Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
God is calling you. God is calling you right here, right now. How do you respond? Little by little, God is calling you to a new love. A new joy. A new peace. A new patience. A new kindness. A new faithfulness. A new hope. How will you respond?
To answer that question, let’s take a closer look at the call of Jonah and the call of Andrew and see what we can learn about our call.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
Jonah 3:1
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.
When God called Jonah for the first time, Jonah ran away. He boarded a ship and sailed to Tarshish. The ship was plagued with storms. The sailors cast overboard all the cargo just to stay afloat. They cried out, “Why is god doing this to us?” Jonah responded, “God is doing this because I did not answer his call.” The sailors then cast Jonah overboard.
A large fish swallowed up Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days. The fish spit him out on the shore of Nineveh.
God called Jonah a second time. Jonah answered the call and carried God’s message to the people of Nineveh. He saved thousands.
Two lessons. One. When God calls and we run away, life becomes very difficult. Life becomes difficult not only for us, but for the people around us. Two. When we do answer God’s call, God is able to send a flood of grace through us into the world. Jonah was able to save thousands.
This is the time of fulfillment.
Mark 1:15
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.
The call of Andrew and Simon also has some important lessons. Imagine Andrew, sitting on the shore mending his nets. He sees Jesus coming from a distance, the sun at his back. He squints and watches the silhouette grow larger.
Andrew and Simon had heard that John the Baptist had been arrested, handed over to the authorities to most likely be tortured and killed. With this in mind, they hear full the impact of the words of Jesus.
“This is the time of fulfillment.” John is gone. Jesus is taking over the message.
For Andrew, I imagine it doesn’t come as a surprise. Scripture doesn’t say, but it would be easy to speculate that Jesus had passed by many times over his thirty-three years of life. I can imagine many campfire discussions about the kingdom of God. God’s reign will restore justice for the oppressed, liberty for the captives, hope for the hopeless, and a peace beyond understanding. I can imagine the hope it brought these poor, oppressed fishermen.
“This is the time of fulfillment.” There are two words in Greek that are translated “time”, Chronos and Kairos. Chronos means chronological time on a clock or a calendar. Kairos is moment filled with significance. The word in the gospel is Kairos. It’s a moment that changes everything. A birth. A death. The pandemic. Jesus says, “This is the Kairos of fulfillment”, the moment where God begins to turn an upside-down world right-side up.
Jesus continues, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” What was hopeless now seems possible – not only in the world, but the heaviness in the lives of the people. There is a future unburdened by the current pain and the sins of the past.
Jesus continues with the mantra of his cousin John: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Repent in Greek is metanoia. It doesn’t mean to be sorry for your sins, as we commonly think of the word. It means to change. Specifically, to change your heart. Repent. Change your heart.
Likewise, “believe” doesn’t mean intellectual assent. It means to commit your life to this belief.
This is what Andrew might have heard: “This is the Kairos of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand – a kingdom which restore God’s order to universe. Change your heart, and commit your life to this Good News.”
Jesus then concludes with the words Andrew had been expecting and maybe dreading “Come after me…” If I am Andrew, I don’t get up immediately. I tighten the knots on my nets. I look for more holes to patch. I ponder what I should do.
Andrew abandoned his net and followed Jesus. Would I?
~
Jesus calls you, right here and right now. He calls you from the knots of fear into a net of new love. From the knots of discouragement into a net of new joy. From anxiety into a new peace. From selfishness into a new generosity. From doubt into a new faith. From the knots of despair into a net of new hope.
Right here, right now Jesus says to you: “This is your Kairos of fulfillment. The kingdom is near. Little by little, make changes in your heart. Commit your life to the good news.” Each day, he asks the central question. “Will you follow me?”
If you say yes, then like Jonah, you allow God’s grace to flow through you into the world around you. And that’s how you will become fishers of men.