Sunday Shorts: Released from Regret

Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (NIV)

We all make mistakes in our lives and there are things in our past that we often regret. Sometimes it’s about something we’ve said or done, or it could be something we neglected to do or say. Whatever the case, we feel regret and wish that things could have been different.

The burden of regret can cause us a lot of disappointment with ourselves and may even lead to some form of depression. Because we’re human, we try to suppress thoughts and feelings about our mistakes, so we seek instead to console our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls by obsessing on other things, other longings, and even other people. Sadly, for some folks, this creates an addiction to food, alcohol, substances, or even porn, leading them down a path of no return. Their regrets have been artificially nullified by their obsessions; their guilt has been numbed by their addiction. When I struggled with alcoholism, it was largely as a response to some major mistakes I made as a teenager, including a suicide attempt. Decades later, I'm beginning to understand what led me to my addiction.

One of the first things that Jesus does when He begins His ministry is to offer people a way to be released from the captivity of regret. He urges people to repent of the past, so that the Kingdom of God’s love can enter their hearts and minds, bodies and souls. God’s grace is evident because it has the power to liberate people from the past and enable them to live without regret in the present. It’s a beautiful gift and one that everybody needs, including ourselves.

Today, Christ offers us the same opportunity to cast off our ragged regrets and put on the robe of renewal. We are allowed to begin again and to have our hope restored. Jesus will repair our joy; Christ will reconnect us to God. All we need to do is to repent – to let go of the past and let God lead us into the future. As the Apostle John wrote to the young Christians in his time: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)

Point to ponder: What is my biggest regret? Am I willing to hand it over to Christ and receive His forgiveness?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know us completely. Every mistake we have made, every false word we have spoken, every wrong path we have taken are not unknown to You. You also understand the burden of regret that we carry from those mistakes; please help us to come to You, to confess our secrets and receive Your grace. In Your Holy name, we humbly pray. Amen.

 

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Where Would Jesus Go? - Mark 1:21

Mark 1:21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. (NRSV)

Occasionally, I see a post or a meme on Facebook that states something like: “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” It’s a common understanding among some people that church is no longer relevant, so we should all just follow our own individual spiritual path to get closer to God. Unfortunately, most folks think that this means they can believe anything, go anywhere, and do everything they want, and somehow God will understand. That’s exactly what the forces in opposition to God want us to believe; that’s a blind spiritual path that leads to nowhere.

            So, what would Jesus have us do to be Christians and what example did He show us to follow?

            Today’s verse provides the answer: Jesus attended weekly worship and taught in the synagogue. Now, out of all people on the Earth, Jesus could have stayed away from weekly worship because He knew God intimately and obeyed God completely. He could have been given a first-class exemption from weekly worship to go and pursue His own spiritual path, but instead, Jesus chooses to worship with the people of God in their local holy place. We can make as many excuses as we like, but if we claim to be Christians and to follow Jesus, then weekly worship with the people of God needs to be a priority.

            For some folks this can be hard because of infirmity, illness, or issues. For others, they may have been burned out by the church or broken by church folks. But here’s the thing: there are millions of Christian congregations throughout the world, and in our local communities, there are different worshiping centers. There are also many more congregations who provide online services, either live or pre-recorded, for those who cannot leave their homes. In other words, there are plenty of places where we can follow Christ into Christian worship, so what’s keeping us back? It’s certainly not Jesus because He is providing us with many holy places to join Him in worship, fellowship, and discipleship.

            So, if we want to, or even believe that we do follow Jesus, then which church are we going to attend on Sundays?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to overcome our indifference or reluctance to worship You with Your people. Open our hearts and minds to the blessings of faith that we can encounter and receive together. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish pastor living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts - To Boldly Go

Mark 1:14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (NIV)

            It was a very brave thing for Jesus to do. When John was thrown into prison, King Herod and the other authorities thought that they had shut down John’s prophetic ministry. The Wildman of the wilderness had been effectively eliminated and totally silenced. He would no longer be able to upset the king and his wife, nor would he be able to challenge the religious leaders like the Pharisees and Sadducees that John had called vipers and hypocrites. He was cut off from the rest of the world to languish in a dreary, damp, and dark dungeon cell. John’s ministry was finished, and his opponents could not have felt better.

