Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
“Hurry up, but don’t rush!” “Come on, this is important—we have to get going.” “Take your time—this is important!” Which is it?! When something is important, do we need to hurry up or take our time? The answer of course is, “Yes!” Athletes live with this tension. A quick release is a must for a good shooter on the basketball court or for a middle infielder who is trying to turn a double play. Yet, they also have to take their time. If a shooter rushes his shot, he will likely miss. If a middle infielder rushes his exchange (getting the ball out of his glove and into his throwing hand) or throw, he will likely drop the ball or throw wildly to first base. Yet, if he are not quick, the shooter’s shot is likely to be blocked, and the middle infielder’s throw is likely to arrive too late to get the runner at first base. Athletes need to be quick and patient. So do Christians!
There is an urgency to the Christian life. Now is the time to repent of our sin! Now is the time to do good and be rich in good deeds. Now is the time to share the Gospel—to go and make disciples of all nations. Yet, love is patient… The fruit of the Spirit is… patience. The Christian life and sharing the Gospel with sinners requires endurance and great patience.
With this in mind, our Sunday morning Bible Study for the 6 weeks between Easter and Memorial Day weekend will be entitled, “Patient Urgency,” and we will explore this tension. I hope you will consider joining us! At the end of the Epiphany Season on the mount where Jesus was transfigured, we heard the Father’s urgent command to the disciples of Jesus, “Listen to Him!” Throughout the season of Lent, we have been listening to Jesus—His Words of Life from the cross and His transformational encounters with people in the Gospel of John. On Easter we celebrated that He had risen—AS HE SAID! Our Lord’s Word was vindicated—proven true! He, and HE ALONE—has the words of Eternal life! If anything, this should heighten the sense of urgency that we feel to “listen to Him.” Now is the time to hear the Word of Jesus! Now is the time to share the Word of Jesus so that others can also “listen to Him.” At the same time, listening to Jesus takes patience. For one thing, He says a lot! For another, our sinfulness and hardness of heart mean we need to keep hearing it again and again. Likewise, sharing the Word of Jesus with others takes patience too! People might be oblivious and not hear it, or they might be stubborn or resistant at first. They need to hear it again and again. Likewise, the relationships that need to be built so that we can better share the good news take time and energy and sacrifice that all requires patience and endurance.
Athletes need to train so that they can be both quick and patient at the same time. Christians need to train too. To that end, we will be studying the Gospel of Mark in our Sunday morning class. You will be immersing yourself in it—reading/listening to it/watching it at least once a week over the next 6 weeks. This will require some work on your part outside of class. In class, we will be watching some videos led by the Lutheran Hour Speaker, Pastor Ziegler, and having some discussions together to help us learn to be more urgent and patient at the same time. I hope you will join us and may the Lord bless us with patient urgency.