How to Decorate Your Time

I've been thinking about time and how we measure it (you know, what with it being a New Year and all)—kind of an Andy Rooney stream of consciousness thing. Time: seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. In the language of the New Testament the word is χρόνος (pronounced krō – nōs). You can see the similarity with the English word chronology.

Chronology tracks time with sun dials, clocks, calendars, etc. To my knowledge God has not revealed a clock or a calendar, so we humans devise our own—lots of them (Sumerian, Mayan, Julian, Gregorian, et al). Some have different starting places, and some ancient calendars monitored time by the moon and some by the sun.

Another New Testament word for time is καίρος (pronounced kaí – rōs). The New Testament Greek Lexicon defines it as “… a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for, opportune or seasonable time, the right time...”

Sometimes “Kairos” is understood as “God’s time.” It most frequently is translated, “in the fullness of time,” “when the times had reached their fulfilment,” “the signs of the times”. In Jesus’ final words to his disciples (Acts 1:7), he said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” (NRSV) Same word, but plural.

Ephesians 1:9-10 says: “(God) has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,  as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (NRSV). Same word again. 

Years ago a woman called me at the office demanding to know why Easter was late that year. I explained that Easter coincides with the Jewish Passover, which is always celebrated on the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, which is March 21. Passover, then, can be as early as March 22, or as late as April 25. In most Western Christian traditions Easter is the following Sunday.

That didn't satisfy her. She said God created time and we shouldn't be messing with it! That’s what she said. She was talking about Chronos—clock time; calendar time. And she was right. Not only should we not mess with time; to my knowledge there’s nothing we can do to mess with time.

The longer I live the faster time seems to fly. For my eleven-year-old granddaughter, time apparently drags excruciatingly slow! She loves boredom. Why else would she spend so much time doing it, when the alternatives under most circumstances are infinite?

In the waiting room at a hospital ICU, time is experienced differently than at a shopping mall or at a party or (ahem) at church.

Some people don’t seem to be able to pack enough busy-ness into an hour; while others seem always caught up and serenely at leisure and still others procrastinate and end up in a panic at the last minute.

It’s my observation that we humans mix our metaphors in response to time. We procrastinate in “chronos”, waiting for the pressure of a deadline (“Kairos”).

The closer (in chronology) Holidays, wedding dates, anniversaries, etc. (Kairos) approach, the more important time becomes. It’s at that level that we may understand the New Testament concept of “Kairos”.

God has a plan, and it’s not a mystery or a secret. In fact, it’s openly revealed in Ephesians 1:9-10—the passage quoted above. That plan is to “…gather up all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth.” The New International Version says, “…to bring unity to all things…” and the Revised Standard Version says, “…to unite all things…”

The church has spent generations fighting over what “…in Christ…” or “…in him…” means. Some churches insist that invoking very specific vocabulary and/or rituals is required before something can be considered to be “in Christ.” Others are more concerned with behavioral manifestations [“feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. (Matthew 25)].

I lean toward the latter; although, the New Testament obviously calls for speaking the faith, too. Still, I’m more concerned with that “bringing all things together” part of God’s plan—that part about the unity of Christ’s Body.

God calls us humans to be partners in the accomplishment of God’s plan. Jesus of Nazareth was the full manifestation of what it means to live in that kind of partnership with God; and while Jesus is infinitely more than example, he is at least that.

So, how will you decorate your time in 2015? We’re facing a couple of generations who’ve heard enough about what we believe and what we don’t believe and who’s right and who’s wrong and what we think they should believe. Poll after poll confirms that 95% (give or take a percentage point or two, depending upon which poll) of North Americans “believe”.

But the millennial generation notes a significant difference between what the church says and what it does. They say we obsess over rules and doctrines and “being right”, when we should be concentrating on being more like Jesus. Of course, I know they’re not talking about my church; and if they’d just give us a try they’d quickly see how right we are.

I think I’ve spent enough time (chronos) talking the talk. I think it’s time (Kairos) for me to give more effort to walking the walk. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying anyone will be known by his beliefs or her creed or their political ideology. I do recall him saying we’d be known by our fruits. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

 My orchard’s a little bare. I need to spend more time (chronos) in it. And time (kairos) is getting short.

That’s how I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim