Everyday Matters . . . Because Every Day Matters, Part 2 : Seize the Small Moments

[*1] The first week of 2022 is forever gone. How did you use the past seven days? Did you make every day matter? During the past week, that measurement of chronos , did you seize any kairos moments within every day to connect with God and resist the evil that surrounds you?

You say, “Pastor Jason, what in the world are you talking about? What is this chronos and kairos you are talking about?”

Well if you are asking that question that likely means that you missed or forgot last Sabbath’s, New Year’s Day sermon, where we kicked off a series entitled, “Everyday Matters.” So let me briefly bring you up to speed so you understand what these words chronos and kairos are all about. Last Sabbath, January first, we acknowledged that while a new 2022 offers great potential and possibilities, a lot of positive things to look forward to and work for — God’s Word advises us to take a somber, serious view towards the now three hundred and fifty-seven days ahead of us.

[*2] For example, Moses tells us, that our days are filled with trouble and tragedy, and those days quickly pass. Therefore we are to use those days wisely - making every day matter.

Matthew 6:34 NKJV

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

[*3] Jesus echoes Moses’ counsel, with our Savior telling us not to worry about tomorrow, but instead focus upon today — make today matter — because Jesus says today is filled with it’s own trouble.

And if you think that is a pessimistic, a glass half empty way of looking at the future, you are going to love what [*4] Paul says, “See then that you walk circumspectly [that big word simply means carefully - see to it that you live carefully], not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are [what?] evil.”

Ephesians 5:15–16 NKJV

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

[*5] What would happen, how would your life change if for the next three hundred and fifty-seven days, you stopped praying, “Lord give me a good day” and instead expected that your day would be filled with tragedy, trouble, would go faster than you needed, and would be filled with evil?

If we woke up every day with that outlook on life we’d certainly want to live life carefully, live life wisely. And we’d want to do what Paul says and redeem the time — whatever that means?

For many years I thought I was applying Paul’s words to my life to make every day matter. I did so thinking that “redeeming the time” meant saving time. You know how you redeem a coupon in order to save money?

My days were filled with tragedy, trouble, and evil — some of it brought to me by cable news networks, some of it by abusive people in my life, some of it by inflaming social media posts, some of it by my own poor choices, and most of it brought on by the demands of life that left me overworked, overwhelmed, and over committed. My days would go by so fast that I was left wondering where my time went and why did I feel as if I accomplished so little that mattered? Let me ask you - do you feel the same way about your days?

So I tried to combat my reality by “redeeming the time.” If I could just save time — by regularly using a day planner, by doing tasks on a prioritized to do list, if I could just delegate better, use time saving software and services, if I could learn more life hacks, become more proficient and efficient at what I do — then in the end I could redeem the time, I could save time — so there would be more hours in the day that I could put toward bigger and better things — things that would make every day matter.

Little did I know that I was applying God’s Word incorrectly to my life because I didn’t realize there were two Greek words from which our English Bibles both translate time. [*7] There is chronos — which is a unit of measuring time. The past seven days, a week, that is a measurement of chronos — a quantity time. But chronos is not the Greek word that Paul uses. Yet this was the kind of time I was trying to redeem or save.

I didn’t realize that Paul instead used the Greek word [*8] kairos which in English is also translated time, but kairos does not measure a quantity of time, instead it describes a quality of time - a special season, or unique moment, or an opportunity that must be seized. [*9] So Paul’s phrase “redeeming the time” means seizing moments, seizing or saving opportunities within each trouble filled day.

You and I, we could pray every day asking God for a good day, but His Word tells us that each day is a bad day. It is filled with tragedy, trouble, and evil, therefore it is up to us to redeem or save or seize from that troubled, tragedy filled, evil filled day, unique moments or opportunities where we can connect to God and His love. We should be asking God to help us see and seize those moments every day [*10] When we seize for ourselves the kairos moment to connect with God we can resist the evil in our day and we become more resilient against the evil of our day. When we seize for ourselves the kairos moment to connect with God and His love, we are enabled to spread God’s love to those whose days are immersed in evil and in doing so they are strengthened to resist the evil and and become more resilient against the evil that surrounds them.

[*11] It is in seizing for ourselves the kairos moments with God that makes every day matter.

So now that we are all up to speed, let me ask the question again - in the last seven days, in that chronos measurement of time, did you seize any kairos moments to connect with God and to resist the evil that surrounds you? Did you seize any kairos moment to share God’s love with others?

