The Reverend Deacon Jack Brownfield
Ephesians 5:15-20
Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
If you have seen the movie Dead Poets Society, you are probably familiar with the phrase “carpe diem,” or “seize the day.” In the movie, Robin Williams plays an English teacher who encourages his students to live life to the fullest, not to waste their days, to make the most of the time they have. On paper, this is advice almost everyone would agree with- who wants to waste time, waste their life? You’ve probably had the experience of waking up with lots of plans, things do, and then- blink- the day is over and your list is still not complete. Where did the time go?
So, we all want to spend our time well. But the trouble comes because we have such different ideas of what “making the most of the time” means, what counts as wasting time and what counts as “seizing the day.” In our Epistle reading this morning, Saint Paul enters into this discussion. “Be careful then how you live,” he says, “not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” Make the most of the time- it’s good advice, but it’s a bit vague. How do we make the most of our time?
Well, Paul goes on to say “do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” In other words, don’t just spend your time in whatever way you think is best or how people around you might spend it. Figure out what God’s will is, and then follow God. Make the most of your time God’s way. Alright, we might wonder. But how does God want us to make the most of our time? Let’s try a few possibilities.
Sometimes, for some of us, making the most of the time means having a good time, having as much fun as you can for as long as you can. This summer, for example, after I got ordained but before I started serving at St. Michael’s, I had a couple months without school, without work, when I got to travel to see friends, read interesting books, and do the sorts of things like I like doing. I wanted to make the most of this time off- not just sleeping in every morning, but really spending my free time well, really enjoying it while it lasted.
We can take pleasure too far, and we often do- Paul warns, for example, against getting drunk- but in moderation surely it’s good to enjoy life and friends, to try to be happy. But that’s not where Paul goes. Pleasure, fun, relaxation- that’s not the main thing God wants for our lives, the main God calls us to spend our time.
What about another possibility? Sometimes, when we want to “make the most of our time,” we mean working hard. Working hard at our jobs, around the house, whatever. Checking things off the to-do list. Staying busy, keeping our nose to the grindstone, not being lazy. We want to fill our day with good, productive things, so that at the end of the day we can look back and say “I got a lot done today!” We can take work too far, too, but in moderation it’s good as well. So perhaps Paul will say that God’s will is that we spend our time working very hard, avoiding laziness. But no, that isn’t it either. Fun or work are both very valued by the world, but something else is higher on God’s agenda.
Let’s hear from Paul again. “Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Singing and giving thanks to God! No mention of working hard, of getting every item checked off your to-do list, of stay busy, of avoiding laziness. No mention, either, of packing your days with fun experiences, visits to family and friends, hobbies, or exercise. No mention, in this passage at least, even of good works, of loving and serving our neighbors, sharing the Gospel, being kind or honest or selfless. No, if Paul is to be believed, then the will of the Lord for spending our time means these two strange things: singing spiritual songs to God and giving thanks for all He has done for us. Paul is talking about worship. To the eyes of the world, this looks more like wasting our time than making the most of it! Even to us, this might sound far-fetched or too good to be true or unrealistic. Surely God wants more out of us than just singing hymns and being thankful! Surely we need to get to work, to do something!
Well, yes, all the rest is important, too- Saint Paul and the rest of Scripture have a lot to say about how we should live and treat each other to follow God’s will. But in this passage, Paul emphasizes rejoicing in song and giving thanks in prayer. He emphasizes worshipping God, just taking the time to stop and remember God and say thank you. I wonder if that’s because we tend to rush past worship and prayer, these seemingly unproductive things, in our haste to get busy doing everything else- in our haste to work hard, to make things perfect, to do exactly what God wants. It is not easy to stop, to rest from even good work, and to give thanks to God. But if this passage is to be believed, that’s precisely how God defines “making the most of our time.”
It’s as if Paul said “Seize the day, but not to do anything in particular. Not first and foremost to have fun or work hard. Seize the day and just remember what God has done for you! Remember and give thanks!” Don’t get so bogged down in all the activity, all the busy-ness, that you lose sight of God and what God has done.
This is harder than it might sound! It’s not easy to just rest, to just give thanks, to just God do the work without immediately trying to butt in and do some of it ourselves. It’s not easy to let yourself be helped even in a little thing by another person, let alone to realize that God has accomplished everything and all we can do is give thanks. There’s a part of us that doesn’t like to be helped, that insists on going at it alone and doing it all ourselves.
The Gospel this morning gives us Jesus’s words, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” I am your bread of life, Jesus says. I will give my flesh for the life of the world. I will feed you; you need only eat. Imagine someone inviting you to their home for dinner. They’ve cooked up a delicious meal and are excited to share it, but instead of eating, you start cooking your own meal because you don’t want to impose. Is that polite? No! They’ve cooked for you, they’ve done the work for you! The thing is to sit down, say thank you, and eat, not busy yourself trying to do something extra!
Well, this is just a little like what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave himself as a full and perfect sacrifice for us all, bread of life for the whole world. Through Jesus, as he says in John’s Gospel, God abides in us and we abide in God. We receive new life from him. We don’t make it ourselves, we just receive it. What can we do after that? Well, we don’t need to, can’t, add to it! What we can do is trust it, rejoice in it, give thanks for it, worship the God who saved us. We can sing hymns and pray. We can read Scripture. We can feed on him in Holy Communion. And yes, we can leave church and live the rest of our lives giving thanks, too, through our words and our deeds. This is what Paul means by making the most of the time. Not just keeping busy or having fun but trusting in Jesus Christ each and every moment, remembering God each and every moment.
Think about your own life and the rest of this day. No doubt there are things to do, good things that are worth doing and need to get done. And yet whether that list of things gets done or not, the great work of Christ is done. Christ has borne your sins, came down from heaven and lived and died for you and for the whole world. He is your bread of life. So make the most of the time and believe it! In a few minutes he will come again in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. He comes to give you life. So trust in him and eat and live!
