There is a Greek word found in the New Testament that some Christians enjoy using on occasion, “Kairos”. This word is simply translated in English as “time” but it’s a very specific kind or measurement of time. It’s not a unit of time but rather, “Kairos” speaks of an appointed time, a time prepared by God, a moment in time that things have been building toward and will build from. Part of the definition for “Kairos” in Strong’s Concordance is “a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for”. The first recorded words of Jesus in the book of Mark are found in Mark 1:15, “The time (Kairos) is fulfilled . . .” Jesus announces that the “supreme moment” has arrived, everything that was being built has come to His appearing and everything that will be built will be from His appearing; as Michael Card put it “this is the ultimate kairotic moment.” I share this because yesterday, I walked into what has become a monthly meeting of pastors and elders and the first person I spoke with, referring to a service held Wednesday night said “Last night was a Kairos moment, a moment that cannot be repeated.” He was right, to quote another pastor at yesterday’s meeting, Wednesday night was “a game changer”. I will share about Wednesday in a moment but what I really want to say today is that “Kairos” moments are not really about the moment as much as they are about building to and building from those specific moments in time. Life is not the collection of moments, it is seeing and acknowledging what it takes to build to those moments and what we allow our few specific, pointed and powerful moments to build in us and through us.
The vast majority reading this are well aware of the tragedy that occurred in Charleston, South Carolina last week. Nine people were killed as they gathered for Bible Study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They were murdered in an act of hate, an act of sin, an act of evil and racism; without exploring the origins of sin in this writing, they lost their lives for no reason other than the color of their skin. In December I was invited to a meeting of local pastors that wanted to begin an open and honest dialogue about racial realities in our faith community. The first meeting was a larger gathering than I had anticipated and to be completely honest, the conversation was difficult at times. Everything said was true but at moments it was hard to hear, there was hurt, frustration, and anger; true and honest emotion but at the end of the meeting I was not sure where we were going or what we had accomplished. I wondered if we had opened a wound rather than bandaged one.
A couple of months passed from that meeting without any news of if something else would come of it. I prayed about it often, asking God to lead us to relationships and actions that could bring healing for what ails us, that the emotion of the first meeting would not be a discouragement to anyone but rather, that it would show that the men that were leading us were being led by the Holy Spirit, He had used them and their own conversations and relationship to uncover a deep hurt, an infection if you will, within the Body of Christ that was being covered over and ignored even though everyone could clearly see that it was there. After we all made it through the holiday schedule and the sometimes excruciating work of getting life back on schedule after the holidays I got notice of a second meeting. Now, I have to be honest here, even though I had been praying that the conversations would continue, when I got the notice of the second meeting I was pensive about it. The first meeting was emotional, I was immediately bombarded with thoughts of whether or not I wanted to go through that again, and even questions about whether or not it was beneficial. Finally, another pastor that has become a close friend asked me to go, that was all the prompting I needed.
The second meeting was different, not better because the first meeting was not wrong, bad or anything less than it was supposed to be. But the second meeting was smaller, more intimate and was now more focused on knowing each other so we could understand, love and enjoy each other. We had exposed the wound, now it was time to heal the wound and without anyone specifically saying it I believe we all had come to understand that it is only love that “covers a multitude of sins”; “conquers all” and “never fails”. We are now meeting together on a monthly basis, we have begun building relationships in which we spend time together apart from our monthly meetings, many have had meals together, pray for each other, cheer for each other and encourage each other. Our wounds are still present but the treatment of those wounds has now begun.
When word of the tragedy in Charleston came out we were all stunned, saddened and angry. I prayed quite a bit about how I should respond and the more I prayed the more I felt that my prayers needed to be my response, at least in the first moments. I desired to respond biblically and weep with the weeping, pray for the grieving and search my own heart for any wicked ways that may be found in me. Within a couple of days one of the gentleman from our monthly group sent out an email that simply called us to action of some sort, to a prayerful and righteous response rather than an emotional reaction. It was immediately agreed that we must do something and it was decided by the majority that we should plan a service of remembrance, worship, confession and prayer to honor the victims of the tragedy in Charleston and Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday night, one week after the attack. Our own local AME church, Bethlehem AME Church in Burlington graciously offered to host the event, plans were made, provisions prepared and those planning got the word out, on short notice, as best as it could be done.
