Repent like Jesus not like Jerry Falwell
Scripture: Mark 1: 9-15
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
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Mark, famous for his economy of words, makes the first sermon Jesus ever preaches one sentence. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” I have heard no one hates a short sermon, but I would say this sermon doesn’t really land, there is zero impact…no new disciples and no angry mobs trying to toss him off a cliff because his honesty hurt their feelings. Mark is short, always short, and I wish I could say he was short and sweet, but mostly he is direct. So we have to look to Matthew and Luke for a little seasoning on this feast of words.
All of the gospels share some aspect of this story of John the Baptist in the wilderness, his voice and work are essential to understanding and probably why Jesus preaches a pretty similar sermon. John is in the wilderness, this thin space along the Jordan River, preaching repentance and then inviting folks into a ritual baptism to honor their intentions and call to this ministry. (Perhaps you remember my oddly timed sermon about John the Baptist on Christmas Eve and, if so, just skip ahead.) John is in the wilderness eating locusts and honey, wearing what I imagine to be a fairly uncomfortable garment made of camel fur and, not only is he reminding folks of God’s sustaining through nature (which is a fancy way of saying bugs and honey), he is inviting them to remember who they are as Jewish folks. The Jordan river looms large as the threshold into the fullness of God’s promise when they wandered in the wilderness leaving Egypt and slavery behind. And this moment is simple and intimate, just like the Jordan, which is not at all like the Mighty Mississippi and probably to our eyes resembles a creek. What is powerful is the statement that folks are baptized here for liberation and promise just like their ancestors when they crossed the Jordan. What is remarkable here is that John is preaching repentance and folks are lining up.
Even Jesus lines up and, while John in every story tries to get out of the job (sort of genuflecting to Jesus), Jesus is baptized and then the heavens open and the spirit descends like a dove and a voice which we might imagine as James Earl Jones says, “this is my beloved in whom I am well pleased.” And the spirit sweeps Jesus into the wilderness where he is tempted and tended by angels. Mark, of course, doesn’t give us all the details of Luke and Matthew about this wilderness time, but from them we can glean that the temptations are about having power, using power and being who the world wants you to be rather than following your call. Regardless of their differences, Jesus emerges to preach and teach and launches into a public ministry. This is where Mark places his first sermon: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
And of course the good people of the church see the word “Repent” and think this is how we start Lent. Lent is a season of waiting and preparation for the renewal of Easter. It is no accident that the Northern Hemisphere is possibly draped in snow and waiting for the signs of spring to break through, so we wait anticipating chicks and butterflies and daffodils, as we anticipate the renewal of our faith at Easter. Growing up, I watched folks give up things for Lent, like chocolate or sweets or perhaps meat on Fridays. Lent has sort of an austere history for some, where we give things up, practice piety and fast or abstain from just about anything fun. The movie, Chocolat, pretty much sums this up with an exacting mayor who is really living out his own pain and controlling everyone (even the Priest’s sermons) and, even though it may try the church in that story, it can’t stop the new life that comes from a little bit of what is sweet in life.
The truth is I didn’t grow up thinking much about the word repentance, I don’t really remember much conversation in Sunday School or Church, which doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened but if if did, I must have rejected it 100% in favor of songs about frogs and light. Where I did enter this language was FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) in late middle school and high school. There was a very clear message about repentance and that I needed to personally do it. Not wanting to raise any eyebrows, I read the room, which was everyone feels terrible and some people are crying…and went for it. It was this emotional landscape that I pretend, because this big list of sins just didn’t really seem to relevant to me. Like the Ten Commandments and the lists of vices they had just…well, I guess I thought murder and theft didn’t apply to me and the word “fornicators” didn’t really sound familiar. I think the conversations about repentance and sins could probably be summed up as, don’t drink, don’t do drugs and don’t have sex. Which, as a nerd, I can say I wasn’t really tempted or even invited to do anyway and now, as an adult, I can say these might be important conversations to have with young people, but attaching them to the threat of Hell is, well, to be blunt, abusive and actually using research-based education is more likely to succeed in teaching young people to care about their bodies and the bodies of others.
Reflecting back, I suspect that the lessons around repentance may have come more from Paul than from the Gospels. So if you will indulge me for a moment, consider Paul’s letter to the folks in Corinth.
