Lesley Wilson August 28th 2016 ~ Redeeming the Times

Last Sunday I was the designated intercessor at the 7:30 service.  In  preparing the prayers, my heart cry was, “Arise, O God...” In several of the psalms there are verses which exhort the Lord to arise and take action against violence, injustice and helplessness in their world (e.g. Pss. 7:6, 9:19,20, 10:12) and I often think how good it would be if God would intervene conclusively in the conflict situations in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc; if He would somehow solve the refugee problems, reverse climate change conditions and the effects of environmental degradation and our misuse of resources at one stroke.  And He could.Trouble is, justice demands that everyone be party to that action.  That’s how it will be at the culmination of time. . . but that time is not yet; the harvest of the righteous is still outstanding.  So His response to my cry was, “Awake, O sleeper!”  (the church). We are the ones who must arise – we, the redeemed, the body of Messiah.In Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, we are both ambassadors of God’s kingdom and fully-equipped soldiers in His army.  As ambassadors we must promote the vision and values of life in Jesus – live and love as messengers of the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation with God.  As soldiers we take on sickness and disease, injustice, poverty, greed, abuse of power, addiction – indeed any corruption of God’s ‘shalom’ in creation.  These are the manifestations of the enemy in our midst.  We have delegated authority and power in the name and under the blood of Jesus; we have the armour of God.  (Do read Eph. 6:10-18.)Earlier in Ephesians (5:14-16), Paul rallies us with the words, Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.  This is a reminder that we are a people with a life sentence on us (as opposed to a death sentence) – the promise of resurrection and new life in the age-to-come.  This is followed by, Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity/redeeming the times, because the days are evil.  Don’t we see it, the evil of the times!  But here is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which captures God’s perspective:  This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.  God still looks on all that He has created and sees it as “very good”, despite what man has wrought on it.  He has made us and put us here for just this time.  What’s God saying to us and what does He want us to do with any present moment (kairos), to actualise the good it contains?  Those are the questions we must apply ourselves to to see God arise.Do this, understanding the present time.  The hour has come for us to wake from our slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11).Lesley Wilson