The Time Has Come 12 February 2008

Mark 1:14-28
Tuesday, 12 February 2008

I know that it is still the first week of Lent, but I have to admit that I'm getting anxious. The problem is not a craving for the various foods I have "given up." The food and the fast are just signs of a deeper issue. I said it already a few days ago. I have come to this Lenten season with some concerns, with an agenda. And while I am anticipating God's great work in my life, I am not known for my patience. Indeed I have been requesting the prayers of those who are closest to me. Pray, I say to them, that neither my faith nor my patience fails. And I know that I'm not the only one who struggles with the waiting.

Following Jesus' baptism, John the Baptist was arrested and placed in prison. At that very moment, Jesus' public ministry began with his entrance into Galilee announcing the words that every anxious person longs to hear. "The time has come." The implications of his statement intensified along with the delight of his audience. "The kingdom of God has come near." Initially, Jesus' hearers must have anticipated that the kingdom of which he spoke represented the overthrow of the corrupt empire epitomized in the actions of evil king Herod who imprisoned John. The season of waiting was finally over. God would arise and God's people would be free. But wait. Jesus was not proclaiming the overthrow of the Roman empire or even the rescue of John from the chopping block. "Repent and believe the good news." From that time on, Jesus called disciples, "Follow me."

Confronted with the truth of the text, I have to admit that most of the time the work that God most desires to do is the internal work on me. I want God to avenge the righteous and overthrow the evil. God wants to pick me up, turn me around, and place my feet on solid ground. Indeed the time has come, not for God to chase after my enemies, but for me to follow after my Christ. The time has come to repent and believe. That is, after all, the primary agenda of Lent.

Sing "Where He Leads Me"

Let us pray:
Loving God, we confess that sometimes in our hurry and anxiety we miss the crucial lessons that you are trying to teach us. Help us to take one day at a time in this Lenten season, slowing down to listen for your voice and giving our attention to the call to follow you. Continue to confront us with the truth that we need to repent and believe. Help us to trust that in following you we will find the fulfillment of everything else in its own, in your own time, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen