
May 06, 2020
Episode #040
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Are you good at sanctifying time? David & Karen Mains talk about learning to set aside time unto the Lord.
Episode Transcript
David: Anyway, the new question that I want to insert in here, and it may sound odd to someone, sound somewhat spiritual, it’s: Are you good at sanctifying time? Because that’s what we’re talking about. Sanctify time means to make it sacred or to, it’s the opposite of defiling it, or maybe I should say wasting it, frittering it away.
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David: Okay, listening friend, our visit today relates to time management. Is that something you would say you’re good at? How about you, Karen?
Karen: Mean to throw it to me. I was waiting to hear from our listeners. I have learned to be a pretty good time manager. I think my ideal for this is a little bit higher than I can ever achieve. But yeah, I have learned to be, through the years, a better time manager.
David: I think you’re great at it. You accomplish so much stuff. You’re trying to teach me how to do the laundry. I’ve mastered doing the dishes.
Karen: The threat here is if I die, you will not know how to get clean clothes. If I die before you. Good job, Mains. You’ve done it, what twice?
Intro: Welcome to the Before We Go Podcast featuring Dr. David Mains and his wife, noted author Karen Mains. Here’s David and Karen Mains.
David: Someone asked me the other day, Karen. Now, what am I doing with all the time I have now?
Karen: I think you need to answer that question this way by telling our listeners what you used to do before this question was asked.
David: Well, I was workaholic. It’s one of my embarrassing aspects in earlier life.
Karen: I’m going to be kind and tender here where sometimes that wasn’t when you were in the middle of those years. You were in a system that fed right into workaholism. You had a daily broadcast and aired over 500 stations. And so, we were doing that every day.
David: Six days a week.
Karen: Six days a week.
David: And then we had the television program.
Karen: Yeah, and then you thought it’d be a good idea to start a television program. So, we had that. We had our own publishing house. We were creating materials to help pastors do better with their sermon planning and preaching and worship planning. That consequently led to like, I think it was, could I be right, 130 to some pastor’s conferences per year that you were doing as well?
David: I didn’t do all of them, Karen. That would be impossible. I was in charge of all of that.
Karen: But you did a lot of that. You did a lot of those.
David: Yes, I did.
Karen: So, this question that you say that someone asked you recently was juxtaposed about what they knew about your past involvements with your life. We’re not doing any of those things now.
David: Fortunately, this was a good friend. So, I didn’t have to try to impress someone. And I said to him, well, my days now I’m good as a grandfather. That’s because our youngest son died at age 42. And there were three very small children in the family. So, two days a week, the grandkids come by after school. So, they’re here from 3:15 till about 5:00, 5:30 when their mom, who’s a wonder woman, she keeps working and…
Karen: She’s amazing.
David: Yeah, she’s just on a applaud every time…
Karen: Say her name.
David: Say her name…but the kids come by, and I enjoy them. Sometimes I can’t give them as much attention as I would like, but other days I give them my total attention.
Karen: And then we’re on call with our daughter-in-law Angela in case her schedule falls through or something falls through as far as her childcare, like a day off from school, things like that. Then we pitch in.
David: And I told his friend, I said I spent a lot of time in scripture and prayer, and that was a fair statement. He asked me what I meant by that. And I said, well, I try every morning, although again, I’m not rigid in a sense, to have at least an extended time in scripture. I’m working my way second time through the Bible now, and I read it and try to say what are the major messages that are there. Then I have extended prayer time. I spend more time in prayer than I do in the scriptures, but I do that twice a day. I’m not rigid in it. If I miss a time, I don’t think the world has come apart.
Karen: Because you have a break.
