February 1, 2004

Service Theme – "Our God Rewards Us"

Ephesians 5:15-18

Who Cares? I’m not on the Clock!

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – Francois Fenelon wrote, Even the most mindless pastimes can be offerings to God when you are expected, by family duty, to engage in them. How free you are when you do all things simply to the glory of God. ... There is nothing simpler or more faithful than learning to accept the will of God apart from your personal taste--your likes and dislikes and impulses (as cited on PreachingToday.com).
2. Context – Fenelon points out an important truth – that how we spend time and our attitudes about time matter a lot to God. I think it’d be safe to say that almost all of us have a problem with wasting time. And that’s not a condemnation, because we have a hard time figuring out how to spend time in ways that aren’t wasteful and yet are honoring to God. We can start down that path by learning how God feels about time, and how He wants us to spend time. So let’s read Ephesians 5:15-18 and learn more about how to spend the time we’ve been given.

2. Scripture Passage

1. Ephesians 5:15-18 (from the NIV) – (NEW SLIDE) Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (NEW SLIDE) 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

3. Time Is Ticking Away

1. As I was working on this message a song came to mind from D.C. Talk’s Free At Last album. Of course you know that song lyrics don’t sound the same when you read them out loud, but some of these words speak volumes to our condition. "We got a mission while we’re on this earth, We need to tell people ‘bout our second birth." "The cries of the people around us imply, They’re lookin’ for an answer that we already know, But time is definitely on the go." "All the money in the world can never stop the hands of time, And a wasted day in your life is more than a crime." Powerful words if we stop to think about them. The problem is, what do we do about them? Most of us can handle pretty well the concept that our stuff is God’s and we are simply stewards of it. Of course, actually living that way is another story. But we don’t like to think of ourselves as stewards of time. Time is the only commodity that we believe we have some control over, and we like to hang onto it. So how do we make the most of every opportunity? How do we learn to live as stewards of time and manage it wisely? The answer is to set priorities, God’s priorities, with intentionality.
2. The Greek for verses fifteen and sixteen literally reads, (NEW SLIDE) "Look at with exactness how you walk, not as unwise, but as skilled or wise, ransoming or rescuing from loss the time, because the day toilsome or bad is." There is a certain amount of deliberateness, intentionality, or doing everything for a reason, that the apostle Paul expresses here. And that’s what we need to pick up on and put into practice. If we’re going to be wise stewards of the time God has given us on this planet, we’ve got to do a much better job of being intentional about making sure that what we do is pleasing to God.
3. I’ve worked with a number of folks who wouldn’t do a thing before they were on the clock, even something as small as opening a door for someone whose hands were full. They’d always say something like, "Why should I help? I’m not on the clock yet." Folks, we are always on the clock when it comes to God’s perspective. As Anatole France wrote, (NEW SLIDE) The time God allots to each one of us is like a precious tissue which we embroider as we best know how (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Time is extremely precious to God. That’s why intentionally setting priorities that are pleasing to Him and then doing our utmost to fulfill them is so important. If we don’t set those priorities, much of our time will be wasted. And once an hour has gone by, it’s gone forever.
4. So how do we set priorities with intentionality? How do we do our utmost to make sure God is pleased with the way we spend our time? (NEW SLIDE) First, we have to recognize that all time is God’s time, and that His way has to come before our way. For example, there are some things I hate being interrupted in the middle of. It drives me nuts, because I lose my train of thought and sometimes have a hard time getting it back. During those times when I’m feeling like my time is my time, I’m ashamed to say that I’m likely to blow someone off, or lash out, or just ignore them. But during those times that I’m keenly aware that my time is God’s time, I view interruptions much differently. I see them as God inserting His priorities into my life, and I’m much better off going along with Him. A lot less guilt and self-recrimination that way! All time is God’s time, and if we’re going to be good stewards of time, we will recognize that all time is God’s time.
5. (NEW SLIDE) Second, we have to pray. I know that for some of us this almost goes without saying, yet I don’t believe we truly understand the impact that praying over our time and our schedules can have on us. Verse seventeen says, Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is, and how can we understand what the Lord’s will is if we don’t pray? How can we keep from being morally deficient, which is what foolish means in the Bible, in the way we spend our time if we don’t pray. One of the first things I do on Monday mornings every week is to go over my schedule for the week, writing events on a pad and praying over them. There have been many times when I’ve sensed God telling me to drop something or to change something or to contact a certain person. And when I follow His leading I always find that He has something special in mind, either a special blessing or opportunity to encourage someone or to be brought closer to Him. The sad thing is that I find that those times when I choose not to follow His leading, those things I have planned don’t work out anyway so I might as well have followed Him in the first place. Has anybody else ever experienced that? We’ve got to pray in order to be good stewards of time. So how do we pray? Well, (NEW SLIDE) pray over the events on your calendar day by day and week by week. Pray for each appointment you have scheduled and each person you will be in contact with. Pray that God will make each one a blessing either to you or to the person you’re seeing or to both. Pray for opportunities to witness to your faith. And pray that God would eliminate anything that takes your time that is not pleasing to Him. If we want to be good stewards of God’s time, we’ve got to pray and then respond to God’s leading.
