Two weeks ago, when I preached my sermon, I said that we need to give ourselves away.
Last week when I preached to you I read to you scripture that informed us that the properly grounded Christian life is one that is lived sacrficially.
This week, as we formally kick-off our faith promise campaign, I want to share with you some thoughts about a rarely spoken of sacrifice that the Bible does speak of concerning the Christian. It is the sacrifice of our time. And when I say the ‘sacrifice of our time’ I mean the bringing of the minutes and hours and days and years of our existence under the Lordship of Jesus. I think the thing we guard most jealously in our lives is our time. Sometimes I think that when it comes to Christianity and service in God’s Kingdom it is easier for American Christians to simply throw some money at it and let someone else do it. Indeed, this is an American thing in general. As soon as the hurricane hit we started hearing about the need not for human compassion, human hands, but for money.
Now don’t think I am overly, hyper-critical of those who give money and those who ask for money. I think money is important in so far as it is a means to an end. Time on the other hand is much more valuable than money and perhaps that is why we are so frequently guarded when it comes to our time. It means, in the words of Scripture, redeeming the time. It means making every minute count for the Kingdom. It means that if the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God Almighty then how much more does the every waking minute of our lives belong to him?
And I don’t know exactly where the problem began. Somewhere along the way a widow put two mites into the offering box, all she had, and since she did not also give a couple of minutes or hours we came to believe that all that was required was to put our pennies in the plate and then our obligation to the Kingdom was satisfied. Or maybe it was when someone said ‘do not forsake the gathering together’ and so we thought we did our part when we came to worship on Sunday morning. A friend of mine who is not a Christian reminded me yesterday that he saw a reminder of an oft mentioned expression and rarely practiced one: Enter to worship, depart to serve. The Sunday morning is not our primary time for service, evangelism, or anything but worship of Almighty God.
The sacrifice of your time, however, is not just about being busy for the Lord as if he needs us. It is about being busy in the Lord. It’s not just about praying that the Lord bless what we are doing. It’s about being in the place and doing the things that God is blessing. It’s not about squeezing the Lord into our daily schedule or making time for God each day. It’s about making time for everything else we do. It’s not about giving something back. It is about giving all it back. One reason why I asked you to join with me in reading through the Bible This month is because I wanted you to get a taste of what it means to devote something, everyday to God—namely, your time. Because I know from my experience, and I am a reader, that I have had to give up quite a lot—football, baseball, all other reading projects, video games, and more. I figure if we can start with something as simple as reading through the Bible then all the other stuff should be fairly uncomplicated.
I’d like to talk a little about time this morning by simply looking at some passages of Scripture and at the end I would like to challenge you. First, let’s look to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 9:
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."
62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
First I would like to point out that the easiest thing to do when it comes to Kingdom service is make excuses. Really when it comes to time it is a matter of priorities: what matters more to us. And I also know that I am fighting an uphill battle. I’m not trying to be harsh, but you have to admit that this is frequently our area of expertise. I would like to challenge you to overcome whatever adiction you may have to excuse making.
Next let’s look to Romans 13:11-14:
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature
There’s a couple or so of different things happening in this passage of Scripture. The one that stands out to me is this: The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. I believe that Paul is saying that we are almost out of time to make a difference in the lives of lost people. The unfortunate thing about life is that if the Bible is true, and I believe it is, then there is going to come a time when it is too late for us to do anything for the Kingdom or for the people who are lost. Another idea that seems to be floating around in here is this: We need to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others: do not think about how to gratify the flesh. We live in a very self-centered culture which is one reason why I am convinced that the Church must not emulate the culture in order to grow and produce fruit that lasts. We must be counter-cultural, we must not conform any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed. And if this is true for the Christian then it is true for the Church.
Like excuses, it is fairly easy to continue thinking about ourselves. It’s my life. It’s my time. It’s my day. But Jesus had an interesting take on the ‘me’, ‘my’ and ‘mine’ culture: He said he who loses his life for my sake will find it. And,
28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
He is telling us that we need to set our priorities. And he did not say that it would be easy, or uncomplicated, or that it would not hurt, or that it would not involve sacrifice. On the contrary, leaving behind such things or such people, does hurt. This is, nevertheless, what he has said: Give it up. When we are willing to part with something so abundant and free as time then I believe it will be much easier for us to part with, lay on the stone of sacrifice, all other things in our lives as well.
Third, there is passage of Scripture again found in Romans that I have come to love perhaps more than any passage of Scripture in the Bible. It is found in the fifth chapter:
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I just got to thinking: God did all the work of salvation at just the right time. He was not early. He was not late. He was just right on time. Now here’s what I got to thinking: What if when we make ourselves available to the Lord, what if when we do, what if we are available at just the right time for Him to do something amazing, something useful, something that will bless someone else? How many opportunities are made available to God when we simply surrender ourselves to his good, and pleasing and perfect will? How many opportunities are lost because we are simply unavailable, too busy, or down right uncomitted? But let me suggest a hypothetical scenario: what if every Christian in America, starting in this church right here, would give back to the Lord our God who made our salvation possible at just the right time just one hour per week of our time—and I do not mean the hour or so that we spend here on Sunday mornings when there is nothing else to do.
Finally, there is John chapter 9 and I only wish to read a small scrap of this chapter:
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
I note in here the same theme we came across in Romans 13. But note that Jesus says ‘as long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.’ We must be about his business. And again Jesus makes it clear that a day was coming, and a day is coming, when it will be dark and we will no longer be able to do the work of him who sent Jesus. What then will happen to the lost, the hopeless, the dying, and the dead? Who will preach? Who will send?