David: It’s a responsibility. I feel it as from the Lord. I’m moving from just praying for myself and those people I’m concerned with to praying sincerely, not alone but with friends as well, for the country. And now I have this burden that the Lord is asking me to pray also for the world. I don’t know all the countries of the world. It’s going to take a while to inform myself so that I can pray and not just go through the motions, but I’m feeling that impetus in terms of my life. So, yeah…
Karen: I think this is one of the gifts of the later years, of the aging years, is that some of the schedules that many of us kept. People ask us, are you retired? And I don’t really feel that we are. I think we’re very active.
David: No.
Karen: But not like we were before, not with the kinds of demands that we just sort of explained. And so, we have time. We have time now to devote to prayer and intercession. And I think you are much better at this than I am because you really do set aside. I kind of still pray on the run or on the go. I try and remember people as I’m moving through my day, but you set those times aside. And I think this is one of the great gifts of the elder days. And I would like to challenge anyone who’s listening to us, who is in this latter part of life, to turn off the screens and spend more time praying because I do believe the fabric of our nation and the fabric of our families, and the fabric of our social concerns is intertwined somehow with those diligent prayers. We know not what we do. I mean, you can’t measure the effect of your intercessory prayers. But I do believe in my heart that that’s essential. It’s an essential activity of those who are older to give the time now that we’re older that has been freed for them, a major part of that time to this work of prayer.
David: Part of it is. They’re simple things. If you want to pray in the morning, you don’t stay up late at night.
Karen: Right.
David: So that sounds like it’s so obvious you shouldn’t have to say it. But I know if I stay up past 10:30, 11 o’clock at night, I’m not going to be any good in terms of the morning because I just can’t wake up that fast. I do have the advantage that I don’t have to clean up, shave, you know, whatever. I get out of bed; I go across the hall and there’s my office.
Karen: You do do that. Sometimes you do clean up, shave, and whatever.
David: I usually do that after I pray.
Karen: You don’t have to go to the office.
David: Yeah, I don’t have to do that.
Karen: Get ready to go to the office.
David: That’s right. You get up, you don’t go across the hall to my office, which is just a converted bedroom, but you turn right and go down very short hall and there you have your office. But you don’t allow television to get into those rooms because you don’t want that intrusion because for me, television is very easy to turn it on and try to say, okay, what happened?
Karen: What’s going on? Yeah.
David: Yeah. Anyway, I spend a lot of time in scripture and prayer. And I do agree with you as we get older, this is one of the, it’s not only an option, but it’s an obligation.
Karen: And I think it becomes a joy too, as far as I have the time to do this. Now I can really devote some of my time to it.
David: I talked to this friend. I said, we try to do one podcast a week. Oh, you do that? He said, you know, I thought the whole world knew that we were podcasts. He hadn’t any idea.
Karen: Of 50 people.
David: Anyway, the new question that I want to insert in here, and it may sound odd to someone, sound somewhat spiritual, it’s: Are you good at sanctifying time? Because that’s what we’re talking about. Sanctify time means to make it sacred or to, it’s the opposite of defiling it, or maybe I should say wasting it, frittering it away.
Karen: Just living in a secular kind of understanding of time.
David: I believe as we get older, we’re able to play this greater role of being the prayer base for the country or for the world. We don’t have kids now. We don’t have the obligations. I’ve learned in the process…
Karen: We have adult children, but we don’t have little kids in the house. I’m just clarifying it.
David: That’s very helpful. I’ve also learned over the years that I can say no, and it won’t destroy the world.
Karen: People don’t even care when you say no.
David: Oh, yeah. The world will go on quite well without me. But sanctifying time, how are you at that?
Karen: Let’s talk about what that is a little bit. It is learning to set aside time unto the Lord, learning to take moments and dedicate them to prayer, to worship, or to doing God’s work. And in the Old Testament, the Jewish people were called out of a pagan kind of culture. And those cultures were, they measured special days according to the seasons, according to harvest, according to, you know… and God asked them to do something more than that. He asked them to…
David: You’re talking about the Jewish people.
Karen: The Jewish people, he asked them to set, first of all, one day aside, Shabbat or Sabbath, which was beginning on.
