THE IMMEDIACY OF “NOW”: How Important is “Now”?
#466b THE IMMEDIACY OF “NOW”: How Important is “Now”?
Scripture John 9:4 Orig. 2/25/1968; 5/4/1974
Rewr. 2/10/1989
Passage: As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Purpose: To speak to my people about commitment that does not measure up to God’s expectations.
Keywords: Commitment Discernment Resolution Covenant
Timeline/Series: Before Easter
Introduction
Unresolved commitment is no new thing. Our problems are not in knowing what to do, but rather in the stick-to-it-iveness to do what we know what we ought to do. Unfortunately, irresolution and commitment do fit in the same sentence. They don’t buck away at each other like the opposing poles of two refrigerator magnets. They won’t stick to one another, but they will sit there side-by-side.
You remember the children’s tale of the “little boy who cried ‘wolf.’” He was supposed to be a shepherd, but he found a game that he could play to be more exciting.
Occasionally, the father had other work to do and the lad would be sent out into the hills to tend the sheep. When he became bored, and wanted to see some other human shape, he cried “Wolf”! When there was some sound that he did not recognize and he wanted companionship, he cried “Wolf”! If he became afraid of some shadow in the dusk, he cried “Wolf”!
The bond of the shepherds in the hills was strong. If anyone needed help, all who heard the cry of alarm went to his aid. But arriving to the sound of the little shepherd’s plaintive cry, they never found any sign of the wolf. The shepherds were leaving their own sheep in danger to answer the supposed need of the little shepherd boy who was more interested in games than he was in being a shepherd.
So one day, the wolf really came.. The lad saw him as big as life. He knew his sheep were in danger. So he called, and called, and called, but no one came. Our text this morning is a short one, but it addresses our commitment. Are we Christians in deed, or just in word? Are we interested in making our faith easy on ourselves, or do we really want to follow the teachings of Jesus?
I. Jesus Begins the Lesson Reminding Us that We All have Assigned Tasks. “It behooves us to work the works of the one who sent me.” Make sure we read what the verse says. The King James catches the spirit of Jesus’ own commitment. “I must work.” The NIV catches the plural: “As long as it is day, we must do the work.” The New King James adds a footnote: “We.” Another [the Living Bible] says “All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned.”
This helps us in not expecting too little of ourselves, and too much of others. We really are overly protective of us. And genuinely judgmental of others. Proverbs 26:20 “Where no wood is, . . . the fire goeth out. Where there is no tale bearer, the strife ceases.” Need I remind you that the last two of the “Ten Commandments” were so directed? “Thou shalt not bear false witness” [and] “Thou shalt not covet.”-
Be honest with yourselves, and others. What it boils down to, is that IF we spend our effort energizing our own commitment we will let others energize their own. Nehemiah 8:10,”for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The joyous task of each of us ought to be in seeking God’s will. We do so in serious Bible study. We do so in engaging prayer. To avoid these is to avoid the search. Unresolved commitment is where we wind up, or, perhaps, “wind down.”
It was Becky Thatcher, I believe, telling Tom Sawyer of her plans to be a missionary. Tom’s interest was the river, and all the exciting places one could go. So, he asked where. To China, Africa, other places then discussed. “I might even go to New Orleans.” Might our, your, New Orleans be a small part of Union Parish where people need Jesus?
A small word should be said about the required translation “must,” or “behooved.” “Dei” in the Greek dictionary means “moral obligation.” Found in Luke 24:26 “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things?” John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria.” Revelation 1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.”
“Ought we not to work the works of the One who sent Jesus?”
II. The Lesson Continues with a Call for Response. “You must quickly carry out the tasks assigned.” Isn’t that what Jesus meant? Working the work of God while it is day? Get on with the business at hand while we have the wherewithal to do it?
It is response born of faith. It is getting ourselves ready for the opportunities with which God will confront us. If you think the time of opportunity has passed, then you’re dead already. You’re just occupying a living body.
Some remember the “Old” days when every Baptist church in the state had a posted copy of the “Church Covenant.” To strive for advancement in knowledge, holiness, comfort.” I don’t know a church anywhere that has not striven for “comfort.” We had a “flap” in our seminary church because $1M had been spent on a worship center. More than spent on buildings by Lottie Moon gifts that year.
Do we strive as well for knowledge? Parents faithful to school. On third snow day: “WE are going to be there demanding they open.”
But how faithful to Sunday School? I was at College Place. Darryl W. was on his way to St. Francis Medical Center to visit a man who, the next Sunday, would miss the first Sunday in 58 years. First Baptist Church-Bernice must return to that quest for knowledge of God.
We’ve not yet said a word about striving for holiness. Do you have any scars from that kind of battle? All that most of us can say about “holiness” is that we’ve heard of such people. Missionaries. Ancients. It just isn’t “today,” we conclude.
Does not the work of Jesus compel us to response today?
III. Finally, There is a Lesson on Candidness. “The night is coming when no one can work,” It is here that now takes on the burden of immediacy. In spiritual honesty we are to be ourselves. You remember the show Candid Camera? Their byline was “People caught in the act of being themselves.” The very last threshold for pretense ought to be in the dimension of spirit. God has promised His Holy Spirit to all who are in Christ. The key, then, is to be “in Christ.”
It is through the Holy Spirit that we have a word for the world based on the WORD. Our Wednesday night study in I Corinthians 14:9 “Except ye utter by the tongue, words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken?” We rightly presume that [Paul] addressed charismatics. Intellectual snobbery as well. And a reluctance to communicate because we just don’t care. I Corinthians 14:12 “Since you want distinction, seek the kind that builds up the church.”
We are too much like ancient Israel. Deuteronomy 6:10, “When you reach the promised land, you will find cities which you did not build, houses full which you did not fill, cisterns hewn which you did not hew, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant; when you eat and are full, take heed lest you forget the Lord.”
Assurance for the believer is “doing the work of the one who sent us” in Jesus’ name. It means “now.” Job’s “now mine eye seeth thee,” Job 42:5. David’s “Now, Lord, what wait I for?” Psalm 39:7. Isaiah’s “Now, O Lord, thou art our Father, . . . we are . . . the work of thy hand,” Isaiah 64:8. Malachi’s “prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven,” Malachi 3:10.
Conclusion
Metaphor: Years ago a scientific journal was placed in my hands. It was “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist.” The cover carried a picture of a clock. The caption read, “The Doomsday Clock.” It was twelve minutes to midnight. Some of [the] twelve have passed.