A Sense Of Urgency
Sermon
Deformed, Disfigured, And Despised
First Lesson Sermons For Lent/Easter Cycle C
In the world we appear to be in a hurry to go nowhere and be on time. In the church we sometimes appear to be going in myriad directions in slow motion and with no sense of urgency. There are some things in life that require our immediate and exigent attention, and it is important that we are on time in the things of God. God is always on time with us. There is an adage in the African American community that church folks use often. "He may not always come when we call him, but he is always on time." In other words, God tends to our needs quickly and urgently. All situations require a 911 response. Are we on time and in time in the things of God and the church?
In hearing of Tabitha's death, Peter went immediately with the disciples to tend to her needs. He did not waste time. He did not consult his date book to see if he could squeeze the time in to see about the dead woman. He could have reasoned that since she was dead, it was too late to respond urgently. He could have placed it as last on his long list of other priorities. He could have taken his own sweet time to get there. Instead he went immediately with the disciples because the matter was of utmost importance.
Arriving at the home of the dead woman, he prayed for her, laid hands on her, and restored her to life. The power of his miracle was glorious, but the timing of his miracle was even more important because timing is sometimes everything.
I remember years ago while I was away in college, I had an aunt dying of cancer in Montreal, Canada. I kept putting off my letter of love and encouragement to her. After finally getting around to writing the letter, I later learned that it had arrived a day after she died. Had I taken the time to make this matter a priority, she could have received that letter in plenty of time. I was too late. Timing is important. Timing is everything. There are some things that are too important and too urgent to put off until tomorrow. There are some things that require our immediate and utmost attention.
How many times have we heard, "Sorry, too late, or "The deadline has passed, or "Time has expired." Life does not always give us a timeout to tend to urgent matters. Life does not always grant us double and triple overtime. Some things we must do now because the circumstances require immediate action. Time is the most important of all of our resources. It's the only thing we can give to others and never get back. The clock is ticking down on all of us. We must find ways of giving our immediate attention to priorities that require our utmost urgency.
Peter went with the disciples immediately and Tabitha was brought back to life. The people who loved Tabitha did not delay notifying Peter of the problem and Peter did not delay addressing the problem. They both were concerned about time. They both acted with the utmost expediency. They all had a sense of urgency in a matter of critical importance. The slightest delay could end in disaster.
There are some who believe that if Peter had come three days later, if it had been God's will, Tabitha would still have been raised. This may be true, but there is a difference between time as chronos and time as kairos. There is a difference between temporal and eternal time. We do not have forever to act on things whose resolution requires immediate attention. If someone is dying or dead, their revival time is not eternal. The revival time of the dead is both chronos and kairos. We must act within chronos and we must have a sense of kairos. We must be in time and on time in the things of God.
Ask any emergency room physician about the importance of timing in saving a life. Ask any surgeon about the value of time in doing major surgery, and you will discover that timing is virtually everything.
Too often in the things of this world we have the greatest urgency and the utmost exigency. Too often in the things of God, we are lethargic, listless, and inattentive. All too often we are inattentive to the real needs of people. We are wearied by the daily round of life which dulls our senses and slows our response time to the real things that matter in life.
The people who called Peter to Tabitha had a real sense of urgency in saving the woman's life. Peter had a sense of urgency in immediately tending to the needs of the dead woman and her family.
This urgency is rooted in a compassion and concern for the well being of those we serve. In the church we are faced with crises that require a short response time to the needs of God's people. God help us if we are too long in responding to the needs of our people.
Early in my ministry at Hope United Methodist Church I learned the value of a quick response to a crisis situation. A church parishioner was dying at a local hospital and the family phoned me to come at once. "He wants to talk with you, Reverend, before he dies." I grabbed my coat, ran out of the house, and jumped into my car, but it wouldn't start. I tried to start the car for ten minutes and couldn't. I called a few friends who could not be reached. I phoned the cab company and waited another hour and no cab came. Within that time the parishioner died and the sin of my not being there was unpardonable in the minds of family members. They did not understand that I had car problems. In their minds I had failed to respond to the request of their dying loved one. They were hurt and disappointed. I felt the pangs of guilt, but it taught me the lesson that there are some things that require our immediate attention and we must come at once or go right now. This experience taught me the value of having a back-up plan in case of car failure or some other unforeseen difficulty. Now I have a person I can call who will get me where I need to be quickly.
