My annual frustration with the Advent season (now three weeks behind us) is that “the time is not yet,” even though it’s evident all around us that the time of God’s redemption is needed now. And so I find soul-soothing relief in a longed-for thread of good news weaving through this coming Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary texts: “The time is now.”
THE TIME IS NOW
The LORD says, “For the sake of my people I will no longer keep silent, and for their healing I will not rest until they shine like the dawn.” (Isaiah 62)
THE TIME IS NOW.
Now you shall no longer be called Forsaken or Desolate, but you will be called My Delight Is In Her and She Who Is Loved. (Isaiah 62)
THE TIME IS NOW.
All people will feast in my house; I will give them drink from the river of delights. And I will continue in love — now and always. (Psalm 36)
THE TIME IS NOW.
When the jars of wine have run dry and the celebration begins to fade; (John 2)
THE TIME IS NOW.
When the hour is late and a miracle is needed; (John 2)
THE TIME IS NOW.
When pride overshadows the common good; when members vie for attention and argue over their claim to the Spirit; (1 Corinthians 12)
THE TIME IS NOW.
The time for speaking is now
when white silence is a threat
to Black and Brown lives. (Isaiah 62)
The time for affirmation is now
when the image of God in the LGBTQ community
has been forsaken by the church. (Isaiah 62)
The time for hospitality is now
when refugees are hungry. (Psalm 36)
The time for generosity is now
when those who were served last at the wedding
rightly insist that the wine which flowed abundantly for the first
be distributed in equal portions. (John 2)
The time for participation is now
when political seats provide a feather in the cap
and a dollar in the pocket rather than
a service for the good of all people. (1 Corinthians 12)
THE TIME IS NOW. Thank God, praise God, the time is now.