Now to the “Kairos” moment. Wednesday night at 7:00 we gathered at Bethlehem AME church, hundreds of people, from many different churches and many different races came together to worship, pray to God and to honor and remember the fallen as well as to join with the grieving. The crowd was over capacity, chairs had been provided outside, as well as a sound system that would allow those outside to hear the service. From the moment the first note of music was played something very important was happening, there was something good going on, there was genuine love in the air, the awkwardness of being different was not allowed, instead the beauty of being together, being alike, being adopted into the same family and filled with the same Spirit was not just prevalent it was abundant. As I stood on the platform with other ministers and the choir this was my view:
As I watched and sang I became emotional, I teared up and began to cry, this was a “Kairos” moment but it was not the moment that overwhelmed me. I suddenly was reminded of all that had built to this moment. This moment didn’t come together because of pastor’s meetings that began in December. I’ve personally been praying for racial reconciliation and unity within the Body of Christ in Burlington for nearly 15 years. At a time in my life when it seemed my time in this community was finished and I started to ask God for direction in where I should go next He spoke clearly to my heart that He wanted me to stay here and then He spoke words I didn’t understand or expect, the Holy Spirit birthed in me a calling and a desire to be a bridge between divisions, He spoke that He wanted to give me a heart that would stand between divided people so that they could be brought together, He told me that He wanted me to be willing to be a part of bridging the divide between the races, the churches, the denominations and the neighborhoods. He didn’t tell me to do it, He asked me to be willing to be a part of it, to have Him birth in me a heart that was able to be a part of it. I’ve prayed for 15 years for grace, for understanding, for wisdom and for humility; I’ve prayed for God to unite those that have been divided and I’ve asked Him to expose the divisions in me so that I can be fit to be a part of unity when He brings it. At times I have been convinced and zealous at other times I have been doubtful and passive. But when I stood on the platform and looked out on Wednesday night it was not my prayers I thought of, it was the generations of prayers and pray-ers that burst into my heart. We stood there in response to people we have never met, people that lived and died long before us, people that wept and loved, trusted and believed, people who like Abraham, “against all hope . . . in hope believed”. Our “Kairos” moment was a gift from God but it is also birthed by the work of intercession of others, no “Kairos” moment happens suddenly, they are all planted, watered, protected and cared for by the prayers of saints that believe the promise whether they get to see it, in it’s fullness, in this life or not.
In Luke 2, when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple for His dedication, 40 days after His birth, they are met there by two separate people Simeon and Anna, for the sake of space I will only refer to Simeon. Michael Card wrote that Jesus’ announcement that His ministry would begin was the ultimate “Kairos” moment, but I’m not sure that the birth and dedication of Jesus can be any lower on the “list”. God became a man, the Son of God was born an infant just as you and I were so that we could become the sons of God; as Paul put it, “He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.” At Jesus’ dedication a man named Simeon took the infant in His arms and said “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation.” Simeon announces to Joseph and Mary that this child is the answer to his prayers. It is recorded in Scripture so that we will have a record of the words, but Simeon’s prayers are held in heaven, in golden bowls around God’s throne for all of eternity. It is written so that we will know that God works through the prayers of His people and that persistence is not how we get what we want from God it is how God does what He wants through His children. The world’s “Kairos” moment was built from the prayers of Simeon and others like him that had heeded the call of the Spirit to watch and prayer, to hope and believe, to tarry and remain. Jesus wasn’t simply born on a certain day because God had set a date in His mind, He was born because certain men and women had joined with God by His Spirit and had believed in God’s goodness, God’s plan, God’s character and God’s will. The great divine moments in history, even in our history are not isolated things that happen to us or through us, they are carefully constructed markers built by God in partnership with His praying and obeying people.
On Thursday my friend said that Wednesday night was “a moment that cannot be repeated.” He is right and in that statement lies so much of our problem with the “Kairos” moments of life. We often simply seek to repeat our greatest moments and forget our worst. The moments in life that God ordains, that God builds toward are the same moments that God builds from. Our calling to reconciliation and unity did not culminate on Wednesday night, it started a new chapter. Our calling now is to build, it is to press in to God and to each other in greater measure than ever before, to borrow a line from my favorite author, Henry Blackaby, it is a time to see what God is doing and join Him. And so I write this today for a few reasons. One is to report on what God has done and is doing. Another is to record that He hears us when we pray, He leads us in how to pray and He does His will for His glory through our hearts and lives when they are yielded to Him. But the greatest reason I’m writing this today is to call myself to accountability and ask you to see the work of God in and around your life as well and to join Him. The “Kairos” moments of life are all birthed in prayer and many if not most of them are not birthed in our prayers. We never pray alone! We have the Holy Spirit praying within us and Jesus praying for us (amazing that the current work of 2/3 of the Godhead is prayer and yet we struggle so much to see the vital role prayer plays in our lives and the Kingdom of God). There are generations of saints that have prayed for what we are seeing, their prayers are eternal, their prayers live in the presence of God as incense that is pleasing to Him. There are saints praying right now that we know nothing of, a remnant if you will, those called in quiet and faithful in humble belief that if God has called us to pray He will do the work and fulfill His purpose. I challenge all of us to keep praying, in our prayers we have the opportunity to become a part of the “Kairos” moments of other nations and generations, we have the opportunity to join God in eternal work rather than simply joining others in temporary work. Even more, I challenge all of us to stop looking for “our moment” and start living from the moments that God has already provided and each time we see that we stand in the midst of “Kairos”, let’s not savor it, let’s grab the baton that is being handed to us and let’s run with it.
Wednesday night we had a beautiful service of love, humility, intercession and unity; now that it’s Friday I have to live a life of servanthood, love, humility, intercession and unity. I pray that the moments God ordains will change our hearts because unless our hearts change our moments fade, but when our hearts are changed our moments become eternal because they stop being measurements of time and instead become the stairs we climb to grow in grace, in obedience, in perseverance and in prayer. “Kairos” moments are not made to be repeated, they are given to change us from glory to glory. To paraphrase Isaiah, “Here am I LORD, change me!”