Finding Faith ... in New Year promises

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 2.5 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Dec. 31, 2017.

It seems fitting that being this is New Year’s that our texts turn to the topic of “time” and how we spend it.

Look on the front of your bulletin today and it reminds us that as the year turns, it’s human nature to want to take stock of the things in our lives. … We tend to look back to the year we just lived, and to look forward to the year to come. To mourn the opportunities missed in the past year, and to anticipate the opportunities that lie ahead, “knowing that all the world’s time begins and ends in God,” as the bulletin states.

All time begins and ends with God. Remember that, as we’re going to come back to that, but if you would, let me digress for a moment.

Can you believe that Christmas has already passed. And even though it was only a week ago, it sure seems that it’s been much longer than that. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m whupped.

We make such a ballyhoo leading up to Christmas, what with all of the present buying and holiday parties to go to and the family to visit and the kids to welcome home ... that it seems like nowadays the time from Thanksgiving on through Christmas is one great, big long “to-do” list. It’s like we are sitting at the top of a playground slide and once you inch over the edge, there’s no stopping.

It all starts in the days that lead up to Thanksgiving, and then we eat and maybe watch a little football, and then we hit the gas pedal! Vroooom! … And we are off and going until Christmas and the final piece of wrapping paper hits the floor and the final Christmas goodie is eaten and the final Christmas carol is sung. … And then, whew. … We slink into the new year/ … Well, no wonder, because we’re all just plain exhausted. I know I am!

And what do we tell each other every year that this season comes along? … We tell each other that it just seems to be getting faster and faster, right? … Well, we’re not wrong. Sure, it’s true that time isn’t changing on us. Afterall, a minute is still a minute. It still contains 60 seconds, and there’s still 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. And God is still the beginning and ending of all time. ... None of that has changed.

But what has changed is what we are trying to do in those seconds, and minutes and hours. … There’s an adage that we Americans have come to a place where we live to work. … Yes, you heard that right. … We Americans have come to a place where we LIVE to WORK!

… Rather than live the way that God intended for us, which is to work to live. … Yes, God created us to be a part of this earth, to hold dominion over the animals and the land and do all the work that that entails.

But instead, with each passing generation and with each passing technological improvement, we’ve perverted his plan so that we Americans are living to work. … Now, as I look out among you and see a lot of tremendously hard-working people, I’m not trying to indict you. ... Heck, as I wrote this sermon this week, I had a hard time not looking in the mirror and thinking it was kind of like the doctor writing a prescription for himself!

I very much recognize the irony in the Holy Spirit calling upon me to sermonize about how we spend our time! Because if there’s anyone sitting in this church today that needs to hear this message, I’m certainly first in line. … And I say to the Good Lord upstairs: “Duly noted sir! Duly noted!”

So, on this New Year’s Eve, I think a lot of us find ourselves at a place where we are contemplating the new year and trying to prioritize some things. For me, today’s scripture, especially the verse from Ezekiel, reminds me that I should take a little time to think about what it is exactly that I am spending my time on. Afterall, doesn’t God call on us all to share our time, our talents and our treasure. … That’s right, sitting right there at No. 1 is the call to share our time.

But giving our time? Now that’s a tricky prospect, isn’t it? … I mean, after all, it’s one thing to maybe volunteer to sing in the choir if you have the gift of a singing voice, and for most of us, dropping a little something into the collection plate doesn’t tax us a whole lot. … But our time? That’s a whole other prospect indeed!

I mean, God only gave each of us so much time, right? 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour; 24 hours in a day.

And in that day we’ve got chores to do, children to cart around, groceries to buy, farm work that needs to be done, sidewalks that need to be shoveled, bills that have to be paid. … I mean goodness, we’re all so busy. How is it that we possibly can stop and give some of our “time” back to God or even to our neighbors as he asks us to do?

Afterall, doesn’t God know that time is the most valuable thing we all have? … I mean we can make more money, so it’s OK if I give each week to the church or to someone in need. … And talent, well, if it’s something I already know how to do or that I was gifted with, it seems a little easier to share that as well.

But my time? … Am I hearing you right, there God? Are you telling me you want my time too? … You want me to give up the most valuable thing I have?

Yes, of course he does. … And in fact the Bible is chock full of places where God tells us what we should be doing with our time. Just review Ezekiel that’s printed in your bulletin:

A time to be born, and a time to die

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted

A time to kill and a time to heal

A time to break down and a time to build up

A time to weep and a time to laugh

A time to mourn and a time to dance

And on and on. … There’s quite a list. And for some reason we automatically cling to the commands that call us to work. Because after all, we Americans are infatuated with our work, aren’t we? We have been borne into a culture that is obsessed with the work we do, and in fact we measure people by how much of it that they do.

