1 Corinthians 7:29–31

²⁹This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Can you believe it? Where did the time go? Can you believe Christmas will be here in eleven months?

Okay, that's a little time to work with, but, you know, it's shorter than we think! We've got time enough to get ready for next Christmas—it's still Epiphany!—but you know what will happen. We're not going to use these next eleven months to get ready, and when next Christmas does come, we'll be in panic mode again. "Where did the time go?" we will ask.

The fact is, we've got time. It's just that we've got so many different things we want to do in that time—always more than we can. So every day is a set of decisions. How will I use my time? Do I have time for this? Do I have time for that? Ultimately, we have time—we should have time—for the important things, and other things we have to let go. So which are which?

In our text this morning, St. Paul tells us that the time available to us is really very short—probably much shorter than we think—and he offers a challenging set of priorities for using it. He raises a number of possibilities on which we could spend our time, and for each one we ought to ask, HAVE YOU GOT TIME FOR THAT?

Our text poses the question: Have we got time for the things in time? Pointing out that the present form of this world is passing away, it poses the question: Do we have time for the things in this world?

His first question is: Do you have time for marriage? He says, "Those who have wives live as though you had none."

There are those in our culture who despise marriage. There offer many reasons for their attitude. Some envision the unmarried life as being holier than the married estate. They might cite St. Paul's words, "live as if you had no wife." At the other extreme, others dismiss marriage as a constraint on our sexuality. "You can't tell me what to do." Meanwhile, too often we see that marriages are in disarray. Marriage is time consuming. It takes time to attend to your wife and children. Family requires a commitment of time. If, as Paul says, "the appointed time has grown very short," do you have time for marriage?

Yes, indeed! Marriage was created by God before there was sin; it's good and holy. It was God's own answer to the problem of man being alone. Our Lutheran confessions responded to the church's policy of forced celibacy by exalting marriage as an honorable estate. And St. Paul himself, in the verse immediately before this text, says, "if you do marry, you have not sinned." To be a husband or wife is a God-pleasing vocation for which God has given many of us time.

But marriage does take time! Saying "I do" commits a man or woman to give much, much time to his or her spouse. To do less would be unfaithful. So what Paul means in the text is that the unmarried person is free to use more time for God's kingdom, to be involved in more ways in the work of the kingdom. Yes, it's true that an unmarried has more time for kingdom work, but it is never to be forced, as in prohibiting marriage for this reason. God has instituted marriage as a holy estate and has not equipped most people for the single life.

Then Paul talks about mourning and rejoicing. Have you got time for mourning or for rejoicing? Today some say that emotions are wrong. We need to do away with both sadness and joy. They tell us that being levelheaded is the only way to go. Others say that we need to go through a methodical disciplinary practice of eliminating our negative emotions. They tell us that Christians are cold and unloving. But given what Paul says in our text, do we have time to spend on either emotion?

Yes! Elsewhere, Paul has told us to "rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep." Rejoicing in God's blessings is part of thanking him for his goodness. Mourning with brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer can reflect our care for them. Even our Lord Jesus Christ was sorrowful because of the rejection of his fellow Jews.

But here Paul is reminding us not to replace the comfort of our salvation with some kind of emotional fervor or emotional fear. Joy does not get you into heaven. We can't joy a person into heaven. We can't fear a person into heaven either. Emotions are not an evil. They are good. They are part of God's creation and are gifts to man. But they are neither the basis of our relationship with God nor our salvation. Nor are they indicators of our faith; nor do emotions tell us if God is present. Nor can we feel the Spirit. He is not a feeling.

Then Paul asks if we have time for buying goods and for dealing with the world. "Those who buy be as though they had no goods." By now we are asking ourselves if Paul wants us to remove ourselves altogether from the pleasures of the world. Some religious groups would frown on a rich meal or, for that matter, an expensive present. We're often warned to abandon the commercialism of Christmas. Do we have time to spend on possessions and earthly matters?

Yes! Christians are commanded to take and enjoy the things God has given us. We can dine on the festive foods of the world, wrap ourselves in the satin garments of our Christmas presents, and taste the sweetness of the earth. God made these things for our pleasure and enjoyment. He does not intend us to live an ascetic life of austerity. That would be to deny the goodness of his creation and be unthankful for the gifts he gives.

