Tag: effort

Stay Awake (Mark 13:32-37)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment

“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert, because you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 

“Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” (New Revised Standard Version)

I would make a terrible night watchman. If I lived in the ancient world, and had to keep watch and stay awake at night (or even during the day) on the top of some city wall, I’d give myself 5 minutes; maybe 10 minutes top, then I’d be asleep.

It would clearly be on me if the enemy scaled the wall. I’d probably even sleep through the battle going on all around me. And nobody would kill me, because everyone would think I’m already dead.

But thank the Lord that this is not the sort of keeping watch that Jesus was talking about to his disciples. Today’s lesson is all about staying alert, remaining vigilant, and being savvy to the spiritual realities unfolding in front of us, so that we are not caught off guard.

By Unknown Artist

We must stay ready so that we don’t have to get ready. We need to be prepared. So, what exactly are we to be on our guard about and be ready for? Here is what Jesus has also said:

“Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38, NRSV)

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15, NRSV)

“Be on your guard! If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.” (Luke 17:3, NRSV)

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly.” (Luke 21:34, NRSV)

“See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.” (Revelation 16:15, NRSV)

Stay awake and stay alert so that we can be on guard for Christ’s return.

Jesus issued a call to a particular way of life. This sort of life is germinated in the soil of Christ’s imminent return. Our Christian discipleship is an urgent undertaking, because we aren’t sure how much time we actually have before our Lord comes back.

Today’s Gospel lesson may seem a bit confusing, coming to us in the season of Christmastide, in which we are to be joyful and celebrate the coming of Christ.

Yet, always in the back of our minds, while we are appropriately partying because of Christ’s incarnation, we are to remain vigilant that Christ’s return is inevitable, and likely imminent.

We have to be ready, at all times, no matter what the occasion is.

Today is today. Tomorrow is tomorrow. You and I have enough on our plate to try and figure out for today. Tomorrow has enough worries of its own, so leave it alone.

Putting energy into trying to predict the future, or control upcoming events, seems to me like an old man walking around with a white civil defense pith helmet on his head. He’s doing a lot of effort directing people for nothing that’s actually helping anyone today, and for something that might not even happen at all.

It’s no good to keep yourself in a continual state of stress and tension about the future. Dumping a bunch of adrenaline into your system for a situation we are not even in yet, is a one way road to burnout, or burning up in a place you won’t like.

Staying awake and remaining alert is more akin to praying continually, or always maintaining a clear conscience. (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Acts 24:16)

Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

John 7:6, NRSV

We manage to stay awake spiritually by giving ourselves to one another (and God!) and working together toward our shared purpose of preparing for Christ’s return.

Everyone has their job to do, their spiritual gift to exercise, and their help to offer. The household is ready for the master’s return, simply because each person is working together so that they can collectively receive him when he shows up.

We can do a lot of things individually. But most things require the entire community’s effort.

In this Christmastide, we stay awake by celebrating together, and sharing our joy with one another. When the seasons change, our approach will change with it, in order to stay alert, yet our need for the community of the redeemed never changes.

Nobody has to figure out anything alone. We’ll figure it out together. We will find a way to deal with today while preparing for tomorrow.

As for me, I’ll need a nap, before I’m of any help to anyone.

Direct me, O Lord, with your grace and mercy in everything I do this day. Help me to persevere with your great benevolence, so that in all my work today I may glorify your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Nothing Happens If You Don’t Do Something

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

Calvin-Coolidge-work-quotes

Politicians know it.  You’ve got to work the base and reach out to get elected and make a difference crafting policy.  Farmers know it maybe better than anybody.  Either work the soil, or people will go hungry.  Heck, even Scooby-Doo knows it.  The gang must work to find the clues so that they can solve the mystery and hear the bad guy lament his capture: “I’d have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for you kids and that meddling mutt!”

We instinctively know that it takes work to get anything done.  That isn’t so much the issue.  The problem is getting going by transcending our fears, facing-down our inner demons, and having some faith that what I’m doing is going to bear some lasting fruit.

Sometimes we don’t act because we subscribe to the Beaver Cleaver philosophy of life (I’m really dating myself with these TV references): “Gee, Wally, I just thought the bully would go away if I did nothing.”  Leaning into life and dealing with it sometimes seems too overwhelming, so we avoid activity.

I’m talking to myself here as much or more than you:  Nothing happens if I don’t do something.

Ah, the perfectionist in me chimes in now: “But it needs to be done right.”  Yes, it does.  But that doesn’t mean to obsess over it by researching the proposed action to death before you get around to do anything at all.  Isaac Newton was an English scientist, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and something of a dedicated theologian.  The guy was the poster boy for research.  But even Newton knew the absolute importance of activity.  His first law of motion is this:

An object at rest will tend to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external force.

Newton’s axiom is also referred to as the law of inertia because it takes force or inertia to get something moving that isn’t moving.

Unless you and I do something different than what we are already doing, nothing is going to be different.  That is a law as strong as gravity (which brings Newton into the equation yet again).  If I want to experience a certain reality, then I need to do some activity to make things different.

If you don’t like the results of what you’re getting, you’ll need to do an activity that you haven’t done before.  If sending out mailings isn’t getting the politician elected, then she’d better do something different.  If the farmer isn’t getting any kernels on his ears of corn, he’d better rethink what he did and do something different.  If Scooby-Doo isn’t finding any clues, the gang better get in the Mystery Machine so he can sniff somewhere else.  Something has got to change!

Scooby Doo

If you don’t like the state of your soul; if you don’t like how your relationships are going (including with God); or, if you don’t like where you are in life, you’re going to need to do something different than what you’re currently doing.

People who enjoy good healthy relationships with God and others, good healthy careers, a good healthy body, mind, and spirit, work their ever-living tails off doing the things that make for those good realities.

It’s cliché, but if the get-rich-quick scheme seems too good to be true because it involves no change of activity, it probably is.  If the diet plan includes no exercise and no life-style changes, it’s a scam.  And, to think that you can have a wonderful relationship with God without the effort of carving-out time and connecting with the Holy Trinity each day with tried and true spiritual disciplines is total bunk.

If you looked down at the bottom of this post to get to the bottom line (so you didn’t have to do the activity of reading the entire thing), I’ll give it to you straight:

If there is something you don’t like about your life, it is your responsibility to get active and put the work and effort into changing your attitude, your narrative, and your activity. 

Nobody can do your work for you.  It’s up to you.

Like I said, I’m giving myself a pep talk as much, probably more, than I’m talking to you.  I need the constant reminder that I’ve got to put the work in every day to do what is most important to me:  Cultivating my relationship with Jesus Christ; spending time with my wife talking and working with her; doing the jobs I need to do to make money; pastoring, mentoring, and blessing others by teaching them the words and ways of Christ.

So, consider these words from the Lord Jesus and put them into practice today so that they frame your life:

“Ask, and you will receive.  Search, and you will find.  Knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Whoever seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).