January 25, 2026
Matthew 4:12-23
Introduction
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel. How’s that working for you? Who here has repented today? Anyone? No? Okay, well it’s still early, not even lunch time yet. Did anyone repent over the weekend? No? How about over the past week? No? Is anyone thinking about repenting? No one, really? Ok then, but let me ask… If you were going to think about repenting, what do you imagine it would mean and look like for you to repent? What is Jesus is asking for? What is he expecting?
My sense is that most of us don’t really understand repentance. I suspect that most of us have been told, or come to believe, that repentance is something we do because we have done something bad, wrong and sinful; or we have been living a Godless life, never believing in Jesus let alone following him, until one day we have an epiphany of some sort where we “repent” of our old life and become redeemed. Repenting and repentance, most people believe, is about misbehavior.
But Matthew doesn’t mention bad, wrong, or sinful behavior. He doesn’t mention godless people. Matthew tells of Jesus going to and ministering in a place Isaiah spoke about—a place where the people of God had been exiled to and were sitting in darkness. We’re quick to assume it was because of bad, wrong, and sinful behavior, but it wasn’t. Isaiah was speaking to the people of God who were waiting to see a great light because they were already worthy of it.
Move 1
For a good part of my life, I understood repentance as being about changing from bad to good, shaping up or shipping out, flying straight, minding my Ps and Qs, turning or burning. Maybe that or something like that has been your understanding too.
It wasn’t until decades later that I finally came to realize that understanding of repentance makes our behavior the central issue of our faith journey, that it was all, and always, about what we’ve done right or wrong, whether or not we were good or bad. But when repentance is viewed and used in this way, it puts us on a course of always trying to be good enough or trying to “just be good enough.” But that’s not what Jesus is focusing on—not to mention that’s a difficult and exhausting way to live whether we are doing it for Jesus, our spouse, our parents, or anyone else. Because like I said last week, “we aren’t good enough”, we can never be good enough to be everything our culture says we must be, we’ll always be disappointing someone because we allow ourselves to be pulled in a million different directions which is never sustainable.
And if we are able to shed the notion of “trying to be good enough”, but still connect repentance as simply about behavior issues, then we convince ourselves we only have to “just be good enough”, i.e., I can lie a little because there are bigger liars than me; I can cheat a little bit because there are bigger cheaters than me; I’ll give something to the offering, because giving even just a little is better than nothing.
This “just be good enough” mindset allows us to convince ourselves we can live as we want because we’ve done enough to keep God happy, keep God from smiting us.
But is that really what we think Jesus means when he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”? The rest of our text for today—Jesus calling his Disciples who literally drop everything, leave behind their nets, boats, families, and lives surely is not any indication of “just be good enough.”
Move 2
While I’m all in favor of good behavior, I don’t believe that’s what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel. It’s too small. It doesn’t enlarge life. It’s just another way of saying, “Stop. Cut it out. Don’t do that.” It doesn’t call us to anything new. And it certainly doesn’t do anything to reveal that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.
Repentance is a call to something new. That is what today’s Gospel is about. That’s what we see happening when Jesus calls Andrew and Peter, and James and John. Matthew doesn’t describe any bad behavior on their part. Jesus doesn’t criticize their behavior or accuse them of wrongdoing. They are fisherman doing the fisherman thing— casting nets, mending nets, sailing little boats on the Sea of Galilee, making a living.
Jesus sees them and says, “Follow me.” He could just as well have said, “Repent.” And when Jesus says, “Follow me” they do. Peter and Andrew leave their nets. James and John leave their boat and their father. They are stepping into a larger life to do something new. Their life will be larger than a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Their catch, the content of their lives, will be more than their nets can hold. They won’t stop fishing; they will now fish for people. They won’t stop being who they are, they will more fully become who they already are, fisherman. That’s repentance. That is the repentance Jesus is calling for. And that’s the repentance Jesus is calling for us. Repentance literally means to turn and go a new direction— and haven’t you sometimes wanted or needed a larger life? Haven’t there been times when you needed renewal in your life? Haven’t you sometimes wanted to exchange your encapsulated life for the next larger size?
Repentance isn’t about our having been bad and saying, “Sorry God.” Repentance is a process of growing up and becoming more truly ourselves. Repentance is about living further and further into our faith, continuously being open to what God is call us too next. Repentance is not a “one and done” act.
Move 3
Psychologist Carl Jung said that we all walk in “shoes too small” for us. You know what that’s like, right? You stuff your foot into a shoe or boot that’s too small—there’s more foot than shoe. It doesn’t matter how fashionable the shoe is, how good it looks— it still hurts. It constricts. Blisters form. Feet ache. And it’s hard and painful to walk—even when your behavior is impeccable because it’s not about your behavior. You don’t need better behavior; you need a new pair of shoes.
