Making the Most of our Time

One of the most influential people in my life was my Grandmother. We lived in her summer house for 4 years after my Dad got out of the Army and even after we moved into our house across town, I spent most of my summers at her home. My grandmother was one of the most active women I have ever known. She swam in the cold waters of Long Island Sound just about every day between Memorial Day and Labor Day and she usually did it early in the morning before breakfast. There were many mornings when I couldn’t even get into the water up to my knees because it was so cold, but she would be out there swimming. Not only was she active, she was well read, very smart and held strong opinions.

During college when I struggle trying to figure out what to do with my life, my Grandmother and I talked a lot about ministry. While I was thinking about being a missionary overseas she kept saying that there were people and needs right here to focus on and that I didn’t need to go any place else. In many ways she was ahead of her time because today there are almost more missionaries coming into the United States then we are sending overseas. She was smart, and I always believed my Grandmother would remain strong and health for years, she was seldom sick and never remember her in the hospital, but after a routine surgery she suffered a stroke and never spoke again.

At the time of my grandmother’s stroke, I had graduated from college and working as an assistant manager of a movie theater in South Bend IN. I knew I didn’t want to do that forever, and I knew that God wanted me in some kind of ministry, but I struggled to figure out what that was so I just kept working. Honestly it was the easiest thing to do because it meant that I didn’t have to make any changes. I just kept working, but my Grandmother’s stroke got me thinking.

At the same time as my grandmother’s stroke there was a movie playing in the theater where I worked called Dead Poet’s Society, and in that movie, Robin Williams plays the English teacher John Keating who encourages the boys in his class to live up to their potential. In once scene Keating gathers all the boys around the old pictures of the students who had gone before them at the Academy and he says, If you listen real close, you can hear them whispering their legacy to you. And then he stands behind them and whispers Carpe Diem – Seize the Day.

Carpe Diem – those 2 Latin words never seemed to be far from my heart or mind. All I could think of was my Grandmother who I thought would live a strong and vital life many more years, but in an instant, her life changed forever. And what was I doing with my life? The job was good, but was it God’s will for me? Was this what God had called me to? As I think back to that time, I wonder if it was my Grandmother, or maybe God himself, whispering to my heart – Carpe Diem – Seize the Day. What I began to realize is that life was short and God was calling me to step up and do more. While I did not have all the answers about what God wanted for me and from me, I took just one step of faith, I seized the day and quit my job and took the first step of a journey that led me to seminary, and eventually led me to being a local pastor in Central PA.

Now I share all of this because that’s what I think of when I read Ephesians 5:16. Paul tells us to make the most of every opportunity, or as the NRSV translates this, make the most of our time. It took my Grandmother’s stroke to wake me up and help me realize that I wasn’t making the most of my time and that I needed to seize the day and step out to live the life that God wanted for me. Are we living each day to the fullest and are we making the most of every opportunity and every day that God gives us? Are we making the most of the life God has given to us? I think the Apostle Paul whisper’s down through eternity saying, Carpe Diem, seize the day. He’s telling us that life in this world is short and so we need to make the most of what God has given us and we need to step out and do what God is asking us to do.

Now if we don’t know what God is asking us to do, if we aren’t clear about the will of God, then we need to seize this day and figure that out. In fact, if we read on in Eph. 5 that’s exactly what Paul says. Ephesians 5:19. Understand what the Lord’s will is.
In so many ways, that is the key to life, understanding what it is God wants for us. Whether we are getting ready to head off to college, or preparing for retirement, or just making our way through life and work and family, God has a plan and a purpose for us today and we need to discover God’s will so we can make the most of the days and the time and the opportunities God has for us.

If we aren’t sure what God’s will is, and my guess is that many of us aren’t sure at times, then we need to keep reading in Ephesians 5 because Paul shows us the way to discover God’s will. The key to discovering God’s will for our lives is to be filled with God’s spirit. Look at 5:18. It’s not just wine that we should not fill ourselves with, it’s all the things of the world. We can’t look to the world around us to help us figure out God’s will – if it’s God’s will we have to look to God first. So we need to turn to God and be filled with the spirit of God. Now we have just spent two months looking at the fruit of God’s spirit and how that fruit develops when we are filled with God’s spirit, but one of other benefit from being filled with the spirit of God is knowing the will of God for our life. So if we are struggling trying to figure out what God wants for us and from us in life – we need to turn to God and stay connected to God. If we want to know God’s will for our lives then we need to seize the day and surrender ourselves to the Spirit of God and allow God to fill us up. You see, when God fills us up, we will not only experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control or inner strength, but we begin to discover God’s direction and will for our lives so that we can make the most of our time and the most of our lives.

Notice that Paul doesn’t tell us to just be filled with the Spirit of God, he also tells us how to be filled with the Spirit. 5:19-20. …
So the spirit of God fills us as we do these things, but let’s start with the second part of verse 19 & 20 first. The spirit of God fills us as we worship Him. As we sing and make music to God in our heart, and as we give thanks to God at all times – the spirit of God leads us. This is why worship is so important, because it is as we worship God, it is as we surrender our hearts and lives to God in worship that God fills us up an when the spirit of God is within us, it’s speaking to us. One reason we might be able to hear God more clearly during times of worship is because this is often the only time during the week that we put aside everything else and center our hearts and lives of God. We hear God’s word read, we sing God’s word and hear God’s will through songs, and we give ourselves to God in prayer and offering, and self surrender. So worship is vital to God revealing his will to us, but there is more. Look at 5:19

As I read that this week I had to ask myself, does Paul really want us to sing to each other like we are living in some Broadway musical? Does God want us to talk in poetic verse to one another? I really don’t think that is what Paul is saying here, so what is he saying? I think Paul is saying that we need to have serious spiritual conversations with one another about God’s leading in our lives. I am amazed that we will talk to people about everything else, even deeply personal and intimate things, but we are reluctant to talk to one another about our faith or our relationship with God. It may be because we are unsure of our own personal relationship with God, or we may feel inadequate to share and talk with others about the will of God in our lives, or maybe we are just afraid of sounding crazy or radical, but how will we ever grow in our faith if we won’t share with one another what we sense God doing in our lives? Why is it that we can ask people “how’s it going”, but we won’t ask people “so what God is saying to you these days? Or, “what’s God doing in your life?”

Time is short, and we need to make the most of every opportunity and every conversation. We need to be bold and ask people what God is doing in their lives and we need to take the risk and share with others what God is doing in our lives. If we don’t know what God is doing in our lives, if we are unsure and confused, that’s ok, but we need to share that too.

When I started seminary I was pretty clear that I did not want to be a local pastor, it took many people talking with me to help change my heart and mind. It took a church community that loved and supported me and prayed for me to help me hear and understand the call and the will of God for my life. This is what we need to do for one another. We need to share with one another, and we need to pray with one another and together we need to ask God to speak to us, and to speak clearly to us. Time is short, life is short and we can’t put off God’s will for our lives for another day, we need to seize today. We need to engage one another in spiritual conversations that will help lead all of us to understand God’s will for our lives, and for the life of the church.

I’m thankful today for those who shared about their trip to South Dakota and I hope that you will take the time to ask them more about what God was doing in their lives there and what God has been doing in their lives since then. And let me encourage you to think about going on a mission trip. There is something about mission trips and retreats that help us hear God more clearly. Maybe it’s being out of our routine and not having to focus on all the other aspects of life, maybe it’s living together and eating together and working together and praying together. I don’t know, but there is something about serving together and learning together that helps us grow closer to God and helps us hear God’s voice or sense God’s leading in some strong way. So if you want to discover God’s will, the think about going on a mission trip, or taking the time right here to serving God by serving those who have the greatest needs.

From Ephesians 5 God says to us, Carpe Diem, seize the day, seize today and make the most of the opportunities we have been given by God to discover God’s will for our lives. Let us talk openly with one another during Sunday School, or at the church picnic. Let us pray with one another and let us step out to serve God with the confidence that God will lead us through those times of mission and ministry. Last week I sense that we were all challenged to surrender ourselves to God and this week God is showing us one way we can surrender ourselves to him is by making the most of our time together during Sunday School, at the church picnic, or around our dinner tables at home, sitting out on the back porch in the evening, walking with your family or friends. Don’t just make small talk make the most of the opportunity God has given us seriously share with one another what God is doing in our lives. We need to talk about the questions God is raising in us, the hungers God is awakening, and the direction we are sensing God leading us. Carpe Diem, Seize the day, seize this day and let us begin to make the most of our lives.