“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Jesus?!?

Well that is unexpected! The beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Mark seems to start in a very ‘un-Jesus’ way.

Repent! Believe!

We tend to, especially in the more liberal, mainline Churches, focus on the forgiveness, love, and compassion side of Jesus. The loving the sinner, welcoming the outsider. This is the Jesus of the good Samaritan, The Gerasene demoniac, the prodigal son, the woman at the well, and so many other powerful parables from scripture. As a result, we don’t always know how to react when presented with the repent and return Jesus we see here.

But can there be forgiveness without repentance? Doesn’t the prodigal son have to first return home? The good Samaritan to cross the street? I know Christmas has just ended, but we are only weeks away from Lent, the perfect time to consider a ‘return’. So I invite you to return to Church, return to a life in Christ, and return to deepening your relationship with the divine. It may not seem like quite the right time, but then again, when is?

Yesterday’s snow day was a great example of this. Did I have all the snow gear ready? No. Did I even have a pair of gloves that fit me? Also no. But it was time to go out in the snow because when else might I have an opportunity to play in the snow with my kids? We don’t exactly get a LOT of snow around here! So I went out for snowball fights, and shoveling and sledding, not because I was prepared, or even because I wanted to! But because this was the moment.

Maybe this is your moment; to repent and return, to profess and believe, and to turn towards each other and love.