Time has come today

In God's Time

2 Peter 3:8 Common English Bible (CEB)

Don’t let it escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day.

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” 

“Time waits for no one.” 

“Lost time is never found again.” (Benjamin Franklin)

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” (Shakespeare) 

We all know that time is hard to pin down.  Oh, we are certainly able to look at the clock on the wall and know what time that says it is.  We talk about our body clock - that thing that tells us when it is time to go to sleep or get out of bed or eat lunch.  We complain about Daylight Savings Time and Jet Lag and working night shifts and all of the things that make it hard for our bodies and the clock on the wall to come to an agreement about what time it actually is.  We talk about people aging well, having old souls, being ahead of their time.

Likewise, how long things actually take to happen seems more than a bit flexible.  We recognize that time seems to move faster as we get older.  Weeks and months seem to fly by.  Wasn’t I just 40 a month ago?  How then is it possible I turned 69 last week? Time speeds up when we are working toward a deadline, but moves so slowly when we are waiting for something, like children waiting for Christmas, and almost everybody waiting for the cable guy. 

Knowing that we are finite creatures with a limited life span, our understanding of time is that there is only so much of it.  If a thing is going to happen it needs to happen now, or at least according to some schedule we understand.  We are impatient.  Most of us find it hard to wait for anything.  Right now we are impatient about how long this whole shelter in place thing is going to last.  Time seems to be getting away from us.  There are hundreds of jokes about not knowing what day it is, because each day while sheltering in place looks like every other day. Even those of us who are able to work at home have trouble keeping our days straight.  We are getting a taste, perhaps, of what eternity might look like. 

God is eternal.  God is and was and always will be.  God has not only all the time in the world, but all the time before and beyond the life of this world.  Of this there is no question.  If we find a week or a year or a decade to have flown by, how much more so must it be for God.  Where we think 100 years is a long time, for God 100 years is both an instant and an age ago.  

Because I tend toward impatience, one of my frequent prayers is very short.  “In your time, O God, not mine.” Does this prayer sound familiar?  

When have you had to allow things to happen in God’s time? 

Running away from God

Jonah Tries to Run Away from God

 Jonah 1:1-3 

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

We know this story.  We know that Jonah did not want to do what God called him to do so he ran away.  In his case, this unwillingness resulted in a great storm putting other people in danger.  He sacrificed his life to save theirs, but God still had a call upon his life so a large fish swallowed him.

This is the part of the story we usually get stuck on.  What kind of fish was it that he could live for 3 days inside of it?  Was it a whale or some kind of special, miraculous fish that God provided just for this occasion?   While we are focused on the fish we forget the more important parts of the story.  

Jonah made a really bad decision.  He tried to run away from God because he did not like what God wanted him to do.  He thought if he went to another city God would forget about him or call someone else in his place. He was wrong, but he would put himself in a terrible situation before he was willing to cry out for God’s help and accept God’s call upon his life.

God does not forget about a call he places on our hearts.  We can try to ignore it. We can find all sorts of excuses for not doing the thing God wants us to do.  We can take up some other good work instead of the one we don’t want to do.  But God is patient and does not forget.  We will eventually find ourselves in a position where we no longer have any choice but to do what God wants from us - even if, like Jonah, we still really don’t want to do it.  

Has there been a time in your life when you felt God’s call to do something you did not want to do?  Did you do it anyway?  If so, what convinced you to answer that call? 

Unexpected Blessings

For the last month I have been posting a 30 Day Study of the New Testament.  Now that it has ended I will post something else every day. I’m not sure what it will look like.  It might change every day - sort of like our lives are - but it will begin with Scripture and invite you to consider some question or other.

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Isaiah 43:19a

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? 

I like routines. I like doing the same things in the same order every day.  I don’t get quite as freaked out when something disrupts my routine as I used to, which is a good thing. There was a time when a change as small as a detour on the highway would upset me so much I would have an anxiety attack and have to go home.  It’s better today.  I have learned to accept that change is part of life and to try to deal with the change like an adult.  I will grumble and growl for a while but I adapt to a new routine.  When that new routine changes, as it inevitably will, I have to start all over again accepting the new thing in my life.

We are all - or nearly all - doing new things, and have been doing these new things for a little over a month now.   That wouldn’t be a problem except that the new things refuse to settle down into a routine.  We face changes every day.  Unless we were housebound prior to the Shelter in Place orders, our daily routine has changed drastically.  Things we are used to doing regularly either aren’t getting done at all, or have become more important in this new (ab)normal.  

My weekday routine hasn’t changed as much as you might think, considering I haven’t left my house since March 16th.  I get up early, pray, have coffee and breakfast, read all my email, pray some more, and get dressed to go to the office.   At 9am I go into my home office, and work there till lunchtime.  After lunch I go back into my office and do more work stuff until my stomach reminds me I need to have dinner. I used to spend the afternoons in study and writing, but now I also call people in the congregation and write cards to several people daily.  

But the weekends are so very different.  I can’t seem to get my day off, off.  Friday is often taken up with meetings and prep for meetings.  Saturday I am up early writing the message and the prayers, and recording my parts of Sunday’s worship.  Sunday morning I get to worship with the rest of the congregation from the solitude of my home. In the midst of upheaval and disruption, I realize that I get to take the Sabbath Day as a real Sabbath - a holy day - for the first time in 20 years.   Of all the changes to my routine, this is a most unexpected blessing.

What new thing has surprised and blessed you the most?  

30 New Days - Day 30

The 30th  day of a 30 day devotional Bible Study by the Rev. Tracy A. Siegman, Senior Pastor FCC, Covington, KY.  Shared with her gracious permission.

If you read the suggested passage each day, by the end of 30 days you will have read the entire New Testament.

Day 30
30-day reading plan: Revelation 12 – 22

Daily Verse: Revelation 22: 21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

When I think of the beginning of the New Testament, I think of the beginning of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It begins in much the same way as the book of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There seems to be a beginning of something, whether time or creation. But, if there was a beginning of time, then there would have had to have been a beginning of God.

Physicist Stephen Hawking believed he proved there was a beginning of time in his dissertation. His work seemed to explain that there was no God because there was a beginning of time. In his later work, he disproved his theory and proved that there was no beginning of time. With this new revelation, his faithful wife was hopeful that he may yet come to have faith in God. 

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By faith and the witness of Scripture, there was a beginning of creation, but not a beginning of God. God is and was and is to come. God was the One who created everything out of a formless void into the Heaven and Earth. God is eternal and will care for us through eternity. Revelation tells us that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of creation. Heaven and Earth and all that is in them will be made new.

And, through it all, we will have the grace of Jesus because we are God’s people. There is only one thing we need to know about all of Scripture, especially the book of Revelation, as professor Jerry Sumney says, God wins! No matter what we have faced or will face, no matter the past, God will be victorious as we see in the Resurrection.

Question for reflection:
If we are a people of the resurrection, what in your life needs resurrecting?

30 New Days - Day 29

The 29th  day of a 30 day devotional Bible Study by the Rev. Tracy A. Siegman, Senior Pastor FCC, Covington, KY.  Shared with her gracious permission.

If you read the suggested passage each day, by the end of 30 days you will have read the entire New Testament.

Day 29
30-day reading plan: Revelation 1 – 11
Daily Verse: Revelation 2: 7
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Apostle John in his revelation had a message to deliver to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each church had an angel and Jesus had a message for each angel. Revelation is a letter containing a message for all churches with words of tough love calling the churches to repent of behavior that is leading them away from their commitment and devotion to Christ and encouragement for whoever conquers. 

John wrote a letter to each of the 7 churches in hopes of helping them deal with loss of love and devotion, defending against false teachers, sexual immorality, dying faith, lack of deeds, lukewarm faith, and greed. John calls them to repent and persevere in the faith given to them through the Apostles’ teaching. In different ways, each of the churches are called to renew their faith, defend against false teachers, and engage in works of faith. Thousands of years later, the Church still faces these challenges.

