A Brief Theology of Time

For the most part, I confess, I’ve never given much emphasis to the celebration of the New Year. Growing up, Christmas was the main event, and New Years just served to signal the end of the Christmas break and the impending return to school. As I’ve gotten older, New Years is always something of an after thought. I don’t watch football, I don’t participate in wild parties or drunken revelry, I don’t usually even stay up till midnight. Given the option I go to bed at the same time as normal, much to the chagrin of the teenager in our house. I usually mutter something about the new year coming wither I’m awake or asleep before heading off to bed.

After all what is the big deal? It is easy to see the significance of celebrating the incarnation—God entering into his own creation by taking on human flesh and a human nature in order to bring about the salvation of his people. By contrast, what is the passing of another year? It just seems like a non-event.

Why are we as humans so interested in marking the passage of time. Is it beneficial to do so, and more importantly is it Biblical? What does Scripture have to say about time and our interaction with it? Is it wise for us as believers to mark the passing of years? That is what I hope to consider this article.

The Rest of the (Christmas) Story

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

God’s Story

I always enjoyed listening to the late Paul Harvey on the radio. He had a talent for thoughtful commentary that is, unfortunately, a rarity in modern media. I particularly enjoyed listening to “The Rest of the Story.” Harvey would present some little-know fact or forgotten bit of history in his usual engaging style; then at the end, he would reveal that a key element of the story was tied to some famous person, or event. He always concluded with a variation on the tag line, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

I think that the Christmas story would have made a good candidate for the show. Certainly the Christmas story is very well know in western culture. Most non-Christian are familiar with the story of Jesus laid in a manger, angels visiting shepherds, and wise men bringing gifts. Yet there is a lot more to this story than just what we find in the opening chapters of Matthew, and Luke.