Time as God's Long Patient Loving Delay

3 Lent Cycle C March 23, 2025
Ex.3:1-17 Ps. 103:1-11
1 Cor. 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9

Lectionary Link

The Gospels were written in part because of what did not happen? What did not happen? The world did not end, the Son of Man did not come in the clouds, and so the "dead in Christ" had not yet been raised, as St. Paul was earnestly anticipating in the the fifties of the Common Era.

When people are gathered in part because their founding leader believed that his generation would see the end, such people would naturally be living other worldly lives and less this worldly lives in their every day concerns. Coupled with the oppression of being persons with minority views on the divine within an Empire full of other gods and goddesses, believing in a impending "nuclear option" for the world would be a comfort during suffering. It is like terminal patients with painful suffering praying for hasty death so that the pain will end. St. Paul did not really encourage a strategic five year or long term plans, even preferring that people not get married because why bother if we're all going to leave soon.

One should appreciate how oral mode of transmission would be the communication rule in mostly illiterate people who were informally spreading their message of hope to as many people as possible because the end was nigh. Why write anything down, if we're all leaving? Letter writing is perhaps a most informal written way of communicating so it is not surprising that in groups of people motivated by an imminent apocalyptic ending, that letter writing would be the earliest documents. And indeed, the Pauline writings are the earliest Christian writings of the New Testament, pre-dating the Gospel writings by decades.

So how was the writing of the Gospels related to the delay in the parousia, the coming of the Lord? Oral transmission is not a very accurate method of retaining original words. One can note in gossip how stories get changed and altered in the continually retelling of events in later settings. Oral traditions may be a testimony both to the good memory of what is retained, but to the bad memory of what can get lost because a new telling of the story does not always require all the information.

I would argue that the Gospels were written in part because of the delay in the coming of the Lord. How were these communities, Christ communities, in this extended waiting period to be maintained and grown? By using literature, writing as a technology of memory for the community so that their life and values can be preserved and promulgated.

And the Gospel writers wrote about their great dilemma, which was in fact the continuing delay of the coming of the Lord. The writers include both the belief in an impending day of the Lord as well as reasons for its delay.

And what is the reason for the delay of the Lord? God's patience. The human situation is like the fig tree in the parable of Jesus. For some reason the fig tree was not bearing fruit. Humanity was doing all the things that St. Paul warned his readers about. Evil doing is the opposite of what bearing good fruit means. What are the options in dealing with an unfruitful fig tree? One was the nuclear option; cut it down, why waste time and resources on a tree that was not bearing fruit. What was the other option? Give it more time, but not by just letting time passively expire. Place fertilizer around the roots of the tree as a way of better insuring future fruit to be produced. So, God's patience with humanity in giving it more time plus the Gospel community providing the nourishing root environment for humanity described the mission of the early Gospel community. God has given this world more time; the nature of God is patient love and this patient love is to be the nature of the Christ-communities as they endeavored to add a fertilizing influence for many more people to come to their best fruitful lives.

One could say that God's patience is a dominant theme of the biblical salvation story. In Hebrew Scripture the holy and unpronounceable name of God, means Holy Being and Holy Becoming. I am that I am; I cause to become. God is the invisible Holy Being and Holy Becoming within all. God stands as the ideal for ideal human becoming. The writings of Scriptures are from people who believed that they had wisdom insights from God about how to live best in their human situations. A Holy Becoming God requires holy becoming people.

The biblical record is about the continuing failure of people to be the best versions of themselves. And it is about the means of intervention which have occurred to remind people about their best versions and about a loving patient God who can be known to be our aid in becoming our best versions of ourselves.

Human life at times can leave many feeling somewhat like the plight of a terminal patient praying for the mercy of death to end pain. This apocalyptic impulse is the analgesic hope and prayer which resides within humanity. But this impulse is complemented with the hope for life after life, after life, after life, which the Gospel writers and Paul believed to be resurrection life for those who died. But for those who remained, they would continue to know the patient love of God, always delaying and giving us chances to become better, and more fruitful.

Rather than argue about textual critical meanings of the Gospel, is it not better for us to affirm the wisdom values of continuing life as the ever delay of the end. But to also see this as the chance to continue to work on our better selves as we live lives of patient love with ourselves and each other provoking each other to surpass ourselves in excellence in our future selves? Amen.