Part 2: “STEPPING INTO A NEW YEAR”

Awaken to the Spiritual Reality that is Outside of the Boundaries of Time & Space 

There are many philosophical & theological dimensions to these statements

of Jesus, but the most important implication is that in Him, Eternity is breaking into the fabric of human time & space. Jesus is often referred to as the “Eternal Now”. In Jesus “beyond” is in our midst forever. The Kingdom of God is here now for us & for all time.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the beginning of a New Year, a new moment in history. It is fairly easy for us to think chronologically, what the New Year or new day will bring to us. All we need to do is to look at our calendar or our clocks day by day. Sometimes we are able to figure out what time will bring by guessing based on the chronology of events, but the truth is, no one really knows what the future will bring. But this much we do know, God is at hand, always inviting us to new beginnings as individuals & as a community of faith called to carry on Jesus’ ministry. For His name is eternal for us & living into it & reflecting it out to others is our purpose for being.

To realize that the time is NOW, is to be awakened to experience a reality that is outside of the boundaries of time & space & that embraces us in the here & now, forever transforming the way we experience life.  Most of us experience this reality in those special moments in life when we say to ourselves; “time stands still”. Those special moments are experienced perhaps in the beauty of a sunset that in its beauty takes our breath away, or in the birth of a child, or when we hear some shocking personal news such as the death of a loved one. A biblical illustration that undoubtedly caused the listeners to feel that ‘time stood still”, was when the “Eternal Now”; Jesus the Christ, in his sermon on the Mount declared to the disciples that they were the “Light of the world”. However, the magnitude of Jesus’ call to his followers comes in the fact that when he spoke to them saying “you are the light of the world” he was speaking to them in the plural not the singular, bringing the Eternal Now into their awareness, waking them up to the Kingdom fulfilled as he called them to corporate ministry in order to reflect the light of the eternal Kingdom in that moment. It is at those moments that God’s Kairos intersects our Chronos moments. When Jesus speaks of light & being enlightened people, He is talking about reflected light. Light does not originate within us but come from the source of our being, God.

Given the reality of God’s eternity coming to us Now in our history, the only appropriate response for us is to repent & believe the good news. According to the Gospel writers, repentance is the hallmark of Jesus’ entire ministry. The core meaning of repentance has to do not so much with acknowledging that we have done this or that bad thing, but with the experience of turning around, of reversing the field & moving in a totally new direction. To recognize & participate in God’s Eternal Now is to awaken to the opportunities of the moment, reflecting the light of the Kairos Eternal Now & spreading that light is our purpose for living.

It is difficult for others to see & feel the Glory of God shining unless we are awake & openly willing to let that light shine in & through us. The light we reflect is a light of spiritual awareness radiating from the Spirit of God, leading us forward & safeguarding us from the threat of darkness.

As we step into the New Year, may we each live into those words Jesus said at the start of His ministry, the Kairos words, unbounded that he felt in his spirit,  that turned him around,  & that he heeded, as he stepped out to reflect the light of God for: ‘the Kingdom of God fulfilled”, “The Kingdom of God is at Hand” & we his people are the light. May we turn around & step into a new day, living outside the boundaries of time, in touch with our Spirit that most certainly is given to us by our Living Lord. AMEN 

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