1/1/61

Scripture: Read Acts 24: 10-25

Text: Acts 24: 25; "When I have a convenient season, I will call for Thee."

Some things in life end so suddenly as to be startling. The end leaves us breathless. A year has gone by and suddenly it is over and, whether we will it or no, we are launched upon a new year.

The ending of the old year is as conclusive as the period at the end of a sentence. There is something final about a period. It means that a completed thought has been expressed. There is no more of that particular expression to follow. What comes next, if there is more to be expressed, will be a new, and different, sentence-thought.

But a semi-colon is different. The semi-colon indicates that there is more to follow --- a change of pace or a further elaboration of a thought. In a similar sense, some things in our lives come to an end, and there is a period. Nothing is going to change what has been said, or what has been done. There is nothing more of it to follow. Unfortunate things can be regretted; they can be rationalized; they can be explained; they can be forgiven; --- but not changed. The sentence is finished.

Of course there are some things in our living that should be finished, but in our foolishness we would not have it so. We let our emotions control us where we should be guided by consecrated judgment. Consider the matter of forgiveness -- the forgiveness of a friend, or the forgiveness promised by God to a penitent person. What is forgiveness but a period. It is the end of an unhappy incident or experience. There is to be no revival of the matter.

But so often we are not content to leave it a period. We return to fan old angers. We engage in a marathon of irritating words and perpetuate a carnival of hounding thoughts. Instead of putting a period at the end of the unfortunate sentence we let it run on through semi-colon after semi-colon. At other times we think we have reached the end of something when, really, we have only begun. We place a period where there should be a semi-colon. History tells us something about this.

A war was over and we said it was the end of all wars. We know today how wrong, how devastatingly mistaken we were. What we thought was an end was but the beginning of a tortuous road, not the end of anything. Events rolled on to disastrous consequences. Wicked men and stubborn resolutions followed good men and feeble intentions. The war of ideals and ambitions goes on and on and threatens to erupt like the pent-up force of a volcano.

Consider how frequently men have announced the discovery of some truth. Impressed and impassioned by their new knowledge, they have said that this was the last word! Frequently it is not the "last word" --- only the "latest." There have been many "last words" from scientists or from those who receive the discoveries of scientists. Once we used to say with assurance that anything that goes up must come down. If by down we mean back to the earth, we now know that we have been far off the mark. In the light of what is now going up, clear into outer space and on out into other parts of our little corner of the universe, we know that what goes up may never come down to earth. If some of the objects now going up, or expected to go up, ever come down, it will be by the gravitational pull of some other planet or heavenly body than this earth of our habitation.

The application of what we are saying here is personal and intimate. Life, for us, never stops. It never stands still. Whatever others may say, however they may speak of the end of our days, life never stops. We grow weary at times, and we grow tired. Our burdens become too heavy. We are given more than our physical strength, or emotional strength, can bear. And this is not strange, for we live in restless times, and we are restless people.

We move in many directions; we have many concerns; and at times these become too many. Perhaps that is why it is hard for our homes to be the spiritual "power houses" they once were. But however we speak of weariness and restlessness, they are not the end. There is always something beyond -- something to challenge us and to put us on our feet.

Sometimes it is not so much that we grow weary as that we become discouraged. In discouragement, we say that life is ruined for us, and that nothing can be the same again. And there are those who even say that there is nothing more to live for. Who are we to say that? Who is anyone to say that? Time after time it has become apparent that there is something more to live for here on earth. And even after mortal life is over (by the mysterious workings of God, and not of ourselves!) there is yet immortal life!

It may have been written thousands of years ago, but it is as true today as it was when Job said it: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" [Job 1: 21].

Very little of our active, potentially constructive living is ever complete. We have a lifetime, and there are still many things to do. We like to read, and find that there are endless vistas of reading that still beckon. We study our Bibles, and realize that there is never-ending light yet to break forth unto us from its pages. We say that some job is done, and then see other jobs to be done -- and we want it that way!

There is this great story in the book of the Acts of the Apostles which tells of the meeting of Governor Festus with the apostle Paul. Paul was a difficult man for the officials to handle. By ancestry and religion he was a Jew. But he appeared to be one of those fellows who stirred up a good deal of excitement, and even violent opposition, among other Jews. Some of them plotted to kill him -- even swore that they would not eat or drink until they had done so. Ordinarily a Roman governor could handle such a thing quite simply by having the soldiers "beat the daylights" out of the accused. There was little that the victim could do about it, and it might pacify the excitement of the accusers. In order to preserve a semblance of order and governmental discipline, the victim might be summarily executed. It would pacify his accusers, warn others who might get out of line, and "nip in the bud" any incipient revolt.

But Paul’s case was different, for he was not just one of a slave nation. He happened to have Roman citizenship. And a Roman official could not treat a Roman citizen in such summary fashion! So one had to be a bit more circumspect in handling this case! Here was a case that required due process of law.

Festus was not too keen on trying Paul. But, after all, it had to be done eventually. So, after a while, he had Paul brought in and heard him. Paul spoke of righteousness and of judgment to come. Festus was uncomfortable. In fact he trembled, and said, "When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee."

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When is a "convenient season?" Festus must answer that in his own heart. I must answer it in my heart, and you in yours. When will we do that which we have promised to do?

There is still so much that lies beyond! Where does the road lead? What obstacles must be met? What lies across the valley? Over the mountains? Beyond the years? We want to know where this unending journey leads. Perhaps we will get new glimpses, or even visions, while we walk this mortal path.

There is much else. What will science find revealed tomorrow? What new things are to be discovered about the human mind? We have seen devastating wars; shall we see genuine peace? We have seen the diseases that plague mankind; will we see them conquered in our day?

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Life is never done. A year may be ended and the period put to the end of its writing. But there is yet another year; another time; another hope. There is tomorrow; and "tomorrow" is a wonderful word! It is a word filled with hope, and it is filled with faith, and it lies in the hands of God. Then He brings it into our hearts.

So let us live in it with joyful trust!

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, January 1, 1961.