This month is about faith promise, but I want to make it perfectly clear that the Kingdom of God advances not because we give money but because we give ourselves. The Kingdom of God turns the world upside down not because Peter and John had money to give to a beggar but because Peter and John proclaimed the Gospel. I’d like you to ask yourself a couple of questions.
How many times this week have you wished the Church was growing faster?
How many times last week did I invite someone to worship with me this morning?
How much of my time this week did I dedicate to serving Jesus? I don’t mean praying or reading the Bible. I mean how many minutes or hours did you dedicate to serving him in someway by helping someone or serving someone or doing something for the congregation of which you are a member?
I had a conversation with a member of our congregation this past week. In the course of the conversation she said to me, I gave up doing such and such a thing so I could give more time to the church. I’d like to introduce that person to you—not because I think she needs the attention or to brag but merely to set an example. Her name is Natalie (and I did ask her permission to tell you this).
Tuesday night she was here and led the choir. Two Tuesday’s per month she comes to our Planning & Outreach meetings. Last summer she served as VBS director. On Wednesday evenings she meets with Randy, Ryan, and me and we practice our music for at least two hours. On Saturday mornings she comes to the church building for prayer meetings which take about an hour or so. This month she has also been spending her Saturday mornings or afternoons cleaning the church building. She also spends time several times per year preparing the communion cups and bread. It is almost unfair to say that she is here every time the door is opened; it’s more like she is the one here opening the door every time the door is opened. On top of all this, she works a full time job. And she told me this week, totally un-self-consciencely that she gave up giving flute lessons and earning extra money for herself so that she could give more time to this church. And there is a lot of work that goes into taking guitar lessons too and paying for them and practicing each night, helping me plan the worship, leading the worship, and so on.
Now I don’t tell you this because Natalie wants your attention or your applause. I am confident she does not. But I do tell it to you because she is setting an example for all of us. And I don’t single her out to the exclusion of the several others in the congregation who are giving their time and talents to see the Kingdom of God advance. But I am telling you because the challenge to all of you is to follow her example. But I would be remiss if I did not take the time to point out to you that when it comes to the Kingdom of God, when it comes to His church, your time matters. What I want you to understand from Natalie’s example is that there is work that needs done each month, each week, each day—and she is doing what she can. Now I’m not asking you, but I want you to ask yourself: Am I doing what I can?
It’s a tough question to ask. And lest Natalie go home feeling especially wonderful about herself, I want her to ask herself the same question all over again: Am I doing what I can? If the Body of Christ is us, if we are the Body of Christ, what part are you? A hand, a foot, a leg, a heart? And when you are missing, when that part of the Body is absent from service, who does what you have to offer?
Now don’t go away from this sermon mad or angry or thinking that I am accusing anyone of anything. I have to ask myself the same questions and I do. I have to think about each minute of each day because it is easy for me to grow complacent about service since I am paid to be here. I am asking these questions as a means of self-examination for each of us. It’s important that we understand what needs to be done and that we do it. And be certain of this: there are things that need done around the church building and around the church and around the community. So here’s the challenge I promised:
You are by the grace of God given 168 hours per week. I think all of us would find it easier to tithe a paycheck than our time; 16.8 hours per week of service to the Kingdom would be quite a large sum to give back by the grace of God! So let’s start small. Let’s start by doing this: I challenge everyone here to give one hour per week of the time graciously given them by God to the Church. If you are already giving one hour then I’m asking for two. If you are already giving two then I am asking for three. And so on. Here’s a partial list of some things that can be done.
We have a prayer meeting every Saturday morning when there is nothing on the planet to do.
Or come earlier than nine—I’ll meet with you earlier and pray.
Come up and make phone calls to people who missed worship. Or come up and send post cards or make follow up phone calls to those who worship with us on Sunday as guests.
Come up and pray during the week.
In the bulletin you can see I am trying to put together a food pantry team to work at the new Madison Ministerial Food Bank. I need four or five people to form a team.
We have three different Scout groups that meet here during the week. Come up during their meetings and be a helper, or a greeter, or prepare beverages or light snacks.
Come up and clean the building. Come up and do some of the finishing work on the balcony: trim, dusting, clean up, etc.
Come up here and spend an hour or so talking with the preacher who always needs encouragement. Don’t sit around waiting on him—go to him.
Go to a nursing home and do some volunteer work. The Bible says that God has made us and re-created us to do the good works which he has prepared in advance for us to do. He has prepared good works for you to do: are they getting done?
Sing in the choir. Paint a room. Decorate a bulletin board. Come to Bible school on Sunday mornings (although this doesn’t count!). Clean a window. Vacuum a floor.
Come up and organize a classroom or a storage room. Come up and write some lessons for a Bible School class. Come up and make baskets for the welcome center. Come up when we have a planning and outreach meeting. Take out the garbage. Wash a dish.
The bottom line is that the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. You don’t need me to stand up here this morning and tell you what needs to be done in the church or for the church. You are the church.
So I will stop short of begging you to do something for the church, but I will say that the church is only going to go as far as the members of the church are willing to take it. We all have to be involved in the work. All I am asking you for is one of the 168 hours per week that you are given. That is 60 minutes 10080 you are given each week. That is 3,600 seconds of the 604800 seconds you are given each week. It’s 52 hours per year 8736 hours you are given each year.
I’m not demanding you do anything. I’m asking you to consider what you are doing and to ask yourself if you can do more. I’m asking if the work you do with your 168 hours per week is work that has lasting, Kingdom value. Jesus said: (John 6)
26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
Only you can anwer the question. And you don’t have to answer to me. But if the Bible says that someday we will have to give an account for every single word that we utter in this life, then how much more will God himself require of us an accounting for every single second that he gives us on this earth. Are you doing the work of God each day?
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