the reign and rule of god

​3rd Sunday after Epiphany – B                                                         LSB #’s 396, 856:1-2, 4-5; 830
Text – Mark 1:15
 
The due time is now fulfilled & the reign & rule of God has drawn near.  Repent & believe in the Gospel – now! 
 
THE REIGN & RULE OF GOD
 
 
A dog & cat are chasing each other  around the yard.  At one point,  the cat runs into the street with the dog in hot pursuit.   Neither one looks  before they fly onto the pavement   as a truck happens to be coming by.  There was no way the driver could stop in time.   Both the dog & the cat  end up  at the pearly gates. 
There sits God,  on His throne, & He asks dog, “Why should I let you into heaven?”  Dog replies, “I always fetched my master’s slippers.  I never chewed on the furniture.  I did not dig up the flower beds,  & I was always nice to the children.”  God replies, “Well done,  good & faithful dog.  Enter into the joys  of heaven.” 
Still on His throne, God turns to cat & asks, “Why should I let you  into heaven?”    Cat, glaring at God,  replies, “You  are sitting in my chair!” 
If you know what cats are like,  that joke  nails their personality,   & that leads me to wonder  what is your personality like?    I could frame the question this way, “How do you respond to the reign & rule of God?   Is it more like the dog  or more like the cat?   Is your spirit compliant & obedient,   or is it rebellious  & independent?” 
We celebrated Christmas  because Jesus was born in a stable  to rescue us from sin, death & the devil,  but not everyone reacts to Jesus in the same way.   In fact, the Bible describes two   personality types – believer & unbeliever.   Every single human being ever conceived  falls into one  of only those two categories – saved  or not. 
In the Gospel reading,  around 30 years after He was born,  Jesus officially began His
ministry,  & with that  the reign & the rule of God had drawn near.   Jesus offered the only appropriate response when He said, “Repent  & believe in the Gospel – now!”  (Mark 1:15b ESV)  Every human being reacts to those words in one way or the other.  There is no in between,  & the reign & rule of God is not optional  if you want to experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers. 
All of us have a rebellious spirit – our sinful nature.  Only through repentance are we actually alive.  Only through repentance can we participate in the joyous reign & rule of God.   Otherwise,  like the cat,  you see God as sitting in your throne.   Ultimately,  all unbelief is the desire to take God’s place.  The slogan, “My body, my choice” is a perfect example. 
God says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”  (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a ESV)   Jesus paid that price  in order that you might experience the eternal fullness of life that He offers.  “For the present form of this world is passing away.”  (1 Corinthians 7:31b ESV)   And if you reject His gift of a repentant heart  you will experience eternal death  instead of life. 
Jesus radically affects people.   Church leaders  hated Jesus enough to kill Him  because when you meet Jesus,  the reign & rule of God is undeniable.   Confronted with that reign & rule, it is clear to anyone who rejects Jesus  where their heart is at.   You & I may not see,  but they know.  They can feel the alienation & rebellion  in their bones. 
Out of love, Jesus said, “Repent & believe in the Gospel – now!”  (Mark 1:15b ESV)   He wants everyone to have life instead of death!   Being repentant   is allowing God to remain on His throne.  You are sitting in my chair,  is not the response of faith.  It is through the reign & rule of God that people enter the kingdom of heaven,   or   exclude themselves from it. 
Jesus Christ is the Word of the OT made flesh.  He is the new promised action of God (Isaiah 43:19) that gathers up the promises of the OT  & brings them to their final interpretation & conclusion.  Through Jesus’ conception in Mary’s womb, God invaded history in order to rescue us from Satan & from our own rebellion.  Even those brought to faith  are born inside the gates of hell,  but those gates cannot prevail against our Lord’s decisive action to save His people.  It brings our Lord great sadness that so many behind the gates of hell  refuse His efforts to save them.  Rather than repenting,  many people tell God, “You  are sitting in my chair!” 
People,  with the cat’s attitude,  feel that God is too demanding  even though Jesus gave His life  on the cross for them.   They’d rather have life  be about their own  reign & rule. 
Other people feel that God is not forceful enough.  In the OT reading, Jonah finally made his way to Nineveh.  He refused to go the 1st time he was called  because he knew that God is merciful.  Jonah wanted to see Nineveh destroyed,  not saved.   
In the NT, the Pharisees did not believe that sinners & tax collectors should be given mercy.  For example,  they wanted the woman caught in adultery to be stoned to death  as the Law prescribed.  Jesus, however, “…came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  (Mark 2:17 ESV)  Jesus would fulfill the Law  so that He could pronounce mercy & forgiveness  instead of death. 
