Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 1/25/2026
Lessons:
Matthew 4:12-23
Beloved Brothers and sisters in Christ...
Can I take you away for a moment from this dastardly frigid Sunday morning - and transport you back to a hot, July afternoon in Birmingham, Michigan?
The year was 1971 - that's when I remember coming out of the Baskin Robbins ice cream shop on Hamilton Row - after I'd purchased a Pink Bubblegum ice cream cone with my allowance.
Oh it was hot! And I remember that glass door was heavy - and on that particular day, it came back at me too fast, and boom - down went my cone - ice cream face down - and before I'd gotten any of my licks in!
My mom, watching from the car, motioned me to come toward her as she dipped into her purse and gave me money to go back - and buy another pink bubblegum ice cream cone - with her money!
Fast forward to the next year, the family went to the Detroit Institute of Art. And I had my eye on a little, blue, metal soldier in the gift shop - it was medieval knight and he was dressed in a suit of armor.
After our tour of the exhibits, we finally arrived at the gift shop, I asked the clerk to pull out that little, blue, metal soldier - and I reached into my pocket for my dollar - but it was gone! I'd lost it!
Knowing that I wanted that little, blue, metal soldier more than anything, my mother reached into her purse and gave me one of her dollars, which I promptly used to purchase it.
And these were the first lessons I can remember that unpacked that first line - and the most common theme - of all of Jesus's teachings - that you just heard in the gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Now if you're like a lot of Christians, you may have a dark connotation of the word 'repent' - that it means a call for deep contrition and sorrow for the unspeakable things you and I do.
But I am hoping that I can help us reframe this notion of repentance for us this morning.
I'm hoping I can open our eyes a little wider to a more helpful and accurate understanding of this cornerstone concept of Jesus - that repentance is less about a punishment you're dreading and more about the liberation you've been seeking.
Christians know a lot about the word 'repent.'
It has a long and varied use in the Church.
Nearly every Sunday you and I hit our knees to confess our sins to Almighty God - "for the things we've done and the things we've left undone."
And if you're like me, you've picked up the vibe that the Confession is about claiming God's forgiveness, making me a good person, and putting me back into right relationship with God.
But I would suggest to you a different way to look at this - that repentance is not about making you a good person - but about making you a new person.
Repentance is less about turning away from all those dirty deeds - and more about receiving a divine "do-over" - a blessed chance to begin anew - indeed, to 'be' anew!
As many of you know, my family has had a cottage in the small town of Kincardine, Ontario for many years. This is where I learned to play golf. The local course is a 9-hole affair, with sand traps, big trees, and when it rains a lot, even a small creek that cuts through the 9th hole fairway.
And I'll never forget the day when my brother and I teed off on the first hole of that course one sunny afternoon in 1972. He had gone first and hit a respectable tee-shot onto the right side of the fairway, but very playable.
Then it was my turn, and I hit a worm-burner that threatened no one, least of all, my opponent.
That's when my brother turned to me and said, "Why don't you take a Mulligan?" At this point in my life I had never heard of such a thing - so I asked - "What is a Mulligan?" And my brother explained that in casual play, a Mulligan is a chance to take back a lousy shot, and take another one - without penalty!
"Of course I'll take a Mulligan!" I said with obvious glee - hoping and praying that this next shot would be better - which it was - but only marginally. And I remember playing every round of golf that summer with this new rule, that game-changing idea of a Mulligan - firmly in play.
A Mulligan - a do-over - is not just a golf course concept - it is a church concept.
It's a chance to start again - to reorient myself differently toward the tee shot - and the golf game. And as someone who was not blessed with a natural ability to tear up the golf course - thank God for Mulligans! (Can I get an amen?)
When you and I meet Jesus today in the 4th chapter of Matthew's Gospel - and we hear him use that word 'repent' - we know it is an echo of the word John the Baptist had just used in the 3rd chapter as he baptized droves of people who were coming out to hear him.
Repent: It was the first word both men used in their very first sermons.
Because you and I are Hebrews to the core - as Jesus was - our first take on this word repent comes through the Hebraic understanding of repent as 'shuv' - which means "To turn back or to Return."
We speak of turning away from sin, turning back to God, changing one's life 180-degrees. In the book of the prophet Joel, chapter 2:13 it says 'Return (shuv) to the Lord your God..."
This implies: You were going the wrong way, and now you are to physically and morally turn around to resume faithful obedience. However, as I have indicated, SHUV is NOT the same word with the same meaning in Greek - which is what we encounter when we hear Jesus and John use this word.
In Greek, the word is 'METANOIA' - which means, not 'to turn' - but: 'to change' to 'change the mind.' So 'Repent,' as John and Jesus referred to it means, "a change in thinking, perception, or understanding" - it means reorientation - and is about an inner transformation that leads to new behavior.
One translator says it carries this strong tone:
Be amazed! Be transformed!
Think of it like this: Hebrew repentance emphasizes turning your life back to God; Greek repentance emphasizes a transformed mind that leads to a transformed life.
