Marking Time

I thought it was appropriate to title this post marking time, since I have obviously not marked any time on this blog since March.  I chalk that up to grandchildren, the short but glorious summer in Vermont, and life in general. But as the changing of seasons approaches once more, I thought I should get on with it and start writing again since, in a way, these words will one day be the only legacy I leave behind.

Several questions continue to plague me for answers...Why do we go to church, or said another way, Why do we even need church?  And while there have been many answers given that have some validity, I think ultimately the answer is somehow related to the historic church concept of marking time.  It is not surprising that our lives as well as history revolves in cycles.  At creation God set planets and stars in the heavens to mark times and seasons.  Even the creation of light placed two distinct periods of time into every day.  And when He gave the law on Sinai, He built into the ten commandments one that required observance of a sabbath, one day in seven, observed in holiness because of the work of God Himself.  To that He later added the sabbatic year, one year in every seven years for the land to rest, the jubilee year, one year in every seven of sevens of years for the release of debt, and the seven holy convocations for the nation (as the scripture calls them the times appointed by the Lord).

And the purpose of those times was to remember the works of God's deliverance and providence, and to become partakers in those graces, to make them present in the moment (we might say renew covenant with Him).  We are no longer under the Jewish laws, but old habits (or divine principles) die hard and so the Church marks time in its own way, ordering its year and celebrations around the two great anchor feasts of Christmastide and Eastertide.  And that's why our church year begins in December with Advent and not on the civil New Year's Day.  That's why the cycle of readings contained in the lectionary has remained so important to me and to the church.  We need that annual remembrance and covenant renewal in the grace and work of God.  Just as Moses commanded the entire law to be read in the hearing of the Israel when their gathered for their convocations, so too we need to hear the whole story again and again to keep it fresh, to make it ours, to give it to our children.  I tend to be crotchety this way; don't recite to me Paul's theology and doctrine, just tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love.  It's only the latter that truly renews the covenant of grace in my heart and soul.

One last thought about marking time and going to church.  The New Testament states the principle of the tithe just as well as the Old Testament did when in Romans 11:16 it declares that if the first fruit is holy, then the entire batch is holy.  I think that gives a perfect reason for observing Sabbath, for going to church.  If we dedicate the first day of our week to God and His purposes and participate in the way in which our conscience guides us, then the offering of that tithe or first fruit makes the balance of our week consecrated, set apart also to God and His purposes.  We need to do that, because in the midst of business or school or home, our weeks sometimes seem far from God and His influence.  But that is the power of the tithe, even if we do not feel it, even if we are not aware of it, the transaction has been made, the offering has been given, and God will remain faithful to do His part in every moment of time.  I go to church to dedicate my week to the God I serve and to His purposes, I may not always fully succeed throughout the week, the I am confident that failure would only results without that first good beginning.

A Call to Worship from the 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Why am I here this week?  I thought that I finally figured it out last week, but now that I’m here this week I’m not so sure again.  I mean, I’ve seen glimpses through this week that God is still at work, but frankly my week has been hard and there is so little in the daily news that makes me confident that what I am doing here today means a hill of beans in the long run.  It’s easier to be a skeptic this morning than a believer.

Now I don’t know why that happens, but we are so quick to forget what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what we should be doing with our lives.  But fortunately that is something that is common to every person and so the Church throughout its history has tried to do things that help us on our journey.  One way is the yearly church calendar, and the second is the lectionary of scripture readings.  I preach out of a common set of readings that have been put together so that over a three year cycle pretty much everything that is in the bible has an opportunity to be read and studied.  That way we don’t get stuck in a rut or concentrate on things that we like to hear while ignoring things that are harder for us to deal with.  The second thing is the annual calendar in which we cycle through the great works of God on our behalf and then are given a chance to respond.  The year starts in Advent and we begin the story of our deliverance by remembering all that the Christmas season announces.  Then there is a short period of time when we concentrate on the work of Jesus Christ as He proclaims to us the coming of God’s Kingdom.  Then there is that intense time of Lent and Holy Week, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost.  By then the story of what God has done for us has been told with power.

But then there is a long period of time called Ordinary Times marked by the green altar cloths.  And we mark the Sundays in this period as the Sundays after Pentecost, after the sending of the Holy Spirit to us as the promise and power of God.  We do not concentrate so much on what God has done for us, or the recording of the story of His salvation…..this is our season, and the question put to us in this time is this….if God has done all of these things on your behalf, if He has given grace, forgiveness, deliverance, freedom from bondage, and the promise of eternal life...how are you going to live because of it?  Has it made a difference in your life?  What has God given to you to do with this new life He has freely given?

That’s part of why we gather on the Lord’s Day each Sunday.  To be reminded that we are not the people that we used to be.  We may still struggle each day we live, but the fact that God has acted on our behalf makes us different and gives us purpose, direction, and a job to do on His behalf.  We just need a little help to remember what those things are and find the encouragement together to move forward one more week in the name of Jesus.

This is the part of the year where God does not work for us, but God chooses to work through us.  To us is given that amazing task of doing God’s work in our homes, in our communities, in our workplaces.  Let’s open our hearts to hear what it is that He will give us to do this week.