Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Van Gogh, Waiting Room 1882 (Public Domain)

Luke 12:32-40

The late Irish comedian, Dave Allen once said that the most important thing we as parents do, is teach our children about time. 

He explained how he had broached the subject with his own child, informing him, “I’m going to teach you to read the clock.”

To which his child asked, “Why?”

“Because it is important”, explained Allen, “that you know the time.”

To which his child again asked, “Why?”

“Because how would you know when to get up and go to school?”

“Mummy would make me,” came the obvious answer.

“Well, what if mummy wasn’t there!?” retorted Allen.

“You’d make me,” came the second obvious response.

“What if we both weren’t there!?” impatiently questioned Allen.

“Well, then I wouldn’t go to school,” replied his son simply.

~

There are many issues at the center of the Gospel for today; 

The Kingdom of Heaven,

Watchful vigilance,

Responsible anticipation,

But central to all these issues is an underlying concept: time. 

In a world where time is considered such a high commodity, I wonder how far removed we are from the parables that we hear today. 

Especially when we throw around catchy phrases like; 

"Live like there is no tomorrow."

"Live each day like it is your last."

"Live as if you’ll only live once."

"Live like you are dying."

All these quotes imply that there is no future, no promise, no hope. 

And this notion of limited time is a prevalent attitude for obvious reasons. 

Any understanding of heaven, or this kingdom that Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel,  is an abstract idea to us.

It is an idea that we blindly subscribe to with little thought or rational consideration. 

So, then just WHAT exactly IS assured when Jesus speaks of this kingdom?

What exactly are we buying into when we consider the future prospects of this heavenly kingdom?

Or maybe we should think about it this way?

Given that it is vacation season and we live in a beach community, just WHAT amenities are being offered in this kingdom?

Jesus seems to recommend giving alms and resigning ourselves from our need for possessions, almost as an entrance fee, but when he talks of treasures that no thief will approach or moth can destroy?

It seems obvious we aren’t talking about a modern sense of paper or coin currency.

Any tangible goods seem out of the question as well.

So, when the disciples, the religious leaders, and Jesus’ followers ask questions about this kingdom, we shouldn’t find it as any surprise that we keep asking the same questions about this kingdom and prodding for further details to this very day. 

Today, I can only stand before you and tell you with the utmost certainty that I can only name one objective or definitive amenity, commodity, or treasure in the kingdom of heaven - 

Infinite time. Eternity. 

Isn’t that the only consistent description of the kingdom that we can name beyond a doubt?

A place that goes beyond the limitations of a beginning or an end.

A place where we are not only rejoined with the priesthood of all believers, but a place where we ourselves are not subjected to any ending, instead being assured an eternity, eternal life.

Petrov-Vodkin, Anxiety 1926 (Public Domain)

~

When the1993 film, Groundhog Day was released, it had a fairly decent reception in the box office. 

But the movie Groundhog Day has become a bit of a cult classic over the years, perhaps because it speaks to something we hear in our text for today. 

The film portrays Phil Connors, a Pittsburgh weather reporter, who is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual festivities that surround the groundhog on February 2nd. 

Phil, played by Bill Murray, is disgusted with the assignment, and he finds himself trapped in Punxsutawney following a snowstorm. 

Not only trapped in the town, but trapped reliving the same day, over and over, in a time loop. 

Initially, Phil makes poor use of the situation, knowing he will suffer no consequences for stealing, taking advantage of the residents of the town, or just living in a generally debaucherous fashion. 

But Phil comes to find himself becoming depressed as his alarm clock wakes him from sleep day after day to the tune of Sonny and Cher’s I Got You Babe.

Increasingly hopeless, Phil unsuccessfully attempts to break the time loop, by kidnapping the groundhog and even ending his own life. 

By the end of the film, Phil has given up trying to break the time loop, and he has accepted the fact that he will remain reliving his groundhog day for an eternity. 

In that moment, Phil realizes the infinite significance of each moment of his day. 

He comes to find that he can impact every life in that town. 

Not because of his gifts or his actions, but because he fully realizes his gift of that one day. 

And it is in the treasure of the life he lives in that one day, Phil finds the value of his eternal life. 

~

The gift of the time we have in this life deteriorates into the past in just one fleeting moment.

And when we realize this, we hold tight to what is now: our possessions, our relations, our mortality, our time. 

If we cannot value the treasure of every moment of this life, then how will we truly treasure the eternity of the kingdom?