David: Beginning on sundown on Friday.
Karen: Sundown on Friday night. And I went for, I think it was 26 hours, a little bit beyond the 24 hours. He made a big deal out of that. I mean, there were judgments that would come if you did not set that time aside. So, that was one example of God reaching down into history and asking a certain group of people to sanctify time.
David: You were not an animal.
Karen: You were not an animal.
David: You worked, yes, that’s true, but you also worshiped.
Karen: Yeah, and you worshiped, and you didn’t work on that one day that was set aside. It was a day for, given to God, to honor him, to know him better, but also to not work, to refrain from work, the rigorous parameters on that, but to have then time to enjoy one another. This is beautiful. This is a beautiful gift to humankind. So that was one of the first examples we have in the scripture of God asking people to sanctify time.
David: Also, in terms of seasons, what you were talking about with the people coming out of Egypt, they were to commemorate that; never forget that. It was to let your present history reflect your past history.
Karen: Right, that would be Passover, the Jewish experience of God having taken them out of Egypt, calling them out of Egypt, and protecting them as they fled.
David: Special times, and some were added later. You know, the whole of the Maccabean revolution under the Greeks, that became a special time for the Jewish people, which they celebrate every year, still do.
So, there was one day a week when you sanctified time, and then there were also seasons of the year when you sanctified time. I was raised in a Baptist church. I’m very grateful for that background, but we didn’t have a church calendar. I didn’t know that the major part of the Christian world followed a church calendar. If you divide the Christian church into the three basic elements, you’re talking about Roman Catholic, Protestant, and then Eastern Orthodox. Of those, the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox follow a church calendar, and a good number of the churches within the Protestant category follow a church calendar. I was in one of the churches that didn’t think in terms of a church calendar, and I’m not judging, I’m just explaining. So, when you come to a church calendar, which is a wonderful way to sanctify time, and I’m just now learning about it. But let’s talk about the church calendar and what some churches do to help them set aside time as a secret?
Karen: Well, it’s a really interesting system of sanctifying time. So, and there are a variety of church calendars, depending on what faith confession you’re a part of. They have variations in them. But basically, broadly speaking, the church calendar begins with Advent. Those are the four weeks before Christmas Day.
David: So, your eyes from Christmas Day, you back up, and that’ll be the fourth Sunday of Advent. And Advent means coming.
Karen: It means getting your, yes, the word Advent is from a word that means coming. And of course, it’s the coming of Christ, the Christ baby. And those…
David: It’s not only carrying the first coming of Christ, but Advent season also. I’m the church calendar expert on this subject.
Karen: All of a sudden, commemorates the second coming of Christ.
David: The second coming, right.
Karen: Yes, thank you.
Karen: And that starts the church year.
Karen: Right.
David: So, it’s going to be in either late November or early December. And it’s kind of odd because you haven’t had New Year’s yet.
Karen: New Year’s doesn’t really fit on the church calendar.
David: Right. So, you have this season of coming.
Karen: And it’s a season of preparation. You’re getting yourself ready for this holy event where heaven breaks into earth time, actually, is what happens with that. And it’s a series, a season of self-examination and being serious about our flaws and the sins we hold tightly to and don’t want to recognize and asking the Lord to examine our hearts and help us examine our hearts. And churches that are in the church calendar, they’re more of what we call liturgical churches. They have…
David: They follow a set order.
Karen: They have a set order. We’ll observe Advent as that kind of season, as a season of preparation for celebration. But to really look into our hearts and do the internal work that needs to be done.
David: Then it goes to what? Then it goes to epiphany. Is that correct?
Karen: Yes. Epiphany, which is the…
David: It’s kind of like manifestation.
Karen: Manifestation. And it celebrates the coming of the wise men to recognize this new-born babe is the king who has come.
David: But different kind of epiphanies where God breaks into the world.
Karen: God breaks into the world, yeah.
