On Ash Wednesday, I had the privilege to gather with some of our staff and leaders  for a devotion to start the day. During our time together, we looked at Jesus' first sermon of his ministry from Mark 1:15:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
You'll notice the sermon isn't very long. It's not overly complicated but packs a strong message that really sets the stage for the entirety of Jesus' ministry.
The first thought is this: the time of waiting is over. God has kept his promises. God's silence is over. God is here. God's kingdom wasn't just a thing of the past, of Israel's glory days under Moses or David. God's kingdom isn't just a thing of the future that we have to wait to come. God kingdom is here. God's kingdom is now. God's kingdom is in our midst. Jesus wanted everyone to know that God was on the move and what was going to happen would forever change the world. This is a great reminder to us today that even though there are times when Jesus might seem far away or silent, God is still God. He is still the King of Kings. He is still the Lord of Lords. He is alive and working in our world.
The second part of the message is a bit rougher. The call of Jesus is not only to repent but to repent and believe in the Gospel. Often times, as we hear that word "repent," our mind goes to a child who has just been caught in the act. They were doing something that they knew they weren't supposed to do when mom or dad walks in and finds them in the act. I think the technical term is "busted." What's the reaction of the child at that moment? Immediately they stop what they are doing. They say they are sorry. They promise to never do it again. They promise to try harder and be better. For many of us, I think that this is the picture in our minds of what repentance looks like. We turn inward and convince ourselves that we just need to try harder, do better, and make sure that we don't make the same mistake again. In this view of repentance, the onus is on us to fix ourselves.
This picture of repentance might be correct if Jesus had just said repent, but the next words change our focus completely. Repent and believe the gospel. Let's try a different picture entirely.
Imagine a time when something breaks around the house. Maybe it's a plumbing issue. Maybe it's an electrical issue. Maybe the washing machine breaks or the dishwasher breaks. What is the first thought that comes into your mind? "I can fix this. No problem. I'll have this taken care of in no time." So we grunt a little and go out to the garage to get the tools we think we need. And then we begin to take things apart to see what we are working with. We begin to sweat a little. A half hour passes. An hour passes, then two, three, four. We are still determined we are going to fix this thing. We can do it. Then there comes a point, and we don't like to admit it, when we look at the problem before us and realize we've made things worse than they were when we started. We come to a startling and embarrassing and humiliating conclusion: we are in over our heads. We can't do it. We are going to have to call for help. We lose faith in ourselves and in our abilities and have to put our faith in the professional. This is the call of Jesus. He wants us to come face to face with the reality that on our own, we aren't good enough. We have made a mess of things. We have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the only hope doesn't rest in me, but in Jesus. We can't fix ourselves. Jesus can and will.
That's the message of the Gospel. It's the message that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. It's the message that because of Jesus and His Cross and His resurrection all of our sins have been forgiven. It's the message that in Jesus there is grace and healing. The call to repent and believe the Gospel is to come to the end of ourselves and realize that we are hopelessly dependent upon God, and acknowledge that He is the only one who can heal us and make us whole.
This is what the season of Lent is all about. It calls us to realize that we are sinners -- broken people -- and it invites us to come to the end of ourselves and look to Jesus. Jesus came and did all that He did so that He might be our Savior. I pray God's richest blessings on you as you make this journey to the cross of Jesus throughout the 40 days of Lent.
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