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    Sep 03, 2017

    Investing My Time

    Passage: Psalms 90:1-17

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Stewardship of Time

    Category: Discipleship: Your Relationship with God

    What comes first, the compass or the clock? Before one can truly manage time (the clock), it is important to know where you are going, what your priorities and goals are, in which direction you are headed (the compass). Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.

    Psalm 90:1-2, 12-17

    Time is a valuable commodity. It’s one thing that is bestowed on all of us in equal measure. And we all have complete freedom in how we use it – how we invest it – and our lives pretty much are shaped by what we do with it. The Thought for the Day really captures the essence—the importance of seeing how we use time as an investment:

    What comes first, the compass or the clock? Before one can truly manage time (the clock), it is important to know where you are going, what your priorities and goals are, in which direction you are headed (the compass). Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.

    Some days I look back and wonder where did the time go? I’ve not been the only one who has said recently, where has the summer gone?

    The answer to those questions is sometimes really satisfying when we look back and see how that time was invested. Other times – well, we really can’t figure out where it went. Do you find that to be true?

    The compass is the interesting thing in today’s thought. A compass sets direction. North never wavers. Follow the compass to get where you need to go. Stay on track. Stick to the course. When time is invested in consideration of the set direction, you’ll get to your destination.

    When Rich and I travel, we always have a destination in mind, and we have a good idea of when we need to arrive. One of our favorite things to do, though, is to be on the alert for interesting stops along the way – an interesting town, a waterfall, a breathtaking valley. How often are you heading toward a destination and God offers a brief detour that enriches your journey?

    On some of those days when I get to 6 pm and wonder where the day went – when I started something at 9 am that never got finished, I look back and realize that those little detours were the most important moments of the day – often they were the God moments.

    Then there are those other days when I get to 6 pm and realize that the things that caught my attention – shiny! – were just the flotsam and jetsam of life – things that took me off course and wasted what precious time I had. Those are the days I have lost my bearings. Maybe I forgot my compass.

    According to the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel often forgot its compass – sometimes it looks like they had completely lost it! Today’s story is one of many where God’s people had gone along for awhile, living their lives, remembering who is God, worshiping God and honoring God at least once in a while and then they stepped off the path because something else – maybe more attractive, maybe the newest thing, maybe the lure of something just different – caught their attention. Look! Shiny!

    Israel looked around them and saw that other “nations” had strong leaders – powerful leaders who appeared to be their great protectors because they were strong or wily. So, they clamored – yes, I said clamored – for a king. Whined for a king. Argued for a king. And in the previous chapter when Saul defeats the Amorites, they pretty much hoist him up on their shoulders and proclaim him king. I think they wore God and Samuel down, and Samuel acknowledges Saul as king then offers this advice:
    You’ve chosen a king, and God has set the king over you. If you and the king remember to keep God first, all will be well. But if you forget and go your own way, God will not help you.

    Let’s talk about the compass and the clock. The Psalmist and Samuel give us several excellent pointers: 

    • Lord, you have been our help, generation to generation...Come back to us. First, God is our help and has been our help forever, and we will thrive when we keep God first. The Psalm asks God to come back to us – isn’t it the other way around? When we aren’t close to God, we need to ask ourselves – who moved away?

    We get so wrapped up in our daily stuff that it’s way too easy to forget God -- to put our agendas, our clocks ahead of the compass. Sometimes parents will ask me how to help their children know about God. When our clock pushes the agenda instead of the compass setting direction, our children absorb what we see as important. Gathering with your faith family, worshiping together, listening for God together – that’s how our compass stays steady – keeps us on the path. You know, clocks are everywhere – compasses, not so much. If God is our compass, isn’t it important to check our positioning regularly? – to remember the goodness of God?

    • In vs 22-23 of the Samuel reading, it says: Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ..the Lord was pleased to make you his own. In other words, don’t let other things – or the clock – distract you from God.
    • Finally, as Samuel tries to challenge and also encourage the people, he also says to them, serve the Lord with all your heart. In other words, if we remember the compass, we will be able to serve so that others see God in what we do.

    When we are part of a faith community, there are several ways that we live this out. When we take on the vows of membership, we promise to serve the Lord through that particular faith community. I would hope that whether we are formally members or choose to remain active participants without formal membership, we would all consider what being part of the body really means.

    The best clues I know are the ones found in our vows of membership: to serve God through our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. Today I want to focus on service, in relation to how we use our time.

    In today’s Psalm, we read, “teach us to number our days.” Time is limited. So, specifically related to our life in the family of faith, how do we use our time? Is Sunday worship all that is necessary to schedule in? Is it enough to do a mission project once in a while and call it a day?

    For the compass to point to True God, worship and Bible study and prayer are essential. Investing the time that we have means also remembering to set our clocks to offer ourselves in service – service to others and service to our particular faith family.

    Some of us think that going to church is service. It’s not. It’s the fuel – the nourishment – for our lives as disciples. Some of us think that going to Bible study is all we need. It’s not. That’s the place where we grow deeper in our understanding by probing questions and sharing insights. Some of us think that stocking shelves in the Food Pantry is sufficient. That is one kind of service – an important mission – but without the shaping of the compass, the time may be spent building up our ego instead of growing nearer to God.

    There are 2 forms of service implied in the membership question: service that benefits others and service that benefits the faith family. This congregation is really good at service that benefits others, and we need to hold fast to that value. It is vital and is at the very heart of our congregational identity for which I thank God every day.

    The other form of service is one I’m not sure we all understand. It’s kind of like what happens in our households. Somebody has to do the laundry and take out the trash and wash the dishes and figure out the household budget – not tasks that we particularly LOVE to do, but we all know how things go when those tasks don’t get done! Ever walk in the kitchen after something has gone bad in the trash can? EWWWWWWW!

    What kind of investment of time are you willing to make for the benefit of our collective body? We are in the process of working through nominations for ministry teams. Where do you serve? Where is God calling you to serve?

    AND, at the same time, there are quite a few projects that need to be done – kind of housekeeping projects like cleaning out some closets or painting or some repairs that don’t require somebody with a license. A bit of time – an hour or a few hours on an occasional or even a regular basis – invested by each of us could mean a great deal to all of us. Fixing up some long-neglected bits could make our living space more attractive. We don’t have a lot of staff, nor do we need a lot of staff, to do these kinds of things, but we do need to get them done.

    A few weeks ago, I got an email from John Riesenfeld who told the trustees that he was going to repaint the lines on the parking lots. It was one of those moments that felt like when one of my kids cleaned their room without my asking!  It took a couple of days and some help from his wife Kim and one other friend, I believe. How many of us came in and said WOW, isn’t that great? Doesn’t it look nice? It’s a gift to us all – a boost to our collective morale.

    What are you willing and able to invest? Next week we will have a list of some opportunities to pitch in and invest our time. I hope you will come ready to make an investment.

    As the Psalm says:
    Let the kindness of the Lord our God be over us.
    Make the work of our hands last.
    Make the work of our hands last.