As Jesus emerges from the wilderness after 40 days of preparation, he begins his public ministry with a clear and very succinct statement of intent: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Certainly Jesus would have attracted a crowd, though probably not too large at the beginning, who were drawn to the appearance of a new street preacher in their midst. It is likely, though, that more people walked past either obliviously or intentionally, paying no attention to him at the time.
The call of Jesus first and foremost was to repentance, to turn away from sin and to heed the call of the Gospel. Jesus’ inaugural sermon built upon the preaching of John the Baptizer who came before proclaiming a time of repentance as well. Jesus, however, is not preaching the same way or even the same theme as John. John talked about the future he spoke about a time to come. Jesus speaks of the present: “This is the time of fulfillment.” That which John foresaw is now coming to fruition.
While John had called for repentance and offered a Baptism for the forgiveness of sin as an act of preparation, Jesus now calls for repentance as the first act of fulfillment. Before we can come to believe we must seek conversion.
While one of the hallmarks of conversion is to seek forgiveness of sin, the call to conversion is more comprehensive and demanding. When we confess our sins, we do so in terms of “kind and number” – what is the sin, how often do I commit that sin. Conversion is a total change of heart. Now we might not focus on specific sins, but on how sin has taken root within us, and now needs to be eradicated. Conversion – the Greek word metanoia – means to completely change the direction of life.
It is easy for us to think about our sins, but it is not easy to think of our sinfulness. The many, and not so subtle, ways that we all live our lives in a state of alienation – from God, one another, the world in which we live – are all signs that we are in need of conversion. Some of us experience a total and radical change of life, others of us require regular and steady “fine turning” the gradual change of heart and mind to the Lord.
Immediately upon hearing Jesus preach he called four ordinary men – fishermen – who were not even present when he delivered his inaugural sermon – and called them to follow him. This call to follow Jesus was, for the men, an absolute. There was no turning back to their former way of life, nor did they get to dabble in it as they traveled with Jesus. They went from fishermen to fishers-of-men in one instantaneous moment of “yes” to Jesus.
While most of us probably do not think of ourselves as people in need of repentance, we are indeed all in need of conversion. There are areas and aspects of our lives, our relationships, our experience of faith, that are out of kilter and disruptive. We need to identify them, work on them, and turn them aside so that we might more fully follow Jesus and the call he places before us.
The essential act of the call to discipleship is recognizing that we need to be disciples. When we choose instead to be the master, we are separated from Jesus and further from true discipleship than we imagine ourselves to be.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.