It’s About Time

Time Masters

December 31, 2006

! Time Masters

“Our lifetime is seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. But the years are full of hard work and pain. They pass quickly, and then we are gone… Teach us how short our lives really are so that we may be wise.”

Psalm 90:10-12

It’s About TIME

We are running full tilt, in the red zone, and on empty.  It’s no wonder that marriages are frayed, children are stressed, and the dog is neurotic.  We live in a day when the economy demands that productivity rates climbs upward even as the quality of life spirals downward. 

Computers were supposed to save time and paper.  They don’t.  Washing machines and vacuum cleaners were supposed to take the drudgery out of the work at home.   It hasn’t happened yet.  Packaged and frozen foods were supposed to make it easy to have family meals.  Nope, that’s not happening either. 

Time is not the enemy.  We can, with God’s help, make friends with time and enjoy abundant life.  Jesus shows us how to live life by becoming the master of time.

A Lifetime In Minutes

Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, in his book, Time for God has a mathematically calculated schedule which compares a lifetime of “three score years and ten” with the hours of a single day from seven in the morning to eleven at night.

If your age is 15,

the time is 10:25 a.m.

If your age is 20,

the time is 11:34 a.m.

If your age is 25,

the time is 12:42 p.m.

If your age is 30,

the time is 1:51 p.m.

If your age is 35,

the time is 3:00 p.m.

If your age is 40,

the time is 4:08 p.m.

If your age is 45,

the time is 5:16 p.m.

If your age is 50,

the time is 6:25 p.m.

If your age is 55,

the time is 7:34 p.m.

If your age is 60,

the time is 8:42 p.m.

If your age is 65,

the time is 9:51 p.m.

If your age is 70,

the time is 11:00 p.m.”

[1]

[2]Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.

Jesus was the Master of Time

Runner with torch

The Greeks, well known for their competitive spirit, invented the art of competitive running. There were many races that were run during the course of their frequent Olympic competitions. We are familiar with the marathon and high hurdles as well as the myriad of short course races they also ran.

But there was one race which held periodically outside of the Olympic competition that was as highly regarded perhaps even more so than all the other competitive races. This race was called the torch relay.

The race which spawned the modern day Olympic torch race and ceremony, often took place in the streets and alleys of Athens. Ten or twelve men would assemble before the city fathers, each carrying a torch, a simple bound bundle of twigs inset in a hollow containers. The twigs were coated with tar and then, one by one, each torch was lit from the same flame.

On their marks, the runners were sent out as a group and guided along a course that had been laid out among the city streets on which obstacles and barriers had been placed. The object of the race was to cross the finish line with your torch still lit. You could not stop and put the torch down or prop it anywhere. You had to hold it high and run with as much integrity as possible.

In this race the victory seldom went to the fastest or the strongest. This was a race that depended upon timing and rhythm. To keep that torch lit required the ability to hold it properly, shielded from objects along the route and held away from the wind. If you ran too fast, you might put out the flame. If you ran to slow, the tar might burn up completely before you reached the finish line. If a runner’s torch flamed out, there was no relighting it. He was forced to drop out.

The winner of the race was the first man to cross the finish line with his torch still lit. Winning was dependent upon endurance and timing, not speed.

As I study Jesus’ life I am amazed that He never seemed to be in a hurry. Although He was doing the most important job in history (redeeming the world), and although He knew He only had a few years to do it, He never ran. He made time to consider the flowers and the birds of the air. He had time to put his hands on the little children and bless them.

The whole time Jesus was working his way to the goal and task that God had put before him.  It was all in the timing!  Even his appearance on earth as one of us came at the right time.

Jesus Came at the Right Time

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son who was born of a woman and lived under the law. 5 God did this so he could buy freedom for those who were under the law and so we could become his children.

Galatians 4:4

It really is all about the timing.   Even Comedy is all about the timing…  From B&W Slapstick movies with Laurel and Hardy to all kinds of people falling down in America’s Funniest Video’s  slapstick is funny when the timing is right.  We like watching people crash into things.  It’s funny – when the timing is right.  It’s tragic when the timing is bad.

My family remembers the time I slid down the wall and stuck my head around the corner just in time for table leaf to fall on back of my head.  Family laughed while I rubbed the bump on my noggin.

