The History of TIme

Bible Text: Luke 12:32-40

Ever since humanity could communicate there has been equally a desire to keep time. Timing, after all, in a hunter and gatherer society is everything- there was the right time to harvest, the right time to hunt, the right time to move, the right time to stay put. Ever since humanity began to track the sun there has been a tracking of time. The sundial is one of the oldest human inventions. Spring driven clocks show up in about the 14th century while the first quartz clock was invented as late as 1917. The term clock comes from a Celtic term clogan or cloccan, which means bell. What we often have around our wrists are silent and therefore the correct term is not clock or even watch but timepiece. The term watch may have come from the term watchman, because often the only one to have a pocket timepiece was the watchman who kept track of shifts at work. The reason why we have increments of 60 to tell time is thanks to the ancient Sumarians and Babylonians who were, and here’s a new term for the day, sexagesimal meaning instead of 100 they used base of 60 and I believe, that it is a special number because it can be divided so many times, but that is as far as I got in my research regarding math. The history behind the number 12 is a little more vague, but my favourite theory is that when people first started telling time, they used their fingers….and most of us have 12 bones in our 4 fingers, the thumb being the one used to mark what time it was. I would then like to wager a guess that since the invention of time there have been inventions to help us waste our time. There are so many things seeking our attention, whether it be time well wasted or not.  Basically all this is to say that time is relative- we humans have constructed a time based on the sun, the seasons, our bodies, and history but our time is nothing compared to God’s time. And how often do we waste our time focusing on things that are less than Godly.

I think it is rather clever that the lectionary includes the closing statements from the previous conversation within the reading from Luke this morning. If you have a Bible in front of you, you see that there is a subheading in the middle of our subscribed text.  While it seems like they are two unrelated conversations, I think it is rather appropriate. For most of the conversation in the second section, Jesus warns against being caught unprepared for the right time but the reading begins with this warning about possessions. I think it is clever because possessions or treasures of this earth are often closely related to our time. We claim we don’t have time to do something for someone else because we are busy-often busy with our own possessions. Last week we talked about the dangers of storing up our wealth and filling our barns with self rather than God. I stated that it appears to me that the more space I have the more things I have- but it too appears that the more things we have the less time we have for others. And it is amazing how much time I can kill using my phone when waiting for something to happen. So, Jesus’ comments about possessions and being prepared, are linked. Just as Jesus is calling us to be good stewards of our things or wealth, we are also called to be good stewards of our time. The two are quite related.

Thankfully, however, the gospel reading also begins with encouragement, “do not be afraid for God wants to give us a place in the kingdom”. You know, many scholars call the era in which the New Testament was written as “The Age of Anxiety.” It is not limited to writings found in Scripture but also throughout the classical literature of the time; there is a clear sense of anxiety and fear. This is not surprising when we think of the early church as it developed under Roman Oppression- social structures were being upended and many feared for the changes taking place. Dr. Peluso-Verdend explains, “In a world where social structures are changing, people tend to be particularly anxious. It is a human tendency to want to hang on to what we know and what we have. When our world is threatened, anxiety results. Anxious people create and grasp on to security blankets of their own making: possessions, doctrines, ways of living peculiar to one time or place that become absolutes.”  So, Jesus’ words of “Do not be afraid” would have been helpful to a society that was experiencing change like they never had before. At a time when fewer people than ever go to church, or when violent religious acts are a threat to daily living or when things are changing at such a rapid pace I would argue that we are experiencing another age of anxiety. We need to hear Jesus’ words of “Do not be afraid. Do not be anxious about the changes ahead but rather be dressed for action, for service, and have your lamps lit.”

Jesus then gives us two very short parables about time and again they seem rather different but are actually quite related. The first story is of a servant who waits up for the master who is out at a wedding banquet. It might seem odd that Jesus would use the wedding banquet analogy but the truth is, then, just as they are now, weddings were grand celebrations and they would often last for days- so one would not be entirely sure when the carousing would end and they would come home. One also assumes that as the master made his way home he would be full of joy. While the master is out- the servant continues to make preparations for when the master comes home. The servant does not spend his time sitting and waiting but rather is busy keeping the house and household in order. The servant uses his time well and is rewarded when the master comes home full of joy, for the master then invites the servant to sit and dine with him as an equal.

This pleasant example is then off set by the startling contrast of the story of the thief in the night. It reflects similar comments made in Matthew and Mark and in other places in Luke. All of these passages highlight the importance of watchfulness. This image is used to demonstrate the suddenness of God’s timing. I have to admit that not knowing the time or having a set schedule actually makes me rather anxious. I prefer set due dates. That said, it often happens to me when I will begin to work on something that is months away and I will think to myself, not to worry, there is plenty of time. But of course, that due date arrives a lot faster than expected. Unlike those due dates, however, this timing is out of our control. So it is our job to wait for it.

Waiting often implies that we do nothing except waste our time playing games on our cell phones. We have all experienced, those “hurry up and wait” moments. But here waiting is not passive. The servant prepares the home, the home owner keeps vigil. The disciples are told not be afraid but rather use their possessions wisely and for others.  There isn’t some great test or trick but there is a challenge and this is not a challenge to live as an ascetic or hermit but rather an appropriate re-distribution of wealth and time. This is both active and alert waiting. It’s important to also note that unlike some of the other Gospel examples of this story this is not really about an apocalyptic event, meaning the end of time as we know it, but rather be ready for when God calls us to action- to seize those opportunities in which we can serve others and spread the good news.

When we remove our anxiety and our ties to the chains that give us a sense of false security, we are then able to live in God’s time- turning to those in need. For as we have served others and prepared our dwelling places for God- so God comes into our homes and serves us. This circles us back to the first parable, where the master comes home and sits the servants down at the table to enjoy some of that residual joy celebrated at the wedding banquet. Be prepared for God’s time when we will all sit as equals with equal goods and equal time to spend in God’s presence. Amen