David: And then you move… Let’s not cover the whole calendar, but we get an idea. I know that there’s a moving forward, a long season of which is the season of Lent and Easter.
Karen: Right. So Lent is on the other side of the calendar into the new year. And it’s… I believe it’s 30 days of preparation for Easter. I mean, you know, how wonderful is that? We don’t just… I think from our background, and I was raised similarly to you, David, wonderful churches, but they didn’t have a liturgical system at all. You just sort of blipped into Easter. and it was the blip on the calendar.
David: Sunrise service for whatever time.
Karen: Sunrise, yeah, sunrises. Those were actually wonderful.
David: You’re not putting that down.
Karen: Not, but the preparation for Easter that the Lenten season provides is really a way to make it holy. And so, your whole 30 days before Easter are days for thinking seriously about the death and resurrection of Christ and reading scriptures that prepare you for that and looking at your own heart.
David: This year, Karen, I did something I’ve never ever done before. The start of that Lenten season is with Ash Wednesday. And the priest or the rector or whatever you’d call it.
Karen: We go to an Anglican church and so they do have a priest, but they’re married priests, so it’s not quite the same as the Catholic Church.
David: Anyway, on Ash Wednesday they put the sign of the cross on your forehead.
Karen: With ashes.
David: With ashes, yeah. I’m 83 years old. I was 83 years old the first time I ever had that happen. And part of it happened because I went to the service, and I didn’t know they were going to do that.
Karen: Oh, is that the truth?
David: Yeah. And I wouldn’t have been opposed to it. It’s just not something in my background.
Karen: I’ve been doing this for decades.
David: I know you have.
Karen: Where have you been? You must have been recording in the studio and you got out of it somehow.
David: It just was the very first time. And I looked and all the people had a cross on their forehead.
Karen: What did that do to you?
David: Well, it made me realize that I had a cross on my forehead, which didn’t really hit me until on the way home. I thought I’ll stop at Walgreens on the way home. I thought, oh man, I got that cross on my forehead. And why would I feel funny about that? I have no idea. But it was a whole new experience for me, and you know, I’m saying to myself, I’m setting aside time. I’m sanctifying time with that cross on my forehead saying this is special time for me and I am a Christ follower.
Karen: That’s right. And people who do that early in the morning on Ash Wednesday wear that cross on their forehead all through their workday, no matter where they are. I mean, that’s the ideal. So, it is a way to say “I set aside to God and I’m setting the special time aside to God. Ash Wednesday, I’m observing Lent looking toward Easter.”
David: Well, it was an interesting experience for me. Anyway, and I thought to myself, I probably should explore this even more. In fact, if I put it into a sentence, I always put it into a sentence saying knowing about the church calendar could help me or could help one to sanctify time. Is it possible that after a while you get the ashes on your forehead every year and it doesn’t mean anything to you?
Karen: I don’t think so because the scripture is in that service.
David: It was interesting to me because when I went up, it’s kind of like going up for communion or whatever terms you use. And the priest says to you “From ash to ashes…
Karen: Ashes to ashes from dust to dust. I mean, it’s an extraordinary reminder. We’re at the stage in our lives when we know that death is much more close than it has ever been in our lives. In fact, there are Lenten practices that people sort of self-choose in these churches. And you hear people say, this is what are you giving up for Lent? This is what I’m giving up for Lent. Sometimes I think they’re a little inane like chocolate or, you know, but that’s between those people and their particular journey with God.
You and I, this Lent, are looking at our coming death, which seems to be a practice that’s much more significant, considering those scriptures that are given out in the Ash Wednesday service. And saying, are we ready? Have we put everything in place? Are the wills, the documents that need to be done? Have we chosen? Do we want to be cremated? So that our kids don’t have any of these decisions to make. They’ve all been made for them. Even I would like to write letters to each of our offspring during this season of Lent and say, this is why you have brought joy to me. And I want you to always remember that I loved you. You were a delight. I believe in you. I know that you will do things for God in his kingdom, in the world, in the days ahead. So, I want each one of our offspring to have a letter from me and from you. So, on our death, everything number one will be planned. The things that we need to do.
