The Buy Back Price
redeeming the time because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16
Redeeming – What is your time worth? Most of us wouldn’t think of this as a theological question, but it is. We are likely to consider a question about the value of time as a business inquiry, far from the mind of the God of redemption. We are apt to say that God has all the time in the world, and therefore is not driven by the urgency of the moment. We think that our assessment of the value of time (monetary) is not really spiritual. But all this confusion comes from not appreciating that Paul uses the word kairos (the opportune moment of revealed reality), not chronos (the clock time of a divisible world). If we only realized that Paul is telling us to buy back the opportunity for redemptive expansion of our thoughts, actions and purposes, we might have a very different view of what really counts. And we just might stop living by the clock.
“Redeeming” is the Greek word exagorazomenoi. We need some grammar here. It is the present tense, middle voice, imperative participle. So that means, it is for right now, of particular interest to the subject (you and me), and a command. In other words, “You buy up now the opportune moment of divine revelation!” The same word is found in Galatians 3:13, used of Christ’s redemption of sinners. Jesus buys us back from slavery. We are to buy back God’s purposes from the evil days.
One facet of the redemptive buy back needs to be emphasized. Jesus does not accomplish our redemption by simply announcing it. This is not a passive, legal declaration. In order to redeem, a price must be paid. In the case of our salvation, that price was the agonizing death of Jesus. Now apply this thought to Paul’s command to redeem the opportune moment. The implication is obvious. There is a real¸ tangible price to pay. If you thought your call to follow Jesus meant that life’s moments were going to be free of struggle, effort and payment, you missed the point. To follow the Redeemer means paying the price of recapturing the evil days for God’s purposes. You and I are called to war – to fight against chronos time by lifting each moment to God as a moment of redemptive worship. And it will not come without payment.
Just one suggestion. If you and I are going to redeem the time, we will have to stand up against the press of the clock. We will have to pay the price for not being part of the world’s dissecting demands. We will have to forego the mad rush toward accumulation, the never-ending and never-fulfilling push to get one more thing done. We will have to learn to operate on kairos time, and be willing to accept the consequences for doing so. That means we don’t take the promotion if it demands we give up time for devotion to God or family. That means we are sensitive to interruptions, recognizing that God places people in need in front of those who know their own weakness. That means we relinquish our schedule in order to accomplish His prompting, even when our plans have to be abandoned. That means we are willing to be called dreamers, fools and failures because we are locked into the flow of another Kingdom. Do you agree?
