living in the present

"After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you - for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." - 1 Corinthians 16:5-9 (NIV)

in this morning's sermon at york baptist church, revd gary patchen showed that paul was always on the lookout for doors and windows of opportunities to preach the gospel, to inaugurate the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

indeed, paul exemplifies living in the present. after all, he could do no other.

paul boasts about his sufferings

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.

I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

- 2 Corinthians 11:22-29 (NIV)

there is no point living in the past because we cannot go back and change what has already happened. history and the will of God are not about "what ifs", but about "what is". there is no point living in the future either because we cannot go forward and predict what is going to happen. the only opportunities we can be sure of having are the ones right in front of us, the ones which arise from living in the present.

given that we live in a world with limited resources, opportunities come with opportunity costs. the opportunity to travel comes with giving up the opportunity to put the time and money otherwise spent to better use. the opportunity to be a postholder comes with giving up the opportunity to serve God more effectively as a non-postholder. the opportunity to be in a relationship comes with giving up the opportunity to be single. for that matter, the opportunity to be single comes with giving up the opportunity to be in a relationship.

"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." - Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." - James 4:13-17 (NIV)

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come - it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."" - Psalm 40:6-8 (NIV)

link: more on living in the present (12 aug 09)