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• Living Wisely, Ephesians 5:15-20    (see below)
  by Rev. Randy L. Quinn 
   

• Be Careful What You Wish For!, I Kings 19:1-8, Ephesians 5:15-20, by Rev. Frank Schaefer
   

• Bringing out the Best in Us at the End of Life, 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• The Bread of Life, John 6: 51-58, by Rev. Simon Rundell
   

• Now the Feast... John 6:51-58, by Jim from B.C.
   

• Fugitive or Pilgrim? I Kings 19:1-8; Psalm 34:1-10, by Leslie

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Living Wisely
a sermon based on Ephesians 5:15-20
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

I came into my office on Wednesday morning and found a note from MerriLou. It was attached to my first draft of the bulletin for this morning.

MerriLou knew that Ronda and I had spent all day Monday and all day Tuesday in Seattle where Melissa underwent a full evaluation at the University of Washington.

Her note said simply, "how did you find time to do this already?"

The question made me remember other times in my life when I had been even busier and still managed to find time for things. I remember, for instance, when I was serving three small churches in Kansas and I met Ronda. Somehow, in the midst of my full calendar, I found time to date her. I found that I could get by with less sleep and still keep up with things.

Or I think of some of you. How do you keep going at work while keeping up with your kids? Even those of you who are retired: I am amazed at the things you fit into your days and weeks. I get tired sometimes thinking about it all.

Of course we all know the answers to the riddles, don't we? It's simply a matter of priorities.

When Tonya was in High School she played basketball one year. Ronda and I found time to attend all of the 'away' games as well as the home games. We couldn't make all of the home games the previous year and we only got to one game the following year.

Priorities. Pure and simple.

We make time for the things we think are important. And the rest of the stuff is simply left undone.

So, if I were to ask you how you spent your time this week, what priorities would your schedule reveal to me? What would mine reveal to you?

Do you, do I, do any of us, live our lives according to the priorities that we would profess?

Each of us lived the past week our own way. Each of us had the same seven days, the same 168 hours, the same 10,000 minutes (actually 10,080). How wisely did you spend yours?

My own calendar reflects a variety of well-spent time, wasted time, and some time spent on the wrong (or at least less important) issues.

I can name some things I did; I can and will report much of what I did to the Pastor/Parish Relations Committee this afternoon. In fact, I will be asking them for help in determining some of my priorities.

But who do you report to? Who helps you set priorities for your time and energy?

We come to church; we come to Bible Study; we read our Bibles; we take time to pray. And how does that all affect our time management? Is it simply an intellectual pursuit that brings us here or are we seriously seeking transforma­tion and conversion?

That’s when it may be important to hear what Paul might say to us.

It's easy at times to think that our world is moving much too fast to keep up with. It's easy to think that the 21st century are somehow different from all other times in human history.

But Paul suggests to me that we are not all that different from the people he knew and addressed. They too needed to live their lives wisely and make the most of the time. He understood then and tells us now that we must keep alert lest we foolishly let time slip past.

He even suggests some ways to live our lives wisely.

First off, he says we must live soberly.

Now I want to make it clear, he didn't say "somberly." There is a difference that is too often forgotten. Living soberly means living in full control of our lives, not allowing drugs, alcohol, or emotions to drive our actions or make our decisions. It does not mean living with a frown on your face, because there is great joy that comes when we know who we are and are serving God in all that we do.

To do that most effectively, Paul suggests that we be filled with the Spirit, that is, that we make room for God in our daily lives, in our day-to-day circumstances, from the time we put on our clothes in the mornings until we take them off at night.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but it is a worthy and worthwhile goal to begin and end our days with an awareness of God's presence and grace.

Two factors will help us attain this goal. The first has to do with prayer. I can't remember who said it first, but I've heard and experienced the truth of his statements. When asked how he found time to pray in the midst of a very busy schedule, this person said in effect, "I wouldn't get as much done if I didn't take time to pray."

Without prayer, without communicating with God on a regular and meaningful basis, there is no way we can ever hope to live our lives filled with the Holy Spirit. We must spend some of our precious time in prayer.

I know that when I am busiest, it is easy to spend less time in prayer; I also know that the more time I spend in prayer the less busy I feel, no matter how many tasks loom before me. My own experience says the busier I get the more I need to spend time in prayer. I'm sure some of you have learned this as well.

The other factor is related to the first, and that is an awareness that every moment of every day belongs first to God. It is only on loan to us, we are simply given the moment to use. There is never a promise of the next moment, the next hour, the next day. We are simply given the present in which to live. We can make the most of the present or we can waste it by spending it on frivolous matters.

Recognizing that every moment belongs to God helps us set priorities for our lives. It reminds us that our first obligation is to serve God, and that God has promised to meet our needs as we do so.

Perhaps a key to living wisely is finding ways to give time back to God, to find ways in which we can serve God in what we are doing. It may not be a matter of changing our behavior but changing the purpose and focus of our activi­ties.

Some of us understand that we have been called to a particular vocation, whether that be pastor, teacher, health care provider, or administrator. We may have been called by God to serve in elected offices, or by cleaning houses. Some of us know that we have been given talents by God and are finding ways to use those talents in our daily lives, bringing glory and honor to God. We live our lives as one great thanksgiving to God as we return the present moment to whom it belongs in the first place.

Paul also suggests that we can live our lives wisely if we spend time singing together, "making melody to the Lord."

As one who loves to sing, this is an especially nice concept to me.

Living wisely means acknowledging and praising God for the gift of today, for the gift of life, for the gift of love. We don't need to sing to express our gratitude, but it is a natural expression of the joy that comes when we recognize the gifts that we have been given.

I can't speak for you. I can only speak for myself. I know that there have been times when I was living wisely, when I have been serving God with every breath I took. I know it can be done.

And I know that it has a lot to do with the priorities in my life. I know that when my own comfort and satisfac­tion is determining what I do that I am serving myself rather than God. I have also found that when I serve God, I find myself more satisfied and I enjoy living more than when I serve myself.

We have each been given the same number of hours in a day. We have each been given the same gift of time, the present time, and we are each being called to use that gift wisely. How you will do that may be different than how I do that. But I am convinced that we need each other to help us get to the point where we fully live our lives in the Spirit as Paul suggests.

For that reason, I ask you to plan to commit some time to our corporate worship each week. I ask you to specif­ically plan to use some of your time each week with each other as we sing praises and offer our thanksgiving to God.

I'm not talking about a lot of time. I'm talking about an hour or two every week. I'm asking you to be here for me, for the person sitting next to you in the pew, for the people who have (or will) attend the other services today.

I'm suggesting that as we each commit some time out of our week together, that we will find that God will help us accomplish our other tasks more efficiently and we will feel as though we have even more time than we had before.

Try it. Or, maybe even try something a little more difficult. Take just 20 minutes each day and pray. If you already do that, take 20 minutes more than you normally do. I will commit to the same thing this week. Let's see what next week brings as we spend this week in prayer together.

I believe that if we do just that little bit, that we will find ourselves renewed and re-filled with the Spirit. I believe that if we do just that little bit, that we will learn what Paul means when he suggests that we live our lives wisely.

Time is a gift that we have received from God. Let's find ways to use it more effectively, with more thanksgiv­ing, with more awareness of the Spirit in our midst.

Amen.