Time's Up!

Time can be idolatrous.  We worship it as if it ran our lives, told us what to do and where to go.  Rather than being a convention for managing our social and work affairs, it rules our lives with an iron fist.  Some cultures are more immune to the power of time than others, but our culture seems in the grip of it.

Is "idolatry" too strong a word?  Look at the names we have for our days.  Bach reflects a particular ancient god/goddess demanding obedience.  Sunday is obvious, taking us back to a time when the Romans worshiped the sun. Moonday (that loony/lunar moon) follows next as the moon follows the sun. Tiusday (from Tiu, Norse god of war moves us toward the middle of the week. Odinsday honored the chief Norse god Odin (although languages of Latin origin trace their origins to the god Mercury - as in the Spanish miercoles), Thorsday was named for Thor, Norse god of thunder.  Friggsday honored Thor's wife, Frigg, the goddess of love (what a name!).  And lastly, of course, Saturnsday rings in (pun intended) the end of the week.  Essentially, our days of the week are named for the seven heavenly bodies (then) known to the ancients, or their Germanic equivalents and the gods they associated with those heavenly bodies.

I think the ancients were on to something here.  We do allow time to rule us, but I don't think the answer is to throw our calendars, clocks, watches, planners  and Palm Pilots (not that!) away.  On the cusp of the new millennium, let's think  differently about time.

In my Christmas Eve sermon, I mentioned a movement afoot among many churches, the ELCA included, called "AD2K", intended as a counter proposal to all the Y2K mania we are constantly barraged with.  AD2K, Ano Domini Two Thousand from the Latin, the Year of our Lord Two Thousand.  The gist of this is to remind us that this is the beginning of the third millennium of Jesus' kingdom and reign in the world.  For Christians, it reminds us to think of the time we have as a gift from God to be used in building his kingdom of love and forgiveness in our families, places of work and school, and in the world.  All time is the Lord's time.  Use your share of it for his glory.

Speaking of such things, recall that your church recently made a proclamation adding a 13th month to 1999.  Much to our surprise, charges were not brought  against us for making such a change.  We also are happy to report that nearly $15,000 has been donated to help with roofing and remodeling expenses needed to keep our church and school growing.  Thank you so much for your generosity and caring for our ministries here.

Blessings and peace as we enter this new era of service and ministry together,

Pastor Larry