Now’s the Time

Thanks to the careful planning, clear direction, and hard work of a great group of folks, our congregation can celebrate the success of our chicken barbecue. It is so encouraging to see so many people willing to do their part to make a project like this a success. This is just one more reason I am pleased to serve as their pastor.

Things went pretty well last year, and overall the event was a success; but a few members of the team remember how embarrassing it was to have to tell people that their chicken was not ready. It was lunch time. They had purchased a ticket. They had shown up at the time they had been told we would have something for them to eat; but somewhere, somehow, we had miscalculated. It was tough to ask people to leave and come back later.

I have a bad habit of waiting until a deadline is closing in before I really get serious about some projects. I usually guess pretty well how much time it’s going to take; but every once in a while, something unexpected happens. It throws a monkey wrench into my schedule and leaves me scrambling. I usually get by, but I feel bad that I have not done my best. Sometimes I also find that I need to go back and apologize to someone who “got in the way” as I was sprinting toward the finish.

As Jesus began his ministry he announced, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom!” (Mark 1:15, CEB). A few men heard his call and responded to his invitation to follow him and learn from him. There were lots of other things they could have done. There were lots of reasons they could have put off their decision. Instead, they immediately left what they were doing—and who they were doing it with—and followed him.

The writers of the New Testament do relate a few occasions where Jesus invites someone to follow him and that person makes his apologies for why this is not a good time for him. Sometimes I wonder how many other people were also invited to follow Jesus and did not accept the invitation. We know Jesus spoke to some crowds that numbered over five thousand. It is left to our imagination to wonder how they felt when they realized the opportunity they had missed by failing to recognize that “now is the time!”

It is a privilege to thank everyone who responded “on time” to the invitation to help with the preparation of the meal we served on Friday. As you move into this new year, let me ask you to listen carefully for God’s invitation, and encourage you to be ready to respond immediately to the opportunity to be a part of the great project God has planned.