The warning of an approaching object or event is always important. We need to know what’s coming, what danger it poses, what action – perhaps evasive action - we need to take: and that of course is true whether we are talking about a tsunami or a visit from the mother-in-law. We need to know in order to be able to take effective action to respond to that object or event.
Sometimes the truth about approaching events or objects is kept from us, even deliberately, and they come upon us as a complete surprise. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history – was a surprise that should not have been a surprise. Had governments and businessmen listened to and acted upon the very clear warnings from scientists, even in the weeks and the days and the hours before it struck, it is certain that far, far fewer people would have been killed. But in the event, commercial greed won the day and over 230,000 people died.
In Matthew’s Gospel, the approaching event of such life-saving and life-changing significance, is the proclamation by Jesus of the coming of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ and of the action he expected people to take on hearing about its approach. He wanted them to know. And even though this message of his with, on the one hand its invitation to life and freedom, and on the other its warning of impending disaster and death, was central to everything he had to say and teach, few people really grasped what it was all about. Just as they fail to do today; which is why we need to remind ourselves or perhaps, in some cases, to understand clearly for the first time his wonderful invitation and his dire warning.
It is difficult in our modern West for people to appreciate the importance and the urgency of Jesus’ message because there is so much that blinds us to it: so many have been taken in by the attractions of the worship of wealth, of status, of success, and even self-worship, that his is not a message they want to hear: or at least whilst they may welcome the invitation, when they hear of the warning, well, it falls on deaf ears. And of course it has always been so when God, or his prophets, or his Son have spoken: there have always been those who cannot or will not see the light of his truth because they prefer the darkness of their situation. This is why we who call ourselves Christians are required – and it is a requirement, not an optional extra – to bring his light into the lives of others, into the lives of those who walk in such darkness. And the argument for that, for doing so, for bringing his light into the lives of others, is quite simply and none other than the Second Commandment - ‘to love our neighbour as ourselves’.
In Jesus’ day, anyone hearing talk of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ would immediately know that this meant revolution: it was a term that was used to speak of God coming to the aid of his chosen people in order to restore their political fortunes, and with God as the true king. But now here was Jesus not only announcing that the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ was approaching but, as we soon learn in his ministry, that it was he who was God’s unique agent in bringing about this longed-for kingdom.
However, the people also soon learned from him the uncomfortable and unpopular truth that not only was his kingdom very different in nature from the one they were hoping for but also that entry into this kingdom came not by right but by repentance. For those who had not obeyed God’s commandments, for those who had twisted religion or justice to their own advantage, for those who served the gods of money and materialism, they had better get their act together and ‘repent’, says Jesus. Yes, God invites you into his kingdom; yes, God is merciful and always willing to forgive – whatever our track record; but, says Jesus, we must ‘repent’ before it is too late. V17.
The trouble with this word ‘repent’ is that it is often misunderstood. People think that it is all about ‘feeling bad about ourselves’. It isn’t. It doesn’t mean that. It means ‘changing direction’, ‘turning round and going the other way’. We may well feel bad about we have done, or, just as importantly, what we have not done in order to show our love for God and neighbour, but how we feel isn’t really the important thing. It is what we do that matters, and what we do for him.
Jesus knew that his contemporaries were going in the wrong direction by seeking man-made political solutions to their problems rather than God’s solutions to their problems; and that on both a corporate and a personal level. Is it not alarming that in our day, politicians and businessmen increasingly try to exclude the Christian religion – on which our laws and customs concerning the treatment of people in this country are based – from the public arena; even from having any voice in the running of our society. And so we have seen increasingly over the last few years Christian men and women – magistrates, counsellors, doctors, nurses, and others forced out of their jobs for beliefs that are entirely in accordance not only with God’s revealed words about humanity and society but also with sheer common sense – by which I mean the rational and reasonable findings from empirical evidence; evidence that is refuted not because it is at odds with the facts but because it is at odds with certain dogmatic views and opinions – no more! – which are seen as having the greater authority in how we should lead our lives today. It is those such as these magistrates, counsellors, doctors, nurses, and others who are the true successors of the prophetic tradition, and in faithfully following Jesus calling us as individuals and as a society back to these words of our gospel reading.
This is why Jesus and Matthew (and St. Paul) make it quite clear that such disregard of God’s laws, such determination to find solutions to life’s problems without him will inevitably end in disaster – as happened in AD 70 with the fall of Jerusalem. For each one of us today we have to ask, in the light of Jesus’ call to repentance, some soul-searching questions of ourselves. We ask such questions not simply because we want to get right with God but because it was Jesus who put us right with God. He did so by offering himself to die on the cross and in so doing take away the barrier of sin that separates us from God. We ask such questions out of our love for him and for what he did for us. What we do for him demonstrates the authenticity of our love: when we turn from our sins and begin to go in the right direction we show true repentance.
So, what am I doing to extend the rule of the Kingdom of Heaven in God’s world? Have I accepted his invitation to new life and freedom, and ‘repented’, turned away from, those other gods I am tempted to worship or which seem still to have such a hold on my priorities in life? Am I actively seeking to bring the light of his gospel into the lives of my neighbour – whoever that may be? Am I willing to, have I, stood up for him and the values and principles of his kingdom publicly, unashamedly, sacrificially? Or am I actually still rather getting in the way by what I say and do or don’t do, thus preventing his light from shining in the darkness?
None of us is perfect and none of us can ever serve him perfectly: yet he is delighted when we take the smallest step in faith. He will give us everything – and I mean everything – that we need in order to serve him faithfully and effectively. Jesus, then and now, is not looking for good people but for effective disciples. In my experience those who are more concerned about their own imagined goodness are usually of little use to him; equally so I have found that his most effective disciples often struggle with flaws of character and behaviour which they know full well are a real issue. But that does not prevent them from giving themselves in faith, warts ‘n’ all, in his service and allowing him to sort out those flaws which we all of us have. Many of you know or have heard of Dave Carter, a reformed East End villain who set up and runs the Drop In Centre in the Medway towns for the homeless and variously needed. He is by no means perfect; I have found him crying over a harsh or inappropriate word he has just used, knowing how this has let his Master down. But that doesn’t stop him from carrying out the wonderful work he does. Why? Because he knows that forgiveness is possible and that his Master is both immensely gracious and patient; a Master whose work is far more important than his being overly concerned about any goodness or respectability of his own.
The great mistakes are either to think that being good is all that God is interested in – and how it makes me smile inwardly when I listen to the self-styled ‘good’ defending their self-styled goodness! - or that we are not good enough for God. He calls anyone and everyone (inclusion or inclusiveness were God’s ideas long before they became New Labour policies!); therefore he thinks that through faith in his Son, we are good enough. Why? Because faith in his Son shows that we know that we are not good enough, but also that we trust that he can and will change us for the good if we let him. As always, the choice is ours. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’, the kingdom and its King who offer forgiveness and life, life in all its fullness, life everlasting. Repent; welcome him into your life; make room for him; serve him; speak of him; stand up for him.
Don’t leave your neighbour in the dark.
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