In Friday's assembly, Rev Child encouraged everyone to reflect on how they choose to spend their time...



"Who and what will you give your time to? That’s the sort of question that Christians ask themselves during Lent. Time is a bit like money – we get a choice about how we spend it. How we choose to spend our time says a lot about our priorities, and it’s worth checking now and again that those priorities are good ones. Otherwise we would be misspending our time.

I want to consider a couple of Bible readings about how Jesus chose to spend his time which I think we can learn from. The first is from Mark’s gospel.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ (Mk 1:35-37)

From the first chapter of Mark, Jesus is in demand, and his disciples want him to get into his busy schedule. But Jesus insists on some time for prayer and reflection – he won’t have that time squeezed out of his day.

So the first thing that Jesus models is what we might call ‘quiet time’. We ask you to do the same thing by coming into cathedral in the morning before the day speeds up. I’m sure that some days it feels routine and sometimes you might even prefer to be somewhere else. But, by not rushing headlong into the day, I hope we’re teaching you an important lesson for the future.

Now here’s the second reading from later on in Mark’s gospel.

As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

49 Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’

So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’

52 ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mk 10:46-52)

Here’s another passage that takes place in a crowd and on a schedule. Jesus has somewhere to go and the crowd following him feel that pressure. So when an apparently unimportant beggar interrupts the schedule, it’s unwelcome and embarrassing. Jesus’ followers try to shush him away. But Jesus stops. He allows himself to be interrupted. For Jesus, people are important – all people, including this poor man reduced to begging, and who asks to be able to see.

How interruptible are we, especially when we’ve got a deadline? Personally I find this challenging. Sometimes feeling short of time can take me over, and like the crowd around Jesus I feel like pushing people aside so I can get my tasks done.

Jesus never did that. He never put programmes before people. He would have agreed with the notable quote “One can find time for everything if one is never in a hurry.”

So if on a fast paced-Friday you find yourself not stopping to help someone who’s upset, or you dismiss someone who’s raising money for charity because you haven’t got time for it, just check yourself. In the end it’s much more rewarding to spend your time generously than to spend it always under pressure.

Who and what will you give your time to?"