It’s not just comedy… it’s everything in life.  Getting through the city without hitting any red lights feels like you have won a victory.  Walking up to the checkout and finding an empty lane.  Going to the mall the week between Christmas and New Years to and finding a parking spot next to the main set of doors – now that’s timing!

God sent his son to the world at exactly the right time to accomplish his purpose – the redemption of human kind.

Jesus had a sense of the right time

Teaching in the temple – age 12

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”   Luke 2:49

Wedding at Cana

4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”  John 2:4

Mary asked him to turn the water to wine…

Jesus Brothers

3 So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea so your followers there can see the miracles you do. 4 Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)

6 Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you.

7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I tell it the evil things it does.[3]

John 7:3

Do some miracles and let them see who you are…

Jesus said, “The right time for me has not yet come…”

After Jesus Feed the 5000

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

John 6:14-15

When Jesus healed the demon possessed

10 He had healed many people, so all the sick were pushing toward him to touch him. 11 When evil spirits saw Jesus, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But Jesus strongly warned them not to tell who he was.[4]

Mark 3:11

Jesus was the Master of Time

 When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God

Romans 5:6

Jesus came at the right time

Jesus had a sense of the right time

Jesus knew the purpose of the right time

In short, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing.  He knew the where, the when, the who, the what, and the why of his life and everything was choreographed perfectly.  It was all leading to the moment in TIME when the old was separated from the new.

Now through his death comes all things new in our lives.

Mastering Time

Let me give you two quick thoughts about how you can emulate Jesus mastery of time in your own life.  First, 

Trust God for Your Every Day Needs

“So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes…

You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.”

Matthew 6:25-27

Change your needs.  Lower your expectations.  Be grateful and joyful for what you have.

Sandi and Allison on Christmas Day…  Allison crying because of a gift that she had lost track of…

Be joyful with what you have.

I love window shopping and realizing that I need none of the stuff I see. 

Be Content with God’s Purpose for Your Life

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:12-13

Jeff Simms tells how there was a time when he was having a tough time understanding what God was doing in his life.

As God so often does, He used something simple to teach him a great truth.

He was taking my cat to the sink to give it a bath. The cat, named Madeline, had a skin condition that required weekly baths. She hated them and fought him like crazy. The vet had said to put the special cat shampoo on her and let her soak in it for a few minutes. In order to do that I would place the cat in a cat carrier with a blanket and let it sit there for a few minutes.

As I was placing the soaked and upset cat in the carrier, God spoke to my heart. He said;
"Tell the cat what your doing."
I replied, "I can’t God. I don’t speak cat. I’m doing this for it’s own good."

God said to me again, "Go ahead, tell the cat why your doing that."
I said, "I can’t Lord, I can’t explain why. It’s for it’s own good though."
Just then, it hit me that God was saying that while I couldn’t understand His ways sometimes, they are for my own good. Just like for the cat.

The "why" may be beyond my understanding or He may reveal it to me later, but God does things for His own reason, in His own timing and for His own purposes.

Talk to God Often

2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:2-3

Not just to get stuff but to be in harmony with God’s will for your life.  Learn to walk in life in rhythm with God’s plan.

If you want to master time you need to buddy up to the creator of time and learn from God.   Jesus never struggled with time.  He went to the father and the father was the source of his strength.

Jesus prayed early in the morning – Jesus prayed late in the night.  Jesus prayed earnestly.  Jesus talked to the father every day and he was never rushed, hurried, harried, late, early, or weary.

TIME is God’s precious gift to you

Ok… This is a time to pray

Right now

Esther is going to play and we are going to pray.

For some of you it will be a time to pray for your families…

For some

You have 24 hours of it every day.  How are you using it.  Are you watching for the right times.

Thanks for taking the time for this message…may God use it now to change our lives for all time!

Invitation and close.

Communion

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

3     There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3     a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6     a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7     a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8     a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9      What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

11     He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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[3]The Everyday Bible : New Century Version. 2005 (Jn 7:3). Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

[4]The Everyday Bible : New Century Version. 2005 (Mk 3:10). Nashville, TN.: Thomas Nelson, Inc.