

the right time to change?

Is it, as some have suggested,

 the moment when change seems less painful

than maintaining the status quo?

Is it when we’ve reached the point of nothing left to lose?

perhaps it is the point

 where we feel we must act for the sake of others

Or maybe something outside of us happens

 that changes the status quo,

that nudges us forward into a new reality,

one where it’s time.

Our gospel for today

is all about the time being right for something new,

 the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry,

 and the life of discipleship for those Jesus calls.

So far in his telling of Jesus’ life

 Matthew has told us how Jesus was born,

 and how his birth attracted both the right and wrong kind of attention,

 the visit of the magi,

the anger and fear of King Herod

who ordered the slaughter of innocent children

 to prevent this potential usurper from growing up,

 how the angel of the Lord warned Joseph in a dream

 to take Mary and the child to Egypt,

 and another dream that brought them back to Nazareth.

How John the Baptist emerged in the wilderness

 preparing the way for one greater than he to come,

 gathering crowds and preaching

 ‘repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near’

 and how that one was revealed

when Jesus came to be baptized by John

 and when he rose up from the water

the heavens opened and the spirit descended upon him

 and the voice of God was heard saying that he was well pleased,

from there the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness

 to be tested by the devil,

 a test he passed with flying colors.

All of which brings us to the moment

that Matthew tells us precipitates the start of Jesus’ ministry:

“When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee…from that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

What is it about the arrest of John that throws things into motion?

It could be something as simple

 as the fact that the movement John started

 now needs a leader,

indeed Jesus’ proclamation is the exact same as John’s.

 But given it is Jesus that takes over

I think it’s more than that,

 John sent to prepare the way for Jesus

shows him at the beginning,

 before the beginning,

of the stakes of what he is about to do,

 which is nothing less

than take on the human rulers of the world,

rulers who will use their power to remove anyone who challenges them.

By invoking the Kingdom of heaven

John stands in the long line of prophets

who have asked the question:

  “what would it be like if God were the ruler?”

 The kingdom of heaven evokes the vision of a new political order

 with God holding the power. 

Calling people to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”

 is calling them to turn away from human empires,

 claiming that it is God’s kingdom

 not Caesar’s or Herod’s

 that holds sway over their lives,

 that they are to live oriented toward God.

It is a call to claim the freedom from oppression

the way of God offers.

 But, empire doesn’t let go of those it has already claimed easily

 and will seek to remove the head of any movement that arises against it.

“When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee…”

Matthew invokes the fulfillment of prophecy

as reason for Jesus’ move

but John's arrest is also a sign of what is to come.

From the beginning Jesus knows the stakes of taking up this message,

and he does it anyway.

But he does it strategically,

 he moves away from the center of power to Galilee,

 where there is a better chance of building a movement

strong enough to carry on after him

 when the inevitable comes. 

And to do this he is going to need some help

and who does he enlist?

Organizers who are wise in the ways of social movements?

Scholars of scripture who know the prophecies inside and out?

Community leaders?

 No,

 Jesus calls fishermen,

fishermen in the process of fishing,

who leave their nets and boats and even fathers behind

when he calls out to them “Follow me”

Matthew tells us that their response is immediate.

How did they know it was the right time to make such a life altering move?

Was fishing that hard

 that any offer would seem better than fishing?

Some would argue yes,

scholars have noted that in the context of the Roman empire

 fishermen were at the bottom of the economic hierarchy

 and even as out of the way as Galilee was

 those who fished there were still caught in the economic system of the empire

 which required them to pay for permits to fish,

 and which taxed the fish they caught

and placed tolls on the roads that they had to travel to have the fish processed,) 

so many taxes they could never get ahead

 let alone the hard physical labor of fishing

(https://radicaldiscipleship.net/2015/01/22/lets-catch-some-big-fish-jesus-call-to-discipleship-in-a-world-of-injustice/) (https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2020/1/18/the-reign-of-heaven-salts-lectionary-commentary-for-epiphany-3

so yes perhaps any offer was better than fishing,

 and seen in this light they were the perfect people

to gather into a movement against empire

 because they had nothing left to lose,

they were already at the bottom.

Or perhaps they were the perfect people to call

because as Jesus will go on to teach,

in the Kingdom of heaven

the last will be first,

and here the last are the first called.

And maybe this was all part of it

but perhaps in the moment it was something much simpler,

 Jesus saw people he knew were suffering

 and offered them a way out of that suffering

through relationship with him.

The same scholars as before

 note that when we are told they leave their nets to follow Jesus

it is the same verb that elsewhere is used

 in the context of leaving behind the bondage of sin and debt. 

This is the mark of the kingdom of heaven,

 freedom from that which holds us back,

 from what holds communities back

 for the sake of abundant life for all, 

freedom that is offered through relationship with Jesus.

this what Jesus has come to do; 

it is who he is,

and it is through him

 that those who follow him

will find freedom from that which binds them.

And while Jesus will start a movement,

 and the disciples will become leaders that carry on after his death and resurrection

the most important thing is their relationship.

“Come and Follow me” Jesus calls

all he asks of them is relationship

he doesn’t ask them to believe anything,

 he doesn’t ask for a resume,

 nor does he really offer a solid job description

besides making them fishers of people, whatever that means. 

 because it isn’t a job he’s offering

it’s a relationship,

what they are called to is be in relationship with Jesus.

  yes they will have roles to play,

roles that will change over time

but what remains constant is their relationship with Jesus

 because the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of relationships-

where the greatest command is to love God and love one another

 and it’s love that will transform the world. 

And when we look at the world

and see all the ways it desperately needs transforming

even as the kingdom of heaven has come near

 and we wonder, what can we do?

And when is the right time to start doing it?

 Jesus points us back to the beginning,

where in the face of state terror

Jesus starts with relationships,

and it is through relationships,

actual human connection and care

that his movement will grow,

 as he teaches them, us, to love one another

as he loved us.

 It is because of his love for the world

that he will go to the cross,

through death to resurrection on the other side,

all for the sake of relationships.

I have been watching with horror and hope

what is happening in Minneapolis,

 I went to college in Minnesota,

and I don’t know if you know this

 but there are a lot of Lutherans in Minnesota

and the Lutheran world is pretty small

so there are quite a few people that I know

that are in the midst of a campaign of terror

 designed to turn people against one another,

 this makes me sick,

 but what gives me hope

 is the response that I see,

 that instead people are turning toward one another,

 they are loving their neighbor

by standing watch over the vulnerable,

by paying the rent of businesses at risk,

delivering groceries to those who are afraid to leave their homes,

 gathering together to pray,

the common thread running through these actions is relationships,

 this isn’t an organized movement,

it is people caring for their neighbor,

and many of them do this because of their relationship with Jesus.

It’s a relationship that he has called each of us to

and so, even in the midst of many questions

of wondering when the time is right

of what to do

we know who we are and whose we are

and that, as our prayer of the day said,

God’s lovingkindness always goes before us

and follows after us,

 summoning us to Christ’s light,

and we pray and trust that God is with us directing our steps

 in the ways of goodness that comes through the cross of Christ.

And if that doesn’t seem like it’s enough,

well, as Paul remarked,

the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Amen