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120129 - It's Kairos Time!
Yr B ~ Epiphany 3 ~ Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mk 1:14-20
If you believe in the symbolic importance of “firsts” then today’s gospel reading is one to really take notice of. Mark was the earliest written of the four gospels in the Bible – and a mere 15 verses in, we get to hear Jesus’ first recorded words. What does he say? Jesus’ first words in this gospel summarize his entire message: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
That’s it. That’s the gospel. That’s what Jesus was all about. Announcing that the kingdom of God isn’t some far away, imaginary place that you get to visit when you die – no, it’s come near – very near – and all you need to do is turn around and accept it – and believe that this is indeed very good news! All the rest is commentary.
But why then? What was so special about that particular time – other than Jesus was there? The answer lies in the Greek word used in his first sentence. We read, “The time is fulfilled” – but the word used there was special. There are two basic words for time in Greek – chronos and kairos. Chronos is ordinary clock time – time for lunch, time for church – I’m out of time – time’s up – time out – time’s a wasting – no time like the present – time’s short – is it time yet?
But kairos time is different. Kairos means – a special, significantly critical point in human history when God’s will and purposes are carried out. Kairos is a decisive moment, a moment of truth – the opportune time. Jesus’ first words are “The Kairos is fulfilled”. We live our lives around clock time – chronos – but our deepest desires, the things that make our pulse race or our stomach turn in knots or our muscles all tense up or our passions burn are all kairos time – moments of truth.
Tweet120122 - The 5 As
Yr B ~ Epiphany 3 ~ Psalm 111
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. (Ps 111:10)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Hmm. That's ok, but I'm not sure that all those words carry the same nuance today as they did when they were written. So I would offer this as an alternate translation: The awe of the Lord is the beginning of all knowing, insight, understanding – faith. Today I'm going to speak about awe, because 'fear of God' is an oxymoron in my world.
If the fear of the Lord only means to be scared or frightened of God then this verse is theologically suspect and psychologically abusive. If fear means how we usually define it then God is a tyrant and you can’t be wise or faithful until you’re suitably petrified of his merciless, vengeful wrath. That’s utterly ridiculous. That’s not God. That’s somebody using God’s name to scare people into something.
I’m not saying that the word fear is wrong or that this verse doesn’t include our usual connotations of it. My point is that fright is only a tiny sliver of what God’s presence ought to produce in us, and it’s not fright and distaste like in a slasher horror movie but the kind of fright that comes when something is so big, and fantastic, and mind-blowing that we can’t comprehend it so it frightens us.
I always insist on substituting the word awe for fear whenever the bible refers to someone being afraid of an angel, or an encounter with the holy. The messengers of God are forever telling people, “Be not afraid” – by which they mean frightened. Don’t be afraid, but do be awestruck!
120115 - How Will You Answer?
Yr B ~ Epiphany 2 ~ 1 Samuel 3:1-10
How will you answer? It’s a classic Christian question. How will you answer the teachings of Jesus? How will you answer the call of God? How will you answer the nudge of the Holy Spirit?
But there’s a huge assumption built into all those questions. An assumption that I don’t think we can make in today’s day and age – and I have my doubts if it could have been made in days past either. The assumption is that you’ve heard something that you can answer. You can’t answer a question you haven’t heard. You can’t meet a challenge you haven’t received.
So before we can get into how you might answer some call or message from God we need to spend some time thinking about how will you listen! I’m pretty confident that after a person hears, or awakens, to God’s presence or call that the person has a pretty healthy chance on responding positively to it – but they first have to hear it.
120108 - Propelled into 2012
Yr B ~ Epiphany 1 ~ Acts 1:1-7
It's baptism of Jesus Sunday according to the liturgical calendar but I already preached about that a few weeks ago during Advent. So today I'm going to talk about the baptism of some other people - a group of disciples in the far off city of Ephesus.
Just before today's reading, in Acts 18:24-25, we learn about a character named Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria. He was said to be “eloquent ... well-versed in the scriptures [the Old Testament] ... instructed in the Way of the Lord” who “spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John” the Baptist. Then two people named Priscilla and Aquila (a couple) heard him speak in the synagogue and they explained the Word of God “more accurately” to Apollos. (Acts 18:26)
This is really interesting because it shows us something about the early church. It shows us that the early church wasn't one single monolithic thing. Different people were out preaching and teaching their experience of Jesus in different ways. Each community had its own writings and rituals. The disciples at Ephesus were taught by Apollos who apparently knew something about Jesus but had some big gaps.
And that's where we pick up today's reading. Apollos has moved on from Ephesus and Paul has come on the scene and is ready to share his experience of Jesus.
111218 - The Way On
Yr B ~ Advent 4 ~ Luke 1:26-38
We’ve been looking at our Advent texts this year through the lens of something referred to as progressive Christianity. It’s a terrible descriptor but no one’s been able to come up with anything better and make it stick so far. A progressive theological lens says that you start at the surface layer of the scripture and say, “ok, that’s a good story, and it reveals deep things about God, but it may not have happened exactly as written.” Progressives never look at scripture like it’s an eyewitness news report, we read scripture like it’s a beautiful poem filled with multiple layers of meaning.
So when a progressive Christian looks at this story in Luke known as the annunciation, we’re less concerned with what may or may not have been actually said or experienced in Mary’s room that day and we focus more on what it means. So, aside from translating “virgin” as “young girl” what does a progressive lens offer for this text? Plenty!