Redeem the time.

Redeem the time.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The walk of a Christian life is a difficult one. The way is narrow. The world is full of tricks, traps, and diverse wiles to pull you off the narrow path. We get distracted. Sin is literally posted on large shiny billboards or put on public display, hoping that we will lose sight of the path, causing us to lose the surety of our footing within the faith and subsequently fall. We fall, and we rise again..

Yet, we cannot close our eyes, for while we do not have the right to participate “in the unfruitful works of darkness,” we must not remain silent when the lawless deeds are being done, when we hear blasphemies and outrages against our faith,” as St. Luke of Crimea exhorts. We cannot stop walking, for doing nothing leads to a spiritual and moral stagnation, leading to a death before death.

The Orthodox faith is one of activity, for let us remember that every instance of the word faith in the Gospel of John is a verb, for indeed we do that we believe. We cannot turn around, the only way is forward, for conscious apostasy, the rejection of Christ and the Church, is of far greater consequence than simple non belief or ignorance.

The path is narrow, but we know where it leads. It was often called by early Christians “The Way.” Saint Basil remarks when describing life’s Journey that: “life has been called a “way” because everything that has been created is on the way to its end. When people are on a sea voyage, they can sleep while they are being transported without any effort of their own to their port of call. The ship brings them closer to their goal without them even knowing it. So, we can be transported nearer to the end of our lives without our noticing it, as time flows by unceasingly. Time passes while you are asleep.” Yet, even when we are awake time passes for all of us, but many may not notice it.

Are we redeeming that time, or simply watching it fall like sands in an hourglass? We do not know how much sand remains. The cloud of unknowing prevents us from knowing the day and hour. The time is not ours to possess, as Saint John Chrysostom says: The time is not yours, but belongs to the world... You are strangers and sojourners. Do not seek honor, do not seek glory, do not seek power or revenge... bear all things. In this way, you redeem the time. Buy it up from the hands of those who would steal it from you. Pay the price of humility and patience."

Orthodox theology distinguishes between two types of time. There is chronos, the linearity of time stretching out before us, the seconds ticking away on the clock, the very ship that carries us on our journey. Yet, there is also kairos, the purposeful and opportunistic. Kairos is the present moment where God intersects with human history. Understanding this, redeeming the time means to actively rescue the present moment from distractions and sin, transforming it into kairos, an opportunity for salvation. Kairos is taking the helm of that ship, or throwing out its anchor. Chronos is the vessel. Kairos is how we interact with that journey, guiding our ship into Christ’s quiet harbor.

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