Sermon at Grace Episcopal December 7, 2008 by Lynette Schaefer

2 Peter 3:8-15a
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

As someone told me last week, the Advent wreath made it suddenly clear that there were only three more weekends 'til Christmas! And of course as you listen to the sermon today, there are only two weekends 'til Christmas.

Time is one of those things that we can never seem to get a hold of. Either time is too short (as in time flies) or it seems we have to wait forever (as in this week seems to never end). And as adults, there never seems to be enough time to get everything done around the holiday season. But do you remember how long it seemed to take for Christmas to come around when you were a child? The last few days before Christmas seemed to take YEARS!

So when I study this passage from 2 Peter, it always makes me stop and think. Verse 8 says, "Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day."

Some people have interpreted this verse to say, "Well sometimes a day in the Bible is really a thousand years and that's what it means." That's not exactly what it means. Simply put, it means that God doesn't look at time the same way we do. God's ways and our way of looking at time are very different. The Lord looks at eternity. We get worried about our plane being 10 minutes delayed. God is concerned about growing us and developing our character over time and we worry about what time lunch is. Jesus taught that we should not be anxious about tomorrow (a time thing) because we can't even add a second to our lives by worrying. Even if we only take 15 seconds to worry about time, that is 15 seconds we can never get back.

Peter explains a bit how God looks at time. God is on His own timetable. He created time for us, to help us. But He didn't create time for us so that we can dictate our schedules to Him. Yet too often we try to do just that. We become geared to our palm pilots, and planners. We give our schedules so much control over us that we try to draw God into them. "God, I really need Your help, now!" (Like we didn't really need it before). Or, "Lord. I want you to bless this project right now." How about, "Father, I want You to make sure I have this much money pretty quickly or I'll be in big trouble." And most of us have planned to be married, or have so many kids, or retire by a certain age, and then asked God to bless both our plans and our timetables. And if He doesn't come through, either we get angry with Him or we get depressed and wonder if the Lord really loves us.

God really does love us and He will take care of us, but it is on His time schedule and in His own way.

In Peter's day, there was some pretty terrible persecution. Nero had Christians arrested and killed. It was a harsh time to be a follower of Jesus. Many Christians hid underground or ran away to distant lands to keep from becoming lion food or gladiator target practice. What was the solution to this? Many wanted Jesus to come back right this second and relieve them from their trouble. Now I can understand that when you are literally running for your life that you would earnestly desire Jesus to come back to earth and rescue you. I have had those moments where I was broken hearted or in pain and longed for Jesus to come immediately so I'd be taken out of the situation.

But Peter wrote this section of his letter as an answer to those who thought that Jesus wasn't coming back because He was taking so long. Peter reminds them that the Lord isn't really being slow about His promise to return. No. He is being patient FOR OUR SAKES. He does not want anyone to perish, and He is giving more time for everyone to repent. Our Lord is looking at the small details of our lives, but at the same time is looking at His plan, His big picture. Isn't that amazing? Especially when we consider that because of our sin, He could have lost all patience with us and just wiped us all out! But He gives all of us time to turn to Him. That is what love is. The Word of God says His love is patient, and wants all of us to come to Him.

And the Bible is also clear about this other fact. Jesus will return. We don't know when, but He will return when we least expect it. The end will be quick. Jesus described His return as being as surprising as a thief that sneaks in during the night. The Bible says that at that time, the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything on earth will disappear in fire. Jesus also said that even though heaven and earth will pass away, His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35).
But tell that to those 2,000 shoppers in New York who charged the doors at a Wal Mart on Black Friday. They had waited in the dark and cold to be first on the first official shopping day of the Christmas season. No one was waiting to purchase medicine for a sick child at the pharmacy. They weren't anxious about getting food for the next day's breakfast. They were just lined up for things… next year's junk. Stuff that's going to burn up & be gone when Jesus returns. They trampled the man who was trying to open the doors. And when some heard the tragic news, they refused to stop shopping. They said they'd waited so long that they didn't want to stop and be inconvenienced by the investigation. They didn't have the time to go out of the store and come back later.
Let me contrast that to when I visited the Philippines in February. We visited Compassion International centers in churches in poor neighborhoods. As we walked to one, we saw naked boys playing in brown, thick liquid, with water buffaloes grazing, and laundry hanging on bamboo from box "houses." We entered the church in the middle of the field, a thatched roof over a rugged dirt floor, with wooden benches. The children, large and small, filed in as we westerners sat facing them. They directed their attention to the leader and, with just one word they stood tall, proud and fully attentive. They were happy, disciplined and completely earnest. And they sang for us in perfect harmony, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!" They had waited hours for our arrival. You see, we were late. They didn't grumble about missing the best deals of the sale. And they shared the little food they had, with us. Many of those families did not even have the food for one meal a day. Yet they insisted on serving lunch to these late, but well fed Americans. They gave freely of what they had so little of-and we were deeply moved.
Now if somebody was scheduled to come to your home or to our church, and was 4 hours late, how would we react? We'd probably be so angry that we wouldn't enjoy the feast in front of us. But how many times have we come late to Jesus, after messing things up, and found Him waiting for us with open arms?
In all the photos and videos of the Great Depression, when millions of people were out of work, I do not remember seeing anyone in those soup or employment lines doing anything but politely waiting their turn. Hungry people, really hungry, waited with great endurance for their portion. And unemployed men, with no public assistance available, waited in line patiently for a chance to work at something-anything.
But in 2008, in the wealthiest nation on earth-where most have never known real hunger or thirst, where most have never suffered under scorching heat or freezing cold-people rushed to trample each other over the mere lust for things.
What separates these two groups? The one with so much abundance yet craving more impatiently and the other, having so little, yet satisfied; one, selfish and greedy, the other, selfless and generous; one, living in the glut of excess, the other, in the eye of need; one, undisciplined and spoiled, the other, disciplined and full of character and the grace of patience.
It's the acknowledgement of God being the Lord of our lives that gives us perspective on things and people, and a view about waiting for His time, that challenges the selfishness of the world.
Peter goes on to say that since everything around us is going to melt away, that we should live lives that honor the Lord, holy and Godly.

To do that, we need to "synchronize our watches" with God's time. It's time to ask Him, "Lord how shall I use the time you have given me?" And, "what can I do with these gifts You have given me?"

When we synchronize our live with God's ways and with His time, an amazing thing happens. The Lord releases us from the time crunch we all feel. When we live with God's clock, we actually give up the illusion of controlling our own lives and place the control right where it belongs: in the hands of the Lord. And the rush of so many things that we feel need to get done, is replaced by the peace of His time and His plan.

One thing that surprises me is how Jesus used His time on this earth. Was He rushing from place to place? Was He overwhelmed by the tyranny of the urgent? Over and over again we're told Jesus took time out to pray. He took time to be with His Father. And He took time to have fun with friends - a wedding party with His mom, enjoying good food with all sorts of neighbors and friends. And one day Martha complained that she was killing herself preparing for dinner while her sister was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. Did Jesus tell Mary to hurry up and get to work? No. Jesus pointed out to Martha that she was being so busy that she was missing out on the most important things, hanging out with Him.

One of the busiest men in the Bible was King David. He had every reason to have a time conflict with the Lord. As a young man he had to run for his life as he fled from King Saul who was trying to kill him. Later he became King of Israel and had to constantly fight off intruders. He was responsible for gathering tons of materials so that a temple to the Lord could be built. He had every reason to be stressed about his schedule and tired of running in place. But he wrote a song about God's time that we still sing today, right here in Grace Church. We know the song as "I Waited." In the Bible it is called Psalm 40. It starts like this "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth."

As we prepare for Christmas we need to be reminded to be like David and synchronize our lives with the Lord and with His time table. He has promised that He will always be there for us and will never leave us alone. Jesus loves us, but His schedule is His and not ours.

Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says, "Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31)

Last week I ended my message with 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. It had a few simple directions on how to prepare for Christmas. Let's turn to page 178 and read those words again together. "Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And everything you do must be done with love."

Let me add 2 more verses to live by this week. The first is from Psalm 37:7 on page 510. Let's read the first half of verse 7 together, "Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;"

Now turn a few chapters ahead to Psalm 46:10 on page 518. "Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth."

Do you want to run and never be tired? Do you want to fly through Christmas with the ease of an eagle soaring in the sky? Do you want your life to have joy? Then be still and wait on the Lord. And walk to the beat of His Heart and in rhythm to His time. And as we walk with Jesus Christ, let us remember to surrender even our calendars, even our palm pilots, and yes-even our PDAs and cell phones. Let's not be in a hurry, but let us always say, "Lord, let my time be yours." AMEN

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