In fact, Yahweh is reigning & ruling over our world right now  with mercy & forgiveness.  That is His choice of power  until the Last Day.    That choice doesn’t always make us happy either.   With the way our nation’s people are rapidly moving away from God’s Word,  we should be honest that at times,  we’d like to see a little fire & brimstone as well. 
In that, we’re in good company with some of Jesus’ disciples: “But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because He was on His way to Jerusalem.  When James & John saw this, they said to Jesus, ‘Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’”  (Luke 9:53-54 NLT)    That’s no different than Satan who loves to steal,  to kill  & to destroy. 
If Yahweh was reigning & ruling with power, instead of mercy,  He would never have sent His only Son to die  for your sin & for mine.  And since Yahweh is reigning & ruling with mercy & forgiveness,  that’s how we are called to respond to our world.  Do you remember the opening words of the Gospel lesson?  “Now after John was arrested…”  (Mark 1:14 ESV)  That’s the sign for Jesus to begin His ministry. 
The people who first read Mark’s gospel would have known that John was killed shortly after.  They knew that Jesus had come to suffer & die.  They knew as Mark records the calling of Simon & Andrew, James & John, to follow Jesus,  that He was calling them to die  as well.   That is how our Savior reigns & rules over His creation. 
Paul wrote, “For we know that all creation  has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”  (Romans 8:22 NLT)     Nothing in creation has escaped the horrible effects  of The Fall into sin.  So if God reigns & rules in power, He’d have to destroy everything including you & me.  St. Peter writes what will happen on the Last Day:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, & then the heavens will pass away with a roar, & the heavenly bodies will be burned up & dissolved...”  (2 Peter 3:10 ESV)   For now, God chooses to reign & rule with mercy & forgiveness in order that some might be saved.  And how are we saved?  Through repenting & believing in the Gospel. 
To us in the church, those words are so familiar it’s easy to blow by them & immediately move on with the action.  But what does it mean, “Believe in the Gospel”?  The Twelve disciples learned that in calling people to follow Him, Jesus was calling people to die to themselves, to die to the things & even the people of this world. 
We die to them because in reality, Jesus is calling us to the next world, to the world that will be re-created to all the perfection of the Garden of Eden.  God is fulfilling everything He has promised... so repent.  Turn back to God.  In this world, it could not be less glamourous or less glorious.    The path of the Gospel   is the path to the cross.   By God’s grace it will end in glorification,  but for now,  that is not the call, the journey, or even a dangled carrot.  Ultimately, it is simply God’s promise.  The decisive time is now here.  This is the fullness of time.  Each & every human being has their own decisive time;  their own fullness of time, to repent & believe. 
In Jesus, power came into the world that’s in conflict with the powers & policies of sinful flesh.  God’s reign in Jesus offers the possibility & opportunity to live by a different power & order  than that of culture, society or government.  Jesus expressed power & authority,   yet His life was characterized by lowliness & suffering which culminated in His crucifixion,  for us. 
He claimed power in lowliness,  victory in defeat,  control  in serving.   His preaching challenged & invited people to change their minds & come to trust & hope in God,  especially through weakness.  Jesus met people with the demand that they deal with the power of sin in their lives.  The treatment He prescribed was repentance & faith. 
Jesus not only announced the arrival of God’s reign & rule, but He set up the community in which    God reigns & rules.  On earth that kingdom exists only where there are people who believe in Him.  And if you believe in Jesus as Lord & Savior,  then wherever you are  the reign & rule of God is there with you.  And Christ will reign & rule even through your weakness. 
Living on this side of the cross does not modify how God works.  Living on this side of Easter does not change how God brings people to life.  His reign & rule is still a call to trust our Lord & His gracious work.  It is still a call to repentance & faith.  To repent & believe in the Gospel is simply  to receive life from the Creator.   It’s to accept His cure  for the disease of sin. 
For now, & for eternity, Yahweh offers that to believers  from His throne of grace.  It is a throne upon which God alone has the right to be seated.   If there are cats in heaven,  that is the one place  you will never see them sitting.  Amen. 
 
O Christ, who sent the Twelve  on roads they’d never trod    to serve,  to suffer, teach,
proclaim  the nearer reign of God:  Send us on ways where faith transcends timidity,  where love informs & hope sustains  both life & ministry.       O Christ,  the apostles’ Lord,  the martyr’s strength & song,  the crucified & risen King  to whom the saints belong:  Though generations pass,  our tribute still we bring,  our hymns a sacrifice of praise,  our lives an offering.  Amen.  LSB 856:4-5.