Anybody Need a Pie?

“Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, saying: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Realm of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the good news.'” – Mark 1:14-15

It’s pick-your-own blueberry season in New England. All over the place, ripe juicy berries are crying out for picking. After an hour of effort you’ll be rewarded with armloads of berries. It’s not that you can’t get blueberries in other seasons, it’s just that conditions are so blazingly perfect that the only sensible response is to drop whatever you’re doing and go pick as many as you carry. You can worry later about what to do with eleven pints of blueberries.

You know, hypothetically…

On an unrelated subject, does anybody need a pie, or galette, or clafouti?

Blueberry season is something like what Jesus means when He says “the time is fulfilled, and the Realm of God is at hand.”  It’s not that you can’t find ways to serve God in any season, it’s just that there are some seasons in history that are so blazingly perfect that the only sensible response is to drop whatever you’re doing and gather up the fruits of the Realm of God.  When Jesus lived was one of those times.  When Ruth lived out covenant faithfulness was another.

And beloved?  You are living in one of those seasons right now. 

Generations yet to come will look back on these days we are living and wonder at the amazing harvest of justice and righteousness we gather in.  God has provided the abundance, all you have to do is go work to pick it up. You’ll have so much goodness, you’ll be giving it away.

Prayer

God, bless us that we not grow weary of righteousness.

About the Author
John Edgerton is Associate Pastor at Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts.