IS IT TIME?
May 27, 2001
“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Is this the time when you will act decisively?
Is this the time when you will do what we have been expecting for all
these years?
One of the hardest things for many of us humans to do is to wait.
I remember as a child riding in the car with my parent, saying, “Are we
there yet? How much longer until we
get there? I’m bored!”
It is still difficult for me to sit and relax while we are waiting to go
somewhere. We don’t have to leave
until 5:00 p.m., but at 4:30 I am chomping at the bit – let’s get going!
We don‘t have to be at the airport for our flight out until 8:00 a.m.
but I am ready to go at 7:00. Kathy,
my wife, can sit and read a book, do needlepoint or cross-stitch, but I can’t
settle down. Is it time?
Patience and waiting may be virtues, but they are not fostered in our
hurry-up culture. Instant communication with email and cell phones is standard;
overnight express of a package in order to have it tomorrow is worth the extra
cost. We travel faster on the road
in our vehicles in order to get there quicker.
We even have to schedule our relaxation time. We are anxious if the plane leaves 15 minutes late; instant
gratification is our culture’s motto.
But this is not a 21st Century problem.
It was a problem for the followers of Jesus.
They had a clear picture in their minds of what they expected to happen.
If Jesus was the Messiah, then as some point he was going to announce his
Messiahship and take control in Jerusalem.
That didn’t happen when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey before
Pentecost; it didn’t happen when he was arrested and tried and killed.
They were waiting impatiently. “Lord,
is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
They knew in their minds what was suppose to happen.
“Jesus, you are running out of time.
Let’s get on with it,” was their thought.
The first thing Jesus said to the disciples was to “wait.”
Wait in Jerusalem for what God has promised.
They didn’t know what that meant; all they knew was they were to wait.
Nothing is more agonizing than waiting.
We gather at the hospital in the “waiting area” as our family member
is in surgery. The time goes slowly
as we sit there wondering what is happening and how it is going.
We wait as a family seeing our loved one slowly dying, knowing it is
going to happen but there is nothing we can do; it is out of our hands.
We wait. Or, we are
expecting the telephone to ring any moment to tell us about the birth of a
grandchild or the offer of a job or the news on a scholarship.
Every time the phone rings we jump with anticipation.
Jesus said to wait! Last
weekend at the church retreat, Michael led us in some different spiritual
disciplines. From those experiences and the reading that I have done, a
key element in developing our spiritual life is the need to take time to sit in
silence, be still, calm the heart, quiet our mind and be in the presence of God.
You can’t rush spiritual development.
It takes time on a regular basis to develop closeness with God.
“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall
mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk
and not faint.” (Isaiah 40)
Our opening hymn for today, “Come and Find the Quiet Center” is a new
hymn that designed to help us enter into a time of waiting, of being.
“Come
and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead, find the room for hope to
enter, find the frame where we are freed: clear the chaos and the clutter, clear
our eyes,
that
we can see all the things that really matter,
be
at peace, and simply be.”
“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus responded in another way to this question of the disciples.
He said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the
Father has set…” It is another
way of saying, “wait,” yet there is much more.
There are two primary words in the N.T. Greek that speak of time:
“chronos” and “kairos.” Chronos
is the root word for our chronology – a time line of specific times and dates.
The second, “kairos” is used more in the larger sense, like the
appropriate time. For instance,
when a mother is ready to give birth to a child, labor starts when the child is
ready to be born. We may have a due
date, but the baby will be born when the baby is ready.
That is kairos. When the
baby is actually born we look at the clock and say, May 27 at 11:05.
That is chronos.
When the disciples asked “Is this the time?” they were asking for
chronos – a specific time. Is
today the day? Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times
or periods…” Jesus used both
chronos (times)and kairos (periods). In
other words, it is not for us to know the specific day or when the season is
right for God to act. God has
God’s own timetable. God sent
Jesus when the time was right; God will act again when the time is right –
God’s time and not necessarily our time.
We believe that God answers prayer.
But prayer is not just a one-way conversation on our part with God
listening and doing our bidding. We
know that God can answer prayer with a “yes,” or a “no.” We also know
that God can say, “not now;” but God can also answer with, “I’m going to
do something else.” We may have
in mind what we think God ought to do, but that may not be God’s plan.
The disciples thought they had it all figured out – restoring the
Kingdom the way it was in David’s time 1,000 years ago.
The early church found out that God had a different plan.
Part of the spiritual life is waiting, but also waiting to sense God’s
direction in God’s own time. Spiritual
discipline involves getting in touch with what is God’s will, knowing when
something is a personal, selfish ideal and when something is from God.
Englewood has entered the visioning process called “Faithful
Planning.” Many of you filled out
questionnaires a few weeks ago. That
is a significant part of this process. The
goal is that through this process of gathering information, reflection on our
past and analyzing the present community situation that we will be open to the
leading of God’s Spirit as to the direction this congregation is to take in
the coming years. Through the
reflections and conversations of the members as we wait in prayer, God will give
us a clear sense of direction. I
believe this with all my heart. It
means trusting that God will work and giving God space and ways in which to make
it known to us. It means trusting
in the process. It may mean a
different direction; it may mean new programs or emphasis, but it is ultimately
trusting in God’s way. This is
God’s church, not yours or mine.
The Yakima community is changing; the entire country is changing.
Information from the 2000 census is showing us how we are becoming
something different – more minority groups, fewer families with children; more
single adults, many with children; more couples living together outside of
marriage; more senior citizens living longer.
What does this all say for our ministry at Englewood in the coming 20
years?
Jesus not only tells us to wait and also to trust in God’s timing and
direction. But Jesus told us one
other thing – a promise. When it is the right time we will know it.
The power of the Holy Spirit will move mightily and it cannot be stopped.
For the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem, it was the Holy Spirit calling
them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth
– the outline of the growth of the witness of the church.
If God calls to do a task, there will be the energy and resources needed
to make it happen. I call Englewood
into a time of prayer as we move through this Faithful Planning process.
Let us wait for the leading and direction of God; let us be open to the
ministry to which God is calling us. Let
us not be afraid of what the Holy Spirit might do.
When the time is right God will let us know.
Let us wait.
Personally, what is God telling you?
Is this a season of waiting? Of
listening to God? Of trusting? Or Is God telling you to get going because you know what you
need to do? What time is it for
you?