Urgency
Excerpt from I Peter 4: 7 – 11
"The end of all things is near; therefore . . . maintain constant love for one another . . . serve one another with whatever gift each of you have received . . . whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God . . . ."
Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson
In seminary we were taught to pretty much disregard words like the ones that begin this passage, "The end of all things is near." "Early Christians," we were told, "expected the Second Coming of Christ and the end of history to happen very soon. But we know that didn't happen.
The message seemed to be that this didn't have any real meaning for us. Somehow I always thought that was too bad in a way. I wondered if we weren't missing something important.
The important thing to be gained from such passages is a sense of urgency. We don't have forever. What we say and do matters, enormously. Now is the time. Today is the day.
Some of the times I have felt most alive were when there was a great sense of urgency. There was a crisis or a cause, or death had come close reminding me how precious life is. Or life, Jesus Life, had come close, opening my eyes to God's presence and glory.
Believing that time was short, Peter told these early believers that loving one another really matters. He said that using your gifts well to serve others is critical. And he said the words you speak are so important that they ought to be treated as if they are the very word of God.
Often I feel that what's missing in the church today is a sense of urgency. There is, to be sure, a good bit of anxiety among us. But that's not the same as urgency. Anxiety wears us down. Urgency calls us forward. Maybe instead of just dismissing lines like, "The end of all things is near," we ought to let them linger in our hearts and minds to provoke a sense of urgency in us.
Prayer
It's true, Lord, we don't have forever. And however long we have, what we do and what we say does matter. It matters eternally. Help me to live this day with a deeper sense of urgency. Amen.
It's true, Lord, we don't have forever. And however long we have, what we do and what we say does matter. It matters eternally. Help me to live this day with a deeper sense of urgency. Amen.
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