Amos 8:1-12
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42
“The Time is Now”
I love the way that the prophets of the Bible use such striking images to get their messages across. Amos is one of the prophets who was completely frustrated with the people of his time. They were taking advantage of the poor and cheating the needy ones who tried to buy food in the marketplace, and Amos was angry. More importantly, Amos knew that God was angry, and his job was to get that message across to the people. God was not going to put up with their greed, and cruelty, and injustice anymore!
So Amos talked about a basket of summer fruit. I mean, God gave Amos a vision of a basket of summer fruit. Our translation says it’s “summer fruit”, but others describe it as “ripe fruit” or even “rotten fruit” that has been sitting around too long and is starting to get overly soft, perhaps with fruit flies swarming around.
I would like to think that it’s not too late for these people to repent and change their ways, but Amos is pretty clear that their time to act and to change is running out. Maybe it’s just too late now. The damage has been done, and the consequences are soon going to be carried out.
Although these are God’s people who identify themselves with the One God of Israel and worship God in the temple, their continual defiance of God’s calls to do justice and live in kindness are going to result in a break in the relationship. Amos explains that God is going to send a famine on the land, “not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”
It’s hard to know if it’s really, absolutely, too late for these people to turn back to God. But I’m reminded of the saying that says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is now.” When it comes to planting trees, or caring for the Earth, or working for justice for the poor, or doing any good thing to which God calls us, the second best time to start doing it is most certainly now.
I wonder how many of you would admit to procrastinating about things sometimes. I know that many of you are really busy people, so there is the potential problem of just not having enough time to do all the good things that you intend to do. But I expect that there are some particular tasks that you tend to put off again and again, aren’t there? You’ll do that thing later today. You’ll do that thing next week.
Whether it’s some disagreeable job that you just don’t feel like doing (even though you know it needs to be done, and it probably won’t be that bad), or it’s a difficult conversation you need to have, or a generous gesture that you know you should make… there are some things that we just tend to put off for later.
One of my current procrastinations is emptying the compost bin from the kitchen. I really should empty it every day or two, but sometimes I just don’t. It gets more and more full, and it even starts to smell a bit. And then I don’t want to do it even more! It smells yucky, and I don’t want to deal with it!
I know, I should just do it. It’s not that big a deal. But I expect that you can probably give me a similar example of something that you tend to procrastinate about and avoid too.
I wonder if you ever procrastinate about nice things, pleasant activities, or things you could be doing that you would enjoy. Maybe procrastinate isn’t quite the right word for that. But I wonder if you have the problem of not letting yourself rest, relax, or do something that nourishes your body or your spirit.
I sometimes have trouble when it’s supposed to be my day off on a Monday and I start worrying about all the other tasks, projects, and meetings that need to get crammed in the days following from Tuesday to Sunday. I struggle to relax because my mind is too busy trying to plan out the following days.
Sometimes I tell myself that I just need to sit down and make my to-do list for the week. If I do that, I can stop my mind from spinning and worrying. Sometimes that works, and then I can go for a walk or read a book or maybe even have a nap if I need it.
If you can relate to that kind of procrastination, then perhaps you’re a little more like Martha than like Mary in our Gospel story today. When Jesus came to visit them at their house in Bethany, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to what he was saying, while Martha was distracted by her many tasks.
We aren’t told what was on Martha’s to-do list for Jesus’ visit, but we can imagine that it might have involved cleaning, setting up a place for Jesus to sleep, hauling water, preparing food, and serving Jesus and whatever other guests came with him. There was a lot to do, and Martha was worried and distracted by it all.
Like me, you’ve probably heard this Bible passage many times before and often wondered why Jesus didn’t support Martha’s request to tell Mary to help her. After all, sisters should share the work, shouldn’t they? It wasn’t fair that Martha had to do everything, while Mary just enjoyed herself. If they worked together, they could have accomplished the tasks more quickly, and then maybe they both could have sat down to listen to Jesus.
But Jesus answers her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed – indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Now certainly Jesus is not suggesting that housework and hospitality are not worthy endeavours, and he can’t be dim enough to think that these necessary tasks will simply be done without someone taking charge of getting them done. But I think, in this case, it was a matter of Mary choosing to do what was most important to be done AT THAT TIME.
Jesus, their friend and their Lord, was at their house. In the morning, he’d likely be gone again, moving along to other places to continue his mission of preaching, teaching, and healing in the other towns and villages. Mary has undoubtedly already learned that wisdom flows from this man, that God’s Word comes alive in his stories, and that her life is changed and transformed when she listens carefully and takes what he says to heart. So that means that the most important thing for Mary to do doing right now – her best choice – is to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to what he is saying.
In my email on Friday, I mentioned two Greek words that both mean “time.” The first one is “chronos” which refers to chronological time, or the time on clocks and calendars. According to “chronos,” Martha was probably thinking that it was time to get the bread dough kneaded so that it could get into the oven, be baked, and be ready to serve at 6 pm, or whenever supper was expected.
But Mary was working on “Kairos” time. “Kairos” means the appropriate time or the right time. This was the opportune time for Mary to soak up Jesus’ wisdom that would change and bless her life, so it was indeed time for her to sit and listen, no matter what time supper was expected.
A significant Canadian ecumenical social justice organization goes by the name, “KAIROS.” It uses that name to prompt us and call us to act for justice in the world NOW. Like the people of Amos’ community who heard about a basket of summer fruit, ripe fruit, almost rotten fruit… the prophets of today call out to us to respond to God’s calls for justice and righteousness now.
As I was writing this sermon, I paused at this point when I heard the ping of an email coming into my inbox. I glanced at it and saw that it was from KAIROS Canada – an invitation to an event on Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. Titled, “Decolonizing Ourselves,” the gathering would include a tour of the former Blue Quills Indian Residential School building, followed by lunch and learning about Treaty.
And that’s just one example of the kind of turning, listening, learning, and changing that God is calling us to do RIGHT NOW. There are plenty of local opportunities which we can take up and act on in our community. Whether it’s learning, advocating, volunteering, or giving towards the justice and kindness that God wants to see us enacting in the world, it is time for us to respond.
When the people of Amos’ time refused to listen or to change, I’m sure that the prophet lamented the vision before him of that basket of wonderful summer fruit, not being enjoyed, but instead rotting and being thrown away. And he must have been so saddened by the time that followed in which the people simply couldn’t hear the voice of God speaking to them.
But we know that God’s silence did not go on forever. Just as God had reached out to God’s people through prophets to comfort, encourage, challenge, and call them back to God and God’s ways of goodness and love, God would reach out once more in Jesus Christ and come to us again. God’s Word would become flesh in the world.
When the time was right, God sent Christ into the world – “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,” as Paul would explain to the Colossians. In Jesus, “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things.” And we “who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,” were reconciled to God through God’s mercy and grace.
I don’t know why God didn’t send Jesus centuries earlier, or why God chose that particular moment to come to us in such a decisive and transformative way. But I trust that God knew what was the right time, the KAIROS time.
When it comes to procrastinating about tasks that I’m trying to avoid, or rest that I know would do me good, I usually know very well what I should be doing. And I expect you probably do also, if you’re honest with yourself.
So this morning, I just want to invite you to consider what God is calling you to do now. Today. This week. Think of that call to action as being like a basket of delicious summer fruit, ripe and ready to eat. And don’t leave it sitting on the kitchen counter for another day, or a week, or a year. The time is now.