6. (NEW SLIDE) Third, at least once a month we’ve got to catalog everything we do for a day and write down how much time each thing takes. On my Palm I have date book software that I keep my schedule on, and it is blocked out in five-minute increments. So every so often (and probably not as often as I should) for a whole day I will record everything I’m doing and the start and finish times in my Palm. It’s amazing the picture it gives me of how much time I spend on certain activities. It also enables me to cut back on what I need to cut back on, and to give more time to the more important things. I have to admit that I’m much more disciplined about how I spend time at work than I am during leisure hours, but I’m trying to improve those areas too. I know that for some of us this sounds a bit obsessive, but remember what the Greek said? (NEW SLIDE) "Look at with exactness how you walk." Or as the NIV puts it, "Be very careful, then, how you live." That speaks to one word: intentionality. And how can we handle time intentionally if we don’t know how we spend it? If we’re going to be good stewards of God’s time, then for a day we’ve got to write down everything we do and the time we spent doing it.
7. (NEW SLIDE) Fourth, we have to list our priorities and rearrange our time according to them. When we recognize that all time is God’s time, when we look back at our daily and weekly schedules and how we’ve prayed over them, when we chart out a day, then we can see from the time we’ve spent on each item how important it is to us. Personally, looking at how I spend my time, I spend way too much time vegging out and watching TV. And I’ve made a commitment to work at cutting way back. I don’t watch a lot in the way of what I would call TV that is bad for me, but at the same time the things that I do watch aren’t always necessary. (NEW SLIDE) One of the guidelines that I will use to reprioritize time is the goals that I prayed through and set before the start of the year. Some are spiritual disciplines that I’m not doing as well on as I’d like. Some are personal and family enrichment activities. And some of those goals are projects I’d like to work on. Yes, I realize that I have to factor in physical limitations as well as emergencies, but that still leaves plenty of time for accomplishing these God-honoring goals. Have you set spiritual goals for yourself for this year? Have you set personal and family enrichment goals for yourself for this year? Have you set goals for projects, or goals for your ministry here at church, for this year? It’s not too late to set goals that are specific, measurable and attainable and God-honoring. When we’ve prayed and examined our calendars and schedules and we’ve set solid goals, being good stewards of time will be a lot easier.
8. Verse eighteen says, Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Now I know that most if not all of us have no problem with drinking, so how does this apply? (NEW SLIDE) Simple: if we don’t spend the time God has given us doing those things that are honoring to God and so being filled with His Spirit, we will spend that time indulging in physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual excesses. Why do you think drug and alcohol abuse, pornography, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, cults and other illicit activities are so prevalent in our society? Because if you don’t spend time honoring God and being filled with His Spirit, you will be spending time being filled with the spirit of this world. If God doesn’t have your attention, Satan will have it by default. (NEW SLIDE) Our schedules have got to reflect the importance of prayer, Bible reading and study, Scripture memory, reading Christian devotional material, and other Christian spiritual disciplines, or we will not be continually filled with His Spirit and we will be unable to impact our world for Jesus Christ. That’s why good stewardship of time is so important. That’s why in God’s eyes we’re always on the clock!
9. Illustration – A.W. Tozer wrote, (NEW SLIDE) God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. The man who would know God must give time to Him (as cited on PreachingToday.com). His life reflected this principle, and ours have to reflect it as well. All time is God’s time, and it’s about time we start living that truth!

4. Conclusion

1. Please bow your heads and close your eyes. As G. Campbell Morgan wrote, Let the year be given to God in its every moment! The year is made up of minutes: let these be watched as having been dedicated to God! It is in the sanctification of the small that hallowing of the large is secure (as cited on PreachingToday.com). So this morning, let’s spend a few moments looking at how we spend those precious minutes. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you those ways that you spend time that are pleasing to Him, and those ways that you spend time that are not pleasing to Him. So let’s spend a few quiet moments right now asking and then listening.
2. What has the Holy Spirit been whispering to your heart? If He’s been telling you that some improvements have to be made in how you spend His time, make that commitment to Him right now. Tell Him you want His help in being a better steward of the time He’s given you. Ask His forgiveness for wasting His precious time. Ask Him to help you balance activity with rest, busyness with leisure. Ask Him to help you make His priorities your priorities. Thank Him that He is going to help you. Now if you want some additional help with this, do the homework assignments on your bulletin insert this week. And raise your hand right now if you’d like me to be praying for you this week. Let’s all pray together.