In our culture
we view waiting as an unpleasant waste of time.
I believe this is largely because we’ve got some crazy ideas about
time. Particularly the belief that time
is an article of private ownership. As
such, we spend our lives in the pursuit of that elusive bogey called, “My time”
or “time to myself”. For couples, we
seek out “time for us” while families pursue “family time.” We never seem to find that time. We never seen to have enough time for
anything we would truly wish to have more time.
We believe that our time is our own yet the reality of never having
enough time for things we’d like to have time for seems to me to suggest that
time is not ours to own.
Another crazy idea we have about time
is that time is money. We punch the time
clock so that somebody is not only paying us for our skills, they are also
buying a share of “our” time. We do this
because paying somebody for their time and skills is believed to be a viable
alternative to slavery. Thus, ownership
of our time and skills is part of what we believe makes a person a
freeperson. Nevertheless, when we punch
a time clock we do indeed sell our own selves into slavery for in essence we
are saying for this period of time my skills will belong to whoever pays me for
them. It would make one think that as
long as there is time there will be slavery.
With respect to time spent waiting, to
have to waste time waiting on something or someone amidst our worldview of time
being an article of private ownership and a commodity to be bought and sold is
in essence to enter into slavery for which there is no wage. Waiting is slavery for which there is no
wage. Indeed, when we find ourselves
having to wait on someone or something it becomes painfully obvious that our
time belongs to someone who is not paying us for it. How many times have we wanted to send a bill
to the doctor for the two or more hours we’ve had to spend waiting to be seen? What about the lines we have to stand in at
the various government ministries in order to partake of the services that our
taxes pay for. We pay governments for
services and they enslave us, indeed take us hostage, whenever we need to
partake of those services. Wouldn’t it
be nice to have a doctor actually show up early for an appointment or for
government ministries to open up a little bit early for our convenience. After all we are paying for them to serve us,
are we not? We own their time and
skills, do we not?
And then there are the greatest time-thieves
all. Wouldn’t you like to send a bill to
Wal-Mart or Zehr’s and all these other big-box retailers who hold us as
hostages by making us wait in line because they won’t spend the money to buy
the time and skills of enough people to work those fifteen empty cash registers
that are always unstaffed. But, they
don’t care. In their minds they bought our time by making us think they save us
money. That’s like saying, “Gee honey, I
just got paid $5 for a half-hour’s worth of work standing in line at Wal-Mart
and reading the National Enquirer. Dream
job, eh? Pays $80 a day. Tax free.”
Waiting is a fact of life. We don’t like it. It makes us feel as if we’ve unwillingly
sacrificed our personal freedom or been taken hostage. It should strike us odd then that God would
choose waiting on him as the primary means of shaping our character. Indeed, in the Bible there is no such thing
as private ownership of time. There is
no “my time,” “our time,” “family time” or “work time.” There is only God’s time. This phrase that we hear so often, “I just
need a little time to go and find myself” is the language of fairy tales. We don’t find ourselves in time. We find ourselves in being found by God. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Therefore, we must wait for God to reveal us
to ourselves in his time and however he sees fit to do it. Time belongs to God and so we must undergo
the discomfort of waiting on God to act for me and you, life, and history to
make sense. God gives us time. It is a gift.
Therefore, time is not matter of ownership. It is a matter of stewardship. If we approach time from the standpoint of
private ownership we become disillusioned not really knowing who we are or what
we are here for. Yet, if we spend this time we’ve been entrusted with in
waiting for God, he fills it with knowledge of himself and of ourselves.
To say that what we do with our time
is a matter of stewardship is to say that what we do with our time
matters. Waiting in a world where time
is viewed as a matter of private ownership and a commodity makes us feel as if
our time is wasted, as if we are being bad stewards. Truly nothing good is accomplished waiting in
line at Wal-Mart. On the other hand, if
our waiting occurs in a world where time belongs to God every moment can be
time well spent even if it is in the line at Wal-Mart. In our passage today Paul tells us how to
wait, how to let time serve its God-given purpose for us.
Paul begins here with our inner lives,
with our attitudes. He says, “Rejoice
always.” This is to let oneself feel joy
always. Joy does not mean, “Be happy,
happy, happy all the time.” Joy rather
is like hope, which goes hand in hand with faith. There is a contentment that arises from
knowing that God is going to do what he says he is going to do. To know that our lives are in the hands of a
gracious and loving God should bring us joy.
To time and time again experience that God works all things together for
the good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes sets
joy firmly in our hearts, a joy that uproots despair and bitterness. Paul tells us to rejoice always which means
we have to take responsibility of our inner lives and let ourselves feel hope,
let ourselves have faith.
Paul then says, “Pray continually.” “Pray without ceasing.” The primary way we express faith is in
prayer. Hope builds in answered
prayers. Joy grows in answered
prayer. “In everything give thanks, for
this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
We know we have faith when we look back over our lives and can be
thankful for everything that has happened for in it all it is evident that God
used these things, both good and bad to make us who we are and to reveal to us
who he is. God’s will is to make us like
Christ and in so doing he lets us in on the love that they share, but crosses
are involved. If we cannot see where
even in the worst of things God was trying to reveal himself to us, all we need
do is ask him and he will show us.
Eventually, we do come to a point when we can say, “let the world fall
down on my head, I know God loves me.”
While we wait there are also things
that we do together. The first is not
quenching the Spirit, not extinguishing the flames of the Spirit in our
midst. Seeing God lead a congregation
and being a part of that inspires faith, awakens hope, and calls forth
joy. Along the way, there will be those
whom God raises up in our midst to speak his Word to us. For us to treat them or their words with
contempt would quench the Spirit. To fan
the flames of the Spirit we must work together to discern what is the Word of
God for us and then hold fast to that which is good. Moreover, we must also abstain from every
form of evil not only in the way we treat one another but also in our private
lives…if there truly is such a thing as a private life in God’s world. If our inner lives are filled with “my wants,
my needs, and my feelings” rather than joy, prayer, and thanksgiving chances
are we won’t hear the voice nor the Word it brings to us. If our outer lives are filled with conduct
that would grieve Christ, indeed, we quench the Spirit. It is a sound inner life and a blameless
outer life that God wishes to give us.
This is why we call him the God of peace. All we need do is cooperate and live
according to the purpose he has set aside for us. God has given us all the time in the
world. It may only last another second
or maybe another million years. But it
is his time and it is time to wait on him to do what he does. So, while you wait whether it be in a line at
Fortino’s or on your back in a hospital bed.
Live in his time. Rejoice
always. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks. Do not quench the Spirit. Listen for and cherish his Word. Shun evil.
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do this. Amen.
