God's Year to Act - Ginger Kauffman

It’s a double feature. The curtain has closed on the confusing craziness we have just watched unfold before us during the first feature, entitled 2020. Unbridled cheers fill the theater, not because the movie was so wonderful, but because it is finally over.

Now we wait for the second feature, which begins after a brief break. We don’t know the name of the next show, the producer, the stars, or even the theme. We have seen no previews for it, nor do we know its name. Is it a sequel to 2020 or a commentary, or something completely different? Could it be a comedy, perhaps Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby, or maybe Monty Python’s sketch, Ministry of Silly Walks? I’d be happy with Sleepless in Seattle. Maybe it will be a benign police program—like the Andy Griffith Show, where the worst criminals in town are children telling lies and a fellow who drinks too much. No…how about a marathon of Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood?

Anything from our happy past would be fine…something, anything, that feels familiar.

Socially distanced theater goers want conversation if they can’t have entertainment. They’ve waited too long; they’re getting restless. As tensions rise, so does the volume of the crowd. Somebody, anybody, tell us how much longer we have to wait! Let’s get this show on the road!

As the rumble of the crowd escalates, only a few see the man in a robe and sandals enter from stage right and stand before the closed curtain. We are here to see a period piece of ancient times, then? A live drama? No one pays much attention to him as he stands there, silently, scanning the crowd. He appears to be focusing on each person, his eyes seeing into their souls. Even those in the balcony sense his gaze, and the room falls silent.

Pulling a scroll from his cloak, he unrolls it and finds his place. He steps to the edge of the stage. His strong voice fills the theater as he reads,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”*

This is Jesus, as he reads from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at the beginning of his ministry 2000 years ago.

This is Jesus, as he sees the turmoil in the world after our long winter of 2020, and as a new year looms before us.

He knows the poor among us, the blind, the oppressed. He knows the circumstances that have imprisoned many. He comes to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. In The Message this is how verse 19b reads,”This is God’s year to act!”

“Yes, Lord,” we respond. “You alone know the end from the beginning. We do not know what the future holds, but you are with us, and you are trustworthy. In you we place our hope for today, and tomorrow, and all the days to come. Show yourself strong on our behalf as we wait on you, Lord Jesus.”

Are you ready, friend? This is God’s year to act!