FOOD FOR THOUGHT
(02/07/2010)
WHAT
TIME IS IT?
Cindy Hong
Last
week I watched Season 7 of 24 in 48 hours. With 24 episodes
chronologically unfolding throughout a day beginning at 8 am, it was round-the-clock
action for protagonist Jack Bauer as he uncovers conspiracies, interrogates
kidnappers, investigates covert ops, infiltrates enemy hideouts. Perhaps
the case can be made that the time could have been better spent doing
other things, more spiritual things, more altruistic things. In my defense,
I did get some exercise in, the heart rate up due to heart palpitations
while pacing to and from the TV room and kitchen. In an effort to not
have these hours go down in the books as pure entertainment, what better
way to redeem the time than to call it research for the back of the church
bulletin? The experience coincided nicely with recent ponderings of the
differences between the New Testament use of time, specifically chronos
time, chronological or sequential time, and kairos time,
the opportune or fulfilled time. So while I was wasting chronos
time on the couch, Jack Bauer taught me about kairos time, making
life count. If anyone lived 24 hours to the max, it's Jack. To prove it,
at 4:08 am, in the middle of the all-nighter he's pulling to save America
, he says to his friend Chloe: “Whatever time I've got left, I want
it to matter.” Suddenly parallels emerged between Jack and other real
people. Like Mark. In his gospel, he crams so much action in 16 chapters,
boom-boom-boom, all the “immediatelys” and “at onces” causing
a spike in blood pressure. Mark spends no time on Jesus' infancyhood,
instead puts him on the scene as an adult, on a mission and ready to rumble
with the establishment. Like Paul. The first century version of Jack Bauer.
Jailed. Shipwrecked. Betrayed by the government. In between assignments
he manages to write letters to churches, exhorting them to make the best
use of the kairos time they're given (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5), this
special appointed time we live in between the incarnation and consummation.
Like Jesus. He made the most of his time on earth—proclaimed, taught,
exorcised, healed, prayed, died, resurrected; and now reigns with God
and relates with us, his presence, power, and purpose pervading our lives.
And lastly, like us….
|
