“Shrug all the 20th century. Time loses its meaning on serene, tropical Sanibel Island.”
So reads a vacation advertisement in the December 5, 1970 Saturday Review. Scores of magazines on our stands, to say nothing of the newspaper and TV commercials, carry glamorized appeals to people who have leisure time and money and who are looking for new dream worlds in vacation lands. What a smorgasbord of travel pleasure is set before them! “You get that French Riviera feeling when you cruise the Caribbean on the…Golden days, fun-filled nights, warmth, exuberance, gaiety, pools, lido decks, Boutiques,…and most of all that French Riviera feeling.”
They tell us the American economy is wobbly and in jeopardy, but one would never guess it watching the prosperous patrons of our travel agencies inquiring about a new “getaway opportunity.” Says one commercial, “Everyone deserves a chance to get away.” I am not now minded to argue with that commercial. Fact is, we preachers like an occasional “getaway.” We have our “breathers” and our “breaks,” and we enjoy them with no compunction of conscience. We pastors see nothing unbecoming to our calling in anticipating our annual vacation. Nor do we begrudge our people their times of rest and relaxation.
Some of us, however, are worried about what appears to be an increasing pre-occupation with leisure-time activities. For this reason it may be profitable for us to think about the whole matter of a Christian’s responsible use of time, specifically leisure-time.
Some years ago the great New Testament scholar A. T. Robertson was in Grand Rapids for a series of lectures and one morning he addressed the Calvin College student body in a chapel service. He made some interesting remarks about “redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5) which he translated as “seizing the now-time” (present opportunity). One of the things he stressed was the value of the present time and the importance of using it as Christians to the best advantage in the service of Christ. His message was freighted with warnings about the sinfulness of wasting time. He spoke almost harshly about people in the prime of life giving youth a bad example in the misuse of hours, days, and weeks. Said he, “Let no opportunity slip of saying and doing what may further the cause of God.” (This chapel talk, by the way, was later published in a volume bearing the title, Passing on the Torch.) We students along with our professors walked out of chapel that morning chuckling over Dr. Robertson’s mannerisms and anecdotes—he had an abundant supply—but also impressed with his pointed remarks about the preciousness of time.
The Problem of Leisure-Time – One is not exaggerating when he speaks of the problem of leisuretime. It is a real problem and threatens to become even more serious. Relatively few Americans, I fear, arc aware that this problem is approaching the proportions of a grave social crisis.
Herbert Simson of Carnegie-Mellon University warns that the rapid automating of most routine labor operations could cause the Puritan work ethic to collapse, leaving millions to succumb to the “diseases of leisure.” A similar warning is sounded by Robert Lee in his timely book, Religion and Leisure in America: “A new day is dawning on the American scene. Never before have so many had so much free time on their hands. Modern Americans stand at the threshold of a revolution in leisure-time that is full of promise and yet pregnant with perils” (p. 9).
Not long ago a group of distinguished news commentators on an end-of-the-year roundup television program was asked: “What is the gravest social crisis facing the American people in the year ahead?” One by one the commentators gave their opinions. At last Eric Sevareid’s turn came to speak. Much to the surprise of the others, and in striking contrast to what they had said, he stated that he thought the most dangerous threat to American society is the rise of leisure and the fact that those who have the most leisure are the least equipped to make use of it.
“Time Marches On” – Regardless of whether we want it to or not, “time marches on.” It is impossible to grasp and to hold one moment in the flow of time. Our life is passing—passing swiftly! The Psalms describe this movement with vivid imagery: It is compared with the Right of birds–“we flyaway” (Psalm 90:10). It is like grass which in the evening “is cut down and withereth” (Psalm 90:6). “My days consume away like smoke” (Psalm 102:3). ‘“Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; and my lifetime is as nothing before thee” (Psalm 39:5).
