Part 1: “STEPPING INTO A NEW YEAR”

The Intersection of Chronos Time & Kairos Time
 

Did you ever stop to think about what life would be like outside the boundaries of time? ...No past?...No future?...No clocks?...No calendars?!!!...Just the present moment? In some ways the answer to that question defies comprehension. So integral to the concept of time to our senses of who we are, that we can hardly think outside of the box. It is similar   to trying to think about living outside of the boundaries of our body. To think beyond the boundaries of time is almost beyond imagination & yet this concept of timelessness is very central to our faith as Christians. Similarly, as challenging as trying to think about living outside of the boundaries of our physical body may be, that too is a concept central to our Christian faith if we are paying attention, for God created human beings in the form of body, mind & spirit. The spirit comes to us outside of the boundaries of the flesh of the body & mind. As time is central to our Christian faith, the spirit is central to our Christian faith as well.

We read in the Gospel of Mark that Jesus, fully human, created with mind body & spirit, grew up & worked as a carpenter in Nazareth for 30 years. At that time, he went to the Jordan river & was baptized where God declared him as “His only Son in whom He was well pleased”. After his baptism, Jesus was driven into the wilderness for 40 days where he was tempted & tested in order to discern which path He would go forward on & what his purpose in life would be.

We read that while he was in the wilderness, Jesus came to know that it was now the time to heed the call of God, time to engage in ministry, time to step forward upon the plane of human history & be about God’s purpose for him. So we read that He went forward & began to preach the Word of God. The question is; how did he know it was His time to step forward & to be about God’s purposes? When we know the answer to that question, we will know the answer for ourselves.  On our own, we do not really know or understand what our purpose in life is, do we? Seriously, do you know why you are here, what God’s purpose & ministry is for you in your life?   No where in the Bible does it tell us that Jesus heard audible words from God telling him to go forward in ministry & purpose. The Bible simply tells us that the way Jesus knew the time was NOW for him to heed the call of God, was that he felt it in His Spirit. We can assume that God spoke to Jesus’ Spirit outside of the boundaries of time & that Jesus felt, received & understood that call to his Spirit.

History tells us that the ancient Greeks had two different words for time. The two different words were Chronos (as in Chronological) which meant linear time & the other word was Kairos which meant; God’s time. We read that the first words that Jesus spoke as he stepped forward in ministry in response to God’s call to his Spirit, were Kairos words, God’s language; “The Kingdom of God is fulfilled”, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” & “Repent & receive the good news”. These words expressed the central message for Jesus, meaning that the reign of God was near, imminent & breaking into the world through the very presence of Jesus himself as He responded to God’s call. With the fulfilled Kingdom of God coming through Jesus’ presence, our previous ways of living were intersected by the Kairos of God which was timeless, eternal & present “NOW”. Jesus came ushering in the Kairos words that in & through Him, all human history & all time was purposeful & led by God’s words from His Spirit to Jesus’ spirit.

So, as we step into a new calendar year, living outside the boundaries of time, since God’s Kingdom is fulfilled & is at hand, where do we fit in? How do we participate in God’s fulfilled Kingdom? Do we feel God’s Kairos message in our Spirit, or do we reflect the earthly chronology, limited to being held within the boundaries of time & linear thinking?

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy