Washing my hands in the typically immaculate Starbucks restroom, I had an all too familiar restlessness churning within me. Looking deeply into the reflection of a man who stared back with detachment, I was shaken by the crude writing on the wall. The Seattle coffee chain is known for its impeccable bathrooms, so the idea that anything was scribbled upon the walls with an elementary mechanical pencil, was a defiant act of protest against the establishment. With two simple words, this renegade was able to sum up my life in that moment and perhaps the meaning of Good Friday.
“Jesus, soon”
It was an urgent call to a God seen as lagging behind the wave of culture. What has taken Him so long? It was a direct call in a sacred space to a holy God to make things right again. Could he not see the walls of our faith and patience crumbling before the burden of a seemingly trivial existence? In this moment I was comforted – I was not alone. The children of God wait for his return. For many this urgent wait catapults them to the world in fervent service. For others, it leads to the bottle and a numbing sleep that comes with a hope deferred.
The perfect gentleman, Jesus never pushes himself on humanity but lets us choose him. The cross is an invitation to escape the confines and restrictions of a weary world and asks us to dine at the feast of a God who is just getting warmed up. While we cannot see the whole of history we can trust that he is somehow enough. The cross drives a wedge between our timing and his while we choose to abandon our life for an upward calling.
Today, may we have the faith of our Starbucks renegade and echo the broken hallelujah of “Jesus, soon”.
Matt simon blog 