First Things First
Matthew 6:25-33
University Christian Church, Seattle, WA
March 5, 2006 (First Sunday in Lent and Stewardship Emphasis)
Rev. Sandy Messick

• How many ways do we talk about time?
• We say: Time flies, or time is running out, or you have time on your hands
• We say: you can mark time, save time, waste time, or spend time.
• You should do this, we say, because you have more time. Not me, I’m outta time. Well you better make time. Some people are even doing time.
• When the truth is: we all have the same amount of time.
• 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 12 months in a year
• According to the song from the musical Rent, there are 525,600 minutes in a year.
• And each of us, at least in any given day, has the same amount of time

• So the question really isn’t how much time do you have, but how will you use the time you have.
• At the first gathering of the VISION event, someone asked “Are we spending our time on those things that are most important?” And there it is, the question for all of us.

• Today we begin our stewardship emphasis. We are celebrating the abundance of our blessings and we begin with the gift of time.
• And it really is a gift isn’t it. Because none of us are guaranteed a certain number of hours or days. We’ve all known of people who thought they had a lifetime and that someday they would start living their priorities, and tragically, the someday never happened. Time, each day and each moment, is a gift, to be wasted or cherished, to be squandered or used well.
• And how we use it is our gift back to God. How we use all of our resources including our time reflects our priorities whether consciously or unconsciously. How are you spending your gift?

• Most of us, myself included I confess, spend it mindlessly.
• Don’t think a lot about whether or not this or that activity truly reflects what I believe is important. We just do stuff, and we get through the day, and at the end of the day, we struggle to even remember what we did. Even less are we able to point to how what we did made a difference.
• Most of the time, we just wonder “where did the time go?” and wander off in a daze to bed.
• Or, on the other hand, we spend it not mindlessly, but foolishly fretting and worrying over things we can’t control. We worry about what she said, or what he’s doing, or what’s happening over there…
• We lament that which we cannot change instead of focusing our efforts on changing that which we can change.
• Someone once told me, it’s only worth worrying about if you’d remember it in 10 years or would notice it riding by on a fast horse. Think about that.
• What are you worrying about, fretting over, spending your time on? How are you using God’s gift of time.

• The familiar passage of scripture this morning reminds us to seek first the kingdom of God. God knows we worry about our life, what we’ll wear, what we’ll eat. Some worry about those things more than others of course, but God knows we’re spending precious time on those issues. And Jesus points out that God knows you need those things, but first things first. Seek first the kingdom of God, and the rest will fall into place.
• A time management expert was doing a demonstration for a classroom full of students. He showed them a large glass jar. Then he put some large rocks in the jar until he couldn’t fit anymore. “Is the jar full?” he asked. “Yes,” said the students.
• “No” said the teacher. And he poured some gravel into the jar. When he shook the jar, the gravel settled into the spaces between the larger rocks. “Is it full now?” he asked. The class was pretty smart. They caught on quick. “Probably not,” said one student.
• “Good,” said the teacher. And he poured some sand into the jar, and the sand trickled into the spaces left by the rocks and gravel. “How about now?” he asked. “No,” said the class in unison.
• “Right,” said the teacher. And he poured water into the jar and filled up the remaining space. “What’s the lesson we learn from this?” he asked.
• One of the students raised his hand, “No matter how full your schedule is, if you try hard enough you can always fit more in!”
• “Wrong,” said the teacher. “The point is, you have to put the large rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all.

• What are the large rocks that need to go in first? In your life, here at church, here as the church. We can name lots of important things: family, career, spiritual life, church work, work in the ecumenical parish, service to those in need, being a voice in the wider community, you can fill in the rest. But for you, in your life, according to the priorities God has revealed for you…what are the big rocks, the most important. What has to come first as you seek first the kingdom of God? What has to come first as we, in this place, seek first the kingdom of God? The answer is different for different people, and the answer is different in different seasons of our life. What was most important 10, 20, or 50 years ago, may not be most important now. And what’s most important now may not have been on the radar even a few months ago.
• Remember one afternoon when John was a baby. He wasn’t feeling well and had been fussy all day. He’d finally fallen asleep in my arms and I thought, “Here’s my chance. There’s so much that needs to be done. What should I do first.” And I thought about it. And decided that the most important thing, was to stay put and hold my baby. First things first.
• Then there was the church member who agreed to be moderator, leading the church through a particularly difficult time. I expressed my surprise to her that she’d agreed because I knew how busy she was and how she’d sworn up and down that this time she’d say no. She told me, “I didn’t really feel I had time, but I did feel that this was just what God wanted me to do, so I’ve cleared my calendar, and said no to other things in order to focus on this.” First things first.
• One snowy Sunday morning when most people used the weather as an excuse to stay home, the pastor was surprised to see an elderly member of the congregation in his usual spot in his usual pew. “I’m surprised to see you here this morning,” the pastor said, “I’d have thought you’d have chosen to stay in today.” The gentleman replied, “If I’d made the decision this morning, I probably would have stayed home today. But I made the commitment to be in church months ago, and so I’m here today.” First things first.
• Many of you know that I’m working with congregations in the region as they’ve begun the Journey of Discovery program, the region’s congregational transformation program. The 8 churches have begun the first of a 5-phase program. In this phase they are designing their plan for moving through the process: how will they communicate and involve the congregation, who needs to be on the planning team, etc. One of the toughest questions they have to answer though is “What will we not do in order to devote time to this process.” Like most of us, everything seems important. What can we give up? First things first.
• The gift of time is a gift from God. How we use our time is our gift to God. How are you spending your gift? Are we spending our time on the most important things?
• Jesus reminds us, “no one by worrying can add even an hour to their lifespan, so instead, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”