Pergamum, Ephesus and Thyatira had false apostles teaching among them and giving them permission to compromise with the pagan culture around them. Ephesus had resisted the false teachings by testing and reproving false apostles but Pergamum and Thyatira had been following these teachers.  We should be careful of who we listen to and what we read. Not all who claim to be Christian preach and teach the true faith. Some authors are no more than life coaches who tell us that if we believe enough or give enough we will have the life we want. These teachings leave us with a shallow good feelings that lacks the depth of true love and devotion. 

Question for Reflection: 

What background do you expect of an author who you would consider authoritative? 

30 New Days - Day 28

The 28th  day of a 30 day devotional Bible Study by the Rev. Tracy A. Siegman, Senior Pastor FCC, Covington, KY.  Shared with her gracious permission.

If you read the suggested passage each day, by the end of 30 days you will have read the entire New Testament.

Day 28
30-day reading plan: 1 John – Jude
Daily Verse: Jude 1: 11
Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

There are 3 New Testament references to Balaam and his erroneous ways. His story is in the Old Testament book of Numbers chapters 22 – 24. Near the end of the 40-year wilderness excursion, the Hebrew slaves, who had escaped from Egypt, had come to gather near the Jordan before entering the land of Canaan. God uses Balaam, a for-hire foreign prophet, to bless the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. Once you read his story, you’ll likely remember Balaam for his donkey.

But, Balaam is not best known for his speaking donkey or his blessing of Israel. Balaam is referred to several times in Scripture as having advised Midianite women to “entice the Israelite men to be unfaithful to the Lord” (Numbers 31: 16.) The three New Testament references to Balaam all remember his teaching the women of Midian. Jude compares false teachers leading the church astray to Balaam’s act of leading the Israelites astray by the women of Midian.

False teachers was a problem shared by many of the churches leading to problems of division, loss of faith, and immorality. Today, we probably don’t have false teachers in our churches, but we can too easily be led astray. Far too often, we look to the world for wisdom. We look for ways to find peace and nourishment for our souls. We search for a quick fix for our problems.

Christ is who we are truly searching for. When we seek that which Christ promises apart from Him, we miss the richness He offers of guidance, rest, and peace that surpasses all understanding only to be led astray to the latest fads with empty promises.

Question for reflection:
Check your search engine history. What are you really searching for?

30 New Days - Day 27

The 27th  day of a 30 day devotional Bible Study by the Rev. Tracy A. Siegman, Senior Pastor FCC, Covington, KY.  Shared with her gracious permission.

If you read the suggested passage each day, by the end of 30 days you will have read the entire New Testament.

Day 2730-day reading plan: James – 2 Peter 

Daily Verse: James 1: 27 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

One of the well-known passages from the Old Testament is Micah 6:8. It says the Lord requires justice, kindness, and humility from His children. God is a God who is concerned with how we treat one another. Of the Ten Commandments, four are about how we treat God and six are about how we should treat others. 

Scripture reveals that God is especially concerned with how we treat the stranger, the poor, widows, and orphans. James writes that true religion, true worship and reverence of our God, includes taking care of the widows and orphans. Faith without the works of charity is not living; it is dead. 

President Jimmy Carter may not be remembered as the best president, but his legacy includes his work with Habitat for Humanity. His driving force behind his work is his faith. He said, My faith demands--this is not optional--my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can  with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” 

Being a Christian is about more than regularly attending worship. Jesus called His disciples to go and make disciples. Discipleship is about participating in mission. One church has t-shirts that says, “God’s work, Our hands.” As we do acts of charity and service, we are doing God’s work, whether it be visiting a widow or feeding the hungry. 

Religion is not something we just practice on Sunday mornings. Christianity is a way of life that requires us to use our time, tithes, and talents to further the work of God ushering in the Kingdom. 

Question for reflection: 

How are you looking after the disadvantaged of our society?