1

William G.Cockrill

DavidsonCollege Presbyterian Church

Davidson, North Carolina

September 9, 2007

Luke 14-25-33

Squeezing It All In!

“Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?”

Now, I know, with this verse as an introduction, some of you may think that you have inadvertantly come to church on the day of the annual stewardship sermon! Well, Friends, be at ease! That is not where we are going; not today!

We’ve spent now several weeks getting aquainted. Heretofore, following the lectionary, we have been led by our texts and we have moved out from the texts as our starting points to talk about some basic theological tenets. All well and good, done decently and in order! And that will continue to be our standard practice.

Today, however, we need to take something of a “time out,” or, a detour from our previous methods. And we need to spend just a few minutes considering our ministry together, what it is and why it is.

In large part, this departure is necessary because we, you and I, are involved in this thing called an “interim.” This being so, all other aspects of our ministry and church life aside, there are some specific tasks that we need to attend to during this interim season, between now and whenever your Pastor Nominating Committee completes its work.

And let me say, we may need to take a few similar detours from time to time over these months of preparation. Indeed, that is abasic task to be accomplished during this interval in the life of this congregation: to prepare for a new pastor.

Now, I have to say that in a way, I have been inspired by this week’s intrusion into our usual church routine by the Labor Day Holiday. When you think about it, the Labor Day Holiday is something of an oxymoron: take Monday off so that you can work harder in what remains of the week!

And then, this week was also the first week of our full fall schedule, with Room at the Table on Wednesday evening, along with other activities gearing up; a very full week!

All of which is to say that on Tuesday, sometime in late afternoon, it appeared to several of us in the church office that we were seriously behind the curve! It was a short week but with just as much to do! Deadlines did not change! Somehow, we had to squeeze a full week’s work into the shortened time!

I should note that your church staff needs to be credited with doing just that!

At any rate, this sense of being somewhat pressed for time stuck in the back of my mind as I read the lectionary texts for the week and considered the thematic thread that runs through them.

Our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah employs the imagery of a potter atthe wheel. The potter moldsthe clay until the vessel is formed to the potter’s satisfaction.

And then there are Jesus’ words in our gospel reading. He speaks of the calculation of costs. He refers toplanning in advance for what will be needed, whether it is for a building or for a military venture.

And so, athematic thread running through these texts is that of preparation and the notion of a work in process, something that is planned and shaped.

And it occurred to me that this time called “interim” is really an opportunity to focus on planning and shaping how we go about being church in preparation for a new pastor.

Oh, yes, the church’s mission is pursued at the same time: worship, Christian nurture and fellowship, engagement with the community and the world. But in addition we also have some projects that are specifically related to preparing for new pastoral leadership. Some are already underway through committees and other church organizations. Some aspects of our interim work are being addressed directly, others more subtley.

The point is, we have all of these things that we need to do along with everything else that we normally do as a church. And we need to squeeze it all, somehow, into a relatively short period of time.

Indeed, as I was reminded by this very rushed week, the most obvious thing about this interlude or transition called “interim” is that it is bounded by time. We know that this time is a phase, a transition to something else, something better in the life of this congregation. And it will pass quickly.

All of which is to say, that I want us to consider for a few minutes this subject of time, and then briefly what we need to accomplish over these months.

I know that, at first, these may seem somewhat random reflections, but “in due time,” I hope to tie them together. In a way, of course, it is ironic, isn’t it - that we only have a few minutes to think about time. But there’s the point, you see!

Now, I think it’s fair to say that most of us give little thought to time as time. Time is just sort of “there.” We“see time” on the clock or on our calendars. Surely, we know that time is passing and that we live in time, in the sense of history.

More often than not, we think of time in terms of our schedules. On the one hand, time is a useful way to order our lives; but, paradoxically, we also understand that we are prisoners of time.

For me, this contemplation of “time” grew out some study leave in Austin, Texas, a while back. One night, one of my colleagues and I were talking about things philosophical and theologicaland we began discussing “time.”

And out of this discussion, an old idea surfaced: that this time, right now is all that there is. Past does not exist; future is only contemplation. This time, right now, is all that there is. Indeed, before the present can even be contemplated, it recedes into the past and it no longer exists! Wow; that is heavy stuff!

Now, what this means is that, leaving aside God’s cosmic intentions for the future, on a personal level, everyone, everywhere “is” only in the present. From the President of the United States, to the fellow picking up garbage somewhere this morning, we are all in this moment. This is the only time in which we can say we “are.” Or anything else “is.”

This “being in time” is a very interesting kinship we share. And this time that God gives us is a very precious thing! Indeed, time is the most important object of our stewardship! (Maybe some of you were right after all!) As the psalmist suggests, the wise heart knows this truth. “Teach us to count our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

It may surprise us to learn, however, that not everyone thinks about time in quite the same way!

At our men’s breakfast on Friday morning, Reid Montgomery made an interesting presentation comparing the different ways that time is measured by the traditions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Does a day begin at dawn or does it begin at sundown? Well, it depends on the religion of the one whom you ask! Most obviously, we do not even agree on what year this is!

Indeed, even within the Christian tradition, there are differences in how we view time, and these differences have religious connotations.

In this regard, historian David Hackett Fischer has traced what he calls the “folkways” that were originally were imported from Britain into the American colonies. (See Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, Oxford University Press, 1989.)

By “folkways,” Fischer refers to a plethora of attitudes and modes of living. Folkways are often taken for granted: such things as marriage customs and the ways children are named, religion, attitudes toward foreigners, the ways people build their homes, how they make their livings, and the foods they eat.

And, as Fischer notes, these distinctions among cultures are, to a large extent, regional. Thus, there were different folkways in different parts of Britain. And during the great colonial migrations to North American, the colonists created mirror images of those regions.

Well, Fischer notes that there are such folkways with respect toattitudes toward time. Moreover, he notes that conceptions of time are closely related to attitudes toward work. And with this in mind Fischer identifies four distinct, regional ways of contemplating time that were brought to this country by the original colonists.

First of all, there was the understanding of time that prevailed in Massachusetts and the New England colonies. Those colonies were settled largely by Puritans from East Anglia, that part of England to the east of London.

For these people who were strongly Calvinist in their worldview, time was heavily invested with sacred meaning. Fundamentally, they understood time to be God’s time. Time is something that is given to us by God. And hence, in order to be good stewards, people are to “improve the time,” turn it to good use.

Indeed, so intense was this understanding thatin some locales, it was against the law to “waste time.” It was a criminal offense; and one could be fined for wasting his time. The usual suspects were “tobacco takers and fowlers,” bird hunters! (See Fischer, p. 158, ff.)

On the other hand, in contrast to New England, the Virginiacolony was settled largely by cavaliers. They were the second sons or “cadets” from aristocratic families in Southern England. Recall that second sons and those younger were at a disadvantage insofar as inheriting their fathers’ lands. And thus, having nothing to lose, many second sons came to Virginia.

But the point is that these aristocrats were more accustomed to leisure than were the Puritans. And thus they had a notion of “killing time.” This meant that the colonists in Virginia were less obsessed than New Englanders with finding a godly purpose for every waking moment. (Sorry to all of you Virginians!)

Moreover, on the Virginia tobacco plantations, people were more tightly controlled by the rhythms of rural life. There were seasons of hard work, to be sure; but there were also seasons in which there was plenty of time to kill. (p. 368, ff.)

Now, a third attitude was found in the DelawareValley and Pennsylvania. The original colonists there were Quakers from the North Midlands of England, Yorkshire, Lancashire.

In place of the Puritan idea of “improving time,” or Virginians’ “killing time,” these Quakers had notion of “redeeming time.” Redemption of time grew from a complex understanding of purging time of sin and corruption. For example, the Quakers had their own calendar, one that was purged of any evidence of pagan corruption.

Like the Puritans, however, the Quakers regarded time as a precious and perishable gift (p. 560 ff.).

Finally, a fourth approach was that of the backcountry South. This is the area most familiar to “us’ns,” initially settled by people from the “borders” of Northern England and Scotland.

For these people the approach was that of “passing the time.” Along with the writer of Ecclesiastes, they believed “to everything there is a season.” Their seasons, however, were different and somewhat more complex than those in other parts of British America.

In the backcountry South, colonial settlers assigned specific seasons for specific activities. And so one had to “pass the time,” waiting for the appropriate season, be it on a weekly, monthly or climatic seasonal basis.

For example, one typically got married during “marrying time,” April through June. Or, Mondays and Tuesdays were considered the favorite days for visiting ones neighbors, while Friday was the day that one went to market.

It was considered unlucky, however, to begin a new venture or activity on a Friday or Saturday. Thus, one would “pass the time” waiting for the right day. Andrew Jackson, “to the end of his life never liked to begin anything of consequence on Friday, and would not [do it], if it could be avoided.” (p. 746.)

Now, this may sound quaint. But the truth of the matter is that many of these folkways survive even today. They color our own attitudes and day to day life. At the very least they should cause us to think about our use of time. What do we think about time?

Well, you see, I think this relates to this special ministry in which you and I are now engaged, called “interim”. What are we to do with this time?

Now, let me say here, I am not making the expected Calvinist plea about work and productivity. Quite to the contrary! Sometimes we need time to reflect - seemingly to “do nothing,” while we reflect on what we have accomplished.

But these reflections should cause us to think about what we are going to do now with this most basic and precious of gifts.

And more to the point of our being in “an interim,” I think these understandings of how we deal with time remind us that this season of ministry in which we are now engaged is not oneto simply be wasted!

To the contrary, this interim is a time that we are redeem from being just the “passing of time.” Indeed, our goal is improve this time, as we go about these tasks in preparation for new pastoral leadership.

Now, there are some specific and generally recognized tasks in this regard. We need to attend to such things as coming to terms with this congregation’s history, discovering our identity, or at least understanding it. We also need to empower new leaders. And, we need to renew our denominational relationships, and make a commitment to new leadership and to a new future. That is quite a lot! But, we must squeeze it in.

You know, it iscommonly said that great pastors make great churches; sometimes that is surely true. It seems, however, that more often, great churches make great pastors!

And you see, this is really what we are about in this season as we prepare for new leadership. We are to improve this time, to do all we can to make this community of faith a place for a pastor to use her or his gifts for ministry to the fullest. That’s a lot to squeeze in; but we can do it!

Well, perhaps these reflections have taken too much time; but maybe we are the wiser, nonetheless. So may it be. Amen.