Redeeming Time, Part 3

Focus On Key Relationships

Have you ever tallied the people you regularly rub shoulders with? My partial list includes: my wife, my kids, my grandkids, my neighbors, my students, members of my church, extended family,  business associates, athletic friends, men from a morning Bible study. But that isn’t all. Modern technology allows me to have regular contact with former students & classmates, missionaries in the Ukraine, Turkey and Israel, friends who formerly lived in Sioux Falls, couples I taught at a summer camp, and on and on.

William Powers “likens our digital age to a gigantic room” with more than 1 billion people who are instantly available to each other. Powers explains: “At any moment someone may come up and tap us on the shoulder – a text, a hit, a comment, a tweet, a post, a message. . . We enjoy the room immensely. But eventually we grow tired of the constant noise. . . . So we decide to take a vacation. But no one else seems interested in leaving. In fact, they all seem put off that you might not want to stay.” How true! We grumble and complain when someone doesn’t respond to our text within 10-15 minutes: “Where are you?!”

The result is that many of us feel like we are drowning in a crowded sea of relationships. This isn’t the way it used to be: “A century ago, social relationships were largely confined to the distance of an easy walk. Most were conducted in person, within small communities: family, neighbors, townspeople. Yes, the horse and carriage made longer trips possible, but even a trip of thirty miles could take all day. And if someone moved from the community, relationships were likely to end.”

Now obviously, people are very important—the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. But that doesn’t mean that I am obligated to develop a relationship with every person who drifts through my life. In descending order, Jesus spent the most time with his closest friends (Peter, James and John), next the Twelve, then a committed group of 72 disciples, then the larger body of disciples, and finally, the masses.

Many of us feel harried because we are trying to keep up with too many relationships. Thus, relationships—which are designed to be renewing—suck the life out on us. When I flit from one shallow relationship to another, who knows when I am tempted? when I am hurting? when I need encouragement?

 

When I spread myself too broadly, I don’t have time for the most important relationships. Who begs me to spend 15 minutes reading with my kids at bedtime? Who exhorts me to spend quiet time with God? Who twists my arm to date my wife? In Deuteronomy, Moses explained that a newly married husband was freed from work and military duties for one year so he could "bring happiness" to his bride. Wow! A 52 week honeymoon!

God wants us to give priority to our most significant relationships. We can’t do this unless we say “No” to many, many other relationships.

Redeeming Time, Part 2

"On a Mission to Everywhere"

Busy. Busy. Busy. Most of us are caught up in a frenzy of activity that leaves us exhausted and edgy. What is the source of our frenzy? We hear sermons or read books or listen to testimonies which convict us that we aren’t praying enough or giving enough or evangelizing enough or volunteering enough.  As a result, we become disappointed with ourselves while our opportunities begin to feel more like obligations.

 

But in spite of the crush of human need, Jesus never appeared to be in a hurry. Why not? A day from early in his ministry (Mark 1) is revealing. Jesus spent the day teaching and healing in Capernaum -- a day which didn’t end until well after sunset. Very early the next morning, Jesus retreated to a solitary place, where he prayed. When his irritated disciples finally found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” What an opportunity—doors flung wide open for ministry. Why not rent a public building and have nightly meetings for the next 30 days? Imagine what Jesus could do in a month—there wouldn’t be a broken bone or a broken marriage in the entire city.

But astoundingly (to the Twelve) Jesus declined the invitation: “Let us go somewhere else so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Jesus knew his purpose. He knew what God had called him to do. That made it possible to decline such a tempting offer.

Mark Buchanan in Your God Is Too Safe, has observed that “at the heart of Jesus’ ministry was a holy must. He must go through Samaria. He must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer. Everything he did or refused to do centered around that.” This must brought “wonderful clarity” to Jesus’ choices.

Many of us have no God-inflamed purpose which drives and directs our choices: “There is activity. There is opinion. There is busyness. But there is nothing ... to convert selfish ambition into holy purpose.” We are like Jerry Sittser who lamented his inability to say “no”: “I am like a man on a mission to everywhere.”

Jesus didn’t heal every sick person or preach in every synagogue or accept every invitation. But he did accomplish every task the Father assigned to him. Many of us let fear or friends, pride or pastors, rather than God, fix our agendas. We need to respond to significant requests of our time by praying: "Lord, is this how you want me to use my time and gifts?"