Blog Layout

 The Trouble with Jesus

by Constance Hastings

The Time Beyond Time
Nov 21, 2022

The Trouble with Jesus is his call to be prepared to act, all in God’s own time.

Hey, Reason for the Season, you brought it on right from the start. Get Ready! Watch! Be prepared because the Big Day is coming! If that’s how you announce yourself still after 2000 years, no wonder the holiday begins with daylight savings time and a halftime show called Thanksgiving. Sure, life goes on as usual, but hovering over us is how time is getting shorter, and we need to start as soon as possible. So lights go up even earlier than last year while Amazon trucks are already making deliveries three times a day. With this building stress, tell us dear Jesus, why would we ever call you Prince of Peace?


Only God Knows

Well, then don’t. Don’t jump ahead of what’s to come. In fact, Jesus said he doesn’t know himself when it’s going to happen. But more important, don’t condense one thing into another. Yes, it’s smart to be ready for the biggest day of the year, but right now Jesus is talking about the biggest day in time. You’ve got December 25 on your calendar. God doesn’t own one.


God’s Time

This is one of those things that might very well hurt your head but take two of your favorite OTC and go with it. Mortals experience time chronologically, like from the nanosecond to millennials. God’s got another sense of time which is kairos.  So when Jesus said no one knows the day or hour, he was speaking of kairos, God’s time.


Kairos happens when God enters at the most fitting opportunity. Thus, only God knows when that might be. Jesus had been talking about the end of time when as the Son of Humanity he would bring together all creation into this sense of time and God’s presence. However, that’s not the only occurrence of kairos.


Of Floods, Fields, and Flour

Jesus gave a few examples. Most of his listeners were familiar with the Great Flood and Noah. The story goes that most people were just living life as usual, and when the flood hit, they got carried off in the waters. Another story has two men in a field, and one also was taken away. Same with two women grinding flour at a mill. Those taken away weren’t ready for God’s time, that is, how God enters lives with his kind of kairos.


Better Watch Out…

He knows if you’ve been bad or good….You know the song. The Big Guy is on the way and looking for the naughty and the nice. Now, let’s make this clear: God/Jesus is no Santa Claus. (Why people ever teach their kids this kind of thing is meant for another blog site.)


Still, Jesus says, “Be prepared…” Be prepared for God’s time of kairos, when God shows up in those fitting moments of life. He compares it to the watchfulness a homeowner has against burglars. You never know. So keep your eyes wide open.


A Kairos Break-in

You never know; just be prepared to see it when it comes. Miss it and it’ll be like being swept away with flood waters. You won’t get to see what God can do and is doing in special times, moments, and movements.


Be prepared to act, to do the right thing. Darnella Frazier bravely videoed George Floyd as a police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck ultimately causing his death.  That recording spoke deeply into American consciousness of racism and its abuses.


Be prepared to give and give sacrificially. Rich celebrities get recognized for giving millions to various causes. For the likes of them, it’s the drop in the bucket. Jesus recognized the woman who while what she gave was small, her giving was all she had.


Be prepared to love, even your enemy. Ever hear that you don’t have to like someone to love them? That’s love at a distance and probably doesn’t really go that far. Love is close up and messy sometimes. Do it because Jesus said to.


Be prepared to lose your life. That might mean your life and breath. Or, what you live or breathe for. Either way, all of life is turned over and reversed for what God intends.


The Trouble with Jesus is his call to be prepared to act, all in God’s own time.


“Be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Matthew 24:36-44


The Trouble with Jesus is he doesn’t want to fight as much as he wants to lead in Love.
By Constance Hastings 28 Oct, 2024
The Trouble with Jesus is he doesn’t want to fight as much as he wants to lead in Love.
The trouble with Jesus is healing happens in reversal to one’s willingness to see.
By Constance Hastings 21 Oct, 2024
What do you want me to do for you? One’s answer reveals the beggar in one’s soul.
The Trouble with Jesus finds you have to convert more than the world to change it.
By Constance Hastings 14 Oct, 2024
Jesus, if you don’t mind, we’d like to talk with you about what you just said and ask a favor. Sure guys, what’s on your minds.? About your plans, when it all comes about, if the two of us could be seated next to you, one of your right and the other on your left? (long pause…) You have no idea what you’re asking....
The Trouble with Jesus was he didn’t tolerate anything getting in the way of full devotion to God.
By Constance Hastings 07 Oct, 2024
True Story: A husband told his wife he was going the next day to possibly buy a Corvette. (Disclaimer: this did not happen in my house…) She read to him these words of Jesus: “Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” “Now, how do you think you’ll get to heaven if you buy a Corvette?” she challenged him. After a short pause, he smiled, and said, “Fast!”
The Trouble with Jesus: He doesn’t speak from a legalistic mindset. He speaks with the mind of God
By Constance Hastings 30 Sep, 2024
The Trouble with Jesus: He doesn’t speak from a legalistic mindset. He speaks with the loving mind of God.
The Trouble with Jesus is he used graphic and exaggerated devices to teach his slowest students.
By Constance Hastings 23 Sep, 2024
In some ways, Jesus, your radical messages are just what we need. You just said that welcoming children is just like welcoming you. Nice image there. But this time, it’s like you’re pushing radicalization, sending your followers off the deep end. Cutting off one’s hands or feet, gouging out the eye so you’re good enough to get access to your Dad’s Kingdom? Calling people to self-mutilation isn’t going to garner many likes on your page with this kind of talk.
The Trouble with Jesus is a radical reversal of ambition and status in God's love.
By Constance Hastings 16 Sep, 2024
Jesus, oh Son of Man, you gotta lay off this. If you want to get your message out there and have everybody behind you, you have to play to what they want. All this talk about dying and staying in last place is going to destroy you. But no, you just keep repeating it over and over again. Take some good advice even those sorry followers of yours seem to realize. The only thing that needs to raise from the dead is your rhetoric.
The Trouble with Jesus is he will not conform to what we think he should be.
By Constance Hastings 09 Sep, 2024
Don’t you dare criticize him for what he said. Honestly, you’re no different than he when it comes down to it. You claim you believe in God, but when push comes to shove, rubber meets the road, and truth be known, like Peter, you’d rather God follow you than follow Jesus.
The Trouble with Jesus is he gets messy with what we are like even as he meets us in what we need.
By Constance Hastings 02 Sep, 2024
Stories of people bringing the sick to Jesus are not out of the ordinary. Even now, heaven probably shakes constantly with petitions for people to be healed. Give them some credit here. While prayers may come with sobs for God to reverse what could be the worst possible outcome, the proverbial faith of a mustard seed is the foundation of their cries. The heart knows or at least wants to believe that God can heal. The fear is, will God make this miracle or not? Still, we ask.
The Trouble with Jesus: His words stab like open heart surgery, he exposed them and us.
By Constance Hastings 26 Aug, 2024
The Trouble with Jesus: His words stab in every living soul. Like open heart surgery, he exposed them and us.
More Posts
Share by: