Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 68

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."

A quadrennial year again invites us to settle into a state of crisis. On or before Tuesday, November 5, Americans will select their state and federal legislators and, by a more complicated electoral process, the next president of the United States. This particular election might be unique as we watch the same presidential candidates of 2020 square off against each other. But history does not repeat itself; four years make a difference;  and our choices will be different even if the outcome is the same. 

Today's scripture readings from Jonah, First Corinthians, and the Gospel of Mark contribute to our sense of urgency. Saint Paul fairly shouts at us, "I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out." We hear emergency in Saint Mark's repeated word immediately; and in Jesus's proclamation "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Jonah gave notice of forty days until Nineveh's utter destruction. He too reminds us that time is running out. Millions of people, alive today, will see no tomorrow. And many of them on this pleasant Sunday in mid-January, do not know it. 

Any civilized society must cultivate this paradox: we should plan and act as if tomorrow is just as certain as yesterday, but we should know that everything can change in the twinkling of an eye. Accidents are rarely foreseen, but they occur often. Most don't change anything, but some are irreversible and catastrophic. We build infrastructure for dependability; we create fixed incomes, warranties, and insurance policies to normalize daily life. But we also conduct emergency drills so that we and our loved ones will know what to do should a building catch fire, the earth tremble, or a storm assail us. More recently, we expect a shooter to enter our schools, churches, and shopping centers and we rehearse our responses. The NRA has won that contest and we might as well get used to it. 

Our religion too, cultivates the paradox. Religion is, by its nature, conservative. It remembers and honors the past; and insists that future generations be familiar with today's traditions. Our Abrahamic faith reminds us of God's immediate authority; he appraises our righteousness, condemns our wickedness, and overlooks nothing. The Lord remembers the fidelity of our ancestors; but he also recalls our sins even when we don't. The Lord can forget our righteousness:

And if the just turn from justice and do evil, like all the abominations the wicked do, can they do this evil and still live? None of the justice they did shall be remembered, because they acted treacherously and committed these sins; because of this, they shall die. Ezekiel 18:24

But Christianity also anticipates an extraordinary future, like nothing we've ever dreamed of. Jesus's preaching began with an announcement, a promise,  and a warning: 

This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Hearing the Lord's proclamation of great things to come, we do as his contemporaries did: we confess our sins and ask God's mercy.

No one can call themself Christian who is not aware of their sins, both personal and collective. We have sinned; we and our ancestors have sinned. We live and actively participate in sinful systems that exploit the earth and its people. Even if most of us are not wealthy by any standard, we support those attitudes, policies, and procedures that maintain inequality, even when they are arbitrary and cruel. We might say we have no choice, but this is the world we have created. And it's the world we give our children. 

Some would dismiss the crimes of the past as "history," as if they no longer mean anything, as if God should have forgotten that sorry business by now. But history is endless; we live within an unfinished story like fish in water. 

The prophet Micah recorded our whining and complaining, and our absurd helplessness in the face of our corrupt society. The people cry, 

With what shall I come before the LORD,

and bow before God most high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with myriad streams of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my crime,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

And he delivered the Lord's equally ferocious reply:

You have been told, O mortal, what is good,

and what the LORD requires of you:

Only to do justice and to love goodness,

and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8

As we enter this quadrennial year of decision, as the nations watch and wait for that fateful day in November, we hear the Lord's announcement, we remember our sins, and we ponder the promise of peace for those who do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with their God.