Whose Time Is It Anyway?

Just who is in control of what happens in my life? It’s complicated …

The suggested title for your sermon is a not-so-thinly-disguised reference to an improv show that originated in the United Kingdom in the waning years of the last millennium: “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

When ABC picked up this short-form improvisational comedy show, it ran until 2007, and since then has reappeared in various incarnations around the world, and segments can still be seen on social media. Often, the audience made suggestions for topics, or ideas were tendered as predetermined prompts from the host, which for a long time was Drew Carey. The show was modeled on a game show during which the host arbitrarily assigned phony points and likewise chose a fake winner at the end of each episode.

In the rapid-fire spontaneity of the dialogue, it was easy to understand how someone could wonder, “Whose line is it, anyway?”

By looking at this droll and surprisingly witty show, one can tease out a number of lessons. But the one that is suggested by today’s psalm text leaps at us in verse 15: “My times are in your hands.”

 

What Time Is It?

Knowing the time is critically important in our fast-paced society. Fortunately, we seldom need to ask, “What time is it?” The current time is right there in the corner of our laptops, at the top of our tablets or on the face of our smartwatches, accurate to the second, courtesy of the internet. If we’re in the car, we can find the time glowing at us digitally on the dash somewhere.

But, if we are traveling internationally, time becomes a more common question. We need to know so we don’t miss our train, connecting flight, or time slot at the Van Gogh museum, all while moving through changing local time zones. We might even learn how to say, “What time is it?” in the language of the country we’re in. In Mexico, it is, “¿Qué hora es?” In Mandarin, it’s “Xiànzài shì ji dian?” In French, “Quelle heure est-il?” In German, “Wie spät ist es?” And so on. Feel free to jump in with a language you know.

The point is that we generally are well aware of time, and of our need to know what time it is. We need to get to work on time. We need to catch a flight and be on time. We need to arrive early for our daughter’s ballet performance in The Nutcracker. The office won’t wait for us; the plane won’t wait for us; the performance will not be delayed until we arrive.

We use a variety of devices to ensure we’re on time. We have pop-up reminders on our laptops, tablets and smartphones. We maintain online calendars — probably several of them — to manage appointments, travel plans and school events. We may even buy a book or two to help us manage our time more efficiently. All of this happens because we assume, and to some extent correctly, that our time is ours alone to manage. If we mismanage it, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

Whose Time Is It?

What if we rephrased the “what” question to ask: “Whose time is it, anyway?” The psalmist emphatically gives us the answer: “My times are in your hands” (v. 16).

Time does not belong to us; it belongs to God. Well, that’s not such a novel view. If God is the Creator of everything, God is therefore the Creator of time. God, after all, existed before time. That there is such a thing as time is because God made it so.

Rather than saying, “Time does not belong to us” — which is certainly true — perhaps we should say, “Our time does not belong to us.” This makes it personal. Now, it’s not like we’re talking about an abstract idea, a Theory of Everything or string theory. The conversation suddenly is about our 24/7 lives. The next 16 hours of our personal and work time is in the hands of God. Now we must take a different perspective on the time we are trying to manage. It is not, after all, our time, but God’s time. This changes everything: a truth that is both comforting and terrifying — terrifying because it is God; comforting, for the same reason.

 

A Novel Idea

The notion that one’s life was in the hands of an eternal god and not in one’s own hands (or those of a pantheon of deities) was rather novel in David’s time 3,000 years ago, and it still is today. The Greeks and Roman understood the lives of human beings to be in the hands of the gods, a multitude of them. David believed his life was in the hands of the One True God, Yahweh, who listened to him, rescued him, delivered him and redeemed him. Even more striking, his monotheistic conception of God envisioned a deity who was in a personal relationship with him! How else can you explain the psalmist’s emotional outburst in verse 21? “Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me!” The death of even one of God’s “faithful ones” is “precious,” he writes elsewhere (116:15).

The Greeks, on the other hand, believed in Fate (Moira) or the Fates (Moirai), and these gods dictated how long a person lived, their destiny while alive, and how much suffering and misery they would undergo. Homer and Hesiod wrote about Fate, and it wasn’t long before the Fates were thought of as three crones of advanced years who “spun the threads of human destiny.” Clotho spun the thread of human fate, Lachesis belayed it out and Atropos cut the rope, thus determining the precise point of one’s death.

David, however, believed in God, and understood this God to be his Creator and One who advocated for him and rescued him and who, all things being equal, did not want to see him suffer. David, then, was willing — sometimes reluctantly, as we are, too — to surrender his life to the providential care and protection of God.

