What Time Do You Have?

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel" [Mark 1:14-15, NKJV].

Grace and Peace to each of you this Ash Wednesday.

A good friend and colleague has allowed that the four Gospels can perhaps be distilled into the answers to two dominant questions: “Who is Jesus?” and “What time is it?” To be sure, other issues spring forth from the words penned by the inspired authors, but to my mind, there is a lot to be said for my friend’s words of focus.

We quickly recognize that, with respect to the first question, the Gospels are replete with dialogue and narratives that provide the answer. Early in the Gospel story, we see Jesus being blessed at His baptism in the Jordan. We see Him being tested in the wilderness. A bit later, through scripture, we witness His transfiguration. Intermingled with these and other stories, we see His general acts of healing, teaching, and praying.

Later, we see Jesus being rejected, scorned, spat upon, mocked, flogged, and finally killed. Through the sacred texts, we come to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed Son of God and Son of Man. Later, the Church will add other concepts (e.g., “very God of very God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father”) in order to offer a rich Christological statement. Yet even in these early days of the ministry of Jesus, His special role as the incarnate Christ loom clear. But what of the second question that is emphasized in the Gospels? What scripture can remove the scales from our eyes? What words of Christ teach us to tell time?

As I scanned through this Sunday’s appointed readings, it occurred to me that this week’s Gospel lesson—Mark 1:9-15 (the first Sunday in Lent (RCL, Year B)—speaks to the Gospels’ second seminal question regarding time. Here, in his typical rapid-fire fashion, Mark relates that John was arrested, that Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news, and that Jesus’ message was that God’s kingdom is at hand—meaning, it’s here right now—and that the people have a choice, i.e., a decision to make. It’s the central issue during Lent: “Will they repent and believe?”

If we search our hearts, we may find that many of us say, “Yes, dear Jesus, I’ll repent and believe. But just not right now.”

After all, we’ve got businesses to run, employees to supervise, children to raise, parents for whom to care. The recently retired may reasonably retort, “I worked hard for years. I deserve a little travel and relaxation.”

We can’t carve out time right now for the congregation’s local missions. We can’t serve on that worship committee. We can’t reach deeper into our pockets to give to others. “Have you seen what inflation has done during the past three years?” We know that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” [Luke 10:3]. And so, we promise, we earnestly promise, that as soon as we can, we’ll do better. It’s just that right now, at this point in our lives, Jesus seems so binary. We’re uncomfortable with this “kingdom is at hand” talk. Jesus leaves us no room for retreat. He looks at us with love and says, “Quick, don’t look at your watch, look at me. What time do you have?”

Referencing the first great question, many of us assure ourselves that we know who Jesus is. It’s just that we wish His second question wasn’t so pressing. He keeps telling us that the time is now. We’d hoped that it would be “tomorrow.” Many of us inwardly hope that we might be able to corral Jesus into remaining in His role as preacher, teacher, and/or healer. After all, that’s who Jesus is.

If Jesus would just stay on His side of the fence, then we could remain on our own side, where we’re busy, involved, distracted, and weary. Jesus, however, is persistent. He’s stubborn. He loves us too much to allow us to avoid His question: “What time do you have?“

Decisions, decisions—the English word for “decision” derives from the Latin verb, scindere, which means “to split or to divide.” We hear Frost’s words, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” Do we take the poet’s advice, or do we instead forge ahead down the well-worn path? Truth is, most of us are fearful of having to make the choice. We’d like to test both avenues because we’ve learned what Bonhoeffer taught, that “when you’ve boarded the wrong train, it doesn’t do any good to run down the train’s corridor in the opposite direction.”

The world teaches us to wait, to check things out, to be patient. “There’s still plenty of time.” But Jesus calls us ever forward. He smiles and asks (again), “What time do you have?”

I suspect that some/many of you have heard the one about Satan being beside himself after his unsuccessful effort to “get at” Jesus during the latter’s 40-day wilderness sojourn [Mark 1:13]. Indeed, nothing that Satan had tried—and he’d pulled out all the stops—had worked with Jesus. And so, Satan had returned to Hades with his tail between his legs. He called a meeting of his satanic council to determine what might be his next step.

Satan said to his aides, “Jesus of Nazareth is preaching Truth, that God’s kingdom is at hand. He’s telling the people to repent and to believe God’s good news. And here’s the problem: they’re doing exactly that. To counter His Truth, His Gospel, we have to come up with the perfect lie. We’ll reconvene tomorrow. I want to hear some really, really good lies.”

They gathered the next day and, after a pause at the beginning of the meeting, one of Satan’s aides raised his hand and said, “I’ve got it. We’ll tell them that there is no such thing as right. If there is no right, then humanity won’t be inspired to do anything that is right, or true, or loving.”

Satan shook his head positively and said, “Ooh, that’s good. Any other thoughts?”

An aide on the other side of the table raised his hand and said, “We should tell the people that there is no such thing as wrong. That way, every person would have the right to choose his or her own pathway. No one need listen when someone else says that the choice is wrong. The best part is that then, like that auto insurance ad reminds us, mayhem will rein!”

Satan smiled and said, “That suggestion is even better than the first. Other thoughts?”

Then, quietly, from the corner of the room, a shy demon raised his hand and quietly said, “Why don’t we tell them that there’s plenty of time.”

Satan closed his eyes, flicked his tail once or twice, and said, “Thank you, my friend, for that is the best lie of all.”

Our Lord asks, “What time do you have?”