But Paul is reminding us that we don't live by bread alone but by the word of God. The cost of Christmas presents we're paying off at this time of year can be staggering. Overindulging in holiday treats may be coming back to haunt us. The W2's we're receiving these days remind us how much we made, compared to how little we've saved. We've spent so much time acquiring these things, but, when time is up—when time is really up, for us and for the world—if we have only these things, we'll have nothing.

So the ultimate question Paul is asking is, "Do you have time for the things that are timeless?" Have you got time for God's word and Sacraments? Here is where Paul wants our devotion to lie. The things of the Lord are, above all else, the ways he comes to us—the preaching of his word, baptism, Holy Communion. The word and sacraments deliver forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. They deliver us Christ himself. These blessings are eternal. While time is running out on the world and the things of the world, the things we receive in word and sacrament are eternal. Time never runs out on them. They are eternal blessings.

Wise men and women still come to hear the glorious Word of God—to kneel at the manger of the Savior, cling to his cross, and revel in the brilliant and glorious resurrection from the dead—all for the forgiveness of sins and our timeless, never-ending life in heaven. This is the point of our text: time in the world is running out. The things of the world, marriage, the world's joys and sorrows, the goods and possessions of the world are all coming to an end. The eternal things, life, love, devotion to the Lord, serving our neighbor, these are forever.

Have you got time to serve our neighbor? This too is devotion to the Lord. It is the reason we are still living here in time. It is for serving our neighbor that he doesn't just yank us up into his kingdom the moment we first believe. Because our neighbor needs us.

Who is our neighbor? And what does serving out neighbor mean? It means loving our spouses, mourning with those who mourn, rejoicing with those who rejoice, acquiring, spending, investing, devoting worldly goods to serve others, dealing in real, daily life with all the demands of your vocations in whatever corner of the world God has put you. These also are the things of the Lord.

And these too, can have impact that is timeless and eternal. Our patient witness to a spouse who is not yet a believer can be the very word of God he uses to bring your loved one to heaven. Your care for a Christian husband or wife can help keep him or her in faith. Sharing joys and sorrows with friends and co-workers pictures for them the love of Christ, which gives them eternal life. Our material blessings used wisely and generously, can help advance the proclamation of the word to souls everywhere. In fact, our neighbor desperately needs your time devoted to him in order to receive the timeless blessings! Without our Christian witness, he cannot be saved.

Yes, we do have time for the timeless things, because every day God gives us is time for them! Every time he speaks to us in his word he is giving us those eternal blessings! It can only take a moment to declare in clearest terms that the Christ Child has given us eternal life by his humble birth in the world; by his perfect life credited to our account, and by his death on the cross in our place in payment for our sin.

You have been forgiven. Christ has spoken into your very hearts this day: Your are forgiven. The cost has been paid. You stand in the brilliant light of the Lord Jesus Christ. It only takes a moment in time to declare, but it's a message that every time—yes, even in this moment—gives us eternity.

Every time Christ comes to us in his sacraments, he is giving us himself! He is taking us in his arms in our baptism. He is really present with us in his supper. And those sacraments, performed here so simply, so quickly in time, likewise give us the timeless joy of heaven.

Every opportunity God gives us to love our neighbor is a moment in time in which the same timeless blessings of Christ may be passed along to another! Yes, we always have time for that!

A fellow pastor I know likes Hummel figurines even though they are a bit pricey. Once he purchased one as a gift for a friend and was pleasantly surprised to find it displayed in a nice glass-shelved curio cabinet. It was beautiful there. It was held in honor, and he was glad that his friend appreciated it enough to place it in such a position of honor. On one of his later visits, he found the curio cabinet full of all kinds of things: some expensive, some endowed with personal value, and some just cheap trinkets. The one great thing had lost its brilliance; everything else had crowded it out. It was still there, but was it still important? Years later, his friend passed away. And in the haste of cleaning out the house, no one took the time to sort out the precious from the petty. All the things from the curio cabinet were haphazardly thrown into a box. The $200 Hummel figurine was broken and now worth nothing.

We must never become so busy with the things of this world that we have no time for that which is timeless and central—the Gospel. Neither should we fall in the trap on the opposite end of the scale to think we haven't time for those things in this world that God has given for our holy use. God created the world and all things in it, yes, even our spouses and the people around us, for our good and for us to enjoy his good gifts. But the glorious figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ Child of Bethlehem, must always be front and center, beaming brightly with the glorious forgiveness of our sins. We always have God-given time for the bright Morning Star of this Epiphany season, for he brings us salvation, comfort, and joy. Alleluia.

Amen.