Perhaps as I asked that question, your mind began replaying memories from this past week. Your trying to identify that big and outstanding kairos moment with God — maybe hours spent in prayer, or perfectly sticking to your Bible reading plan, or offering to pray with and for a complete stranger who was in dire straights, or generously paying for the groceries for that single mother who you saw was clearly at the end of her rope — but as you replay your memories you find there were no big kairos moments, and that leaves you discouraged. If that is the case then perhaps today’s study in God’s Word will be comforting to you.

Because we can redeem opportunities, we can seize and steal from every evil day kairos moments that are actually found in the small, seemingly insignificant mundane everyday matters of life - like eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Today I want us to look at the kairos moments over breakfast, lunch, and dinner that four Hebrews created for themselves while in Babylonian exile. Now it is going to take a little while to actually get to the formation of the kairos moments that filled the days of these four Hebrews every time they had breakfast, lunch, and dinner because in order to appreciate how important their kairos moments were over all things their daily meals - we have to understand just how much their days, like yours and mine, were filled with tragedy, trouble, and evil.

[*11] In the first chapter of the book of Daniel we find four young Jews, in the prime of their lives, whose lives have been interrupted by great tragedy. Babylon’s army has sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the center of Jewish religion - the Temple. The temple’s golden vessels have been seized by Babylon as trophies signifying to all Jews that “Your god, Yahweh is defeated. Our gods like Bel and Marduk are more powerful.”

[*12] So not only do you have the tragedy and trauma that comes with a foreign invasion of your hometown, but recent events create a crisis of faith. Where is God? Is Yahweh no longer powerful?

The tragedy gets more traumatic, more evil as the Babylonian armies take captive the best and brightest of Jerusalem to live forever in exile. So these Jewish captives, including the four Hebrews the book of Daniel focuses upon, will never see their parents and families again. And some scholars speculate that these captives upon entering Babylon would have been castrated.

[*13] So now the tragedy, the trauma gets further exasperated and intensified due to the alienation from family support, the religious support system of the Temple, and quite possibly the sexual assault these Hebrews in exile endured.

These four have had their lives interrupted by tragedy but at this point, they have no clue just how much more tragedy, trouble, and evil will fill their future days.

[*14] If you’ve read the book of Daniel at all, you know that these four Hebrews will work closely with a short fused powder keg, King Nebuchadnezzar, who rewards those who please him and who exterminates those fail him. In Daniel chapter 2, the for Hebrews’ days are filled with evil as the wisemen class are in the process of being executed, literally as a group wiped off the face of the planet by the king until these four Hebrews ask for a stay of all the executions so the king’s dream may be interpreted.

[*15] But there are more evil days to come, in Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar passes a law dictating that all must worship a golden image upon an appointed day at an appointed time. The young Hebrews practice peaceful resistance right in the face of an evil of a king who promises leniency while at the same time revs up the fires of his furnace.

[*16] But there are still more evil days to come as the book of Daniel records how one of the four young Hebrews grew into an old man, who in chapter 5 watches a new Babylonian king use the vessels of Yahweh from Jerusalem’s temple to praise and honor the multitude of Babylonian deities. In the same night when a hand without a body wrote words on a wall foretelling Babylon’s fall, this old Hebrew would actually become a welcomed part of the administration of the succeeding empire. And that’s a funny thing, you’d think more silver hair would exempt you from evil but it does not. [*17] In chapter 6 this aged Hebrew sage though he serves a new government well, finds a target on his back placed by evil and envious underlings who manipulate the system to get their Hebrew boss tossed into a lion’s den.

From the tragedy and trauma of their capture as young men there would be plenty of trouble and evil in their future days, more than they could ever imagine or dream. But in the first chapter of Daniel, these four Hebrews don’t know about all the evil their future has in store. They are just focused upon upon the trouble that is right under their nose as they are enrolled in the University of Babylon.

As freshmen, they faced two evil and imminent attacks by Babylon.

Daniel 1:3–5 NKJV

Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.

[*18] The first was an evil attack of indoctrination. Look at these words from the book of [*19] Daniel, “Then the king [that’s Nebuchadnezzar] instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants [that is the king of Judah] and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach [what?] the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of [what?] training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.

Babylon is going to impose upon the Hebrews, Babylon’s language, Babylon’s literature, have them eat Babylonian cuisine, they will be trained in the ways of Babylon in order to ultimately serve Babylon. That is indoctrination — a systematic, intentional process to shape and change these Hebrew’s minds, their lifestyles, their world view, and ultimately their allegiance. As far as Babylon was concerned, every day mattered so Babylon had a plan to pour evil into the lives of these Hebrews.