But it’s that last paragraph in this verse that I think we too easily forget: “What gain have the workers from their toil I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”

So, I can imagine what might be going through some of your minds: Did the preacher just tell me that I’m not supposed to care about working? … No, that is indeed not what I’m saying! I recognize that each of us here has our daily chores that have to get done, and I know that we all need to make a buck to pay for our food and houses. With four kids -- one of them being in college -- I get that as well as anyone.

But what I am saying is that maybe we need to take a look at what we are spending all of our time on and prioritize it a little more along God’s line of thinking instead of the earthly reasons that drive how we spend it. After all, if time truly is our most valued possession, doesn’t it stand to reason that we should be spending it where God wants us to spend it?

I’m reading a book called “Ways of the Word,” right now, and the authors of that book remind us that the Bible actually commands us to slow down. They write: “In this rapid-fire,Internet-driven, texting, tweeting, sound-byte society, it is vital that we center ourselves and slow down.” … And God has a word for it, and I bet you already know it. It’s called: sabbath.

Now, in our tradition, we like to think of the sabbath as being Sunday. … You don’t work on Sunday; it’s to be set aside for the Lord. … Well, biblically, the sabbath means something a little different. In the Old Testament, sabbath means taking time to rest and relax. … Any specific time set aside not to work, not just on Sundays. And it doesn’t mean just the physical act of resting, even though that’s important too. It’s talking about the time required for our brains to rest too.

I know we live in a culture that prides itself on its work. It’s even become how most of us measure ourselves up against others, but the secret is, that’s our measurement, not God’s. There is no commandment in the Bible to work ourselves so hard that we aren’t sleeping, that we aren’t spending time with our families, that we don’t have time to stop and help a neighbor or to volunteer in the church or in our communities. That’s the perversity that we’ve taught ourselves.

Actually, God tells us that even though yes, there is a time to work, there is also a time to break down, a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to embrace, a time to lose, a time to eat and drink and take pleasure in our toil. You see, God understands his children. He better than anyone knows that we were not just created to toil away every waking minute here on earth. Because even though we have tricked ourselves into believing that makes us feel good, the truth is that it doesn’t make us better people. It’s actually all of those other things that God values just as much that balance us out, and give God pleasure.

So what is it that we are to do? I mean, after all, most of us have mortgages and car payments and kids in college and one day we’d hope to retire. … Yes, that’s all important, and I’m sure God thinks so too. But in this new year, what I propose is that we take some time to think a little bit about our time. Are we really too busy to get involved in the lives of our children? To drop by and visit that neighbor we keep saying we’re meaning to? To lend a hand at the homeless shelter or to be on that church committee? Are we really too busy to live out God’s other expectations for each of us?

And just to show you that your preacher isn’t being hypocritical, I’m going to share with you some of things I’m going to try to make more of a priority for in this year. You could probably call it my New Year’s resolutions, even though I like to think of it more as my commitments to God. After all, if where we spend our time displays our priorities, then admittedly, mine are a little out of whack. So in 2018, my own personal commitment is to spend a little more time on the following:

-- Praying: After all, we know that even Jesus took time to get away and pray. And he did so often. Many times, he’d look at the disciples and tell them to just hang out for a while while he went and prayed. So, if it worked for Jesus, I have to believe that it’ll work for me.

-- Listening: Each of us spends a lot of time talking, but little time listening. Just as we’ve perverted the importance of working, we’ve also perverted the importance of talking. This year, I plan to listen just a bit more and that time listen, I’m hoping that I hear more from God.

-- Walking: The Bible also spends a great deal of time discussing people’s travels. The Israelites wonder about. So does Jesus and later the apostles. There is an inherent spiritual tie to walking, and getting out to hear the sounds of the earth that God created. And I intend to spend even more time out walking our beloved husky named Cody.

-- Playing: Even with the demands of work and school, I intend to spend more time playing. Instead of just being content to be in the same house with our kids as they lock themselves away in their rooms to be alone with their electronics, I intend to coax them out to spend time with them. We think too little about play and we certainly undervalue its importance in our lives, and this year I want to correct that in my life.

-- Serving: Actually serving more. We show our true values when we place a priority on spending some of our most valuable possession -- our time -- on someone else. I’ve gotten very good at looking beyond others’ needs because I think I don’t have the time to help. This year, I intend to stop looking beyond everyone else’s needs to serve my own.

So, on this last day in 2017, I ask you to take a critical look at how you’re spending your time. I’m certain that every one of you knows how to work. I’ve spent enough time among you all to know that, but now I’m asking you if you know how to play, how to rest, how to spend time helping others. I know you can work, but can you do these other things that God also demands of our time? … And with that I wish you a very blessed 2018!

And that is the Good News for this Sunday, New Year's Eve 2017.