1/23/11 - Epiphany 3 - Matthew 4:12-22

THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE

John the Baptist had done his job well. You remember what he was assigned to do, right? He was to be the one who was to prepare the way for Christ. He was prophesied as the forerunner of the Savior, the man of God who would “make straight paths” for Jesus to preach the gospel according to the prophet Isaiah. And that’s exactly what John the Baptist did. He preached upon the pulpits of desert sand dunes; he instructed both Christians and hypocrites; he baptized in the dirty waters of the Jordan River; he washed Christ himself with the water and the Word; he witnessed the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of dove while the Father spoke from heaven; he pointed his supporters to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And when his work of preparation was done, after the Lord had determined that John’s ministry had come to a close, this older cousin of Christ was arrested by King Herod. And there in prison he would sit until his death by beheading. His work was done. His assignment fulfilled. And the stage had been set for Jesus to reveal himself to the world. And so:
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali — to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Jesus lost no time after John was arrested by Herod. He went right to work. But he didn’t go to Jerusalem in order to set John free. And he didn’t spend his time writing to John so to encourage him during those difficult times. Instead he immediately went to Nazareth where the gospel writer Luke says that he was forced out by the people who knew him best. He then went up to Capernaum and began preaching to the people there, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” And there, while in that area, “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Jesus lost no time. He instantly began spreading the Word, gathering faithful followers, and searching out those people who needed to know why he was there in the first place. John the Baptist had set the stage for his ministry; and Jesus was not about to lose a second in spreading the gospel now that the time had come.
The stage has been set for out our ministry as well: Christianity has been established for a long time in this country by those who came before us; we have personally been brought to faith through the Word of God because of our parents or our friends or our relatives; we have been instructed in the Word of God and we know what his Word clearly says; we have been placed in a situation in life that is filled with souls all around us who are unaware of the danger that their own sins have put them in and, more importantly, what Jesus has done with those sins… And so what are we going to do? Are we going to lose precious seconds now that the time has come? Are we going to sit on our hands now that everything is in place? People need to hear what we have heard. People need to see what we have seen. People need to believe what we believe. We have what they can’t live without. And if they don’t get it, they will not survive the passage from this life to the next. There’s no time to lose. There is no time to lose.
When Jesus realized that the preparation for his work was finished by John, he went to Nazareth right away. Why? Because that was where he had grown up and he undoubtedly knew many people who still lived there that didn’t know the gospel! Relatives, family members, neighbors, former classmates and co-workers. And so he did not waste any time going to them first, whether they would listen to him or not. He was going to share the Word of God with those he knew were lost, even though they ended up trying to throw him off a cliff for it. There is no time to lose with those you know either: your neighbor who doesn’t seem interested in this whole “religion thing,” your relative who hasn’t gone to church in quite a while but who knows better, your friend who respects your convictions but doesn’t necessarily agree with them and certainly doesn’t want to talk to you about them… Go back to your Nazareth and talk to those people you already know, those you live among, those you work with, those you see on a regular basis. There’s no time to lose. They have to come into contact with the gospel. And they have to be connected to it through you because who else is going to do that for them! Who else knows what the gospel says and cares enough about them to share it? We’ve got to get on the ball here! We’ve got to start doing what we have failed to do in the past!
It’s scary to think how many opportunities we have let slip by in our lives. Think of all the people you have ever known. Think of all the unbelievers that you have crossed paths with and who might still be part of your life. Think of how many times you could have said something but you didn’t, how many times you should have said something but you shied away, how many times the Lord gave you an open door to invite and encourage them to hear the gospel but how many times you let the conversation come to close without sticking your foot in that door. Where are those people now? Do you even know where they live? Are some of them even still alive? Will those people that are still in this world end up in heaven like you hope they will or is that too much to ask because you have never shared with them the only thing that will get them there?
