Redeem The Time
Good morning MGCC!
Welcome to His Church!
I want to start off our time with some words from a prayer that Moses prayed over 3,400 years ago…
Would you stand and pray it with me.
We will take turns I’ll go first.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered…
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away…
Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom…
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:1-6,10,12,17
PRAY
MGCC… ‘This Year Can Be Different’ (do you actually believe that?). YES – it can be different
• If you grow like Jesus
• If you embrace and keep striving to live out these 3 things
• If you adopt the philosophy of what does it matter
“What does it matter, what happens to me – I have chosen my calling over my comfort…”
“What does it matter, what people say about me – I am living for God’s approval, not man’s approval…”
NOW – that is all I can say about where we have been the last 4 weeks…
BUT UNDERSTAND – everything we have talked about is 100% Biblical and if you and I really strive to live it out
This year will be – different, better, brighter, bolder…etc
IF – you missed a message check it out online, listen to them again… I plan on doing just that.
OKAY – let’s do this… week 5 ‘This Year Can Be Different’
IF YOU – “Redeem The Time”
UNDERSTAND – time is the great equalizer.
We all get the same amount.
There is no upper class, middle class or lower class when it comes to time.
I MEAN – this year everyone of us will get…
• 365 days
• 8,760 hours
• 525,600 minutes
• 31,536,000 seconds
Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom… - Psalm 90:12
Now Paul wrote these words to the church in Ephesus…
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
- Ephesians 5:15-17
The word redeem comes from the Greek word
Redeem exagorazo (xa gor azo)… to rescue from loss.
Which may be way the NIV translates it, “make the most of every opportunity.”
NOW – there are 2 words for time ‘Chronos’ and ‘Karios.’
The first word is Chronos and the second word is Karios
Chronos is where we get our word chronology.
It’s calendar time…. It’s clock time.
Chronos is sequential… past – present – future.
AND - it is linear it moves in one direction.
NOW - according to Greek Mythology Chronos was a short god with muscular legs and winged heels.
AND - he was like really fast, so fast that once he passed you, he was impossible to catch.
AND SO - to symbolize the transient nature of time Chronos had a full head of hair in front – but he was bald in back.
In other words you cannot grasp the present. once it is past.
One last observation… Chronos if a human construct.
IT’S HOW - we humans measure time…
BUT LISTEN – our God does not exist within the space time dimensions that he created.
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. – Psalm 90:4
SO – we need to be very careful not to put God on our clock, on our timeline.
BY THE WAY – it was not until the 14th century that man invited what we know as the mechanical clock..
HOWEVER - that clock still had no minute hand.
In the 1500’s the clock at Wells Cathedral in England began to chime every quarter hour… so time was kind of spending up.
THEN - around 1670 the minute hand finally became common place… BUT – it was until the 18th century that portable time keeping devices were invented
AND – in 1786 England exports 80,000 clocks and watches and we have been on the clock ever since.
AGAIN – the second word for time in Kairos.
AND – Karios refers to a window of opportunity
It is referring to a critical and defining moment, to an appointed time.
Karios is what Esther 4:14 is all about…
If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
– Esther 4:14
Chronos is quantitative, it counts the minutes
Kairos is qualitative, it captures the moment
IT’S - ‘carpe diem’…. IT’S - seize the day.
THE - word Kairos is an archery term and it refers to an arrow, that is shot with both the right and the right aim force to hit a target.
AND LISTEN - if it is a long distance away, an archer knows that there are going to be more variables that come into play.
IN FACT – the archers knows that the arrow must actually be aimed off target in order to hit the target.
SO – kairos is the ability to evaluate those variables…
NOW – time management as in chronos important.
I MEAN – the Psalmist even tells us…
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
I MEAN – like, we all know that if we do not control our calendar, that our calendar is going to control us.
AND SO – you have to establish priorities and boundaries…
BUT LISTEN – I think what is even more important than managing our time… IS – ‘redeeming the time.’
(capturing the moment, carpe-ing that diem, recuing from loss the precious grains of sand gifted to us by our Creator and Lord)
AND – in case you have not guessed it by now that word for time in Ephesians 5:16 is kairos.
