MK 1: 14-20 

Marginally Mark… Epiphany 3…Revised 2018

After disposing of John the Baptiser (at least, until 6:14+) MK calls us to focus on Jesus as Jesus follows on from where, in a sense, JB has left off, & calls His own first followers to join in His unique God Campaign.

MK summarises Jesus' Good News ‘Manifesto’, one that calls us into our own true lives, & into God’s life too, as: 

* God’s Time is always Now! Live in God’s Eternal Now! Not in our own or anyone else’s timing, be it past, present, or future! 

* God’s Rule, God’s Authority, is never any further away than God is! If God & God’s Rule don’t appear as close as that, it’s not God who’s moved! 

* Turn your heart & your life back in God’s direction & away from whatever's distracting you.

* Believe in, not about, put your trust in, God’s Good News. For Jesus, believing in the Good News means doing it! Becoming it. Being it! Now, at ground level. 

Jesus' ‘Manifesto’ is more powerful than Karl's because it's a revolution based on loving relationships with God & each other, not simply politics & economics. God’s Economy does come with its own cost-effects. This might be a starting point for a story of the personal & economic effects, lakeside, as these first disciples Jesus calls leave their fishing boats, their livelihoods, & their families. God’s economy has a different set of values, but will be costly one way or another. In our personal & family lives does the world’s Economy swallow up God’s Economy? Or does God’s Economy influence & help shape the world’s Economy for the good of all, not least those at the bottom of life’s pile? 

Those preaching in Australia, with Australia Day, Jan. 26th looming, may like to explore how relevant Jesus' ‘Manifesto’ is to Oz society today. Can we apply it, live it out, today in ways that may build trust between the dispossessed ab-original people & all those others of us now living here? What hope does Jesus’ ‘Manifesto’ offer for healing past wounds, in Australia & everywhere else?