Time: A Eucharistic Perspective


The following is very similar to a sermon-teaching that I recently delivered at First Presbyterian Church of Plainwell.


            Time! Benefactor or dictator? Enemy or champion? Friend or foe? How do you view the ever-moving hands on the clock of time, even if silently, clicking away? Thoreau said that time was but a stream he went “afishing in.” Solomon viewed time as something pre-ordained. There is a time for everything, birth, death, and all of life’s events in between. What’s your reaction to that? One person might say, “Yes, and I didn’t have anything to say in any of it--that’s fate.” Another might say, “Yes, and even though I didn’t choose when to be born or to die, I believe there is a good and sovereign God behind time; even though I don’t alway  understand His timing, I know that it is ultimately good.” Generally, which attitude reflects yours? Yes, of course, you know where I am going with this. Time is of God, yet He is outside of the time He created; God has a calendar and works within it. Psalm 90:4 tells us that a thousand years in God’s sight are like a day gone by. Galatians 4:4 says that in “the fullness of time God sent His son forth to redeem those under the Law so that they could be adopted into God’s family.” God had and has a plan for the ages--time will come to fruition.

            Time might be viewed as two arms, one raised and fisted, the other outstretched with cupped palm; the first shouting, “What time is it?” the other asking, “What is time for?” The Greeks gave us two words that nearly always seem to translate out as “time,” in the Bible and other works of literature--chronos and kairos; the names of two minor gods in their pantheon of “deities.” Chronos, a self-indulgent, gluttonous, cannibal is never satisfied, always destroying what it begets. Both Reubens and Goya depicted Chronos as a ravenous father  hideously devouring his own children. Kairos, also depicted in great art works, presents time as a gift, an opportunity; a season--a servant of a holy purpose.

             Of course, These words do not have to have the above meanings for us today, but they represent a mindset; a mentality; a mini meta-narrative. Probably, other than the subjects of life and death; time has been philosophised and poeticised more than any other subject. Time matters, and how we view it, makes a great difference as to how we live. Holy Communion is one of those kairos moments. How many minutes we spend partaking is not the issue; do we meet Jesus as we “remember,” eating and drinking the elements that represent of his body and blood. Do we experience the intimacy of the extended moment? I trust that we do; that can only happen by your and my having made a personal faith relationship with Christ.

           The other issue with time, of course is tense--past, present, and future. Notice that the Lord’s Supper remembers the Passover--when Israel exited Egypt under God’ miraculous actions. And, Communion looks to the future--Jesus said he  wouldn’t eat this meal again until he did so in the completed Kingdom of God. The meal was quite obviously for right then and there; just as it is for Christ’s followers here and now. We must all balance past, present, and future. (Try driving your car without any rearview mirrors. On second thought, no, don’t.)

            It’s a struggle for many of us who are aged  not to get locked in the past; when we are so chained, we usually spend a lot of time playing “Ain’t It Awful.” (Yes, there’s much that’s awful going on in the world, but our time and energy would be far better spent praying, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” And then, let’s put some feet on our prayers.) On the other hand, trying to get children to plan for the future is sometimes difficult too. Someone said “Plan as if  you had a hundred years, and live as if this was your last day on earth. Wonderfully, God has given us a choice; we can live with a chronos or kairos attitude and outlook. And, we can live meaningful lives today, empowered by the Holy Spirit, based upon what Christ did for us in dying on the cross and rising from the dead all of which looks forward a New Heaven-Earth inhabited by God and His vast family of eternal children.

            Time is more than a stream to go “afishing in,” (Yes, I get metaphors.) even though going fishing could be a very kairos thing to do. Time is a gift that has the potential of being used for great evil or immense good. The Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to count our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:12)  Thoreau also said, “We grow not older by the years, but newer by the days.” That’s a marvelous combining of the the kairos mentality and a wise balance of time’s tenses. Thank you, Lord for the gift of time, may we use it for your glory and our good. My cup runneth over.

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