Time Grows Short

For some reason (ignorance primarily, apathy secondarily) I thought the Collect and Bible passages presented to us in service each week were randomly and locally selected. In fact, the Episcopal Church publishes a liturgical calendar two years out that formulates the scriptural teachings for the entire church. Thus, here is what is planned for this, the third Sunday after Epiphany,

Having studied this and some other offerings from the liturgical calendar, I surmise that this is not a random Scriptural Pu-Pu Platter, thrown together to save the local priest the trouble of doing it when he goes to print off the Sunday circular. Significant thought goes into this, in that someone has sat down and carefully selected passages from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms and the Pauline Epistles to illustrate a divine truth for our edification.

I also suspect (but in my theological ignorance cannot quite discern) that there is a temporal significance to the selection. This season of Epiphany, which celebrates the extension of the Gospel to the Gentile world, should have a distinct meaning to us, as the Waspy reapers of the unmerited extension of grace outside the boundaries of Judea. Like beggars shown a crumb, we should be anxious to show the other beggars the spot we stumbled upon it.  And that seems to be the theme of the word selected for this Sunday, the showing, and the shortness of the time we have to do it.

Look at the Collect:

"Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

From this Collect, I contend that we are charged to READILY answer the call of Christ to PROCLAIM the Gospel to ALL PEOPLE. The provided Scripture reinforces this theme. From Jonah, we are given an example of the Lord using a prophet to warn a fallen city of the shortness of time it has to repent. From Mark, the Word manifest in Christ illustrates the effect possible in a man's live that the call can have--at Jesus' simple bidding, Simon, Andrew, John and James drop their nets without hesitation and follow Him, transformed from fisherman into Fishers of Men by their faith.

Finally Paul, lest we think we have our lifetimes to delay this important work, tells us this:

"I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away."

When we sit and worship together this Sunday and listen to these words from the pulpit--words that will be studied by the entire body of Episcopalian believers--let us try to keep the this theme in focus. As adopted sons of the true God through the sacrifice of His Son, we are charged to spread the Good News of His Salvation to the very ends of the earth, and the appointed time to do that is NOW, for Time Grows Short Brothers. Time Grows Short.