Know Time Like the Present

A Sermon by Nada Sellers

Preached at First Church, Hadley MA on August 12, 2007

Luke 12:54-59

 There are many ways in which our lives are profoundly shaped by the realities of time … Just think about all the ways in which time and its qualities are referred to again and again:  We say, "Timing is everything," and "Time OUT!," and "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."  If someone is incarcerated for committing a crime, they say they are "doing time," when in actuality, they have lost their ability to be on their own time.  We own a "time-share" meaning we share a property some of the time, and we even have this certain time of day that we call "Miller time!"  In general, we are a people obsessed with time -- we clock-watch, and we mark time, till it's time to leave work and go home.  We even create time capsules in order to preserve elements of the present for some future time.  And yes, of course, we often declare that time is MONEY, especially when we're "on the clock" for our employer.  See what I mean? 

I'm reminded of a song of the early 70's, by singer-song writer Jim Croce:

If I could save time in a bottle, 
The first thing that I'd like to do 
Is to save every day till eternity passes away, 
Just to spend them with you 

If I could make days last forever, 
If words could make wishes come true 
I'd save every day like a treasure and then, 
Again, I would spend them with you 

But there never seems to be enough time, 
To do the things you want to do 
Once you find them 
I've looked around enough to know, 
You're the one I want to go 
Through time with. 

"…there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do, once you find them…"  I heard a piece on NPR this week about the young multi-millionaire, Elon Musk.  Mr. Musk is the founder of PayPal, the on-line payment system, and back when he was just starting out, one of his friends remembers a conversation they shared about time.  Seems Mr. Musk was so intent on being able to work all of the time, he wished out loud that he "did not have to eat so that he could work all the time."  Wow.  Talk about making use of time!

Our passage in Luke finds Jesus pointing out the critical nature of time for those who seem clueless about what's taking place before their eyes.  Referring to his own ministry, Jesus asks his listeners to think of a weather forecast.  Instead of satellite images and Doppler radar, the ancients used their eyes to predict the weather.  A few simple observations allowed people to prepare for rain, or the intense heat that came blowing in from the desert.  The signs of the times were indicated by the way the breezes were blowing.¹

It seems so obvious, so simple, really -- careful observation of the right sort of clues, leads to preparation for change.  Except Jesus then sharply rebukes his listeners for being frauds when it comes to being able to tell what breezes are blowing through their lives from his own ministry.  The earth and the sky are something they can make sense of, but interpreting the present time, is an entirely different matter.  Within the context of the parables and warnings of chapters 12 and 13, it's clear that Jesus is warning about coming judgment.  Themes of watchfulness, comments about divisiveness and the wrong and right sorts of treasure, all point to an interest in helping these people to overcome their spiritual blindness, in order to settle things with God through the Messiah.  'Why don't you know how to figure out what's really going on?' we can hear Jesus saying.

We are not so far away from being like these folks; we are busy peering toward the horizon, figuring out the future and making plans for tomorrow and the next day and the next.  People even bet on the future in the futures market.  And when it comes to the past, well, we work hard at preserving memories, and recording our histories… But what about the present?  We are so busy making plans and looking after stuff that what is right in front of us, simply slips away.  Is it possible to miss things so completely in our spiritual lives, that we miss out on God?  This is what Luke describes the Jews as doing when Jesus was in their midst.  They didn't see the clouds rising; they didn't notice the feel of the changing winds.   The sobering message is, that we are accountable before God for our lives in time - that's in all times, past, present and future. We need to repent of our race against time, and figure out that there's no time like the present to get things right with God and with one another.

Just how we go about this transformation of our focus and our energies in time is another consideration in our text: Verses 57 through 59 describe a courtroom scenario, in which Jesus argues for using common sense rather than ending up before the judge, and risking a long imprisonment.  In Eugene Peterson's contemporary English version, The Message, "You don't have to be a genius to understand these things.  Just use your common sense…" We all have debts that need to be paid off, and to settle accounts we must come to grips with Jesus.²

Macrina Wiederkehr, writing in her classic book, A Tree Full of Angels, says "Spending your days in the fast lane of life impairs the quality of your seeing.  If you want to see to the depths, you will need to slow down.  You live in a world of theophanies.  Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary.  There are burning bushes all around you.  Every tree is full of angels…"³

She goes on to suggest that there are incredible gifts in the ordinary and asks, "Will I be there with my eyes wide open? Will I be there to catch the rays or will I remain blind to the holy, because I'm too busy to see?  Am I too busy with my own agenda to let God's agenda bless me?"⁴

There is no time like the present for figuring out which God-season we're in right now.  The story continues unfolding all around us; how shall we participate?  Being able to be present in the present circumstances of our lives, expecting and watching for the Spirit's activity would be a great place to begin.  Learning to discern God's hand in present time is a part of maturing in our walk with Christ.  Lest we are tempted to simply forge ahead with our own busy lives, the warning in our text is unequivocal: don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today!  The choice is yours - there's no time like the present to begin again. 

Notes