Redeem the Time
|
Redeem the Time |
|
|
REDEEM THE TIME (August 20, 2000)
This is one of the most precious New Testament
texts. It disproves the charge, often leveled, that Christian faith is
some form of escapism. It is true that in some sense faith is a sanctuary,
a refuge, a fortress against the world. One thinks of hymns such as "hide
me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past." But Christian
faith which is only withdrawal from the world is not the Christianity
of the New Testament. It is interesting that the full text says, "making
the most of the time, because the days are evil." One might have
expected "make the most of the time, despite the fact that the days
are evil." Certainly, the first century, with its reign of terror
by Nero and then toward the end of the century by Domitian, when John
wrote Revelation, the last book of the Bible, a person could have been
excused for thinking, well, these are evil days and the best thing to
do is to save one's own skin and trust in the Lord and hope for a quick
release. And, indeed, it is clear many expected an imminent end to the
world because of such evil days. But this is not the view of Paul in Ephesians:
instead it is, give careful attention to how you live, make the most of
the time, not in spite of but exactly because the days are evil. Here is the essence of why Christian faith is
I believe the most optimistic creed in the history of the world. One can
be pessimistic about the age - certainly that is implied in the phrase
"the days are evil" - but that is no cause for living pessimistically.
Generally, the New Testament is not optimistic about secular history but
is quite realistic. But instead the emphasis is always in the New Testament
on looking to the will of Lord, desiring to please God in our lives and
by the way we live no matter what the surrounding circumstances, relying
on God's grace, and doing our best to redeem the time. Christian faith is at heart, to begin with, a
story of redemption: the redemption God won for us in Jesus Christ, God's
grace coming among us not because we deserved it, or because the days
were "good" or we were "good", but in fact just the
opposite. Paul wrote in Romans, "While we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us." If we are to be imitators of God it is exactly the
same idea, to not take our cue from the surrounding culture and whether
it is "good" or "bad" but to live our lives to the
fullest within the world, redeeming the time. On Friday it was reported that Archbishop Tutu
returned to his homeland in South Africa after two years of cancer treatment
in Atlanta. He looks thin and frail. The Times reported that "characteristically"
he did not appear quite yet ready to withdraw from public life as he spoke
of reconciliation and helping South Africa's poor. Here is a man who virtually
embodies "redeeming the time, because the days are evil." In
1984 he was given the Nobel Peace Prize, five years before the end of
apartheid. He could have withdrawn and kept silent during his country's
look experience with apartheid, but he spoke out and for nearly two decades
he has been a voice of conscience for many South Africans, and now he
has led the way in heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He
said, "we in South Africa should be celebrating our achievements,
not moaning or complaining." That's the man they affectionately call
"The Arch". He said when he was here in the U.S. he was getting
120 speaking engagements a month. The world is saying "we derive
hope for our own situation from what you in South Africa have done",
that is, finding a way to move beyond recrimination and hatred to forgiveness
and reconciliation. And the one man behind that has been this tiny figure
who embodies the very idea of redeeming the time. Jesus' famous parable of the talents is usually
thought of as a parable about making full use of the gifts God has given
us. That is true. But, as Peter J. Gomes says, it is also a parable about
how we use our time. Each man had the same amount of time, but only two
made good use of it and the third squandered it. Our time and our talent
are, as Peter Gomes says, the greatest gifts that we have, they are our
treasure, the precious cargo we are privileged to bear in the world. And
Jesus told the story of the talents to underline the fact that we will
be judged not on how much we have or even on how much we get or give but
on how wisely and well we use what we have in the time that we have. God
has great expectations, so too must we. I have a fear that in many ways we are becoming
a spectator oriented, entertainment-driven, society. Instead of redeeming
time - filling it as much as possible with meaning and working for justice
and peace and living the gospel life of freedom and joy in Jesus Christ
and sharing that in our own ways with others, instead of that we are becoming
a society which thinks it has had a good day chiefly when it has had fun,
or been entertained. To "redeem time" one has to have a higher
view of what life is about, of its purpose and calling. Too many today
have settled for a view of life no more inspiring that that of the ancient
Epicureans: "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die."
Recently, a neighbor of mine, who is much younger that I am, said he had
saved up enough money and he had quit work and was now going to just "eat,
drink, and be merry". Those were his exact words. But people who
have a higher view of life, such as that offered in the first question
of the Westminster Catechism, "what is the chief end of man?"
And the answer is "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to
enjoy him forever." Now someone with that idea is not going to settle
for wasting time, but will want to redeem it. C. S. Lewis said, "Aim
at heaven and you will get earth thrown in, aim at earth and you will
get neither." John and Charles Wesley were so concerned with how they were wasting time instead of "redeeming" it that when they were at Oxford they organized a group of fellow students who followed a strict regimen of how they would spent each day, with so much time in prayer, so much in study, so much in eating, up very, very early, etc. They did this so methodically that their fellow students called them "Methodists" before there was even a church by that name.
|