1. The Gift of Time
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16
David Jeremiah observed: Almost everything in life is "stoppable." Even gravity can be suspended temporarily. But one part of life cannot be stopped by us. And that is TIME. Right now, time is marching on. But it doesn't march without a purpose. Time marches on toward the end of all things and the culmination of the prophecies about Jesus.
The apostle Paul didn't advise the Ephesians to redeem the time just so they would be busy. It was because he knew that the kingdom of darkness is always at work to stop the advancement of God's kingdom. His words are a reminder that Satan never stops working against God and that we should never stop working for God. But there is another reason: stewardship. Like everything we have--life, breath, material goods, salvation, abilities--time is a gift from God. Our responsibility as stewards (managers) of God is to use time in the way the Owner of time wants it used.
Consider today: The next 24 hours belong to God. They have been given to you as a gift. Be sure to use this day in a conscious manner, consistent with God's desires.
2. The creation of time is a relevant issue for us.
3. Paul mentions it as does Peter -- 1 Peter 4.1-11
a. Past time -- 4.4-6 (our attitude toward the old life; and current sinners)
b. Future time -- 4.7 -- Jesus IS Coming!
c. In the Mean Time -- what should we do? Unwrap our Gifts -- 4.8-11
I. Use Our Gift of Time to Love Others
A. Focal Quality of Jesus' Followers -- John 13.34-35
1. Three badges of faithfulness for Jews: Kosher food; circumcision; Sabbath-keeping
2. How many badges do we wear?
Lee Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. Lombardi said, "There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don't win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: If you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another. You've got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I didn't block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his. The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other."
B. Fervent Application -- as an athlete straining to win
C. Forgiving Spirit -- Covering Sin -- Proverbs 10.12 (cf. James 5.20; 1 Corinthians 13.4, 7)
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
1. Love does not condone sin, it covers
2. Love seeks the best in others -- 1 Corinthians 13
3. The opposite of our usual approach to people
a. We have come to believe that it is our duty to expose and destroy people
b. Moses with the Hebrews and even his siblings
4. Noah -- Genesis 9.18-27
a. Ham Exposes his father by telling the family
b. Shem and Japheth cover their father's nakedness out of love and respect
II. Use Our Gift of Time to Serve Others
MEASURING IN "REAL TIME"
A man visiting a Jewish cemetery in a foreign town stumbles upon something quite unexpected. On each tombstone is etched not the date of the person's passing, but rather the AGE of the person when he or she left this world: in years, months and days! Confused but intrigued, our traveler next notices that the ages listed of the departed are all very young. One stone reads "7 years, 4 months, and 6 days". Another reads "16 years, 6 months, and 23 days".
He soon comes across a member of the Burial Society, and upon asking him why everyone buried there had passed on to the next world so young, he receives a response that shakes him to his core: "on our community's tombstones, we don't record the amount of TOTAL TIME that people spend existing on this earth," says the helpful gentleman. "We record the REAL TIME they spent on this earth: the sum total of how much time they devoted to acts of kindness, refinement of character, the performance of Mitzvahs and the study of our precious Torah's wisdom."
A. Share as Good Stewards of our Gifts and Talents
1. We are blessed to bless
2. Not to be kept to ourselves
B. Share in Hospitality -- v. 9
1. Specific Gift and General Practice (Martha and Mary)
a. Moses taught it -- Exodus 22.21; Deuteronomy 14.28-29
b. Jesus enjoyed and practiced it -- John 13
c. Christian Leaders model it -- 1 Timothy 3.2; Titus 1.8
2. Sharing with others is sharing with Jesus -- Matthew 25.35, 43
C. Share as Servants -- v. 11b
1. Specific Gift of service/helps
2. All ministry is a form of service
3. All are not teachers/preachers but all serve -- to honor God and build the body (Romans 12, etc.)
III. Use Our Gift of Time to Speak to Others -- v. 11a
A. What is an oracle?
1. A Place -- Temple; [Didyma, Turkey -- Temple of Apollo
o More than 140 Columns -- three adults could not connect around base;
o Each column took the equivalent of 67 years to build
o Oracle was a BIG deal -- took over 200 years to build and stood for over 1000 years
o People came from hundreds of miles to possibly hear a word from Apollo -- no guarantee -- one Caesar spent 18 years waiting to hear from him
2. A Person at the place -- priestess
3. A Proclamation of a god (Words) -- What the priestess is going to say; the words that come in response to the tough questions
One would go to the oracle to get an oracle from an oracle.
B. Christians have all three:
1. We have the oracles/word of God (Romans 3.1-2)
2. We are the people of God
3. We are the temple of God (1 Peter 2.5)
1. Use Your Time for God
Indiana had a long history of Daylight Saving Time controversy. Historically, the state's two western corners, which fall in the Central Time Zone, observed DST, while the remainder of the state, in the Eastern Time zone, followed year-round Standard Time. An additional complication was that five southeastern counties near Cincinnati and Louisville unofficially observed DST to keep in sync with those cities.
In the small town of Vevay, for example, it can be 3 p.m. at the post office, but across the street in Danner's Hardware Store, the time is 2 p.m. At 8 p.m. in Lonna Dilt's living room, it is 9 p.m. in her bedroom. And at the home of Tina and Jerry Girton, the time is always one hour later when the clock is on his side of the bed than when the clock is on her side.
The source of all the confusion--daylight savings time! While the majority of Americans turn their clocks ahead one hour each spring and back an hour in the fall, Indiana has steadfastly refused to comply.
So towns like Vevay, just across the state line from the daylight saving states of Kentucky and Ohio, find themselves caught in a time warp. People who work in Kentucky and businesses that order supplies from Cincinnati generally switch to what is known in Vevay as "fast time." Those whose activities are localized to Indiana stay on "slow time."
The result of these dueling time zones can be humorous or frustrating, depending on your perspective. For example, one building in East Enterprise, Ind., houses a "fast time" post office and a "slow time" bank. In Vevay, a person can schedule a 9 a.m. appointment with one dentist and still be early for a 9 a.m. appointment with a local optometrist.
Because of the longstanding feuds over DST, Indiana politicians often treated the subject gingerly. In 1996, gubernatorial candidate Rex Early firmly declared, "Some of my friends are for putting all of Indiana on Daylight Saving Time. Some are against it. And I always try to support my friends."
In April 2005, Indiana legislators passed a law that implemented Daylight Saving Time statewide beginning on April 2, 2006.
The truth is that the good people of Indiana are no more confused about time than many believers. We tend to view time as an endless commodity. However, we are neither on "fast time" or "slow time." Instead, we are all on God's time. No one has any more time in a day than anyone else!
Time is limited for all of us. It cannot be extended, replaced, compressed or expanded. The good news is that, at just the right time, God came into human history in the person of Jesus Christ. And through Him, we can redeem our time.
How will you use your time today? And how will your uses of time contribute to God's Kingdom?
2. In the Gift of Time we have received let us:
a. Love God and One another Fervently
b. Serve One Another Fondly
c. Speak the Words of God Fearlessly