YES…
TIME - may be measured in chronos,
BUT LIFE - is measured in kairos.
AND UNDERSTAND – discerning and rescuing those moments is what is means to redeem the time.
I THINK – it’s…
• Living as if each day was the first and last day of your life
• Both seeing and seizing the God-ordained opportunities that are laid out before us
• Being present fully in the right now
• Understanding that every day is a gift from God and in turn choosing to rejoice and be glad in it
• Discerning the promptings of the Holy Spirit
• Recognizing those holy moments, those teachable moments, those defining moments when they are laid before us
AND HERE’S THE DEAL – if you and I strive to redeem the time this year can be different.
NOW – I mentioned earlier a verse from Esther that really captures this idea of redeeming the time.
Let me give you a little back story…
God’s people are in captivity.
The nation of Babylon who initially destroyed Jerusalem and took thousands into captivity has been defeated by the Persians… But God’s people still remain captive.
NOW - Esther is an orphan who was raised by her uncle Mordecai… AND IN - the course of time, God does his God thing and he positions to become the queen of Persia…
HOWEVER - her husband King Xerxes has no idea that she was Jewish.
Mordecai worked at the king’s gate and one day he overheard 2 men plotting to kill the king.
He got word to Esther and she told the king giving credit to Mordecai.
The two men were arrested and impaled on to sharpen poles…
And all of this was recorded in ‘The Book Of The History Of Kings Xerxes Reign.’
NOW - there is a bad guy in this story.
AND - his name Haman, he was a high official within Persian Empire… AND – he hated and despised the Jewish people… especially Mordecai (who he felt disrespected him because Mordecai refused to kneel down before him and give him honor)…
SO HAMAN – manipulates the king to issue a decree to have all of the Jewish people in the Empire executed.
When Mordecai hears of the decree he goes to Esther and tells her that she needs to go to the king and do something about this…
She is hesitant, because for she knows that even though she is the queen, for her to go to the king without being summoned could result in her being executed… SO – Mordecai says to her…
If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
– Esther 4:14
UNDERSTAND – it seems like the worst of situations, the Jewish people on the brink of genocide.
I MEAN – can you even imagine how frightened and hopeless the Jewish people were.
LIKE WHAT IF – later on this week… while you are watching a UVA Basketball game or reruns of CSI they break into the show to bring a special news bulletin. It's a message from the Oval Office, the cameras zoom in on the President and he makes this announcement.
"Today, I have signed executive order ‘43’ into law. Which states that with America's best interests in mind - that on February 10, 2020… all Christians , men, women and children are to taken from their homes, schools and places of employment – their property confiscated and then promptly executed, without exception. Good night…”
How would you feel? What would you do?
FOR US - at least right now, it’s just a hypothetical situation… BUT - for Esther and God’s people living in the Persian Empire it was a dark, cold – approaching reality.
HOWEVER – Mordecai has a different perspective…
he believes that God has been setting things up and had Esther perfectly positioned.
If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
– Esther 4:14
Mordecai is basically saying three things to Esther.
#1 – Esther don’t think you’ll escape the holocaust when it happens.
ESTHER - you’ll be wiped out just like everyone else when it becomes clear that you are one of God’s chosen people.
#2 – Esther - If you refuse to step up, God will send someone else.
MAN - I love Mordecai’s understanding of God’s sovereignty.
HE KNOWS – that God will accomplish all He intends, regardless of Esther’s involvement.
SURE - Esther is important…
BUT – she was not indispensable.
BOTTOM LINE – if Esther refused to seize this moment she would miss out on an opportunity to serve God, save her people and bring HIM glory…
HOWEVER - she could not tie the hands of God.
His will, will be done, His purpose will advance with or without her
UNDERSTAND - you and I will never stop the plans that our God has in this world…
BUT - we can (and often do) forfeit the awesome opportunity to be a part of it…
YES – God wants us to be involved but we are not indispensable to His plan.
The 3rd thing that Mordecai was saying to Esther in his statement was…
ESTHER - God has put you exactly where He wants you to be
ESTHER - this is your purpose in life! This is the life God created you to live.
