Making the Most of Our Time
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We live in a world that sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) feels out of control. The news is filled with crises after crises and it can be overwhelming. It's easy to feel like we're just passengers on a runaway train, unable to influence the direction of our lives or the world around us. Yet, amidst this chaos, the author of Ephesians offers a counter-narrative: we have purpose---encouragement to make the most of our time.
We hear, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." These words are really as relevant today as they were in the first century. We live in days marked by injustice, inequality, and a pervasive sense of spiritual emptiness/confusion. But rather than give in to despair, Paul calls us to be wise, to be intentional, and to seize the opportunities before us. Sounds even a bit like our baptismal vows to “resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”
We can’t ignore the challenges we face-and the challenges we see in the world. We are called to respond and live out our faith --faith that equips us to respond with love, courage, compassion, and hope.
Let’s consider TIME for a minute.
Time is fascinating. Clocks and calendars are concrete things. And sometimes time can be so relative. Some things seem to take forever, while others pass in the blink of an eye. When I started here Karis was starting kindergarten. If a few weeks she is off to middle school. Time flies! Then there was 2020-2021---seemed as if it lasted forever. Last night Tom gave the adults an opportunity to practice meditation for 10 minutes. I would suspect that for some of us it was a welcomed quick 10 minutes and or some it seemed like an hour! Time!!! Time slid through my hands this week as I caught up on all kinds of thing church related after vacation! When I was pregnant 9 months seemed to be a long time and a short time all at once! Time!
How do we use it wisely as Ephesians tells us? How do we make the most of our time?
Since many of us are back to school mode---In school, I remember teachers giving us assignments to complete in certain amounts of time and reminding us to “use time wisely!” – in other words, we needed to get down to work to make sure the task was complete. It’s a valuable life skill to be sure.
Time, you see, is also a theological concept. In Greek, this is reflected by the use of two different words to recognize time. The first, chronos, as in the root of our word chronological, talks about sequential and ordered time. The second, kairos, is the one we find in our text today from Ephesians, which gets at something bigger. Namely, it calls us to consider time as the right, critical, or opportune moment, particularly in relation to God’s timing and purpose.
We have been given the gift of “time” from God, but it’s up to us to make it into something purposeful: moving from chronos to kairos.
We do that by being filled with the Holy Spirit and allowing the Holy Spirit to give us what we need to help build a better community and world-to bring about more peace and justice-to love God and our neighbor with all of our being.
When we are filled with the spirit—we make a beautiful song as our hearts overflow with love. Being filled with the Spirit means our hearts speak to others with love and encouragement and indeed it is a beautiful song to the Lord—a sweet, sweet melody!
Being filled with the Spirit is also being filled with thanksgiving during good times and bad times. Gratefulness must pour from our hearts.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles
In laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?
This song is from the popular musical Rent. The answer is in the chorus: Measure in love-Seasons of love-Seasons of love
Perhaps that is the answer when we boil it all down. We make the most of our time---by loving.
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
As long as ever you can.”― John Wesley
For however many seasons we are blessed with—may we love deeply. Amen.