From Overscheduled to Organized*

Simplify – From Overscheduled to Organized*
Sycamore Creek and Potterville UMC
October 2016
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

Or should I say:

Overwhelmed, overscheduled, and exhausted friends!

We’re currently in a series called Simplify.  We’re figuring out how to unclutter our souls so we can focus on what’s really important.  Many of us wrestle with being overwhelmed, overscheduled, and exhausted.  We’re seeking an antidote to this.  Last week we moved from exhausted to energized.  How’s it going filling up your buckets?  Next week we’re moving from drifting to focused.  In two weeks from overwhelmed to in control.  We’ll wrap it up on the last week moving from isolated to connected.  And today we’ll go from overscheduled to organized.  We’re going to get that all accomplished in 30 short minutes.  Right?  Not quite.  I’m going to do my best to point us in the right direction.  The rest will be up to each of us and God’s Spirit.

So here’s the problem I want to wrestle with today.  For most of us, our calendars are overscheduled and overflowing with reactions.  How do most of us put our schedules together?

We grab a piece of paper and write down where we have to be and when so we keep our jobs and to keep CPS away from our kids.  We begin with our have-to’s to stay out of trouble.  And we do this month after month after month, year after year after year.  Or we fritter away our time on social media, watching TV, binge watching Netflix, or YouTube.  We waste all kinds of time on the internet.  See if you find yourself in Aziz Ansari’s comic bit:

Does it count as wasting time on YouTube to find that clip for my sermon?!  It’s funny because it hits close to home.  I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I bring my phone with me to the throne room of the house and it’s so quiet in there, that before I know it I’ve watched 30 minutes of YouTube videos long after the porcelain bus has pulled up for a stop.  OK.  Enough potty talk…

What would your schedule look like if God were in charge of your schedule, your time?  Paul, the first missionary of the church and the author of many of the books of the Bible wrote about how we use our time.  He said:

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
~Ephesians 5:16-17 NLT

Too many of us act thoughtlessly when it comes to our time and we miss all kinds of opportunities because our schedules are full of reactions.

I’ve got to admit, I’ve got a personal obsession with people’s schedules.  How did Jesus spend his time?  How do effective people or pastors spend their time?  I attended an eighteen-month New Church Academy where we had different church planting pastors present to us each month.  At some point the class would all groan a little as I raised my hand.  They began to anticipate the question I would ask: How many hours do you work?  How do you spend your time?  A couple of years ago I asked my District Superintendent if he’d show me what his calendar looks like.  I was curious how my boss spent his time.  Many years ago now I was at a conference with a friend of mine, Scott Chrostek.  Scott is a very successful pastor in Kansas City.  I wondered how his average day went.  He began to tell me and then realized that he could show me. He took out his Blackberry (yes, that dates this conversation, doesn’t it?).  As he walked me through his week I realized I had my calendar in my phone too.  As we looked at our calendars some differences began to surface.  I spent all my time with my leaders.  He spent all his time in the community.  When I came back from that conference I began spending more time working out of the office in the community.  It was the seeds of doing Church in places like a diner or a pub.  And it all began by comparing our calendars.

Many people who did interesting things lived very unusual schedules.  Winston Churchill worked in bed until 11:00 or Noon each day.  Da Vinci worked took two hour naps whenever he was tired (some of you starting your two-hour nap right now).  Those may not be the best sleep hygiene habits, but the point is that they crafted a calendar that worked for them and their priorities.

Is your current schedule working for you?  The thoughtful arrangement of your weekly and daily calendar is one of the most holy things you can do.  Drafting a new calendar is tantamount to writing a whole new script for the next chapter of your life.  Your calendar will determine who will you become as a Christian, spouse, parent, friend.  Here’s the whole point of this message:

The Point
A holy schedule is far less about what I have to get done and more about who I want to become.

