What is Your Good News?

Epiphany 3, Year B
Mark 1:14-20

Together we prayed for God to give us what we need to answer readily the call of Jesus and proclaim the good news.

Together we just listened to two stories of God issuing a call and in one story – Jonah – we have a prophet who eventually – and with great reluctance – finally proclaims good news. And in the other story we have some fisherman – Simon, Andrew, James and John – who drop what they’re doing and immediately answer the call, to follow.

Here are the questions these stories raise – Why are we sometimes reluctant? Why are we sometimes ready? What is the good news?

Let’s work our way backwards. What is the good news? Take minute and think about that – what you would say the good news is? Would you say you proclaim it? Would you say you live it?

Gospel translates as good news. Well, we have four. Which one is it? At the top level we can say – the good news is simply Jesus. We believe that the revelation of God was made known in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is the good news.

Which takes us down a step to the question – who is Jesus? Well, each gospel presents a different portrait. Here we are in Mark and he is pretty particular about what the good news is. We’re in chapter one this morning and Mark’s gospel begins like this – The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. Everything that the writer of Mark is about to make known in these brief 16 chapters – is good news.

But just a few sentences later, we hear this – Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God by saying – the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent, believe.

The time is now. God is here. Turn and trust. (21st c. English) That is quite a powerful prayer. That is quite a starting place. Simon, Andrew, James and John are starting out. And guess what, they will start again and again and again.

I was once engaged in a friendly, albeit heated, debate with a family member about poverty and education. He was arguing from the position that everyone in this country had equal opportunity for education and if they didn’t do well in life, it was because they weren’t smart enough to take advantage of it. I was arguing from the position that the random fact of our birth family meant our opportunities for education are not equitable. My family origin afforded me privileges I didn’t earn, they were simply inherited. It was not a fruitful debate and finally I said, I guess you either start from the position that those who have, are called to help those who don’t – or every person for themselves. To which he replied – exactly.

For every decision, every choice we think about or make – we start from a particular vantage point – a specific value system.

This morning, Jesus offers, God offers a starting place. The time is now. God is here. Turn and trust. Simon, Andrew, James and John are starting. This act of dropping their nets and following doesn’t mean they are finished, souls are saved and they are done (cheap grace theology).

Dropping their nets demonstrates the choice is in their hands – we see the same with Jonah. A change of heart is only real if it changes our behavior.

From now on, for the rest of their journey – every circumstance they evaluate – every problem they wrestle with – starts with the good news. Starts at the truth the time is now. God is here. Turn and trust. Being born again is not a one-time event – it is simply starting from that trust again and again.

And then what does Jesus tell them to do? Is it something specific like, grow the church, feed the poor, solve all the problems in the world? No – Jesus simply says, follow me. If you believe - the time is now, God is near, turn and trust – then follow me, Jesus says. Follow me.

Mark’s gospel then goes on to describe what following looks like. They follow Jesus into the synagogue where he breaks rules that get him in trouble. Following Jesus means upsetting the apple cart to heal people and liberate them from systems that are sick, systems that oppress.

The follow Jesus into the crowds of hungry people who want to hear some good teaching where Jesus has compassion and finds a way to feed the masses. Following Jesus means going to those who are hungry and figuring out how the hungry can be filled.

They follow Jesus out onto the water in the midst of a storm and totally freak out. But Jesus is there. Following Jesus means setting out in our proverbial boats on rough seas, when things are stormy, and trusting that Jesus is right there with us too.

They follow Jesus early in the morning into the darkness to learn to pray. Following Jesus means taking time out of the busyness of our lives to be quiet before God and pray.

They follow Jesus into homes and places where he teaches them in private. He tells them weird stories we call parables to explain what the kingdom of God means. Following Jesus means the Christ-centered community takes time to be together (like we’re doing right now) to grapple with these same teachings and figure out what the kingdom of God looks like in our time.

So if you’re wanting to follow Jesus – take a look at the back of your bulletin. Our “announcements” are really invitations. If you want to follow Jesus to support a family in their grief, help us support the Palermo family.

If you want to follow Jesus to where people are hungry and waiting to be filled, help us increase the volunteer team that serves the people of Paul’s Place.

If you want to follow Jesus to be with God, then consider meditating on scripture or a story from your own life and share that story with the people of this place in our Lenten book.

If you want to connect with others who are seeking Christ, then meet your fellow parishioners at our coffee hour this morning. Get to know the people of this Christ-centered community.


Delving into new “things” can be a little scary, but in Mark’s good news pretty much every time the disciples follow Jesus they are – amazed and terrified. When God’s reign breaks into our world – it is incredible and it is scary. There isn’t always a clear plan. Following Jesus is accepting the unknown and repeating to yourself – it’s ok, because the time is now. God is here – so I’m going to turn and trust.

God helps us with the following. But the starting place, the change of heart – is up to us.


Someone said something really interesting to me this week – she said, there is a difference between something being finished and something being complete. What do you think about that? For me, it really resonated. I can have a finished sermon – but that’s really different from having a complete sermon. I can finish my dinner – but that’s different then eating a complete meal. And in the more profound sense – I have been with people who feel they are finished – and I have been with people who feel they are complete. Personally, that’s what I crave in my life of trying to following Jesus. And I think our starting place has a lot do with our sense of completeness.

What is your starting place? Can you proclaim it? Is it good news? Do you believe the time is now – God is here – turn and trust? And if so, do you hear Jesus’ invitation to follow? This morning do you want to? Or are you feeling more like Jonah – reluctant to accept the good news of God’s love and forgiveness for everyone?

One last thing – the good news of Mark’s gospel doesn’t finish – the original ending – chapter 16 has the woman following Jesus to an empty tomb where an angel says – hey! Get going. Jesus is ahead of you, he has gone to Galilee (i.e. he has gone back to where this whole thing started). And it says they left terrified and amazed. But they must’ve done what was told them because this good news got told and has been catching people in God’s net for thousands of years.

God is here. The time is now. Turn and trust.  Amen.

- The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks