Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Jan/76

Contributor - James C. Eelman

Title - A Time for Soberness

Topic - Meditation

Poor timing is the bane of life. To know when to act and when not to act are the marks of a prudent man. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven," observed a wise man long ago (Ecclesiastes 3 : 1). To do the right thing at the right time is indeed a gift from heaven.

Our Lord once rebuked his brothers for urging him to act before his time had come. "Go up to the feast at Jerusalem and declare yourself," they implored him. But he replied, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here". I am quite convinced that his brothers meant well, even though they must have had some doubts about Jesus and the purpose of his mission. They were disturbed that not only had their illustrious brother's discipleship growth rate fallen to zero in Galilee, but an alarming attrition had also set in. His doctrine was too difficult and his demands were too great, so that many of his disciples no longer walked with him. With a : n important religious feast about to be celebrated at Jerusalem,, his brothers felt that now was the time for Jesus to act, go up to the holy city and there increase the shrinking disciple-circle. Now was the golden opportunity to revive a seemingly dying cause.

For Jesus, however, this was the time for sober reflection and a deeper search for the will of God. The shadow of the cross was already falling upon his path. To worry about immediate results now could only rise out of unbelief. This was not the time to explode successfully into the world but to give his life for it. That called for soberness and divine clarity of purpose. So in prayer he agonized to know his Father's will.

No doubt most of us think of youth as a time of gayety and preparation for a successful career, but we should also think of it as a time for soberness in which important spiritual decisions must be made. Youth is the time of susceptibility to all kinds of influences. All kinds of pressures are brought to bear upon our young people to make choices, some of which are anything but desirable. Too often well-meaning parents try to push their children into what the world calls, "success", namely, having a lot of money, making the right friends, and achieving influence and status in one's business or profession. Many of our children, however, have become disillusioned with these grubby materialistic goals. Some have rebelled and joined violent revolutionary groups. Others have retreated into weird religious sects such as the Jesus Freaks and the Moon Children.

Christian parents in particular and the whole Church in general must recognize our time calls for a sober spirit in our approach to giving spiritual leadership and guidance to our youth. Now more than ever they need to know the real source of their true life. Youth is the most "acceptable time ... the day of salvation". We must challenge our youth with our contemporary need for dedicated poets, prophets and holy people who are willing to sacrifice their lives in a genuine search to know and to live God's sober self-denying truth in a success-drunk world.

The brothers of Jesus were not evil men, but they were wrongly possessed by their ideals as to how their brother should succeed. Our Lord said that they were wrong and out of time with God's purpose for his life, because in their plans the cross had no place. Our time therefore is a challenge to lose our life in order that we may find it. The cross teaches us that our death with Christ will give us life at its fullest and best. The peace that passes all understanding does not come to those who gratify their lusts or seek to feather their own nests. Happiness does not come to people who aim at it, while courage and strength do not come to people who are all wrapped up in themselves.

Our time is a time for reflective soberness in which we must learn again how to align ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ who refused to be turned aside from doing his Father's will.

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