The Elvis Memorial Garden

Epiphany 3A

Matthew 4:12-23

St. Matthias

January 26, 2020

Recently I found an old post card I had been given years ago and thought I’d lost.  It wasn’t from a vacation.  It didn’t come in the mail.  This post card was handed to me almost 30 years ago at a new beginning.  It was my first Sunday as a priest and I was about to process down the center aisle of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Collierville, TN.  On the front of this post card is a picture of the Elvis Presley Meditation Garden at Graceland.  On the back was a note from the Rev. Reynolds Cheney, Rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis.  This was the parish who sent me to seminary.  Reynolds wrote, “Remember whose you are, and you aren’t the King.

Now I must tell you that every time since that Sunday, when I walk down the aisle of any parish, I remember those words.  On that Sunday morning many years ago – that postcard made me remember why I was there.  Today it’s the same.  Every Sunday is a new beginning.  It’s like saying that this Sunday – is the first Sunday in the rest of the Kingdom of Heaven.  God is speaking to us – calling us to remember that we are the Body of Christ.

This is what I think Jesus was proclaiming when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near.” Too often we hear the word REPENT and we immediately think its about sin – AND we don’t like to think about sin.  But the real message Jesus is proclaiming is that it’s really a new beginning.  It is the beginning of Jesus’s ministry in the Gospel of Matthew.  And when Jesus uses the word REPENT – he is literally telling the people to turn around – to start again with a new beginning – to remember whose they are – they are God’s children and Kingdom of Heaven is right here right now. 

This was a new kind of thinking for the Israelites in Jesus time.  They were pretty comfortable in their religions lives.  They knew when and where to go to Synagogue.  I will bet that 1^st century Israelites just like Christians today generally sat in the same pew.  I do believe that all Children of God tend to be creatures of habit.  And let’s face it – whether you are in a 1^st century Jewish synagogue or an Episcopal Church in 2020 – beginning again means making a CHANGE and that is about as popular as talking about sin.  “How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?  At least 4 – 1 to change the bulb and 3 to talk about how we’ve always had that light bulb and how much better the old light bulb was, and why did we need change.”  And then comes Jesus telling everyone to REPENT – turn around - start again - remember you are God’s people.

And the first 2 to change were Peter and his brother, Andrew.  We know the story – they were fishermen – and Jesus invites them to leave their nets and follow him.  Then it was James and his brother John who followed and it is tempting to think that the whole thing went exactly according to plan and that there were never any doubts and everyone was just thrilled that these 2 sets of brothers had gone off to follow this man Jesus who came claiming to be the Messiah.  But the Gospels tell us a different story.  There were doubts and troubles and things didn’t always go according to plan.  Peter couldn’t walk on the water, Thomas doubted, and all of the disciples wondered at one time or another if this was just too much change just to follow the Savior of the World.  And don’t you know their families and friends thought they were crazy.  But Jesus DID call, and the disciples followed and from a new beginning they witnessed the Kingdom of Heaven.  This was repentance.  It was change!

But imagine if the Peter, Andrew, James and John had said NO?  What if they had simply gone back to fishing and mending their nets?  Their lives would have forever remained just the same. They would have never seen the miracles, Jesus healing the sick, walking on water, feeding 5 thousand, or raising Lazarus from the dead.  If Peter, James, Andrew, and John had not followed they would have missed it all.

A favorite book of mine was written by John McQuiston, a Memphis lawyer, and the Senior Warden of the Church of the Holy Communion when they sent me off to Seminary at Sewanee.  One day, John realized he was going nowhere in his life – his spiritual life.  Yes, he was Senior Warden of the largest Episcopal Church in Memphis, a senior partner in a prestigious law firm, and a member of the Memphis country club. But when it came to his faith – John was at a standstill.  And then he heard the call of God to follow – to try something new – to begin again.  So he joined a bible study at the church.  It was at a most inconvenient time – he didn’t know anyone – he had never really read – much less studied the Bible.  It was an uncomfortable start to something new.  John says that soon he began to hear the voice of God leading him to a new ministry – teaching a children’s Sunday School class.  John’s children were grown – his wife thought he was crazy – but John shared God’s love with a noisy group of youngsters and found again that God still works miracles even in OUR lives.  The story goes on and John found that God always brings change when the Kingdom of Heaven comes near and we are the ones to make the change happen.  And the book he wrote is called Always We Begin Again!

REPENT – CHANGE – because the Kingdom of Heaven really is near.  Begin a new beginning and believe that God has something new for you.  If you think a post card will help, I’ll get you one.  If you want to start with changing a light bulb, we’ll get you one of those too – and hold the ladder – and I bet the new one – the changed one will be even better.  We may even see the Kingdom of Heaven right here at St. Matthias.  AMEN.