I remember getting a visit in my office from a good friend of ours JR - he owns a gun shop up the street - and he'd spent much of his career in security - even as a bodyguard for famous people.
I ushered him into my office and offered him a chair around my conference table.
He did not take the chair I offered him - but another one. And as we launched into our conversation we got around to talking about what he observed in my office.
He said that he had first paid attention to the view outside my window - where the big bushes were - and to where the roof line came in, as those could camouflage anyone who wanted to break in or do harm.
He then talked about how the two doors in that office were oriented - and why he would not sit in the seat I'd offered him - because it would have meant his back was toward a door - and he always likes to sit where he can watch who's coming through doors.
In other words, JR's way of seeing the world, or at least my office, was deeply colored by the profession he'd chosen. His training, his study, his experience, had certainly formed and molded him into a particular kind of person who observed the world in a certain way.
Fast forward a few years when I first had a young seminarian come into my office. You know her, Felicity Thompson. And it was very early on in Felicity's training, and we were just getting to know one another. As many of you may recall, before Felicity decided to pursue holy orders, she had trained and worked as an interior designer.
This is when we got around to talking about what she observed in my office. She brought up things like the color of the walls, the placement of the artwork, and the arrangement of the furniture. Felicity had a way of observing my office which was very different than JR.
Her way of seeing the world was deeply colored by the profession she'd chosen. Her training, her study, her experience, had deeply formed and molded her into a certain kind of person who observed the world in a certain way.
When Jesus calls us to repent - he is calling us into a new way of seeing reality.
He called fishermen to reorient themselves away from fish - and toward others. "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."
He called sons of Zebedee to reorient themselves away from their allegiance to an earthly father - and toward a heavenly Father. "Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."
When Jesus calls you and me - that's what he does - he calls us a new way of seeing. He invites us to reorient ourselves to the Jesus way of seeing things.
You and I see our identities not as soldiers or interior designers - but as children of the light - radiating love into the world because of the particular ways we have been called to orient ourselves to the world.
Many of you know that in order to become an ordained clergyman I spent several years in seminary - learning Greek, Hebrew, pastoral care, New Testament, Old Testament, practical theology, hermeneutics, and soteriology - until I could put one or two diplomas on the wall - and they're still there in my office if anyone would care to see them - PLEASE - they were expensive...
But in the old days, do you know how people with my vocational aspirations trained?
Easy, want to be a priest? Go hang out with the priest!
Up and coming clergy used to train apprentices - tagging along with a seasoned cleric as he said his prayers, studied holy books, led services, made pastoral calls on his flock, prepared sermons, arranged volunteers, answered correspondence, befriended the neighbors, and interfaced with the bishop.
Most times that apprentice would actually move into the cleric's house; marinating, absorbing, being seasoned and groomed to follow ever so closely in the footsteps of his master.
"What are you looking for?" asked Jesus in John's Gospel, "Rabbi!" They said, "Where are you staying?" Yep - it's time to move in! Move in for closer observation of the One we want to imitate! Time to marinate, be seasoned, and be groomed with intentionality and devotion.
What is that saying to you this morning?
How are we being called to 'come and see?'
Jesus is still calling disciples - how are we saying 'yes?'
I hope you're planning on staying for the annual meeting after services this morning - we'll hear how your leadership is answering that question - we'll hear about the goals and visions that are being laid out for us - as we do our best to say 'yes' to God's call.
And in closing, let us consider why would we say 'yes?'
Why would we want to embark upon a deeper journey with Jesus?
Every year, in the early 1970's we used to watch the TV version of The Wizard of Oz on a short brown couch in a makeshift sewing room of the old farmhouse where I grew up. It was on a color TV set - and it was played every year on what used to be called WWJ-TV - channel 4 - they did not change to WDIV until 1978 for those of you playing Trivial Pursuit...
Do you remember the first time you saw this Judy Garland film - which came out in, like, 1939?
Do you remember the opening scenes and the run-up to the tornado?
The first part of that movie wasn't just shot in black and white - it was done in weary, dreary Sepia - to really dramatize the mundane, colorlessness of farm life in Kansas. And I'll never forget that iconic scene - of the tornado coming - the cast scurrying - the house crashing - the calm settled-ness - then the door opening - and all of the color!
This was the hinge moment - the curtain rising - the big reveal - as the camera moved from drab, brown, tan, and off-white Sepia Kansas - to that eye-popping, technicolor rainbow of wonderful, colorful Oz!
It was a masterpiece of special effects Hollywood took endless pride in showing off! Dorothy's shoes, which are silver in the book, were purposely changed to Ruby Red just to showcase the vibrant technicolor palette! And I gazed in wonder as Dorothy had gone from her dismal, bleak, and gloomy life - to a new place of adventure, wonder, and possibility! A brand new world of wonder and amazement unfurling before her, and every inch was hers to explore!
This is what Jesus has for us - a rainbow invitation for you and me to go - to leave behind the drab and dreary - and opt-in to the technicolor revolution of love that's being unfurled before us!
Repent! Be of a new mind! Be amazed!
The Good News has come - just follow the yellow brick road.
Amen.