Our preaching, counseling, pastoral care, witnessing, and discipling should have a sense of urgency. The church is too laid back. Clergy are too laid back. The body of Christ is often too laid back. There is no sense that the needs of people are vitally important. Few things are worse than tired clergy who have no compassion or concern for the needs of God's people. We must find ways of prioritizing the ultimate concerns of the people and let them know that we care for them and love them as Jesus does.
Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection dramatize the urgency of our need for salvation as God's people. The turn-around time between death and life was three days. The cycle of death and life symbolized by the crucifixion and resurrection is a short time. God did not allow Jesus to lie in the tomb forever. After the third day he arose. In the span of eternity, three days is a modicum of time. God had unfinished business for the son. The resurrection would complete this segment of Christ's mission to God's people, and that's why Christ had to get up from the grave. The Father would not let more time elapse because he had a sense of urgency in using his son as an instrument of salvation and redemption for dying and sinful people. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all have a sense of urgency in ministering to and saving our sin-sick souls.
The church today needs that same kind of resurrection urgency for raising the dead and meeting the needs of people. The tasks before us are compelling, if not at times overwhelming. There are so many needs, so many dying and hurting people that require our immediate attention. People must know that we care, and sometimes our caring is conveyed through our response time to their real needs.
What we need today is a resurrection urgency to bring the dead back to life. No longer must we postpone our response to the crises of our times. No longer can we simply look the other way and dismiss the importance of responding immediately to ultimate concerns because our delay can mean life or death. Perhaps in the final analysis we really do not have the power to save, heal, and resurrect, no matter how quickly or slowly we respond to people's needs, but Christ still has that power. It is through our work as servants of God that people come to know who Christ is. If we do not have a sense of urgency for our work in meeting the needs of people we might well be telling them that Christ does not have time for them. We need a resurrection urgency that will compel us to tend to the needs of a dying people.
Christ calls us now to his work now. We must sense the importance of coming at "once" because there is great need. Please come at once, the dead woman needs you.
In hearing of Tabitha's death, Peter went immediately with the disciples to tend to her needs. He did not waste time. He did not consult his date book to see if he could squeeze the time in to see about the dead woman. He could have reasoned that since she was dead, it was too late to respond urgently. He could have placed it as last on his long list of other priorities. He could have taken his own sweet time to get there. Instead he went immediately with the disciples because the matter was of utmost importance.
Arriving at the home of the dead woman, he prayed for her, laid hands on her, and restored her to life. The power of his miracle was glorious, but the timing of his miracle was even more important because timing is sometimes everything.
I remember years ago while I was away in college, I had an aunt dying of cancer in Montreal, Canada. I kept putting off my letter of love and encouragement to her. After finally getting around to writing the letter, I later learned that it had arrived a day after she died. Had I taken the time to make this matter a priority, she could have received that letter in plenty of time. I was too late. Timing is important. Timing is everything. There are some things that are too important and too urgent to put off until tomorrow. There are some things that require our immediate and utmost attention.
How many times have we heard, "Sorry, too late, or "The deadline has passed, or "Time has expired." Life does not always give us a timeout to tend to urgent matters. Life does not always grant us double and triple overtime. Some things we must do now because the circumstances require immediate action. Time is the most important of all of our resources. It's the only thing we can give to others and never get back. The clock is ticking down on all of us. We must find ways of giving our immediate attention to priorities that require our utmost urgency.
Peter went with the disciples immediately and Tabitha was brought back to life. The people who loved Tabitha did not delay notifying Peter of the problem and Peter did not delay addressing the problem. They both were concerned about time. They both acted with the utmost expediency. They all had a sense of urgency in a matter of critical importance. The slightest delay could end in disaster.
