Call them out of darkness with the message of repentance, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!

Walking backwards is dangerous. Walking backwards is dangerous because it is like walking forward with closed eyes preventing you from seeing obstacles and dangers and passing by good things. Walking backwards is also dangerous because we may presume what has passed by is the same as what is coming ahead.

Texas weather reminds us how in the dark we are about the future. A month ago, it was in the 70s for Christmas. A few days ago, it was in the 50s, and today there is snow and ice. The weather alone reminds us that there is no certainty when it comes to the future, but so many other uncertainties make the future darkness. We have no light to shine into the future to reveal what will happen, which fills us with a feeling of foreboding. We may look back at blessings hoping they will continue into the future, but we do not know. Or we may give up moving forward in areas of life or relationships because the way has been difficult when just a little further would have brought blessings. Knowing the future and being able to see the path ahead clearly escapes all of us as we search in darkness.

Knowing the future made Jesus unique from anyone else. Jesus knows all things as God; past, present and future are clear to him. Equipped with this knowledge Jesus knew what our world needed to hear so that they could be rescued from the only future we know in this world, death. Benjamin Franklin is famous for using the phrase ‘death and taxes’ as being certainties in this life. We may have strong feelings about both, but death is worse and more certain than taxes. Though a dark subject, death comes for all of us in this world as well as an end to all the things, tasks and relationships we have. The wisest man ever to live, King Solomon, was guided by God to write in Ecclesiastes 3,

20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

Life is empty when death is the future, but Jesus shared what he knows about the future with us. There is life after death and an eternal heavenly kingdom, so our future does not have to end with death and darkness.

Jesus has enlightened us, but there is still darkness in our future. As with those who walked with Jesus, we have been saved from the darkness through Jesus. In our Gospel reading from Matthew 4, we hear about Jesus fulfilling his promise to shine light and life to those walking in darkness,

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 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.”

Jesus knew it was not time for him to be arrested and sentenced to crucifixion, so he put distance between himself and Jerusalem at the news of John the Baptist’s arrest. He also knew that going to the region of Zebulun and Naphtali would fulfill Scripture and bring light to those lost in darkness. Jesus shined light and brought ‘epiphanies’ to the people by exposing their sins. Though hard to hear, Jesus’ words showed people they were walking backwards and blind falling into danger and missing what is good. Jesus’ words remain true for us, and his words are like a microscope catching all the hidden places sin hides in our hearts. Jesus continues to rescue us from the darkness with words like those in our New Testament reading from 1 John 2,

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

All of us has a list of people we have hated. We also have a list of those we currently hate, and there will be more people we hate in the future. These words are not meant to shame and fill us with guilt to the point of despair or frustration with God. These words are meant to bring us to repentance. Without repentance, the shadows will not be places we pass through, but places in which we stop and sit only to be consumed by darkness, death and hell.

Jesus calls us to repentance to bring us into his heavenly kingdom. When Jesus came to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, we read in our Gospel reading from Matthew 4,

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Through Jesus, we look forward to eternal life in heaven, but his kingdom is not only in a place beyond this world. Jesus also rules in our hearts. Jesus calls us to repentance to change our hearts. The Greek word for repentance pictures a change in the mind. By the power of Jesus, we are changed from walking backwards and blind stumbling through life into death and the pit of hell. Jesus gave his life as the reason our repentance is more than words or a whimsical worldview. Jesus entered the darkness as light living up to the perfect standard of God’s law; he had no reason for guilt or shame when asked how well he had loved a brother or sister. Jesus lived perfect in love, and his innocent life was sacrificed for our blind hatred and backwards betrayal of those we deprive of love. Jesus calls us to repentance filling us with faith in his sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and assurance of eternal life in heaven. Jesus’ call to repentance also brings him into our hearts to rule. Jesus has justified us, changing us into holy saints who are perfect in his Father’s eyes. His rule also works to turn us away from hatred and sin to love and good deeds. God has turned us around and removed the blindfold. God rules in our hearts and will bring us to our future home in heaven.

We join Jesus in calling others to repentance. Like his first disciples and the prophets before them, we cast the net of the Gospel and watch God catch people for his heavenly kingdom. In our Gospel reading from Matthew 4, Jesus called his first disciples to join him fulltime,

18 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. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Along with Peter and Andrew, Jesus called James and John to follow him. These men were changed by Jesus’ call like all of us. We are not defined by our occupation, paycheck, schooling and other vocations, though they are important. Instead, we are defined by Jesus’ rule in our hearts which affects how we function in all our vocations. We are called to cast the Gospel net in all areas of life. We do not to pick and choose who hears the Gospel; we show compassion to all. We fish with Jesus like casting a net into the water where the fish are hidden from view. Whoever is alive faces death from sin, so we cast the Gospel net into the darkness and God catches people. Jesus’ message matters to all people because without him, they are lost stumbling in the dark as we read in our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 8,

20 … If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

We are equipped to minister to those who are distressed, enraged, in darkness and in fearful gloom with the Word of God. Scripture equipped Jesus to break the darkness, and Scripture equips us to shine Jesus’ light. The way Jesus broke the darkness by ministering to people is recorded in Matthew 4,

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

As with Jesus, we can teach others what we know about Jesus, and we can show compassion to others with a wide variety of healing from loneliness by being a friend, to hunger with food, to weakness with a helping hand, to indecision with mentorship, to doubt with encouragement, etc. With the kingdom of heaven ruling our hearts, we can see our future with Jesus and the path to walk through Jesus.

Walking backwards is dangerous. It’s dangerous because it is like walking forward with closed eyes preventing you from seeing obstacles and dangers and passing by good things. It’s also dangerous because we may presume what has passed by is the same as what is coming ahead. Jesus brought light to those walking in darkness as if turning people around to walk forward with open eyes to see clearly to follow him to a future in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called us to repentance bringing his kingdom into our hearts through his forgiveness of sins and deliverance from death and hell. Go to the people in your life and call them out of darkness with the message of repentance, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Amen.