Church if you don’t believe every day of your life matters, believe me, the kingdom of evil believes every day matters and it has a plan for your life. That is why we must seize, redeem, grab moments from each day to plug into God, His love, that we may withstand the indoctrination and rebel against the indoctrination. That is why we must seize, redeem, grab opportunities from each day to plug into God that we may share His love to help others withstand the evil that wants to indoctrinate them and help them rebel against that indoctrination. Indoctrination was the first evil attack.

Daniel 1:6–7 NKJV

Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

[*20] And the second evil attack that comes against these Hebrews is against the core of their identity which was centered in their God. Look at these next words from the first chapter of Daniel, “Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel [whose name means “God is my judge”] , Hananiah [whose name means “Yahweh is gracious”] , Mishael [whose name means “Who belongs to God?”], and Azariah [whose name means “Yahweh helps.”]. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar [“Bel protect the king’s life.”], to Hananiah Shadrach [“Command of Aku”—the Sumerian moon god.”], to Mishael Meshach [Who belongs to Aku?], and to Azariah Abed-nego [“Servant of Nabu”—the Babylonian god of wisdom].

Before the Babylonian exile, every time the mothers’ of these four Hebrews called their sons to dinner, these boys heard their names, their identities, which pointed them to their God and that they belonged to Yahweh. But by changing their names Babylon wanted to make them forget Yahweh and to begin to identify themselves with Babylon’s various deities in order to serve them.

Church family do you get it? Do you get the sense of how much evil has been and will be poured into the lives of Daniel and his three friends. It is like evil is pressing in upon them to get them to conform, and Daniel and his friends must do something to push back against all this evil that is pressing in against them trying to press them into the conformity of Babylon’s mold — to make them assimilate.

And so what does Daniel and his three friends do in order to push back against the evil that is pressing against them? They create a kairos moment that involves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Now if you’ve read this story before in Daniel chapter one or heard it preached before — you are anticipating perhaps where you think this message is going and you are perhaps shutting down. Because you know what Daniel and his three friends did with their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You know what they chose not to eat and drink and what they chose to eat and drink. And you are bracing yourself for where this message is going. You think I’m going to advocate for eating and drinking like Daniel and his friends did so you can live to be over 100 like all those Adventists in Loma Linda who eat and drink like Daniel and his friends did. You’ve heard those kinds of sermons before and said, “No thanks, who wants to live to be over 100 without having tacos.”

Whatever resistance and push back you have, in anticipation that I’m going to make this message about eating and drinking — it is not going there in the way you fear. Relax. Just relax.

Here is the main point of today’s message, “We can find kairos moments, and we need to seize kairos moments in the mundane, seemingly unimportant everyday matters of life — things that are as simple as breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Daniel and his three friends create an opportunity for themselves by getting permission for 10 days to not drink the king’s wine and to not eat food from the king’s table — but to instead drink water and eat vegetables and other foods derived from plants.

Now many of us have been taught that their refusal to eat from the king’s table was due to the fact that the food from the king’s table was offered to idols — but vegetables were also offered to idols.

And many of us have been told that the refusal to eat from the king’s table was due to the fact that the flesh foods there were unclean or were not prepared according to Jewish kosher practices — that’s why Daniel and his friends went with a plant only diet. But if that was the case Daniel and his friends could have asked to have meat for food that came from clean animals. But they didn’t?

So perhaps Daniel and his friends asked for this special water and veggies diet for reasons other than what we’ve always been taught or believed. Perhaps it was because they were seizing an opportunity during their evil days to plug themselves into the very God that Babylon wanted them to forget.

Consider these words by Professor Jaques Doukan, “ . . Daniel was directly responding to the king’s attempt to force him into his Babylonian culture. To preserve his identity, the exile chooses to eat and drink differently. He asks for vegetables and water.”

“Because Daniel cannot control his food sources, he wisely chooses to be vegetarian, the safest way to keep kosher and also the most explicit testimony of his faith in the God of Creation.”

“By doing so, Daniel speaks a more universal language designed to reach the Gentiles who observe him a table: his God is the God of Creation and therefor also their God.”

Daniel and his friends days were filled with evil that was pressing in upon them to get them to conform and forget God, and yet Daniel and his friends create a kairos moment at breakfast, lunch, and dinner — eating the diet given to man by the God of creation — thus every meal becomes their way to plug into God, to be reminded who and whose they are, and to remind Babylon who and whose they are.

Romans 12:2 NIV84

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1 NIV84

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:2 NIV84

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Mark 12:30 NIV84

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Mark 12:31 NKJV

And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”