Having recently witnessed the end of another year, and having been painfully reminded of those who began the year with us but who departed this life before the year ended, we repeat the words of the Psalmist, “We bring our years to an end as a sigh” (Psalm 90:9b). A professional photographer once proposed the production of a film that could be more shocking to some folks than anything seen in the commercial theater. He suggested that someone be photographed once each day during his lifetime from his birth to his death. These pictures then, assembled in proper order and made into a film, could be reeled on in less than a half hour. One would see the strange sight of a lifetime begun and
ended within the time some folks take for their lunch-break! That would be a shocker! The face of an infant rapidly maturing and then becoming wan and wrinkled. The playful hands of a little child in a few moments beginning to tremble. An erect and vigorous body quickly turning to that of a bent and weary old man, Words of admonition and warning would not have to be added to a film like that. It would deliver its solemn message without audio. Verily it is so, as James describes it: our life is as a vapor “that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (4:14)
Not all people have the faith and assurance to take this somber fact trustfully and submissively. They suffer much anxiety from this perception of the ongoing nature of time and the transitoriness of life. They experience a sense of dread well expressed by James Muilenberg in his essay, “The Biblical View of Time”: “We are haunted again and again by the painful awareness that the shining moment passes, the day comes to an end, some silver cord of confidence is snapped, some dream dispelled, some faith shattered. The whirling of time brings in its revenges. The present forever Rees to the past, the future forever breaks in with relentless speed. We are forever confronted with the unexpected, the unanticipated, the new… There is something profoundly disquieting and threatening in the temporality of existence.”
Consider the plight of people who let despair write the final word over the flow of time, who see life as ultimately meaningless, and death the impenetrable darkness. Shakespeare’s Macbeth saw it that way:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
The Christian Use of Time – Macbeth’s evaluation and the Christian’s understanding of time are poles apart. The Christian sees time as a gift of God, as he sees all of life as a stewardship. For that reason he feels constrained to take a serious attitude towards what is called “idle time.” He knows that all time has significance because of what fills it, and his first concern is with the quality of the contents, not the quantity. The Christian cannot forget that his Lord had something to say about abundant living (cf. John 10:10), and that even a minimal interpretation of those words calls for something more than a life centered in wealth and things.
Nothing is farther removed from the biblical evaluation of time than the notion that we are at liberty to regard leisure as time free of any sense of obligation. Surely the prayer of Moses has something to tell us here: “So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). “There is nothing wrong with fun and pleasure,” writes Robert Lee; “it is an essential part of life, but it is not all there is to life or leisure. Let us therefore get rid of our ideas that leisure is time for irresponsibility and no obligations.”
I fear that many Christians have capitulated to the commercializing and glamorizing of leisure-time activities. I fear that goals more worthy of our interest and investment have suffered from our self-preoccupation. As we hurry from one leisure-time pleasure to the next, we refuse to consider the question: Are you in this experience and relationship all you can be and should be? And really now, isn’t that the ultimate question to be answered in our use of the gift of time?
Not long ago I had dinner with a group of .people some of whom are either retired or semi-retired. They are in good health and have much to give to the church in the way of experience and leadership. But instead, they are on the road, on the sea, or in the air a good share of the time. They move almost breathlessly from trips to jaunts, and when they are home and have time to visit with their families and friends, they have in their pockets and handbags colorful travel brochures which are germinating plans for the next excursion. These people—and there are many like them—have years of seasoned experience and accumulated knowledge which if properly consecrated and wisely channeled could be of great blessing to the church. Where better than in the life and work of a congregation—as that congregation faces the complex of community challenge while it is also involved in denominational problems—can the benefits of matured faith and ripened experience be most advantageously conferred? But alas, in so many instances the people who have so much to give in these respects are away from their congregations several months each year, having a jolly good time “shrugging off the 20th century on some serene Sanibel.”
This I regard as unjustifiable so long as there are no personal considerations of health or physical impairment that serve as extenuating factors. Evidence is not wanting that there are congregations which must repeatedly enlist the services of less qualified leaders and workers because the folks who have so much to contribute out of a fund of knowledge and wisdom are not around long enough to maintain an effective sequence of service in their respective congregations.
Perhaps the following prayer sums up pretty well what I have been trying to say:
O Thou, who canst not slumber, Whose light grows never pale, Teach us aright to number Our years before they fail; On us Thy mercy lighten, On us Thy goodness rest, And let Thy Spirit brighten The hearts Thyself hast blessed.
Lord, give us new endeavor To serve Thee every day, To honor golden hours Before they pass away. Lord, make us faithful stewards Of talents Thou hast given, And bring us to life’s fullness Which waits for us in heaven.
