Its about Time

REDEEMING TIME

Dearest Family,
(trusting you take precious time to read this as I took precious time to write it!)
In the second message of our summer series, ‘IT’S ALL ABOUT TIME’, my comments were grounded in Paul’s admonition to redeem the time, and his repeated exhortation to “make the most of every opportunity” (Ephesians 5:17; Colossians 4:2-5).When we hear the word ‘stewardship’ the first thing we tend to think about is money. We have all heard the truism: ‘show me your checkbook and I will tell you what your priorities are.’ The idea here is that our use of money is one of the best measure of our values. But it is not just about your check-book but about your calendar, that I would argue is an even more fundamental measure. Is the matter of time in most people’s asset analysis? It never is about a few organizational techniques, or schedule manipulations. Time is a creational measurement but it does not often feel like a gift, more like a demanding bill that we have to pay. More often than not it is an enemy not a friend. So why does time need to be redeemed?

Why does it need redeemed? For the reasons that Paul gives to the Romans, Ephesians and Thessalonians. It is a precious commodity. Because the days are evil, the opportunity for good is diminishing, and because the day of reckoning is coming, the availability of time to live and serve God is also diminishing. Why is it precious?

  1. Because of its value.

  2. Because there are eternal consequences. Our eternal destiny and welfare is dependent on our stewardship of time. (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:12; Hebrews 4:13, 9:27

  3. Because it is short. Like any commodity, its rarity and brevity enhance its value. Scripture is full of images that present this fragile reality to us. We are uncertain of our time’s continuance. Three score years and ten are not guaranteed. The fact of its shortness provokes many things for a Christian: cool affections to worldliness, timely repentance in order to keep short accounts; humility; a valuing of grace.

  4. Because it cannot be recovered when it is past.

  5. Because it is not our own: a gift but also a loan for the sole purpose of serving the purposes of God. Wasting the gift of time insults the giver of time.

  6. Because the days are evil: Paul acknowledged that there were unredeemed challenges to a godly use of time: limitations, temptations, distractions. There are so many invitations to a wasted life. Given the direction and current of culture we need to be pro-active against the tide.

  7. Because there are enemies that oppose our stewardship of time. There are thieves of time. I mentioned about 20 of the more obvious ones. Do your own A-Z, starting with Anxiety, and make it a combative prayer list.

Christians are presented “as wise” and told to “be wise” (sophoi), marked by these two things:

  • Making the most of the time, making the most of the opportunity. Our word comes from the Latin ob portu which described a ship out of port waiting for the moment that the tide came in and it could go into safe harbor and unload and load and fulfill its mission. This implies watchfulness, commitment, effort and work, creativity, fruitfulness, understanding of calling.

  • Discerning the will of the Lord. Also James 4:17 “Instead you ought to say, If it is the Lord’s will, we will.” It is about being a wise son and daughter (Word saturated, thoughtful, listening, biblical problem solving, prayer, wise counsel) not foolish ones (governed by feelings, by personal desire, impulse, instincts, inconsideration of consequences, immediate returns and needs, acting out of impatience.)

The Greek word for measureable time is chronos, from which we get words like chronology, and chronometer. It is used to describe the succession of minutes, clock time, the time passing. However, there is another word for time, used 80 times in the NT, kairos, that has more to do with the content, the significance of what happens in chronos. It can refer to a point in time, a period of time, like the right time, a favorable time, a convenient time, an occasion, a window of opportunity, a season. If chronos is about time spent, kairos is about time invested. If chronos is clock time, then kairos is kingdom time. Scripture is clear that we cannot have a spiritual handle on chronos, if we do not have a spiritual character, and manifest the fruits of the Spirit (especially self-control, longsuffering and patience), Jesus’ character no less. The fact is that if you do not manage yourself you will not manage your time. If you do not value yourself you will not value your time. If you are short on purpose you will be long on procrastination. If you were listening carefully on Sunday you would have noted the relationship between a right understanding of time and personal holiness.

Lest we minimalize and sentimentalize this matter of patience and treat it as if it is just a nice social tool, we should note that time is presented in scripture as a principality and a power and appears in two of Paul’s most strategic lists of antagonistic spiritual powers (1 Cors.3:22 “the present or the future”; Roms.8:38 “neither the present nor the future…will be able to separate us from the love of God” – but they will surely try!) Time is a spiritual power that wreaks great havoc and control and fear on people’s lives. It becomes an enemy that provokes people to do terrible things in their impatient rush to get the most out of life on their terms. This is why we are exhorted to experience the Lord’s presence in our experience of time “Surely I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20); to experience the power of God to redeem the time, to know that we can indeed make the most of every God-given opportunity in a godly way (Ephesians 5:16; Cols.4:5). So patience is a spiritual power that takes on the invasive and intrusive, controlling and consuming agendas of time passing, of what has been termed “the tyranny of time”, or the “tyranny of the urgent”. Of course, it is the fear of death, the last enemy, that gives time such a spiritual power over the hearts of men and women. There is little to choose between the depictions of Father Time and The Grim Reaper, who both carry the scythe, the weapon of choice of Saturn, known by the Greeks as Chronus, and by the Romans as the Deity of Time. The scythe was the crescent moon representing the rise and fall of cycles of life. Thus patience is not some temperamental attribute of demure and spineless people. It is a necessary demonstration of the power of the Spirit, of spiritual strength, in the face of the enmity of time.

I pointed you to three simple things that every disciple needs in order to number their days aright, in order to be disciplined in their stewardship of time passing.

  1. Restoring the past

  2. Redeeming the present

  3. Remembering your end

Please listen to the download to revisit these important necessities for the discipleship of your time and its consequent redemption. If you got to here, thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Patiently yours (!)

Stuart

Mission Trip Prayer..