At the end of today’s fiery Gospel, Jesus challenges his listeners: “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time”.
Very significantly, the Greek word for “time” here is kairos, God’s time, not chronos, the human time on the clock. Jesus is, in effect, saying to his listeners, you do not recognize God’s moment of intervention and opportunity that comes with the arrival of the Messiah and the Last Day -- kairos. Instead you are simply sunk in human signs and observations in the sphere of human time, chronos.
For us as Christians, every moment is one of potential kairos, God’s invitation to enter into and live the Reign or Kingdom of God here and now. That is the challenge for us – the same challenge as Jewish and Christian prophecy – to recognize God’s kairos here and now, God’s call to action here and now, in the midst of a violent, broken and sinful world, and to respond.
We recognize God’s kairos, God’s time, though the eyes of faith. And today’s epistle eloquently continues the accounts of faith in the Old Testament from the Book of Hebrews that we began last week. Even before the coming of Christ, faithful women and men, not necessarily Jews even, walked by faith. And through our deep faith in Christ, we attempt to understand how “to interpret the present time”, the present kairos of God.
Despite Jesus’ warning that discerning and living God’s kairos, God’s time, may sometimes divide communities and even families, the final aim is not division but rather unity, love and justice. For example, one kairos response to the alienation and loneliness that surrounds us in contemporary society is to ensure that our parish is a safe and welcoming space: that all feel comfortable and welcome here, that everyone’s talents are respected, that this is a genuinely safe and welcoming space, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That welcoming stance requires self-discipline and withholding judgment: appreciating rather than criticizing. Before we can go out to discern God’s kairos in the world, we must be at peace with ourselves.
Isaiah’s parable of the master of the vineyard and his caring love for the vineyard reminds us that God is with us in this enterprise of discerning God’s will in this present time, the present kairos. Through prayer and a deep relationship with God and one another, we are led in the right direction: to gratitude, to trust of others, to working together in community, to being always on the side of justice, love and unity. God wants us to succeed in this enterprise, just as the master wants his vineyard to produce fruit and looks after it; we are not cursed. However, Israel was not always faithful and the master of the vineyard weeps at his people’s failures. We pray that God does not weep for us.
Recognizing the signs of the times, God’s time, kairos, here and now, also leads us to look at the injustice and violence of the world around us: wars, unjust social structures, violence, economic inequality – the list goes on. In such a situation it is very easy to get on bandwagons and advocate simple solutions. The social media often pushes us in such a direction but social media is also a potential ally, to be shaped according to kairos too.
For example, we see war in so many places, particularly in the Middle East. Many would argue that global capitalism encourages wars since wars bring prosperity to some, for example, in the production of planes, ships, arms and the other implements of war, what is commonly called the arms trade. Without arms and equipment, many wars would not escalate to the point they are now. As Canadian Christians, it is important that we urge our political leaders restrain the arms trade that starts with Canada; and to do all they can to urge our allies to do so as well. As a nation we are called to be peacemakers, not warriors. If we hold stocks, we are called to responsible investment, putting morality ahead of profits.
And then there is the environment and global warming. By all proper scientific accounts, we are reaching a crisis point in global warming and the destruction of the environment. Indeed, the terribly hot and dry summer we are having may well be a part of it all. Already in the South Pacific and elsewhere whole villages and islands are flooded and people have had to be resettled. We see suburban sprawl, 12-lane expressways that are inadequate to the traffic, pollution of rivers and oceans, unsustainable mining and other resource extraction. The role of Canadian mining companies overseas is often quite destructive, both environmentally and politically. The loss of species of both flora and fauna goes on daily. Surely there is a moment of kairos here: we have been given God’s creation and not looked after it well. We have been exploiters of creation, not its stewards.
We are called back to ourselves: our lifestyles, our political commitments, our sometimes excessive expectations and lack of interest in our surroundings except where they please us. Often the answers are simple: walk more, drive less; use the public transit instead of the car; grow some of our own food, reduce our dependence on processed foods, fly less, use less water, use less plastic, develop urban “brownlands” that save the countryside from urban sprawl, support and elect politicians (especially local politicians) who reflect our views on the environment. Even our excessive reliance on electronic technology has its environment costs – exploitative mining of rare minerals (often by children), the difficulty of recycling. On our parish level, our new heating system will reduce energy consumption and I encourage you to contribute if you have not done so already.
Whatever crisis that surrounds us, whether locally or globally, can be seen as an opportunity to respond to God’s time, God’s kairos: the dire situation of many of Canada’s native peoples, many aspects of health care, the struggle for fair wages and working conditions, precarious employment, pay-day loans, homelessness, hunger, refugees.
In short, an awareness of God’s time, God’s kairos, what is demanded by Christ in this time and place, both encourages us to build a loving and just community in this parish and sends us out to ministry, advocacy and service: indeed, prophecy. God’s kairos leads to mission, to participation in God’s Mission in the world through Jesus Christ in whatever situation we find ourselves.
It is not really a lonely activity as we should always be working together, supporting one another. And it is not a sad activity; we can work together joyfully. Gathered around the Eucharist week by week, united and strengthened by Christ’s Body and Blood, we are sent out “to love and serve the Lord”. That love and service is a response to God’s kairos in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God!
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