Jonah 3:1-5, 10 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Psalm 62:6-14

Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The Apostle Paul alerts his brothers and sisters in Corinth, “The appointed time has
grown short… the present form of this world is passing away.”

Time marches on. Sometimes, time is on our side. Other times, time is our enemy.
Time waits for no man. Yet, time heals wounds. The sundial reminds us, “Suns rise; time flies.”
So, how do we respond to Paul’s words, “the appointed time has grown short?” Do we
keep on sweeping the house and caring for loved ones? Or, do we leave all and go sit on a 3
mountaintop in hopes of being the first to be greeted by our returning Lord? What are we called
to do with this time that grows so short?

Paul believed that the Second Coming of Christ would occur very soon after the
Ascension, perhaps even in his lifetime. Some, within the churches that Paul had founded, had
become lazy in their ministry, so confident they were that Christ would return soon and their
daily accomplishments would be all for naught.

Whether we see the coming of Christ in our lifetime or we live a long full life, our time
on earth is not even a tiny pinprick on the timeline of eternity. What difference can we make?
Even so, God calls us to specific and meaningful ministry during our time on earth.

And, what would humanity be without time limits – if we were not aware that time is
fragile and far too short? We would take for granted those we love if we were not well aware
that the time is coming when we will be separated by death. What would the squirrels eat all
winter if they had not rushed so frantically to hide the acorns in the autumn months?

Time belongs to God; the world’s time is not to claim us as its own, we are God’s. We
are to be in the world, but not of the world. Our earthly livelihoods and relationships are in the
world, as we are to be in the world, but our obedience is to God; our time belongs to God; our
time is not for the purpose of the world.

Through our faith and our prayer life, we have some sense of right time – The time is
right to change jobs; the time is right to begin or end a relationship; the time is right even for
death. Through faith, we put our time in God’s hands.

From our Old Testament lesson, we learn that the time was right for Jonah to go to
Nineveh. We know and love the account of Jonah, called by God to proclaim the need for
repentance to the people of pagan Nineveh. It was a frightening call. Jonah tried to run from
God; Jonah tried to circumvent God’s time. But, Jonah was on God’s time and God intervened
drastically and persistently. God does the same when we try to circumvent his time.

The writer of Mark tells us that after John had been arrested, Jesus came from Galilee
proclaiming the will of God. We are told that at this point in time of the beginning of Jesus’
ministry, God’s time had been fulfilled; the kingdom had come near.

As Jesus called his first disciples, they dropped their nets and followed. There would be
others to fish the sea; the time was fulfilled for these ordinary men to fish for people. God’s time
was the right time for this cataclysmic world-transforming life and ministry of Jesus Christ to
come into the world. Jesus was in the world but not of the world. And still, we mark our time
before and after the birth of Christ.

Time is a great paradox. We can think obsessively of the time when the Lord will come
again to the point that we fritter away our time of call to mission on earth. We can grasp time
arrogantly and selfishly on our own terms, mistakenly assuming it is limitless. Or, we can place
our time on earth in God’s hands that our time might be fulfilled, that we might experience the
nearness of the Kingdom, that we might follow the call to discipleship.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near… Immediately [Jesus]
called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.