Thought for Today
1 Chronicles 24:3 Then David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the schedule of their service. (NKJ)
1 Chronicles 24:19 This was the schedule of their service for coming into the house of the LORD according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him. (NKJ)
Matthew 24:36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (NRS)
John 2:3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." (NRS)
How’s your schedule look for today? Packed with chores and things to accomplish? Full of things to do and people to see? Or, are you in that phase of life where the word schedule only applies to doctors’ appointments?
My first career as an engineer involved with the execution of large capital projects in the energy industry was full of budgets, schedules and routines. Despite having taken extensive college courses in calculus and advanced mathematics, during that first career the only numbers with which I dealt either had a dollar sign or a date. But, all of those multi-million-dollar projects were planned and scheduled, carefully choreographed to ensure their success.
I was surprised this morning to find that the word schedule only appears in the Bible in those verses above, and then only in a few translations. The word routine does not appear in the Bible in any translation I have in my library or on my computer.
I know that my own life in retirement and second career is still driven and controlled by schedules and routines. Those schedules and routines are not as rigidly fixed and inflexible as they once were, but they are still there. I have a ‘workflow’ regulating my week; a day for planning the Order of Worship for Sunday; a day for coordinating the music with our Music Director; a day for study and reflection; and, a day for sermon preparation. There are, of course, other activities sprinkled throughout those days. Grocery shopping, haircuts, visits with friends and all the other elements of life. Some of those are planned and scheduled; some are more spontaneous. Throughout all the stages of our lives, to some degree we dance to the rhythm and flow of plans and schedules.
Other than worship occurring on a regularly scheduled day, depending on denomination, most of us probably don’t think too much about faith, religion, worship or most other aspects of church in terms of plans and schedules.
Read the Bible. Think for a minute about the task God assigned Jesus. Jesus knew that his ‘project’ had to be completed with limited resources and in as short a period of time as possible. Given Jesus’ relationship with the Jewish ‘command structure,’ the priests, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, it was inevitable that they would do everything possible to stop Jesus’ reforming of their faith and culture. And, given that then and now, money tends to associate with power, Jesus’ financial resources would be limited.
I’m sure that my first career biases my thinking, but whenever I think about Jesus’ assigned task, his limited resources of people and money, I am amazed at what we see today in Christendom. I do not know whether Jesus himself ever set down a schedule for “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” or whether he ever put together a budget for accomplishing that. I do know that Jesus had a clear understanding of his task, “Jesus answered them, "Matthew 11:4 Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
I do know that Jesus calculated the cost of his assignment, “Luke 22:41 Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42 ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.’"
When I think about that, I realize that all of my budgets, plans and schedules pale in comparison. When I think about Jesus’ task, what he accomplished for me and for Creation, I can only offer prayers of thanksgiving to our God who loved us so much that he sent Jesus (John 3:16).
Stay safe, plan, schedule and then thank God, trust God,
Pastor Ray