Waste
I was ordained a United Methodist elder in 1995, the same year my son was born. It was a big year! I have a videotape (what's that, right?) of the service, but I don't think I've ever watched the whole thing. Nevertheless, there are two distinct memories I have of that service. One was Bishop White's sermon, in which he reminded us we needed to have a place for miracles in our ministry, to not ever give up on God's ability to do anything, including turning people's lives around. (And there are times, trust me, when pastors are tempted to give up.)
The other thing I distinctly remember is one of the historical questions asked of every ordinand, ones that have been asked since the days of John Wesley. Actually, I remember more than one of them, but one continually sticks out in my mind. I can't give you the exact wording, but it was a question that asked us to not waste time, or in the words that have been handed down, to never be "trifiligly employed." "Trifilingly" is such an old word that my spell checker is marking it wrong right now! I've remembered those words because they remind me of the urgency of the mission of God's kingdom, that this message we have to share with the world is so important (eternity-changing!) that it calls us to always be busy about the work of the kingdom.
Sometimes that can lead people (me!) to be a bit anxious or compulsive about working all the time. What am I doing right now to accomplish the work of the kingdom? How about now? And now? But I don't think that's the goal of the question (though Wesley, I think, was a bit of a workaholic). The point of the question is to help us focus, to give us clarity when we consider how we spend our days. Is what I'm doing today going to make a difference for the sake of the kingdom of God?
The nineteenth-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky learned this in a powerful way. Sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, Dostoyevsky found himself being led out one winter day to a firing squad. He quickly learned his sentence (along with that of others with him) had been changed from labor to execution. One by one, the prisoners were lined up and the first group was placed in front of the guns. The firing squad took aim, and just as they were ready to pull the trigger, the drums began to beat the sound of retreat. The prisoners' lives would be spared.
Was this a cruel trick of the camp commander? Perhaps. But it focused Dostoyevsky like nothing else. After that moment, he never again took life for granted. "When I look back on my past," he wrote to his brother, "and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul—then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift."
Indeed it is. How will you use your gift today?
The other thing I distinctly remember is one of the historical questions asked of every ordinand, ones that have been asked since the days of John Wesley. Actually, I remember more than one of them, but one continually sticks out in my mind. I can't give you the exact wording, but it was a question that asked us to not waste time, or in the words that have been handed down, to never be "trifiligly employed." "Trifilingly" is such an old word that my spell checker is marking it wrong right now! I've remembered those words because they remind me of the urgency of the mission of God's kingdom, that this message we have to share with the world is so important (eternity-changing!) that it calls us to always be busy about the work of the kingdom.
Sometimes that can lead people (me!) to be a bit anxious or compulsive about working all the time. What am I doing right now to accomplish the work of the kingdom? How about now? And now? But I don't think that's the goal of the question (though Wesley, I think, was a bit of a workaholic). The point of the question is to help us focus, to give us clarity when we consider how we spend our days. Is what I'm doing today going to make a difference for the sake of the kingdom of God?
The nineteenth-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky learned this in a powerful way. Sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, Dostoyevsky found himself being led out one winter day to a firing squad. He quickly learned his sentence (along with that of others with him) had been changed from labor to execution. One by one, the prisoners were lined up and the first group was placed in front of the guns. The firing squad took aim, and just as they were ready to pull the trigger, the drums began to beat the sound of retreat. The prisoners' lives would be spared.
Was this a cruel trick of the camp commander? Perhaps. But it focused Dostoyevsky like nothing else. After that moment, he never again took life for granted. "When I look back on my past," he wrote to his brother, "and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul—then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift."
Indeed it is. How will you use your gift today?
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