But, there was a problem.

 

Borrowed Time

When you’re staring into the face of your mortality, as David was, you realize that you’re living on borrowed time. Since tomorrow is never guaranteed, we are always living on borrowed time. Yet, we feel this in our bones more intensely when we’re in crisis. As much as we believe in God, this uncertainty is a problem, and thus, we’re tempted to take over the management of our lives ourselves. Please God, leave me alone; I’d rather do it myself.

David writes, “My times are in your hands.” It is a revealing confession. David knows that his future is uncertain. The time he has left on earth is borrowed time. We are the borrowers, God is the lender and, according to the prophet Micah, we’re expected to make payments in the currency of mercy, justice and love (Micah 6:8).

The psalmist confesses that he is having a devil of a time, that time is running out, that the sands of time are shifting and that therefore, he can’t simply bide his time, hoping it is only a matter of time when time will heal all his wounds. Rather, he begins by looking up for help from his divine Patron, Yahweh, a practice he would continue throughout his life. “I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?” So begins Psalm 121. David answers his own question: “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

In our text, Psalm 31, David makes it clear that he’s in need of intervention. In verses 1-5, he uses expressions like deliver me, rescue me, save me, guide me, and take me out of the net that is hidden for me. Yes, this is a man who knows he’s on the razor’s edge, living on borrowed time. For the psalmist, as for many of us, it’s crunch time, and when we totally understand this, we want to know who is keeping track of our mortality. “My times are in your hands.” Or, in words that have been attributed to civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy, the Dutch protector of Jews Corrie ten Boom, and the ancient poet Homer, “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

Adversity helped David understand that he was not in charge of time, but merely a borrower of it. And whatever time may hold, in the fullness or time or the nick of time, God will come to David’s rescue — and to ours.

 

Buying Time

The writer of this desperate plea for deliverance was not always so time-conscious, nor was he always so willing to concede that his “times are in your hand.” Like many of us, we still think we’re in charge. Consider the Yiddish expression, “Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.” Life had gone pretty well for David, when you think about it. He was in the right place at the right time when the old prophet Samuel anointed him the second king of Israel. After all, David was still a boy tending sheep and singing sheep songs to lambs. (See 1 Samuel 16.)

When Israel was mocked and threatened by the Philistines in the valley of Elah, David, still a teenager, wasted no time in dispatching the giant Goliath who, were he alive today, would surely be under contract with the Las Vegas Raiders (insert your own regional team) as a defensive tackle. For David, it was a heady victory, and he could not help but enjoy the national hoopla, and especially that merry little jingle about the king slaying thousands, but David killing 10,000! He was becoming a legend in his own time.

Of course, the king at this point has not been deposed, and although King Saul liked the kid, David could push his buttons. So, for a considerable time, David was on the run, buying time until that day when he could be the acknowledged ruler over the entire kingdom.

When we still can’t bring ourselves to say to God, “My times are in your hands,” we often try to buy time against the day when we run out of time and concede the inevitable. Saint Augustine knew his destiny lay with God and the church, but there was a time in his life when he wasn’t ready to commit. Struggling with some moral issues, he once said, “Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo!” (Give me chastity and continence [moderation, or temperance, meaning sexual probity], but not just yet!)

When Jesus was in the early stages of finding disciples, one would-be follower wanted to buy some time: “‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead’” (Matthew 8:21-22). When we need more time to prepare to do the right thing, or we’re looking for ways to postpone a commitment, we’re trying to buy time. Usually, God will not have it.

Do you have a feeling that God is calling you to be of service in some way? The call may be in reference to something great with many responsibilities. It could also be as small as the voice that tells you to quit a bad habit; or to work on saying nice things, not destructive things; responding positively; or resisting the temptation to pass on an untrustworthy tidbit of gossip. But, we want more time. We tell God, “You’re catching me at a bad time.” And God says — as did your mother, who was holding a broom or a vacuum cleaner — “There’s no time like the present.”

We are not ready to be mature Christians, surrender everything and go all in. Not ready to say, “My times are in your hands.”  

 

High Time

At some point, God gets through to David that it’s high time he acknowledges that Yahweh is Lord. David knew that God was right. God is God, and David is David. It’s a humbling moment, and perhaps we’ve already had this moment.

David, however, was only brought to his knees in abject humility because the arm of adversity had pushed him there. Tough times should help us turn to the author of time and help us beseech this divinity with cries for a reset, adjustment or salvation. Time’s a-wastin’. Adversity is a huge reminder that our time is not our own. And things often don’t go well when we think it is.

