Dear Christian friends:

Last Tuesday, The Shah of Iran's rule ended. His power is finished. He lost his kingdom. Earthly kings and kingdoms come and go. They are not permanent but Jesus is King forever. His kingdom will never end. The angel told Mary, “Your Baby shall rule over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom shall not end." (Luke 1:33)

We are wise if we join Jesus' kingdom and stay members of His kingdom. In our text, Jesus says, "The time is now, God's kingdom is here." Then Jesus tells us what we should do about it.


What should we do about it? Two things: 1. Repent 2. Believe the Gospel. You have heard about AA, Alcoholics Anonymous. AA has borrowed one of the tools of the Church: Repentance. Before an alcoholic can join AA, he must confess that he is an alcoholic. He must stand up before all the members at the meeting and say: "My name is John Doe, and I am an alcoholic. If I take one drink, I must take 1,2,3,4,5, and more. I can't control myself."

It is important for the alcoholic person to say those words before the others. Why? Because when he confesses the truth about himself he can begin to break the terrible habit. Many alcoholics refuse to admit that they are slaves to booze. They continue to deceive themselves and think they can stop anytime they want to. Nobody can help such an alcoholic. But when he confesses, then people can help him.

That is true of all sinners. As long as we hide our sin and refuse to admit that what we have done is wrong, we cannot break away from that sin. Smoking is a good example. Many people are slaves to nicotine. They say they cannot break the habit. But why? They do not really think smoking will hurt them. They do not think that smoking will shorten their life. They do not know that smoking is a sin against the 5th commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." (Thou shalt not kill thyself.)

It is the same with people who eat too much or with people who do adultery or who love money rather than God. People who steal or cheat on their income tax are the same. They excuse their wrong doing. They say, "Everyone does it. Nobody is perfect. I cheat on my income tax because the government wastes too much money anyway." The person who does adultery with another man's wife will excuse himself. He says, "Her husband is mean to her and doesn't love her. I feel sorry for her. I will make her happy." People who eat too much excuse themselves. They say, "I will go on a diet after Christmas." But when Christmas is over they say, “I will go on a diet after New Years." But they never do.

You cannot help people improve until they repent, confess that what they are doing is wrong, and a sin against God's Ten Commandments. Every time when we have the Lord's Supper, we have a confession of sins and absolution. This we did also this morning. But do we really confess our sins? Or do we only go through the confession without thinking. Sometimes, I see people yawn while we say the words of confession. They are bored and not interested. They seem to have no sins to confess. Perhaps we should do like they do at AA meetings: ask each member to come up here and say: “My name is ______, and I am a sinner."

"The time is now. God's kingdom is here. Repent." If we are honest and wise, we will repent. That is the first step we must take if we want to join Jesus' kingdom and remain a member in it. Every time we sin, we must repent.

The second step is, "Believe in the Gospel." The gospel is the good news that God loves sinners and accepts them and forgives their sins if they repent and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Many people fail to believe the Gospel. Why? They cannot understand how God can love sinners and forgive them. They think like men and not like God. Man can't love sinners and forgive those who sin against him. Man hates those who hurt him or do wrong against him. Man seeks to get revenge and punish the wrong doer.

But God is not like man. God says, "My ways are not your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8) Many people can't believe God's great love for sinners. They say, "If I sin, I must suffer and pay myself." Others think their sins are too great, and God can't forgive such bad doings. They are like Judas who despaired and went out to hang himself. But when Peter denied Jesus three times and then when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered Jesus warning. He repented and wept bitterly, but he still believed that Jesus would forgive his terrible sin.

There is a story about two brothers who stole sheep. The sheriff caught them, and then the judge ordered them to be branded on their foreheads with the letters S-T: Sheep Thief. That was their punishment. All their life, people will know and remember them as the sheep thieves. One brother left that place and went to a new country because he wanted to hide his sin and forget it. But every place he went, the people would ask, "Why do you have S-T branded on your forehead?" He refused to tell them, so they remained suspicious of him and did not accept him. Every new place it happened the same. Finally, he died in a far-off country in despair. The other brother stayed in that home place. Everyone knew what S-T meant. When people saw S-T on his forehead, they did not ask him. They said nothing. Some felt sorry for him. But he told the people he was sorry that he stole the sheep, and he never stole anything again. He became a very good member of that community. After a few years, people all accepted him and liked him. He did many good works for the people. If a stranger came to that place and asked him, "Why do you have S-T on your forehead?" He answered, "A long time ago, I stole some sheep and they caught me and branded me." He confessed and the strangers accepted him, too. Many years passed and a boy asked his grandfather, why that man had S-T on his forehead. The grandfather told his grandson a little white lie. He said, "It happened a long time ago. I think S-T means saint."

"Now is the time. God's kingdom is here. Repent and believe the Gospel."

Amen