New Year, New Hope: Mark 1:1-20 - Baptism of Our Lord

It was December 31, 1999, and I was at a friend’s house for his annual New Year’s Eve party. But I didn’t stay until midnight that year because it was Y2K, and just in case something terrible was going to happen, my parents wanted me at home. Thankfully, the computers didn’t explode, and the world moved on.

Nevertheless, at the new year, you really feel the seismic movement of time and the change that it brings, both good and bad. You want the year before you to be better than the year that has passed. But it’s hard to be optimistic in this day and age. You wonder: will things ever change for the better?

Fortunately, the answer to that question is yes.

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John the Baptist heralds the dawning of a new age. God has put on human flesh and come to earth. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near,” Jesus says; “repent and believe in the good news.”

photo credit: churchart.com

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I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word “repent,” I immediately think of street preachers and holy rollers carrying signs, hollering about the end of the world. “Turn or burn,” they say. “Get yourself right with the Lord or you will spend eternity in hell.”

But Jesus wasn’t making a threat. He was proclaiming a promise. To repent is to welcome the action of God which will revolutionize your existence.

It’s one thing to be baptized, to call yourself a Christian, to join the church, to be forgiven of your sin. All these gifts are free, no strings attached. But to accept them; to truly have Jesus in your life, is for you to be changed far beyond your imagination. Your mind, your heart, your priorities, your habits, your lifestyles, your goals, your ambitions shall be radically transformed. There is no reason for you to expect anything less from Jesus than to make you personally and fully involved in the dawning of God’s reign over all creation.

That might sound intimidating when you consider Jesus’s disciples, who left their jobs and their family when Jesus said, “follow me.” Still, nobody who truly gave their life to Jesus ever regretted it, because they didn’t follow Jesus out of guilt or fear or desire for personal gain. They followed because they saw in him the way to the Kingdom of God. They followed because they understood the emptiness and futility of a life without him. When they heard Jesus proclaim the Gospel, and when Jesus called them by name, there was nowhere else to go but with him.

There is no reason for you to expect anything less with Jesus in your life. It’s not a question of if Jesus will call you, but how and when and where and what for.

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In the Gospels, we see that Jesus often shows up when people’s lives are in ruins. Think of how many people came to faith in Christ when they or someone they loved was deathly ill or possessed by demons. Jesus showed up to people were despised and rejected by their communities. He gave people hope. He gave people purpose. He showed people that they had value.

Just the same, Jesus is going to show up in all the things that cause you fear and pain. He will be there when your best-laid plans fall to pieces and your hopes and dreams are shattered. Jesus will be there when you fail. He will defend you in temptation, he will forgive you when you sin.

When Jesus shows up, things change. People change. You change.

But this is where repentance comes in. Jesus will be there regardless of what you do, but you must face the facts. You’re a sinner. You need Jesus to lead you on the paths of righteousness. To repent is to stop living only for the things that matter to you and start living for the things that matter to God. It is to have your priorities, your habits, and your lifestyles radically changed. You will have to let go of your need to be in control and let God be in control. You will have to let Jesus write the story of what your future will be.

2024 is going to be a year of letting go as we enter into a relationship with Cross Roads and make hard but necessary changes to live into this new reality. The old, familiar ways of doing church are not going to reach new generations. We must be prepared to take risks and let go of the old to embrace the new. A church that’s following Jesus is one that is mercifully meeting the needs of the poor, seeking out the lost, and speaking the truths that many are not yet ready to hear. The way of Jesus will seldom be the pathway of least resistance.

You will not see Jesus if you are not regularly giving yourself away to the neighbor in need, if you’re holding onto grudges, or if you go along with the world’s pursuit of power and pleasure.

Day in and day out, you will need to look at all the things you have and the things you want, and ask, do I love these things more than Jesus? Day in and day out, you will need Jesus’s forgiveness not only for the sins you’ve committed, but for the strength to let go of the things that keep you in sin.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near,” Jesus says.

No one knows what 2024 will bring, though I’m certain it will bring hardship, suffering, and change. But Jesus will be there in all of it. With each passing day, we’re moving ever closer to the Kingdom of God. Go with Jesus, though, and this year will also be full of healing, full of growth, full of hope, and full of purpose. Repent, and believe in the good news.