Is it high time for us to have — as David does in this psalm — an inner conversation with God, with the One who has our time in his hands? When David wrote this psalm, he was ready. His opening words are, “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust” (KJV). He knew, as did the ancient Job, that despite his suffering, “In his hand [God’s] is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being” (Job 12:10). This is why David could finally say, “Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all” (1 Chronicles 29:12). It was about time.

 

Ahead of His Time

In acknowledging that his life and times were in the hands of God, David seems to have arrived at a conclusion that was ahead of his time. Perhaps, he wished he had come to this conclusion more quickly, but it was quick enough. Maybe even more than quick enough — he was ahead of most of his contemporaries. There is one God, and David put his trust in his God, and it was this trust that gave him peace.

Isn’t this where we want to be? Ahead of time. Early and eager. Ready and steady. Living life to the fullest.

But in the hands of God.

Amen.

—Timothy Merrill and Carl Wilton contributed to this material.

The Other Texts

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Earmuffs. Spring is unlikely to be a season when earmuffs are needed — although freak snowstorms in Colorado and other parts of the country in May are not unheard of. If earmuffs are needed, retailers have a wide selection to offer. Check out the internet. Some earmuffs look like headphones, while others are made of faux white Arctic fox fur. This is germane because the angry authorities of this text are wearing earmuffs: “They covered their ears” (v. 57). But why? They weren’t cold. Clearly, they covered their ears because they didn’t want to hear something. Have we done that? Sometimes, people will stick their fingers in their ears and at the same time repeat some silly mantra to avoid hearing what someone else is saying. Perhaps these folks didn’t want to hear what they thought was blasphemy. More likely, they didn’t want to hear the piteous cries of this innocent person they were sending to an early grave. So, they covered their ears. The sermon explores the questions of when and why we cover our ears. Whose cries do we not want to hear? What blasphemy do we not want to listen to?

What Does the Text Say?

The enmity recounted in this passage offers a theologically rich tapestry to consider because of its relationship to other well-known narratives. First, the violent reaction of the religious leaders to Stephen’s sermon stands in sharp contrast to the response Peter received when the people “welcomed his message” and the church had “the goodwill of all the people” (2:41, 47). However, on this occasion, the authorities carried out previous threats (i.e., “they were enraged and wanted to kill them” [5:33]) Second, Stephen saw Jesus adorned with heaven’s glory as did Peter, John and James on the Mount of Transfiguration (v. 55; cf. Luke 9:28-32). Third, Stephen’s behavior as he was being stoned to death echoes Jesus’ demeanor on the cross. Stephen’s request, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” parallels Jesus’ entreaty as he was dying (v. 59; cf. Luke 23:46). Then, as he was taking his final breath, Stephen, like Jesus, offers an extraordinary supplication on behalf of his accusers: “He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (v. 60; cf. Luke 23:34).

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Metaphor Mall. If you’re shopping for metaphors, this passage is your one-stop shop. You have babies and milk, a stone, a living stone, a precious stone, a cornerstone, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, a chosen race, a holy nation, darkness, light and the people of God. All are images that convey a specific, spiritual truth. What is your choice today, as you survey this smorgasbord of metaphors? The dominant metaphor, one could safely argue, is that of the cornerstone, a stone that forms the base of a corner of a building, joining two walls. One source says, “All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.” Peter says that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. And what is amazing about this is that he is a cornerstone that the masons rejected! “Ah, this stone is flawed, worthless. Get rid of it. We can’t use it.” A rejected stone becomes the most important stone of the entire edifice! Wow! The sermon, then, requires some research into the importance of a cornerstone. Find a mason, if possible, and conduct a brief interview to discuss the importance of a cornerstone. Describe how Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, and if so, what is the building?

What Does the Text Say?

This brief reading shifts rapidly from one image to another. It opens with an image focused on the need for the readers to be nourished for their new lives in Christ. They are mere “newborn infants” who must be nursed on “spiritual milk” in order that they “may grow into salvation” (v. 2). The imagery presents God as the nursing mother, as is clear from both the explicit statement that they have “tasted that the Lord is good” (v. 3) and the absence of association of “milk” with the “word” (as in Hebrews 5:12-13). The imagery shifts dramatically in verse 4, both in its reference to Christ rather than to the readers and in likening him to a “living stone” that is “precious in God’s sight” even if “rejected by mortals.” The readers are then encouraged to themselves become “living stones” that are being “built into a spiritual house” (v. 5a). The association with a “spiritual house”/temple leads to yet another image for the readers as “a holy priesthood” that can “offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God” (v. 5b). Following a return focus on Christ through proof texts that establish the image of him as a “stone,” the passage concludes by resuming the image of the readers as “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (v. 9). The emphasis is placed upon the role they are to fulfill for others by “proclaiming the mighty acts” of God so that others may also receive the mercy they have come to know.

