Schedules

The story in John 7:2-9 tell us much about the thinking of Jesus. We all have a sense of pace in our heads. We often have conflict with others when their sense of pace is different than ours. Some have a very slow pace, like the turtle, but consistent. Others have a very fast pace, like the rabbit, but with a touch of ADD. How can two walk together unless they be in agreement? For most of our lives Brenda and I have taken two cars to church because we are on different schedules with different paces. Jesus had a pace and schedule in His head inspired by His Father and the Spirit. His time was not in His hands. He, as we say, marched to the beat of a different drummer. He had a very specific destination with a very specific flight plan, and He was not going to be knocked off schedule by his brothers who did not have a clue because they were acting, as Paul once did, in ignorance and unbelief (1 Tim.1:13). Jesus had a divine appointment on a hill outside of Jerusalem, in a grave not far away, and a precise moment on a Sunday morning. As He drew nearer to his destination, timing was even more important. He did not want to arrive too early.

The brothers wanted Jesus to go to Jerusalem for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time. Jesus would not be moved by their insistence. Here is what we learn about Jesus. He will not adjust his schedule for anyone who out of wrong motives wants to change God's timing. Now this does not mean Jesus would not take time out of His schedule to minister to hurting people. He often did that. But, this is different. He was on a mission and would not be sidetracked even by family who simply did not understand that mission. We are going to see another piece of Jesus thinking in the new post that will complete this picture.

But, what of us? I know we do not have the same itinerary as Jesus. We are not heading for a hill, a grave or a Sunday morning rising to save the world, but we do have a schedule that is set by a divine travel agent. We have work to do and to accomplish before we die. We can debate how detailed our bucket list is as set by Jesus (not our own bucket list) but we have a work to do, prepared in advance by God himself (Eph.2:10). God is working with us to bring this to completion (Phil.1:6). History is hurling through space to a grand conclusion, and we are swept up in it as God works through us to fulfill His mission. I want to have this sense of pace and agenda and schedule in my head. I want to know that I am doing the most important things. I want to know that I am not getting ahead of Him or lagging behind Him but rather keeping pace with the Spirit (Gal.5:25). Do we wake up and have the sense of His schedule in our head? Do you merely make worldly plans (2 Cor.1:15ff) with worldly ambitions, our do you have a sense of the "will of God" for today, for this moment? Do you have a schedule in your head? Whose is it? This is how we relate to unbelief. We call unbelief to get on His schedule and to abandon theirs.