There are some who believe that if Peter had come three days later, if it had been God's will, Tabitha would still have been raised. This may be true, but there is a difference between time as chronos and time as kairos. There is a difference between temporal and eternal time. We do not have forever to act on things whose resolution requires immediate attention. If someone is dying or dead, their revival time is not eternal. The revival time of the dead is both chronos and kairos. We must act within chronos and we must have a sense of kairos. We must be in time and on time in the things of God.
Ask any emergency room physician about the importance of timing in saving a life. Ask any surgeon about the value of time in doing major surgery, and you will discover that timing is virtually everything.
Too often in the things of this world we have the greatest urgency and the utmost exigency. Too often in the things of God, we are lethargic, listless, and inattentive. All too often we are inattentive to the real needs of people. We are wearied by the daily round of life which dulls our senses and slows our response time to the real things that matter in life.
The people who called Peter to Tabitha had a real sense of urgency in saving the woman's life. Peter had a sense of urgency in immediately tending to the needs of the dead woman and her family.
This urgency is rooted in a compassion and concern for the well being of those we serve. In the church we are faced with crises that require a short response time to the needs of God's people. God help us if we are too long in responding to the needs of our people.
Early in my ministry at Hope United Methodist Church I learned the value of a quick response to a crisis situation. A church parishioner was dying at a local hospital and the family phoned me to come at once. "He wants to talk with you, Reverend, before he dies." I grabbed my coat, ran out of the house, and jumped into my car, but it wouldn't start. I tried to start the car for ten minutes and couldn't. I called a few friends who could not be reached. I phoned the cab company and waited another hour and no cab came. Within that time the parishioner died and the sin of my not being there was unpardonable in the minds of family members. They did not understand that I had car problems. In their minds I had failed to respond to the request of their dying loved one. They were hurt and disappointed. I felt the pangs of guilt, but it taught me the lesson that there are some things that require our immediate attention and we must come at once or go right now. This experience taught me the value of having a back-up plan in case of car failure or some other unforeseen difficulty. Now I have a person I can call who will get me where I need to be quickly.
Our preaching, counseling, pastoral care, witnessing, and discipling should have a sense of urgency. The church is too laid back. Clergy are too laid back. The body of Christ is often too laid back. There is no sense that the needs of people are vitally important. Few things are worse than tired clergy who have no compassion or concern for the needs of God's people. We must find ways of prioritizing the ultimate concerns of the people and let them know that we care for them and love them as Jesus does.
Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection dramatize the urgency of our need for salvation as God's people. The turn-around time between death and life was three days. The cycle of death and life symbolized by the crucifixion and resurrection is a short time. God did not allow Jesus to lie in the tomb forever. After the third day he arose. In the span of eternity, three days is a modicum of time. God had unfinished business for the son. The resurrection would complete this segment of Christ's mission to God's people, and that's why Christ had to get up from the grave. The Father would not let more time elapse because he had a sense of urgency in using his son as an instrument of salvation and redemption for dying and sinful people. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all have a sense of urgency in ministering to and saving our sin-sick souls.
The church today needs that same kind of resurrection urgency for raising the dead and meeting the needs of people. The tasks before us are compelling, if not at times overwhelming. There are so many needs, so many dying and hurting people that require our immediate attention. People must know that we care, and sometimes our caring is conveyed through our response time to their real needs.
What we need today is a resurrection urgency to bring the dead back to life. No longer must we postpone our response to the crises of our times. No longer can we simply look the other way and dismiss the importance of responding immediately to ultimate concerns because our delay can mean life or death. Perhaps in the final analysis we really do not have the power to save, heal, and resurrect, no matter how quickly or slowly we respond to people's needs, but Christ still has that power. It is through our work as servants of God that people come to know who Christ is. If we do not have a sense of urgency for our work in meeting the needs of people we might well be telling them that Christ does not have time for them. We need a resurrection urgency that will compel us to tend to the needs of a dying people.
Christ calls us now to his work now. We must sense the importance of coming at "once" because there is great need. Please come at once, the dead woman needs you.
