SACRED MOMENTS

       Each life is filled with Kronos time and Kairos time. Kronos time, as in chronology, is the sort of time that we count. It is ordinary time, like going to the grocery store, or doing laundry, or watching TV. But there is also Kairos time, which defies our efforts to measure it, because it’s too deep, too sacred… to be counted or measured.  It is much bigger, than the moment itself and, as often as not, it shapes us in permanent ways... so that we are never the same person again. In the sea of a million moments, a handful of them "define" us because they help us- sometimes force us- to come to grips with who we really are; they transform us, and they set us on a course that changes our entire lives. 

      I remember, like it was yesterday, sitting in Sherry’s one-room apartment, across from what was then Veteran’s Auditorium, in Des Moines, IA., listening to the music of Rod McKuen, as her window fan churned the hot, summer air. It was a modest place, to put it kindly, but it was heaven to me. It gave me peace and a sense of contentment that I hadn't known before… and I remember, too, the overwhelming sense of emptiness that overcame me just before I entered the treatment center… and the weight that was lifted when I said the “Sinner’s Prayer” with Pastor Lu. It was a sacred time- that defined me not only as a friend of Bill’s, but as a forgiven and saved disciple of Christ Jesus. Sherry’s diagnosis of cancer was yet another defining moment… that turned our world upside-down… and forced to live in the now… because there’s no point in buying a 50-year roof… when you have 5 years to live.

      There have been other defining moments, of course, the birth of our daughters, our granddaughters, our grandson, and our great-grandchildren… and the ups and downs of their lives, some of which were transforming in their own way. Life is filled with unexpected drops of joy, unforeseen challenges, and any number of little deaths… in which we lose some part of ourselves. My two younger brothers are gone now, mom and dad are too… and there’s a sadness that goes with being the last one standing. But their dying was a sacred moment nonetheless! Within the myriad of Kronos moments, we all have a handful of defining moments that force us to come to grips with who we are and where we’re going, Many of these are moments when God has broken into our lives in ways that get our attention, reassure us, challenge us, and give us the opportunity to be more than we ever thought possible.
      It's always been so. God is always involved in our lives, and when he chooses, he speaks and acts... if we have eyes that see and ears that hear. Most of Jesus’ moments were Kronos moments. Most of us life was filled with everyday stuff. When he was a kid, he played with the other kids, and when he was an adult, he spent a great deal of time coming and going, sleeping, and sharing stories with his friends... about the people they saw and the things they did on any given day. If you sometimes think that your life is filled with routine, you're in good company... but our Lord's life also had many "kairos" moments! His baptism comes to mind, with his Father’s affirmation of love. His time in the wilderness comes to mind, when he was tested in ways common to all of us… and showed that he had the faith to put the word of God first. His encounter with the Syrophonecian woman comes to mind, where she seemed to persuade him that even the dogs ought to get a few crumbs. Gethsemane comes to mind because it was a moment that called for complete and utter surrender to His Father’s will.

      Jesus had other Defining moments, but so did Father Abraham, who was called out of Ur to follow a God whom he had never worshiped. Moses' life was also defined by kairos moments. If he hadn’t been placed in a little basket, he would’ve drowned or starved as an infant; if he hadn’t killed the abusive Egyptian, he wouldn’t have come to grips with his own identity; if he hadn’t stopped at the very well that he stopped at in Midian, he wouldn’t found his wife… and he wouldn’t have seen the burning bush. he would not have heard God's call! Like all the rest of us, Moses’ life was lived mostly in Kronos time, but it was defined by Kairos time… because it was in those moments that he discovered the way in which he had to go. Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Sarah, Naomi, David, Mother Mary... and all the rest... lived lives that were defined by sacred, kairos moments that came to them in the ordinariness of kronos time...  
      but what God wants us to know today is this: so do we! What are the moments that have defined you? When has God spoken to you? Through whom? With what sort of message? What moments in your life have shaped your journey as a person and as a Christian? How does God speak to you most clearly- in the thoughts that cross your mind, through the nagging pangs that fill conscience, through the tears that burden your soul, through the people placed in your life? And in what ways is God still speaking to you? Are your eyes and ears wide open? Are you looking into the burning bushes in your own life? Are you involved with people and active in places ... that are likely to provide a Kairos moment? In the ordinariness of time, there will be moments that shape our tomorrows and touch the very core of who we are. Some of them will be filled with great joy, some of them may break our hearts, some of them may open doors, some of them may test us to our limits. But they will come- these Kairos moments. They will come and we need NOT be afraid... because God is always with us!