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. ‘All things are lawful for me’, but not all things are beneficial. (1 Cor 6.9-12)
I, of course, have this verse underlined in my Precious Moments Bible except it was in NKJ (New King James) Translation, which matters with where we are headed because the word “male prostitutes” is translated as “homosexuals.” Eventually I did care quite a bit about what “fornication” was since FCA (and later the Navigators) suggested it might include any touching, kissing, heavy petting and/or sex before marriage. The truth is, this word - fornication or fornicators - appears six times in Pauline writings, five times in the Gospels and Acts and seven times in Revelation. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’ (Matthew 15.9). In Matthew and in Mark 7: 20-23 where Jesus is quoted as saying, “’It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” Jesus is taking to religious leaders about doing what they see as unclean and he is reminding them that what makes us unclean comes out of us, rather than the food we eat or perhaps even the folks at our table. So Jesus does say fornication, but what my FCA leaders didn’t mention or perhaps understand is this word shares the same root as “pornography” and “houses of prostitution,” it is rooted in the word PORNEIA. And it refers to a practice where folks are likely enslaved and would not have control, voices or body autonomy. This is not about consensual, mutual, loving sexual expression.
In his letter to Corinth, Paul uses the word Malakoi, which my high school bible translated to “homosexuals” and the word, Malakoi can have sexual connotations, but when it is used in the Gospels, it is used in regard to fabric, very fine and soft fabrics. What I saw translated as homosexual as a high school person didn’t really faze me because frankly I had no idea what it meant until college. Malakoi can mean lust or being taken advantage of by someone of higher social status. There is also this possible understanding that it means soft or lacking in self-control, weak, laziness, cowardice, spineless, unable to stand up for justice and unable to stand up for what matters. This word and the one to follow it relate pretty directly to a practice of young males, perhaps boys, often enslaved or of lower status being “mentored” by a more powerful adult male, which is really the next word arsenkitai that is translated as sodomite. This, like fornication, is listed among the sins of human behavior because there is a dehumanizing approach to another person’s being and body. What was translated in my little Precious Moment’s bible as homosexual is now translated as male-prostitute. And the truth is, for most of history, it was translated that way. No one translated this word as “homosexuals” until the mid-20th century as Americans start going on the offensive to root out “homosexuals.” Translations matter, which is why I always recommend NRSV, but is mostly why we all have to be wise enough to use our brains when reading the Bible. Before we leave this ugly space, I want to name that the word arsenkitai is used so rarely in ancient greek that some scholars imagine Paul making it up and, frankly, our translation of Sodomites can only serve as a reminder that Sodom’s sin was sexual assault, it was a display of power over vulnerable bodies for the point of showing domination. (If you want to read more, I commend you to Christina Richie’s article, An Argument against the use of the word Homosexual in English Translations of the Bible published January 1, 2010 in the Heythop Journal).
Repent in my young adult years was all about sex. The church loves sexual sins, probably because regulating sex requires so little of folks in power and give an opportunity to feel pretty righteous about managing other peoples bodies and self-righteous about their “good Christian marriages.” It costs powerful folks, frequently men, nothing to say, “those people can’t be married” or to carry signs around that say “Repent” at Pride Parade or Drag Queen Story Hour or Planned Parenthood and anywhere else they love to hang out. And, frankly, our Christian conversations that make sex evil unless you check these boxes are a part of our problem because we avoid the powerful conversations about loving our bodies and our partners with radical mutuality, consent and care.
Jesus is not obsessed with sexual sins and personal piety. If he had been, I don’t think we would be following him today. Nobody kills a leader for teaching people to do a lot of prayers and abstain from wine, chocolate or sex. He is focused on a faith that actually gets you in trouble with the status quo. When Jesus is talking about repentance, he is following John’s model and while Mark is short of words, Matthew and Luke remind us that John’s repentance was concrete. If you have two coats give one away, if you have a lot, you better share. If you are a tax collector, don’t take more than you should. If you are in the military, don’t abuse your power and be satisfied with your wages. In Luke, after his baptism and wilderness time, Jesus shares the words of the profit Isaiah and reminds us that his work is about bringing good news to the poor, release to the captive, liberty to the oppressed, healing to the blind and the year of our lords favor, which is an economic reckoning. This is all tangible and it might take some personal transformation to advocate for and live into, but the outcome is totally changing the world around you. When Jesus says repent, just like John, there is an individual response, you change but your changing isn’t just about you feeling good about yourself, it’s about you changing how you are a part of your community and inviting other folks to join you.
May we have the courage. May it be so. Amen.