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Satisfaction Guaranteed! The title is a very common expression, seen everywhere in shops and malls. Technically, the phrase “refers to a legally binding express guarantee of satisfaction in the contract of a sale of goods.” But these two words have also appeared in many other contexts. “Satisfaction Guaranteed” is a short story by Isaac Asimov. It’s also a song by “The Firm,” a song by Christina Milian from her 2001 eponymous album, a 2004 compilation album by Teddy Pendergrass, and a song by Alyssa Reid from her 2014 album, Time Bomb. But today’s text tells us something else. It tells us that even in Jesus’ day, people wanted to be satisfied. Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied” (v. 8). Before people buy in, sign up and take delivery, they want to be assured that their satisfaction is guaranteed! The sermon, then, explores the question of our satisfaction level. Do you suppose Philip was satisfied with Jesus’ response to his demand? Are we? If not, why not?

What Does the Text Say?

The text follows Jesus’ disturbing words concerning his betrayal and Peter’s future denial (13:21-38). Thus, broadly speaking, today’s passage offers words of comfort and promise to his disciples of his assured return. In verse 1, Jesus admonishes his disciples not to be troubled in heart. He encourages his disciples, as he prepares to face the very power that has caused him so much anguish in the previous chapters, by instructing them to believe or trust in him even as they believe in God. In verse 2, the phrases “my Father’s house” and dwelling places” probably refer to heaven in light of the Jewish background of this terminology. Verse 3, often taken as a reference to the parousia, highlights the eschatological nature of the pericope. Jesus goes to prepare a place for the disciples through his death and resurrection. His declaration that he will come again assures the Johannine community that he overcomes death, as well as emphasizes that he hasn’t abandoned them. Such a declaration serves to strengthen Jesus’ earlier imperative to them not to be troubled. The phrase “the way” dominates verses 4-6 and becomes an occasion for misunderstanding on Thomas’ part, by thinking that Jesus speaks of “the way” in terms of direction to his destination. But Jesus speaks in terms of his person as the way to God. He assures them that he provides access to the Father, and they need not worry about separation from God, despite being put out of the synagogues (9:22). Those who know Jesus also know the Father. “The way” language opens the door for further affirmation of Jesus’ unity with God. In verses 12-14, Jesus links the believers’ works with those of himself and the Father. Thus, Jesus’ works continue among the believers; they embody his deeds and bear witness to his presence in the world. The greater works occur because Jesus goes to the Father and not because of the disciples themselves. To pray in Jesus’ name means to be in relationship with him and thus with his Father.

Worship Resources

Leader: Grant, I beg you, merciful Lord, that the designs of a new and better life, which by your grace we have now formed, may not pass away without effect.

People: Incite and enable us, by your Holy Spirit, to improve the time which you shall grant us;

Leader: To avoid all evil thoughts, words and actions,

People: And to do all the duties which you shall set before us.

All: Hear our prayer, O Lord, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

—Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

One: God gives us one day at a time:

All: Long enough for laughter to follow any tears;

One: Deep enough for prayer and silence to dance together;

All: Time enough to help someone in need;

One: Plenty of time to notice beauty and praise the Maker;

All: Sufficient time to build a bridge of forgiveness or tear down a wall of resentment;

One: The right time to embrace friends, smile at strangers, play with children, sing praise to God.

All: Praise God for this day we are given.

Let us know the Lord gives strength to all who trust and gives us courage even to be fearless. Let us know the Lord gives us faith even in our doubting and gives us peace at all times. Let us know the Lord is our stronghold today and always, and may we go forth in hope with joy. May our Lord’s many blessings fill us now and always. Amen.

Hymns
Be Still, My Soul
Lead Me, Guide Me
Only Trust Him

Worship and Praise*
Be Unto Your Name (DeShazo/Sadler)
When It’s All Been Said and Done (Cowan)
God Is in This Story (Nichole/Weave)

*For licensing and permission to reprint or display these songs on screen, go to ccli.com. The worship and praise songs suggested by Homiletics can be found in most cases on Google by using the title as the search term.

COMMENTARY

on Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16