ESTHER – you may not understand how you got where you are or why you are even there (maybe you don’t even like where you are – do think my life’s dream was to sit at a gate in Persia, how could that ever be used to serve the one true God)…
BUT – I want you to know Esther that you are where you are at THIS very moment, so that God can accomplish His will through your life…
UNDERSTAND MGCC – the same is true for you and for me,
God wants to use, what we have – where we are, right now for Him!
SO THAT HE – can accomplish His will through your life.
EVEN IF – it’s not really where we want to be.
AND SO… as we wrap up this series ‘This Year Can Be Different’ I want to suggest a truth 2 we need to hold to that will help us to Redeem the time and capture those kairos moments.
AND LISTEN - it’s going to sound like platitude, like something to put a Christian t-shirt, like a Sunday School answer…
But it’s true.
We Need To…
Trust God’s Timing, And Keep Doing Good
YOU KNOW – I think that one of the hardest things to trust about God is… His timing.
I MEAN – it is rarely my timeline.
AND SO – it is not easy, but yet it is so critical.
AND UNDERSTAND – what makes it particularly hard for us is that we live in a culture of now and instant…
When the Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff immigrated to American he was asked about what his favorite thing about America was and he said grocery stores. He said…
“I never forget walking down one of the aisles and I saw powdered milk (just add water and you get milk), he said I saw powered orange juice (just add water and you get orange juice)… and then he walked down another aisle and saw baby power and he thought (what a country)…”
UNDERSTAND - we want…
• Powdered dreams
• Powdered marriages
• Powdered promotions
• Powdered blessings
• Powered promises
BUT – you and I both know that it doesn’t work that way in God’s kingdom…
INSTEAD – it works more like what Paul describes in the fifth chapter of his book to the church in Galatia
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (kairos) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
– Galatians 6:7-9
UNDERSTAND…
YOU – cannot break the law of sowing and reaping.
YOU – can’t cheat the system
LISTEN – there are no short cuts there are no cheat codes.
You’re going to reap what you sow…
NOW – let me make an observation, and you are not going to like it… and I don’t like it either.
BUT – it is critical to understanding the way that God works…
AND – here it is…
God doesn’t always reward good deeds on the spot
SOMETIMES – there is a time delayed blessing, a time delayed response, a time delayed reward.
IN FACT – sometimes the blessing and the reward is not even something we will get to experience on this side of our forever.
AND – we need to be okay with that.
Are you?
NOW – this story in Esther is such a great example…
• So the Jewish people are on the brink of genocide by the plot of Haman
• Who hates Mordecai and he comes up with this plan to have him killed
• He builds a 75 tall sharpened pole and after it is built he is going to ask permission from the king the next morning to impale Mordecai from it.
BUT – on the eve of Mordecai’s execution… God shows up and He shows off.
Esther 6:1 here’s what happens.
That night the king could not sleep; - Esther 6:1
AND LISTEN – I am convinced that what we have here is a case of Sovereign insomnia…
NOW – sometimes I can’t sleep because I ate the wrong thing or because I am finding it hard to wind down after watching some exciting sporting event… like Super Bowl LIII
BUT UNDERSTAND – sometimes the reason I can’t sleep is because God wants me to get up, because he has something to say to me.
AGAIN - that night the king could not sleep…
so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. – Esther 6:1-3
AND LISTEN – that event happened years earlier… and it had gone pretty much unnoticed and unrewarded.
NOW – if I am Mordecai that is a little frustrating because, this is the moment I want the promotion, because I want my good deed to be rewarded on the spot, immediately.
BUT – often times God has a different timeline and plan that he is working…
AND SO – God just flips the script and the next day Mordecai is riding the king’s horse, wearing the king’s robe and there is this parade marching down the streets in his honor…
While Haman is impaled on the pole that he built for Mordecai.
Man, I just love it when God shows up and shows off.
Now let’s think about this…
What do you think the chances are the King Xerxes would get a case of insomnia on the eve of Mordecai’s execution?
Let’s just say 1 in 365
NOW – as the ruling Monarch King Xerxes probably had the biggest library in Persia.
There is no way to know it’s exact size, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was around the size of Ashurbanipal’s (the last king of Assyria) library which was discovered in the 19th century and has over 30,943 volumes.
