More specifically he preached about the Greek word eukaireó which is translated here as the word leisure in the Gospel. He explained it was not leisure time as we would think of it, but rather a different way of experiencing time instead of the other Greek word for how time is normally experienced - chronos.He spoke about eukaireó as what is perceived when we lose track of chronos time. When we become absorbed in a particular moment this is an eukaireó moment or God's time (perhaps timelessness would be more appropriate). When perceiving the world kairologically, the beauty and perfection of the moment, points to the beauty and perfection of every moment and other moments we have experienced in the past of this awakened feeling.
Pastor Ray asked if anyone had experienced this in worship. A few hands went up. He commended us, at the end of the sermon, to build in more eukaireó time for ourselves. Later in the service, during our Prayers for the People, we prayed for places of rest where we could be renewed for mission. This prayer highlighted central issues with what we consider our normal ways to worship, what was preached in today's sermon, and what ultimately happened in today's Gospel text.
Personally I raised my hand becuase I have experienced eukaireó time (as the word is defined here) in worship a long time ago. That service lasted for two hours so I believe others experienced that moment in that service as well. Yet our Sunday worship times, as today's annotations in the bulletin accurately described, are not patterned to invite us to perceive the world kairologically.
I heard a number of people complained about that service. Those people obviously did not perceive the eukaireó moment. I would say that is because Sunday worship stresses something spiritually different. I will quote from the annotations "The basic pattern of this service - gathering, word, meal, and sending - is a structure that focuses on what the church holds in common" This includes a common church mission.
All the notes explaining how the service is ordered today was a constant reminder of where we should be at any particular time. Our Sunday worship is not designed for the congregation to lose track of time and where they are in the service. The eukaireó moments Pastor Ray described are ruptures in the way reality is normally perceived. Hardly moments where there will be public agreement on what is happening nor can be planned.
When we prayed for places of rest where we could be renewed for mission in our Prayers for the People it felt appropriate. Sabbaths from work are spiritually healthy but we shouldn't confuse those places of rest with the eukaireó moments in our lives.
Eukaireó moments are slipped into and out of without plan or by individual will. Reading further into today's Gospel provides a helpful illustration of this characteristic. Jesus says to the disciples "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while". The account goes on to tell us as they went for this rest the crowds saw them going and recognized them. They all hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them
Jesus has compassion for the crowd, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. Later, in the verses left out of this week's Gospel, we find that Jesus and the disciples fed them as well. The disciples did what Jesus told them to do to feed the hungry crowd.
This did not mean that they needed to be more intentional about resting to inspire their perception of particular moments. Neither would I say the miracle mission of the moment was more important than perceiving the world kairologically. The Gospel does not prioritize one above the other. Christianity is love in action but that does not mean that the church in the world is judged or based on the works done in the name of the church.
Chronos and eukaireós — Today's translation was not the precisely the definition of "our" time and "God’s" time that I have been given before. In the past I thought the 3 year lectionary cycle was much more critical to being aware of eukaireós. I was told standardizing the readings over three years was designed to make the church think about and / or experience the cyclical nature God's time.The lectionary emphasizes deeper re-readings of the scripture content. It also unbinds us from many chronos moments we find ourselves living out in our daily life. Thirdly the lectionary provides memory bridges to other moments in the past when these verses were encountered in previous years. I have even heard eukaireós used to help understand how God's kingdom is both coming and is at hand in our world.
I am not pushing for a final definitive resolutions or rigid definitions to chronos and eukaireós. It is best not to limit ourselves. There are as many possibilities to enter God’s time as there are people and none of these possibilities should be dismissed out of hand.
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ReplyDeleteOS - Look at the order in which you do things
ReplyDeleteVery well written, as always. I especially agree with the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable the way the oblique strategies often match up with the topic. How can that be?
Truly amazing matches. They are a central launch point for these reflections.
DeleteThis is how we've heard kairos used before: (as in kairos currently applies to Palestine)
ReplyDelete"In The Interpretation of History, neo-orthodox Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich made prominent use of the term. For him, the kairoi are those crises in history (see Christian existentialism) which create an opportunity for, and indeed demand, an existential decision by the human subject - the coming of Christ being the prime example (compare Karl Barth's use of Geschichte as opposed to Historie). In the Kairos Document, an example of liberation theology in South Africa under apartheid, the term kairos is used to denote "the appointed time," "the crucial time" into which the document or text is spoken."
Thanks for this comment. This is where it would be helpful to know more about how Greek words are used.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Strong's the Greek word eukairoun appears only once. The word καιρὸς (kairos) appears 17 times.
Here are other Mark 6:31 translations:
εὐκαίρουν (eukairoun) — 1 Occurrence
Mark 6:31 V-IIA-3P
GRK: οὐδὲ φαγεῖν εὐκαίρουν
NAS: and they did not even have time to eat.)
KJV: they had no leisure so much as
INT: not even to eat had they opportunity
Interesting that Paul Tillich would emphasize Kairos. I looked up Tillich's "In the Interpretation of History". He wrote about the concept of Kairos:
ReplyDelete"The term is meant to express the fact that the struggle for a new social order cannot lead to a fulfillment such as is meant by the Kingdom of God, but that at a special time special tasks are demanded, and one special aspect of the Kingdom of God appears as a demand and expectation. The Kingdom of God will always remain as transcendent; but it appears as a judgment to a given form of society and as a norm to a coming one."
What an insight! I have been reading Tillich's book "My Search for Absolutes" recently and diving into this writing will be next.
Eukaireós moments are very different from kairos moments in my experience. Working towards changing the ELCA's churchwide policy that happened in 2009 I now recognize as a Kairos "moment in time" as defined by Tillich.
ReplyDeleteEukaireós moments are far more transient.