“Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for…”

 

 The first line of the movie The Greatest Showman, and its opening number ‘The Greatest Show’, has ring master P T Barnum announce: “Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for…”  It heralds something new, exciting, different.  A longed-for experience now becoming reality.  For Barnum in the film, it’s the start of his circus show, where he will challenge perceptions by introducing and showcasing the wonderful, unusual and unexpected performers in his troupe.

In various fields and disciplines, from classical and modern rhetoric, to science, and Christian theology, there’s a term for this ‘moment you’ve waited for’ phenomenon: kairos.  It’s a Greek word, and it means something like ‘timely’ or ‘the opportune moment’.  The word occurs notably in the New Testament’s Gospel of Mark (1:15), when Jesus goes public with his message and ministry, saying,

“The time [kairos] is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near [or, is at hand]; repent and believe in the good news.”

In other words, it’s like Jesus was saying, “Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for.”

‘Kairos’ could describe a breakthrough, a lightbulb moment.  When ancient Greek thinker Archimedes got in the bath and discovered displacement, and shouted ‘Eureka!’ (so the story goes), that was a ‘kairos moment’.  Theologian Paul Tillich spoke of kairos moments, the highest example of these being the ‘conversion experience’, by which is usually meant the spiritual change resulting from encounter with Jesus.  But it could mean any transformative experience, any moment where we learn, re-assess, discover something profound and new – or old for that matter.  Kairos can happen for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The kairos Jesus spoke of was his announcement of the availability and reality of the kingdom of God – a reality that reflects the rule of God.  And so, any time the kingdom of God ‘comes near’, any time it’s close, perceptible, tangible – that’s a kairos moment.  So maybe it’s all those lightbulb moments and red-letter days and tiny or large victories.

Matthew’s Gospel has an equivalent to Mark’s ‘inauguration speech’ by Jesus (Mark 1:15, above).  It’s in Matthew 4:17 –

“From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’.”

It’s worth noting that Matthew tells us about Jesus relocating at this point from Nazareth to Capernaum, “in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali” (Matthew 4:13).  This is important for Matthew because it means Jesus is ‘fulfilling’ the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –

 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death

 light has dawned” (Matthew 4:15-16).

Matthew is quoting from Isaiah 9:1-2.  That passage goes on to talk about the people rejoicing like at harvest time (a big moment in an agrarian society), because their oppression is over, the threat of violence and war is gone, as God’s special representative is establishing a kingdom of justice and peace.

When Jesus pronounced the blessings known as ‘the Beatitudes’, he said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).  The moment these people have been waiting for is justice – that’s probably a more Jewish understanding of the word translated ‘righteousness’.  Justice is their kairos moment.  That may mean they are desperate to receive justice because it has been denied them, or it could mean people who are fighting and campaigning for justice for others – either way, they are waiting for and seeking justice.  And each glimpse of it is a little kairos moment.

Every time light shines in the darkness; every time peace and joy increase; every time a yoke, a chain, of oppression is broken; every time justice is established and upheld – that’s a kairos moment.  Isn’t that the moment you’ve waited for?