David: I think I’d like to give up candy for you.
Karen: You’d like chocolate, wouldn’t you?
David: That would be much easier than what you’re talking about. One way or the other, the whole of the season of Lent puts you into that mindset.
Karen: Right.
David: We have a trip we’re going to make to Iowa from Chicago where we live to Iowa where your brother lives. There’s been a sickness in the family, so we’re going to go out and just kind of be with them. But I know you want to use that whole trip to plan all this.
Karen: What better way to do it than in a car? Traveling.
David: I think it’s good.
Karen: Yeah, I think that’s a great time to make all of those plans and do it. But that’s what our Lenten practice is this year, just to give people an example.
David: Are we wanting people to become a part of a liturgical church?
Karen: No, I think they need to go where God has put them and planted them. But I don’t think it would hurt to expose yourself if you don’t know anything about liturgy. A lot of people have been in liturgical churches and have left them for more Bible preaching churches. I mean, this is really interesting.
David: It’s interesting.
Karen: It’s great phenomenon. Yeah, because the whole church doesn’t seem like it can all be captured in one place. But I would say expose yourself to it. You know, you can go to the Internet and pull stuff down. There’s all kinds of stuff there. Attend a service with a friend who goes to those kinds of churches. Just expose yourself to it because there’s a grandeur to the body of Christ that sometimes we get catalogued into our own little way of doing things and don’t realize how broad and beautiful and expressive it is.
David: I’d say if you do visit somewhere, also ask questions.
Karen: Ask questions of your friend.
David: Because there are reasons people do things.
Karen: Yeah.
David: So, why is the minister…
Karen: …wear robe…
David: Wear robe or different colored robes on? And it could be that it will help you in this whole process of sanctifying time, because I think if I go back to that initial question, most people would say, I try, but I’m not that good at sanctifying time. And basically, what we’re saying as we just discussed this and trying to avoid pitfalls where we’re misunderstood is that knowing about the church calendar could help one to sanctify time. So, if you’re hearing us, hear us not as people who are saying “This is the way to do it.” But as fellow travelers, and we’re saying there are aspects to this that have proven helpful to us.
Karen: So, I want to say to those who are listening that this may be all new. And so, what we do with new information is we quietly go before the Lord and say, “Well, that was interesting. I don’t know if I’m on that page or not. But Father, what is it you would like me to learn about? What is it you would like me to think about? And then if he’s wanting you to go on this journey, what I find in my life, there’ll be two or three things that happen that are, that seem coincidental, but they’re not. They’re pertinent to that prayer. And then I know that’s the right thing for me to do. I feel comfortable about that and be a word from scripture, be a friend who invites us to something.” I mean, it’s just amazing how this works out. But start with that prayer. “What is it you want me to learn about sanctifying time? I want to be obedient to the things you want to teach me.”
David: Okay. I think we’ve covered what we had in mind. We’re not in any sense trying to say to people after a number of years, change churches. That’s not it at all. Just give opportunity for new ways of thinking. And especially if you’re one of those who says, “You know, I’m not all that good at sanctifying time.” Let the Lord do a new work in you and don’t think that you have to, all of a sudden, turn your whole life upside down and upset the family and all the rest. Just say, “Lord, I don’t know everything. There are certain things that could be helpful to me that may be open to those.” And the Holy Spirit will teach you in a very special way. So, thank you. I wish sometimes that another person could just join us and say, you confuse me here. That would be very helpful, but we’re here together doing the best job we can. And hopefully our words have been a challenge to you.
Outgo: You’ve been listening to the Before We Go Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please remember to rate, review, and share on whatever platform you listen. This podcast is copyright 2020 by Mainstay Ministries, Post Office Box 30, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187.
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