We are not called to live life like there is no tomorrow, we are called to live life the way we want to live eternally. 

We are not called to live each day like it is our last, we are called to live life like it is our everyday.

We are not called to live as if we’ll only live once, but as if in that one moment we live eternally. 

We are not called to live like we are dying, we are called to live life like we are on the verge of living a life like no other, an eternal life.

Because sisters and brothers, THAT is the promise. 

But when we live our lives, seeking insurance for the life we have, we become invested in ourselves. 

The value of our lives becomes reflected in the possessions we accrue, numbers in bank accounts become symbolic of our personal worth, and that is not who we were intended to be. 

The parables shared today describe lives that are not lived for the purpose of insuring the lives or the time that we HAVE,  but they describe lives that are fully lived because of trust in the assurance of an eternal kingdom. 

And if we believe in that promise that is assured, why would we not be excitedly anticipating that reality rather than anxiously holding onto our fleeting moments?

Boudin, Fisherwives Waiting For The Boats To Return 1875 (Public Domain)

~

I can’t claim that this is an easy message to hear, because it is not an easy message to proclaim. 

We all live in a state of anxiety and unease, given our own uncertain outcomes as well as the uncertainty that surrounds others we know and we love. 

This week my family and I had the opportunity to meet up with the widow and gold star wife of one of the Marines I once served with while she was here in Virginia visiting on vacation. 

Her husband looked out for so many young Marines, including myself, and was considered a role model to everyone who knew him, especially those who served with him. 

The day he died, time stopped for many of us, including his wife. 

Years later, she remarried and today she has two beautiful children. 

This past week, when we got together, our children played and we talked. 

But on our drive home, I wrestled with the fact that the man who had been central in our relationship had not come up once. 

We talked about our kids, the other Marines and Corpsman we stay in touch with, work, and all the common everyday conversations that we once avoided. 

But for a few years it seemed like I avoided talking about anything but him whenever I saw her. 

As if I was trying to insure her that his memory was still with us. 

As if I was trying to insure that he would not be forgotten, or his sacrifice taken for granted.

But now, he hardly comes up, and I know he is still very present in our thoughts whenever we meet. 

I couldn't figure it out. Were we all of a sudden scared to talk about him?

Had his memory become taboo?

As we pulled back into town, I frantically searched for a picture of his tombstone realizing;

THAT was where I would find the answer. 

You see, Joe’s favorite song was the 80’s hit, Final Countdown by the Swedish rock band Europe. 

The same one you hear at sporting events and on the Geico commercial. 

People used to tease him about it and how bad the song was, but when his wife commissioned his tombstone, under the Eagle Globe and Anchor, his name, dates, details, and the cross of Christ,

Right at the base of the tombstone the words are etched into his grave:

“See you at the final countdown.”

In that moment, I think I figured it out. 

She doesn’t need insurance, because she fully believes in the assurance, 

And in that faith she has in that promise, she continues to live, knowing she will one day be with, not only the family she presently has, but with Joe in a state of eternal perfection and love, together. 

~

Sisters and brothers, we have been entrusted with the treasure of our limited time, here and now. 

And in the absence of the master who has entrusted us with that gift, we can hoard that time anxiously uncertain. 

Or like that amazing woman I still know and love so dearly  

-because of not only her character, but her faith-

we can be freed to live lives knowing time as not the commodity we hoard, 

but the never-ending treasure we have been assured upon the master’s return. 

It is in that moment we can fully embrace the infinite significance of every moment certain that joy and nothing less will find us

And we will find ourselves not only being blessed but being a blessing to others.

And light, love’s own crucified risen light, will find each and every one of us

All the way to that home in the eternal kingdom. 

Amen

Correggio, The Vision of St. John On Patmos
1520-1523 (Public Domain)

Sources

Brisson, Carson. Summer Intensive Hebrew Class. Union Presbyterian Seminary, July 12, 2012.

davidwrightatloppers. “Dave Allen - ‘teaching your kid time’ - ’93 - Stereo HQ.” YouTube. October 5, 2009. Posted August 5, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QVPUIRGthI.

Europe. “The Final Countdown.” on The Final Countdown. n.p.: Epic Records, 1986, CD.

Kierkegaard, Soren and Howard Vincent Hong. Kierkegaard’s Writings, XII: Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, Volume I. Edited by Edna H. Hong. United States: Princeton University Press, 2009.

Ramis, Harold and Danny Rubin. Groundhog Day. Directed by Harold Ramis. USA: Columbia Pictures, 1993. Film.