So the chances of King Xerxes pulling that book off the shelf would be let’s say… 1 in 30,943
Now we have no idea of how large the book of the reign of the kings was…
(The Congressional record for the 116th congress just for this past Wednesday was 200 pages you can go online and read it if you like)
NOW - Xerxes ruled for 21 years so let’s just say that the book recording his reign was 1000 pages (I’m being conservative).
So the odds of Xerxes – on the very night, from the very book, reading from that very page were… 1 in 11,294,195,000…
AND – think that’s when you start to figure that God just might be part of the equation, amen?
LISTEN - just because you cannot see God moving, does not mean that He is not moving.
AND - just because it hasn’t happened yet, does not mean that it’s not going to happen.
UNDERSTAND – there is a God who is ordering our footsteps and who is preparing good works in advance for us to do.
SURE – Mordecai may have felt a little forgotten, a little neglected.
“Come on God I saved the life of the king. And here we are on the brink of genocide”
BUT – God knows what He is doing.
AND – he was making sure that Mordecai’s good deed would be remembered and rewarded at just the right time….
YOU SEE - sometimes when we are faithful here… and God chooses to bless us there. NOW - I wish it was here.
But often it’s there.
I MEAN - want to reap, like right after I sow.
AND – when it does not happen that way I feel like saying those same 4 words that are pretty much part of every family road trip….
NOW – those 4 words actually form a question.
AND - If you've ever been part of a family and been a long trip, there is a question you will have heard.
It gets asked soon. It gets asked often.
It gets asked with a whining, obnoxious intensity that is designed to drive the parents crazy.
That question is, "Are we there yet?"
(YOU SEE - we suffer from what, in our day, is sometimes called destination impatience. "Are we there yet?")
NOW - foolish parents, rookie parents, new parents will sometimes try to take care of this by giving false assurance. "Yeah, almost there. Just a little while longer. Almost."
I think that's a mistake. I would say to our kids,
"No, we're not almost there. We're nowhere near almost there. This is going to go on and on and on, so stop your whining or we'll never get there. We'll spend the rest of our lives driving each other crazy in this car."
That's why our children are still in therapy.
BUT UNDERSTAND - that question, "Are we there yet?"
is part of the human condition, and it's also part of the spiritual life of people and the experience of God's people.
I MEAN - we see it all throughout the Bible.
• Noah hammering on a wooden ark for hundred plus years, "Are we there yet?"
• Abraham and Sarah waiting for their son, "Are we there yet?"
• Joseph spending time as a slave and in prison, "Are we there yet?"
• Moses and God’s people going around in circles in the desert year after year, "Are we there yet?"
• David anointed to be the next king, yet for 12 years he has to hide in caves and King Saul is trying to kill him, "Are we there yet?"
• Mordecai and Esther, living in captivity in a foreign land, far from home, waiting for the time of exile to finally be over, "Are we there yet?"
LISTEN – this year can be different… if we trust in God’s timing and we keep doing the good thing, the right thing.
UNDERSTAND – if we do the right thing day in and day out,
GOD – is (in His timing) going to show up and show off
SO – brothers and sisters…
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (kairos) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
– Galatians 6:9
LISTEN – here’s the deal…
God is going to bless you… here, there or somewhere.
It might not be now, but it will always be now or later.
YOU KNOW – if Mordecai were here this morning, I think he would tell us…
• Hang in there,
• don’t give up
• Keep doing the good and right things
And watch God show up and show off
AND REMEMBER – as I said earlier…
Sometimes the blessing and the reward is not even something we will get to experience on this side of our forever.
AND MGCC – we need to be okay with that.
Are you?
Am I?
SO – you are not there yet?
THEN - Redeem the time
AND TRUST - in God’s timing and KEEP doing good
AS LONG - as it takes…
• I’m going to pray as long as it takes
• I’m going to keep believing as long as it takes
• I’m not going to give up as long as it takes
• I’m going to keep doing the good and right thing, as long as it takes
• I’m going to keep knocking, and keep seeking, and keep asking as long as it takes
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (kairos) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
– Galatians 6:9
Are we there yet?
Not yet
One day
But not yet
It could be a long time
It probably will
It’s okay
Be patient
Because it is coming now or later!
