Thursday, August 25, 2005

When time is no more

The author of this post is gone on Sabbatical (must be nice!) but I'd like to initiate a discussion about these statements, and analyze their ramifications:
..."You are never more in ministry than where you are at present." ... God is never more to you and me, we are never more his, nor is the world ever closer to God than at this moment... There is not a greater next than the moment we've been given...
That is one of the most frightening, sobering ideas I have ever heard. Is there no hope of growth and development or advancement in an intimate relationship with God? What about the scriptures that tell of transforming grace, being "changed from glory to glory"?

I can vaguely grasp and appreciate the idea of the fullness of time; that the presence of Jesus ushers in the Kingdom of God here and now, eternity in the present. I believe that we will be held accountable for each "tiny moment" and that "this moment is the most holy of all." But,"nothing more" and "never more" strike a fatalistic chord in my heart.

I know it was not the intention of the writer to discourage his readers, but rather to instill a joyful purpose and holy calling in all of us. Instead of spending our lives waiting for the end of time, we should live each moment to the fullest, literally in the"fullness of time." Like the admonishment, "Carpe Diem!" we should live each day as if it is our last day on earth.

This was the writer's conclusion, after pondering:
"What's next is what's now."

Then he quoted Eugene Peterson in Christ Plays...: "I finally got it: end time enfluences present, ordinary time, not by diminishing or denegrating it but by charging it, filling it with purpose and significance. The end time is not a future we wait for but the gift of the fullness of time that we receive in adoration and obedience as it flows into the present."

Where does that leave hope for a better future?

If I will never be more in ministry than where I am now, then I am going nowhere!
If God is never more to me, and I am never going to be closer to Him than I am now in this moment, then He is far away!
If there is no greater "next" than this moment now, there's nothing great about this moment!

I guess it isn't always helpful to tell a depressed person, "It doesn't get any better than this!" :-)

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