            But then Jesus appeared and took up the ministry that John had been forced to relinquish. He even started His mission by proclaiming the same words John had used to rouse the crowds of people who came to be baptized at the Jordan river. Jesus declared that “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” John’s radical ministry was not over; it was extended and expanded by his successor, Jesus.

            Now Christ could have remained silent for a while until the ruckus that John caused had died down. Jesus could have quietly begun His ministry among family and friends without disturbing the peace or challenging the authorities. Instead, He boldly proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was imminent and that everyone – kings and priests, soldiers and citizens, prophets and the people had to repent – to turn away from the things that distracted them from God and to turn toward God to receive forgiveness, grace, and truth. Christ was preaching a radical message, just like John; and in time, He would also be opposed, arrested, and killed, just like John.

            As we continue to extend Christ’s ministry in our community and across the world, we should ask ourselves what do we need to boldly speak out against in our present society? When we are faced with leaders who are corrupt liars and spread false news, do we remain silent, or do we speak out against them? Are we willing to let truth be tarnished and people be exploited? Or will we follow in Christ’s footsteps and speak out against prejudice, injustice, and hatred, even though it will cost us friendships and relationships, reputations and privileges?

Today’s scripture lets us know what Jesus would do, so are we willing to follow His example?

Point to ponder: How radical is my faith? How ‘woke’ was Jesus?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You boldly went out into the world to challenge everyone to change their ways. You spoke words that would anger Your opponents and disturb those in power. Help us to have the courage to stand up against the liars and haters in our world, to boldly speak out against those who would corrupt and mislead Your people. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Sunday Shorts: A Old Fashioned Word

Mark 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (NRSV)

It’s an old-fashioned concept which many people don’t think about today, not even Christians. The word is ‘repentance’ and most folks avoid it because it requires honesty and humility. In order to repent, we have to honestly confess that we have made a mistake which is difficult for a society that justifies everything. We also have to be humble and confess that we have weaknesses and faults which damages our pride and deflates our prestige. We are fiercely individual and self-reliant, so to repent would mean giving up striving for power, perfection, and position.

The word in Greek that Mark uses to describe repentance in his gospel is ‘metanoia,’ which involves a realization of being wrong, of feeling our guilt, and seeking to reverse our mistake. The old way of describing this act of repentance is ‘turning away from ourselves in order to turn back to God.’ It requires us to sacrifice our pride and let go of what is holding us back from returning to God. It’s not an easy process and it truly takes a great deal of effort. It’s not just a matter of saying ‘sorry’ and moving on – it’s about knowing that we’ve deeply offended God which causes us to humbly seek divine mercy.

In John’s time, people were required to publicly profess their sins before being baptized. That took a lot of courage, especially in a community that strove to be perfect in both God’s and other people’s eyes. However, when Jesus appeared on the scene and eventually humbled and sacrificed Himself for our mistakes, God’s grace was offered in a different way. We still have to repent and humbly confess our mistakes to Christ, we still have to turn away from ourselves and look to God for forgiveness and grace, but instead of being baptized publicly in the River Jordan, we can now be baptized personally by the Holy Spirit in order to eliminate our sinful, prideful, and past mistakes. With Jesus, we can be restored to God; with Christ, we can be reconnected to God’s love, compassion, and care.

So, today, as we reflect on repentance, let’s ponder for a moment about the things that we sinfully do which create a barrier between ourselves and God. Let’s honestly come to Jesus with our humble confessions, so that He can fully forgive us our past mistakes, strengthen our present resolve, and lead us into a better future.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, You came into our world to save us from ourselves. We know that Your perfection eliminates our imperfection and Your humility humbles our pride. Help us to turn away from ourselves in order to seek God. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor who now lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Today’s image is one of John’s latest baptism drawings. If you would like to see a larger version, please click this link: Baptism.