Immigration

January 22, 2012
Epiphany 3

GOSPEL LESSON: Mark 1:14–20

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
16Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
P: This is the Gospel of our Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

Travel posters are beautiful. Travel advertisements in magazines invite you to visit their country. There is a beautiful landscape picture. There are words that promise adventure or luxury or relaxation. It sounds like gospel, a place of salvation from your ordinary world of troubles. It will be a trip to change your life. If we believe the advertisements, now is the time to buy a ticket and visit that country.

It is like when Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus was not advertising a vacation package or a sight-seeing tour. The Kingdom of God is not a place just to visit, have a good time, and then return home. Jesus was inviting people to immigrate to the Kingdom of God permanently, for eternal life.

In the year 1875 my great-great-grandfather immigrated to the United States. He had heard the good news that there was free land for farming. He believed the letters that he had received from others who had gone to the United States the year before. It would be a big change, almost like repentance, but because of conditions in Europe, it was time to go, ‘the time was fulfilled.’

Some countries have very strict immigration laws. You need a passport, a visa, a job, money, and a clean criminal record. If Jesus demanded those requirements, then no one would ever enter the Kingdom of God. No one has a clean record because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No amount of money can buy your way into the Kingdom. The only visa is that given by the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior: that is the oath of citizenship: that is the pledge of allegiance.

If some countries are hard to enter, some countries are very hard to leave. For example, it was hard to leave or escape from the Soviet Union or from communist China or North Korea. In fact, during the cold war, people who tried to escape over the Berlin wall into West Berlin were shot and killed as they tried to cross the wide no-man’s-land. I imagine that the devil is the same way. Satan does not want any of his people to cross over into the Kingdom of God. All sinners are his people. If someone wants to become a Christian, the devil makes it very hard for them to leave his control. There are persecutions and temptations and guilt and doubt. There is social and religious pressure. The gates of hell are stronger than the Iron Curtain because the gate-keeper knows our hearts and our sin.

In order to immigrate to a new country, people often have to travel long distances. We do it now by airplane, but in the old days it was done by ship and wagon, across seas and deserts to all sorts of places around the globe. Usually it was done in proper order, sometimes illegally. I am not condoning illegal immigration, but I have a certain respect and admiration for people who escape dictators and oppression. I am amazed by stories of people boarding little boats to cross a big sea, who hide in cargo containers, who cross the border in the dark of night. It is like these people have heard a word of gospel: good news of freedom and opportunity.

This is what Jesus proclaimed. He proclaimed freedom from the devil. He proclaimed freedom from the religious slavery of the Pharisees. He proclaimed a place of love and peace and eternal blessedness. Many people have heard this Good News and have believed the message. For some people, the change or repentance was very easy, for some it has been very difficult. For some people it meant being like the first disciples that Jesus called. Peter and Andrew and James and John left behind their nets and their families to follow Jesus.

Or how about dual citizenship? Can we be both in the Kingdom of God and in the Kingdom of this World at the same time? Can we be both saints and sinners at the same time? Or, how about when people even after immigrating, still have strong feelings for their old country? For example, during World War II, many Japanese were put in concentration camps in America because the United States was afraid that they would support the enemy. How many Christians sabotage the Kingdom of God by their sinful, scandalous behavior?

And yet, the Kingdom of God came because of the scandalous behavior of its King. The scandal of the cross. This King who took upon himself the sin of the world. This King who died as a criminal on the cross. This King who showed love and mercy and forgiveness to the citizens of his country. This King who said, “My Kingdom is not of this world,” and yet came to this world as Lord and Savior and took the cross as his throne. In the scandal of the cross our scandalous sin is forgiven.

Our passport and visa is our baptism. We are given the name of the Triune God. We are registered in the Book of Life.

Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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