I watch a lot of (maybe too much) sports, and recently I have noticed how important the “timekeeper” is in several sports. The timekeeper can determine the outcome of a game by a simple slip of the finger. Games with thousands of fans watching are stopped while officials determine the correct time of a play, shot or foul.
Who is the timekeeper in our lives?
Haddon Robinson, a Bible professor and excellent preacher, told the story of a woman who took a vacation without her husband. She planned to visit London, Rome and Vienna. When she arrived in London she called her husband to check in. When she asked about things, her husband said, “The cat died.”
The wife, upset, crying and angry, accused her husband of being insensitive.
“What did you expect?” he asked.
“When I called from London, you could have said, ‘The cat is on the roof.’ Then when I called from Rome, you could have said, ‘The cat is off the roof but is not doing well.’ And when I called from Vienna, you could have said, ‘The cat died.’”
The wife paused. “By the way, how is my mother?”
Her husband was quiet. Then he said, “She’s on the roof.”
Timing matters
In life and relationships, timing is critical. I read of a couple who felt called to seminary, but for them this meant moving from Washington to Los Angeles during a recession. They were young, with little income and no connections in LA. Three weeks before they were to leave, Sue learned she was pregnant. Bad timing.
This reminds me of how Mary and Joseph may have felt about Mary’s pregnancy. Bad timing. Mary is probably just a teenager when she receives the news that she will be with child by the Holy Spirit. And like this couple from Washington, during her pregnancy she and Joseph have to travel, not to LA but to Bethlehem.
If we look only at Mary and Joseph, we conclude that the timing is way off. There is nothing right about the timing of her expectancy, their marriage or their required trip to Bethlehem. All of it is out of sync.
Yet when we step back, we learn that from God’s point of view it is perfect. In Galatians 4:4, we read: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”
In literature we sometimes use the term “pregnant” for a phrase or statement that is unusually full of meaning. That certainly fits the phrase, “when the time had fully come.” The time was just right. How was this true?
At just the right time
Genesis 3:15 is our first hint of a coming Savior for our sins. Adam’s and Eve’s sin creates an immediate separation from God that they cannot repair. But, God promises to send a Savior, not only for them, but for all humanity. God tells Eve that her “seed” (offspring) will crush Satan’s head.
Many years later, God approachs a nomad named Abram to announce that he and his wife, though elderly and way past child-bearing years, will miraculously conceive a child through whom God will bless the whole world.
We find whispers of this blessing throughout the Old Testament. There is an anticipation of a Messiah, a Savior, who will bring salvation. And that is why Paul, writing to the believers in Galatia, can look back over history and declare that Jesus’ birth is at just the right time.
At this time in history, God’s people have lived under the burden of the Old Testament law with all its rituals, rules and sacrifices for around 1300 years. They are tired. They feel helpless to live up to all the requirements of the law. In fact, in Mark 1:15 we read, “At that time Jesus began to preach, ‘The time has come.’”
This is the right time for Jesus to be born culturally, politically and religiously.
It was the right time culturally. Alexander the Great has been so successful in his military campaigns that the Greek language has become the international language, much like English became in the 20th century. Greek was spoken all over the world, and more people learned to read than ever before.
In addition to this, Greek is a precise language. So, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek and later when the New Testament was written in Greek, it was very precise.
This combined to aid the spread of the gospel more quickly than it would have spread otherwise. It could not have been a better time for the news of Jesus’ birth to be passed all over the world. It was just the right time culturally.
It was the right time politically. Rome and its government have begun to dominate the world. The Pax Romano (Roman Peace) is in effect. As a result, nations were being connected in the most peaceful way in what was then modern history. Roads were built connecting the empires, and legions of Roman soldiers were posted to guard the roads. For the first time in the history of the world, people and information could move about freely and relatively safely.
Besides this, the Romans were fairly tolerant of religions. When they later declared that people could practice their own religion as long as they declared “Caesar is god,” there was one group that resisted – the Jews. While they were persecuted for this, the Jews were also finally given some latitude and exception because they were so stubborn about it.
So, when Christ was born, the Romans assumed Christianity was part of Judaism, and Christians were given this same exemption until 70 AD. It was the right time politically.
It was the right time religiously. The mythologies of Greece and Rome were beginning to lose their hold on people. People were looking for new answers to the meaning of life because the old explanations were turning out to be less than satisfying. Someone has said, “The Greek philosophers plowed the fields of the human heart, and Christ and his followers then sowed the seeds of meaning into those hearts.”
At the same time, within the Jewish community, there rose up what is now called a “Messianic fervor,” a hope that God would bring a deliverer. This hope developed and rose to a new height at this time. People were waiting and longing for God to show up. They were waiting for a Savior. It was just the right time.
God’s timing is best
In some ways we could say that everyone God uses, throughout all the long wait of the Old Testament, has to learn that God’s timing is best.
- Noah has to learn God’s timing. There was no reason to build a boat when it had not rained.
- Joseph’s story is a great example. Joseph tells his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it/used it for good.”
- Moses certainly learns God’s timing as his life can be seen in three 40-year segments. One season in a palace, the second in a desert and a final 40 years in leadership.
- David waits years to be king.
- Even Queen Esther learns from Mordecai, who says, “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.”
In Proverbs 16:9 we read, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Respected theologian J.I. Packer said, “We are free in our choices and yet, God sovereignly uses our free choices to achieve his perfect purposes.” This is one of the paradoxical truths that we don’t fully understand but accept by faith.
Am I trusting God’s timing?
Here’s my question for us: If God can work out the details for his Son to be born of a virgin, in the place prophesied 1,000 years earlier and at just the right time culturally, politically and religiously, are we willing to trust his timing in our lives?
How long are we willing to wait for God to come into our situations? How long are we willing to keep him out of our circumstances? Will we let him work out his perfect plan for us? That’s what all the ups and downs and starts and stops can add up to if we invite God to be the Master of our lives.
Remember the couple on their way to seminary? When they did get to California, they couldn’t find work for the first month. Sue’s experience was as a waitress, but no one wanted to hire a pregnant waitress. It left them confused about God’s guidance.
But one day, as Sue was looking for a waitress job in downtown LA, something happened. It was really hot, and the couple couldn’t afford air conditioning in their car. Sue stepped into an air-conditioned building for a drink and some relief from the heat. It turned out to be the Bank of America. She met the bank vice-president, who happened to be on the board at Talbot Seminary where her husband would be a student. Soon Sue had an interview, a job and a newfound faith in God’s timing.
This Christmas season, may we respond as Mary does. Even though she doesn’t know how this confusing message from God will turn out, Mary says, “May it be to me as you have said.”
Theologian and philosopher Kierkegaard says, “We understand life looking backwards, but we must live it looking forwards, and that is hard.”
One day we will look back on what is going on in our lives right now and be able to say, “At just the right time, God did that.” This Christmas, let us give God permission to be the timekeeper in our lives. At just the right time, God sent his Son!
Dennis Fast is the chaplain at Palm Village Retirement Communities in Reedley, California. He has served lead pastor roles in Hillsboro, Kansas and Reedley and as interim pastor and associate pastor of care at Hope Kingsburg, a Mennonite Brethren church in Kingsburg, California. He has also served as the interim Pacific District Conference minister and was the MB Foundation church relations director. Dennis and his wife, Connie, have three adult children and 15 grandchildren.
