Another Word on Time

Lent is upon us.  It is a 40-day period before Holy Week (not counting Sundays) in which we, as Wesleyan Christians, reflect, remember, repent, re-center, and rethink how we live out our faith.  Many view Lent as a time for giving up or sacrificing something to grow stronger in our faith.  In my reflection on Lent, I am focusing this year on a better understanding of time.

Last week, I used the Greek words Chronos and Kairos in my sermon.  Generally, Chronos is the measurable time we use to structure seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks/months/years.  It is where we get the terms 'chronological' and 'chronology.'  It is the order/structure of time.

But this Lent, I am going to consider the more important word for time, Kairos.  Kairos is appointed, meaningful, or prophetic time.  In Mark 1;15 Jesus is beginning His ministry, and He uses the words, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”  Jesus uses the word Kairos (in the Greek) here.  It is not a day, or week, or year.  It is a time fulfilled by God's perfect plan.  It is the coming of an event appointed and anointed by God.  So, here is the question for us.

First, has the Kingdom of God arrived in your life?  Whether you know it or not, you are either living in Chronos (in the South, we call this "the same old same old") or Kairos.  I spoke to a young man today.  He was stuck in the systems of law enforcement.  Jail, probation, times and dates he must be at a certain place, are his current reality.  He lives in the Chronos of the culture into which he has fallen.  He has learned that Chronos can, and will, enslave you in a cycle that, when viewed in reverse, seems like a repetitive pattern.  In fact, it is an unhealthy pattern that C.S. Lewis said makes people into "cattle for the slaughter."

Second, do you want to live in the freedom of Kairos?  Kairos is the time that is appointed by the one who made us, created us as His masterpiece, and gifted us for a beautiful purpose.  This time is freedom because it fulfills us, completes us, and brings us to life "on earth as it is in heaven."  Kairos allows us to live, love, and become what God has planned, and God's plans are ultimately beautiful.

This week we celebrated 2 big events in the life of the Church.  We saw our sister in Christ, Maegan Pinyan, become married, and we prayed for that marriage to be lived out in Kairos ... appointed, anointed, and prophetic time.  We want those 2 lives to bloom and grow in the light and purpose of the Living God.  We also celebrated the life of Myra Nell Brannon.  Myra Nell entered the glory of God on Sunday and we celebrated her life on Friday. What we know for sure is that Myra Nell was living in Kairos.  How do I know this?  Myra Nell was filled with God's grace, purpose, perseverance, kindness, joy, and love.  Even in her last days, she held the dignity and beauty of God's anointing and purpose.

Maegan is heading East to a life in ministry.  Myra Nell is off to a new beginning in God's house, which has plenty of room for her ... and for you, if you choose to live in Kairos, a place for God's appointed, anointed, and blessed.  How can you get there?  We said it on Ash Wednesday ... repent, and believe the Gospel!