Leonard Greenway is pastor of the Riverside Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
So reads a vacation advertisement in the December 5, 1970 Saturday Review. Scores of magazines on our stands, to say nothing of the newspaper and TV commercials, carry glamorized appeals to people who have leisure time and money and who are looking for new dream worlds in vacation lands. What a smorgasbord of travel pleasure is set before them! “You get that French Riviera feeling when you cruise the Caribbean on the…Golden days, fun-filled nights, warmth, exuberance, gaiety, pools, lido decks, Boutiques,…and most of all that French Riviera feeling.”
They tell us the American economy is wobbly and in jeopardy, but one would never guess it watching the prosperous patrons of our travel agencies inquiring about a new “getaway opportunity.” Says one commercial, “Everyone deserves a chance to get away.” I am not now minded to argue with that commercial. Fact is, we preachers like an occasional “getaway.” We have our “breathers” and our “breaks,” and we enjoy them with no compunction of conscience. We pastors see nothing unbecoming to our calling in anticipating our annual vacation. Nor do we begrudge our people their times of rest and relaxation.
Some of us, however, are worried about what appears to be an increasing pre-occupation with leisure-time activities. For this reason it may be profitable for us to think about the whole matter of a Christian’s responsible use of time, specifically leisure-time.
Some years ago the great New Testament scholar A. T. Robertson was in Grand Rapids for a series of lectures and one morning he addressed the Calvin College student body in a chapel service. He made some interesting remarks about “redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5) which he translated as “seizing the now-time” (present opportunity). One of the things he stressed was the value of the present time and the importance of using it as Christians to the best advantage in the service of Christ. His message was freighted with warnings about the sinfulness of wasting time. He spoke almost harshly about people in the prime of life giving youth a bad example in the misuse of hours, days, and weeks. Said he, “Let no opportunity slip of saying and doing what may further the cause of God.” (This chapel talk, by the way, was later published in a volume bearing the title, Passing on the Torch.) We students along with our professors walked out of chapel that morning chuckling over Dr. Robertson’s mannerisms and anecdotes—he had an abundant supply—but also impressed with his pointed remarks about the preciousness of time.
The Problem of Leisure-Time – One is not exaggerating when he speaks of the problem of leisuretime. It is a real problem and threatens to become even more serious. Relatively few Americans, I fear, arc aware that this problem is approaching the proportions of a grave social crisis.
Herbert Simson of Carnegie-Mellon University warns that the rapid automating of most routine labor operations could cause the Puritan work ethic to collapse, leaving millions to succumb to the “diseases of leisure.” A similar warning is sounded by Robert Lee in his timely book, Religion and Leisure in America: “A new day is dawning on the American scene. Never before have so many had so much free time on their hands. Modern Americans stand at the threshold of a revolution in leisure-time that is full of promise and yet pregnant with perils” (p. 9).
Not long ago a group of distinguished news commentators on an end-of-the-year roundup television program was asked: “What is the gravest social crisis facing the American people in the year ahead?” One by one the commentators gave their opinions. At last Eric Sevareid’s turn came to speak. Much to the surprise of the others, and in striking contrast to what they had said, he stated that he thought the most dangerous threat to American society is the rise of leisure and the fact that those who have the most leisure are the least equipped to make use of it.
“Time Marches On” – Regardless of whether we want it to or not, “time marches on.” It is impossible to grasp and to hold one moment in the flow of time. Our life is passing—passing swiftly! The Psalms describe this movement with vivid imagery: It is compared with the Right of birds–“we flyaway” (Psalm 90:10). It is like grass which in the evening “is cut down and withereth” (Psalm 90:6). “My days consume away like smoke” (Psalm 102:3). ‘“Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; and my lifetime is as nothing before thee” (Psalm 39:5).