Sometimes the shoe of our life is just too small. Sometimes our life is constricted by the same old patterns of seeing, thinking, and behaving. We’ve always done it that way and we can’t imagine doing it any other way. When that happens, we need to repent and go a new way.
Sometimes we let our past and history, our wounds and our fears keep our life small. We play it safe and push aside our dreams of something more. When that happens, we need to repent and go a new way.
Sometimes we accept the bruises, blisters, and aches as just the way it is. It’s familiar and we know what to expect. We’re comfortably uncomfortable. When that happens, we need to repent and go a new way.
Move 4
So I want to ask you… In what ways are you walking in shoes too small for your feet? What shoes are constricting your life today? And what would be like and mean for you to kick them off? What’s the next larger size shoe for you? What are the nets in your life? What things or relationships are trapping and entangling you today? What patterns, habits, or beliefs have snared and captured you?
And why do we spend so much time mending the nets that entangle us rather than dropping them? What nets do you need to leave behind today and what would that take? What are the little boats that contain your life and keep it small? Sometimes our boats can become illusions for control, security, or self-sufficiency. What fears keep you from getting out of the boat?
In what ways do the routines, familiarity, and comfort of your little boat keep you sailing the same old waters of life? What would it take for you to get out of and walk away from that boat? Who is old Zebedee in your life? In what ways are you waiting for or depending on Zebedee to give you an identity, value, and meaning for your life? From whom are you continually seeking approval? How are Zebedee’s expectations of who you should be, and what you should be doing, dictating how you live your life? What if you thanked your Zebedee for what he or she has given and done for you and then step out of the boat? What would it be like to walk away from old Zebedee and reclaim yourself and your life?
Have you ever thought of repentance in those ways? Each of them is a letting go, an exchanging of what is for what might be. Each of them is turning and going a new direction, going a bigger way.
Conclusion
If we want to get somewhere new in life, we might need to leave the place we are now. If we want to see something new it might help to look in a different direction. If we want to hold something new or different we might need to let go of what’s already in our hands.
Maybe it’s time to take off our old shoes. Maybe it’s time to be like Peter and Andrew and leave our nets. Maybe it’s time to be like James and John and leave our boat and Zebedee. Maybe it’s time to repent… because the kingdom of heaven has come near to us.
Afterall… Repentance is less about where we’ve been and more about where we are going. Repentance is less about what we’ve done or left undone and more about who we are becoming. Repentance is less about our past and more about our future.
So yeah… maybe it’s time for you to repent. But not because you’ve been bad, wrong or sinful. Maybe it’s time for you to repent… because you are worth it. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, January 25, 2025, February 1, 2026
Holy God, we gather today to acknowledge that like the people Isaiah spoke to, we have often walked in deep shadows. We thank you that in Jesus Christ, the Great Light has dawned upon our world and into our hearts.
Lord, we hear your call: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” and confess we have often misunderstood repentance as mere apology. Forgive us for the times we have stayed stuck in old patterns, turning backward rather than toward you.
We repent of our complacency, where we have settled for “Christianity Lite” rather than the radical call of the Gospel. We repent of our fears, which act as heavy nets entangling us and keeping us from the shore of your purpose. Grant us the grace and courage to truly turn around and reorient our priorities toward your kingdom.
Lord God, just as you walked by the Sea of Galilee and called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, keep us aware you are walking the shore of our lives, calling out, “Follow me.”
Help us to leave behind our “nets”—those habits, distractions, and securities that keep us from following you freely.
Give us the courage to respond with “immediate” obedience, trusting that what we leave behind is nothing compared to the life we receive in you.
Transform us into fishers of people, equipping us to draw others into your family through compassion, kindness, and the witness of transformed lives. Walk with us as you walked through Galilee—healing our wounds and restoring our hope so we are no longer defined by our past failures or our present hesitation, but by our identity as your worthy Disciples.
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And we add to our prayers the deep division and unrest around our country, specifically in Minnesota, where fatal shootings and intensifying violence have shattered the peace of many communities.
We pray for those living in fear of separation and detention. Wrap your arms of protection around the vulnerable, especially the children and families who fear for their future.
We pray for officers and all officials on the front lines. We ask that you replace hostility with compassion and grant them the wisdom to act with humanity and dignity.
We lift up those peacefully demonstrating for change and accountability. Enlarge their voices as they seek a more just society. Let their calls for peace be heard without further violence or injury.
Lord, we ask you to heal the wounds of our past, soften hearts where there is hatred, bring your peace where there is chaos, and open our eyes and hearts to your better way.
Please hear now, the prayers we lift in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our…”