Kairos & Kindom

As he [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time [kairos] of God’s coming to you.” - Luke 19:41-44

It’s so striking that Jesus here is heartbroken not for an individual who has missed their kairos moment, but for a whole city - a community, a collective. Pastor and Professor Brenda Salter McNeil draws upon this story in this powerful, 2 minute-long video:

(For email readers, HERE it is on youtube.)

She asks this provocative question: “When is this [moment] God mobilizing us and giving us the opportunity to be about the kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven?” Mobilizing us…. giving us… to be about kingdom/kindom*.

How have you sensed the faith community/communities you’re part of catching kairos together over the last weeks, months and years? Where do you see them (yourself included) hearing and responding together to God’s heart for the world, for justice, for renewal? Where do you notice them (yourself included) missing what God’s up to, and why do you think that is? Who could you talk to to make a plan to reflect and respond together?

Talk with Jesus about these things.

* Term originating with Ada María Isasi-Díaz