Having recently witnessed the end of another year, and having been painfully reminded of those who began the year with us but who departed this life before the year ended, we repeat the words of the Psalmist, “We bring our years to an end as a sigh” (Psalm 90:9b). A professional photographer once proposed the production of a film that could be more shocking to some folks than anything seen in the commercial theater. He suggested that someone be photographed once each day during his lifetime from his birth to his death. These pictures then, assembled in proper order and made into a film, could be reeled on in less than a half hour. One would see the strange sight of a lifetime begun and
ended within the time some folks take for their lunch-break! That would be a shocker! The face of an infant rapidly maturing and then becoming wan and wrinkled. The playful hands of a little child in a few moments beginning to tremble. An erect and vigorous body quickly turning to that of a bent and weary old man, Words of admonition and warning would not have to be added to a film like that. It would deliver its solemn message without audio. Verily it is so, as James describes it: our life is as a vapor “that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (4:14)
Not all people have the faith and assurance to take this somber fact trustfully and submissively. They suffer much anxiety from this perception of the ongoing nature of time and the transitoriness of life. They experience a sense of dread well expressed by James Muilenberg in his essay, “The Biblical View of Time”: “We are haunted again and again by the painful awareness that the shining moment passes, the day comes to an end, some silver cord of confidence is snapped, some dream dispelled, some faith shattered. The whirling of time brings in its revenges. The present forever Rees to the past, the future forever breaks in with relentless speed. We are forever confronted with the unexpected, the unanticipated, the new… There is something profoundly disquieting and threatening in the temporality of existence.”
Consider the plight of people who let despair write the final word over the flow of time, who see life as ultimately meaningless, and death the impenetrable darkness. Shakespeare’s Macbeth saw it that way:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
The Christian Use of Time – Macbeth’s evaluation and the Christian’s understanding of time are poles apart. The Christian sees time as a gift of God, as he sees all of life as a stewardship. For that reason he feels constrained to take a serious attitude towards what is called “idle time.” He knows that all time has significance because of what fills it, and his first concern is with the quality of the contents, not the quantity. The Christian cannot forget that his Lord had something to say about abundant living (cf. John 10:10), and that even a minimal interpretation of those words calls for something more than a life centered in wealth and things.
Nothing is farther removed from the biblical evaluation of time than the notion that we are at liberty to regard leisure as time free of any sense of obligation. Surely the prayer of Moses has something to tell us here: “So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). “There is nothing wrong with fun and pleasure,” writes Robert Lee; “it is an essential part of life, but it is not all there is to life or leisure. Let us therefore get rid of our ideas that leisure is time for irresponsibility and no obligations.”
I fear that many Christians have capitulated to the commercializing and glamorizing of leisure-time activities. I fear that goals more worthy of our interest and investment have suffered from our self-preoccupation. As we hurry from one leisure-time pleasure to the next, we refuse to consider the question: Are you in this experience and relationship all you can be and should be? And really now, isn’t that the ultimate question to be answered in our use of the gift of time?
Not long ago I had dinner with a group of .people some of whom are either retired or semi-retired. They are in good health and have much to give to the church in the way of experience and leadership. But instead, they are on the road, on the sea, or in the air a good share of the time. They move almost breathlessly from trips to jaunts, and when they are home and have time to visit with their families and friends, they have in their pockets and handbags colorful travel brochures which are germinating plans for the next excursion. These people—and there are many like them—have years of seasoned experience and accumulated knowledge which if properly consecrated and wisely channeled could be of great blessing to the church. Where better than in the life and work of a congregation—as that congregation faces the complex of community challenge while it is also involved in denominational problems—can the benefits of matured faith and ripened experience be most advantageously conferred? But alas, in so many instances the people who have so much to give in these respects are away from their congregations several months each year, having a jolly good time “shrugging off the 20th century on some serene Sanibel.”
This I regard as unjustifiable so long as there are no personal considerations of health or physical impairment that serve as extenuating factors. Evidence is not wanting that there are congregations which must repeatedly enlist the services of less qualified leaders and workers because the folks who have so much to contribute out of a fund of knowledge and wisdom are not around long enough to maintain an effective sequence of service in their respective congregations.
Perhaps the following prayer sums up pretty well what I have been trying to say:
O Thou, who canst not slumber, Whose light grows never pale, Teach us aright to number Our years before they fail; On us Thy mercy lighten, On us Thy goodness rest, And let Thy Spirit brighten The hearts Thyself hast blessed.
Lord, give us new endeavor To serve Thee every day, To honor golden hours Before they pass away. Lord, make us faithful stewards Of talents Thou hast given, And bring us to life’s fullness Which waits for us in heaven.
Leonard Greenway is pastor of the Riverside Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.