Throughout my childhood we had plenty of kids around my age moving in and out of the houses on my street. I got to know many of them over the years and spent a lot of time over at their houses. But as far as I know, none of them ever went to any church at any time. And when I was about twelve years old or so, I don’t remember if it was after a Sunday sermon on evangelism that I had just heard or a Bible history lesson about evangelism at the Lutheran elementary school I attended, but I came home that day determined to share my faith with a kid that lived across the street from me and a couple doors down. His name was Brian Metzger. He was my age and we had oftentimes gotten together to play basketball or football or baseball. And so I walked over to his house and asked him if he wanted to grab his glove and play catch. And as we were throwing the ball back and forth in his front yard, I tried to open up that kind of conversation. But it was difficult for me to do. I stalled and I balked and I beat around the bush and finally I think I asked him if he knew how this world came into existence. He simply responded, “I don’t know,” with a shrug of his shoulders. And strangely enough, I wasn’t prepared for that answer. I expected that he would either say that the Lord created or that it wasn’t created at all because it just came about by chance through the Big Bang and evolution over millions of years. And so I thought about it for a minute or two and eventually muttered, “I think… I think… I think that God created it.” And by the time that was out of my mouth one of my brothers was calling to me across the street that it was time to come home. The conversation was done. We both went back to our own houses. And we never talked about anything like that again.
Brian and his family moved away not too long after that. In fact, I’m surprised that I even remember his name. But that moment sticks in my mind because I was so set on sharing the gospel, I was so intent on encouraging someone who didn’t know their Savior to see him for the first time, but I never did. I had waited too long. And I missed my chance. I had even made an opportunity to bring someone into contact with the Word of God, but then when the Lord actually gave me a chance to do it, I let it slip away.
There’s only one comfort for something that. There’s only one comfort for all of those missed opportunities that each one of us has let slip away in our lives. And that’s the comfort of knowing that Jesus did not miss the opportunity to forgive us. He made use of every opportunity. And not only that, he didn’t just wait for opportunities, he didn’t just sit back and take action only if something fell into his lap; he made his own opportunities. He sought out ways in which he could fend off Satan’s temptations for us and shoulder the ridicule of our enemies for us and be tortured by his Father’s hate for us. He knew about the cross and he knew about the pain and he knew about the sacrifice that was right around the corner; and he headed for it! And he didn’t hesitate and he didn’t stall because there was no time to lose! He had to get it done. And he had to get it done right. Our lives depended on it.
And he certainly didn’t miss the opportunity to get that message of the gospel to you personally, did he? Many of you were contacted with the power of God’s Word through baptism already as an infant during the first couple weeks of your life. Others of you were brought to meet your Savior as a child in Sunday School. Others of you may have been brought to faith in your Lord later on in life - but that certainly isn’t because of the lack of the Lord’s effort with the words of God about forgiveness and salvation and eternal life before that time! He was coming to you, he was trying to get your attention through his Word in various ways, it just didn’t break through that crusted, calcified heart until later. But the Lord kept working at it. The Lord kept chipping away. The Lord kept utilizing every opportunity that he could imagine so that you would one day be brought to faith in him. He wasn’t going to stop until you were part of his family. And now that you are, he won’t stop until every member of his family comes home. That’s the comfort we have when we fail to share this gospel message with others: we’re forgiven. We are loved. And we will be taken home.
It’s interesting that right at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry in this world he immediately enlisted the help of others. And he did that because Jesus knew that he only had a short amount of time for mission work from when he started his ministry until he would be crucified. He knew he needed to talk to as many people as possible. And he knew he could never talk to enough. And so he grabbed Peter and Andrew. And then James and John. And then eight other followers that would help him relay this message. He not only wanted to train them for the time after his ascension; he wanted them to help him right away. There was too much to do. There were too many unbelievers to search out. And there still are.
Look around you. You are not alone. You have brothers and sisters right here that share that same faith in the forgiveness that Jesus has won and that have that same passion for the lost who don’t know about the victory. We are here to help you and support you, back you and stand by your side. But you can’t wait for someone else to do it for you. You can’t depend on someone else to speak to people that you know. You can’t rely on me to talk to everyone that comes into your life. And so I want you to think ahead: How many unbelievers or how many struggling Christians that don’t have a church “home” are you going to run into this week? Count them up: the neighbors you will talk to, the friends you will visit with, the co-workers you will see, the grocery store clerks and the bank tellers and the relatives you will interact with in the next 7 days. How many opportunities are you going to have? How many opportunities are you going to take? Invite them here and offer to give them a ride. Give them something scriptural to read and to ponder. Encourage them to attend a Bible study with you. Simply ask them about what they believe and then share with them the joy you have in your Savior. It’s not always going to be easy. And it’s not always going to be a “success” by human standards. But something very unpleasant and unfortunate might happen if you don’t at least give it a try. On the other hand, something wonderful will happen when the Lord works on their hearts. That’s an exciting and a very real possibility. The time is now. And there’s no time to lose.
Amen.

“May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - 2 Thess. 1:12