When I was at Wheaton college I began volunteering at a boys and girls club on the South Side of Chicago.  I also took a class called African American Experience where I encountered for the first time systematic racism.  It was after one of those classes that I had this deep sense that God was calling me to racial and economic reconciliation.  When I graduated I moved to Petoskey, a not very diverse community.  But I spent five or so years volunteering at the local homeless shelter about once a week.  Then I served on the board of Habitat for Humanity.  When I went off to seminary Sarah and I decided to attend a historically black United Methodist Church.  We also ended up moving into East Durham, and mostly black neighborhood.  I made several friends at Duke who I had regular conversations about race.  I ended up running for class president because my black friend, Nancy, asked me to run with her.  These friends helped open my eyes to the black experience at Duke, something I was mostly blind to.  When I moved to Lansing to become the pastor at Sycamore Creek I attended a black church the week before I began.  That was 2009.  Up until last year I did next to NADA until Ferguson woke me up from my stupor.  I realized that if I want to be the kind of person who works toward racial and economic reconciliation, I’ve got to put some things on my calendar that build friendships across racial and economic boundaries. So I’m currently holding a series of race talks with community leaders in Lansing.  I met the other day with Pastor Melvin Jones from Union Missionary Baptist Church who pops up in almost every article in the Lansing State Journal about race relations in Lansing.  This past week I attended Action Network at Christo Rey church continuing to seek where God might be leading me and our church in being part of the solution to racial tensions in our community rather than part of the problem.  You see how the call to something or the value means nothing if you don’t get it on your calendar?

What kind of person do you want to become in the next season of your life?  If you want to be an airplane pilot, you’d better get some flying lessons on your calendar.  If you’re in a dead-end job and you don’t want to live in that cul-de-sac, then you’d better get some night classes at Lansing Community College on your calendar.  If you want to be a writer, you’d better find some time to put your butt in a chair and write something.  John Grisham is a dedicated Christian best known for his legal thriller novels.  He began as an attorney, but he hated his job.  He wanted to be an author, so he started showing up at work sixty minutes early and wrote one page a day.  He put writing on his calendar.

If you’ve got questions about Christianity then you’d better get a small group on your calendar.  “But it’s twelve weeks!  That’s such a BIG commitment!”  So is the rest of your life!  Pretty regularly I hear people tell me, “This week’s sermon was so good, but I almost didn’t come.”    What?  You don’t have worship on your calendar every week?  Are you flipping coins each week deciding whether to come or not? Get it on your calendar every week.  We catch a glimpse at Jesus’ calendar when Luke tells us this little tidbit:

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.
~Luke 4:16 NRSV

The important phrase for us right now is “as was his custom.”  In other words, it was on his calendar.  He did it once a week on the Sabbath.  There are at least a couple of things I think every Christian should have on their calendar:

1. Daily time with God
2. Weekly worship
3. Weekly Sabbath
4. Small group
5. Regular serving in the church and community
   

Are these on your calendar?

Let me give you some tips.  First, if you have a hard time finding time to spend with God each day check out www.prayasyougo.org.  It’s a daily podcast that you listen to for about twelve to thirteen minutes, perfect for a commute to work.  Each podcast has music, prayer, scripture, and reflection.  Turn your driving in the car, your running around town, or your literal running on the trail into time with God.  Of course, we’re trying to make number two as simple as possible with basically seven services in four different locations on three different days of the week.  Number three is up to you.  Just put it on your calendar.  Take a day off.  The earth will continue revolving around the sun without you answering all your emails.  Joining a small group is pretty easy too at Sycamore Creek.  We’ve got forty-eight of them.  FORTY-EIGHT!  Number five can be a little more tricky, but a good place to begin is assessme.sycamorecreekchurch.org.

Of course these five things are the only thing that should be on your calendar.  What will it take to become who you want to become?  Who God is calling you to become?  Time slots on a calendar change you.  If you’re out of shape, put “gym” on your calendar three to five days a week.  If you’re living with financial anxiety put “Financial Peace University” on your calendar each week for the next three months.

Some of you are thinking, “You’re making it sound too magical.  ANYTHING YOU PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR WILL HAPPEN?”  Not really.  But I see so many people who have goals without plans.  They want to grow closer to God, but have no plan for it.  They want to find a better job, but have no plan for it.  They want to start a business, but have no plan for it.  They want to become a better dad, but have no plan for it.  A plan begins by putting time on your calendar.

Some of us don’t put things on our calendar because we know we can’t do it 100% of the time.  So because we can’t be perfect at it, we fail to do anything about it.  When I moved to Durham, NC to go to seminary I happened to have a really good friend from undergraduate who lived in Durham too.  I knew that if I got done with my four years at seminary and didn’t spend much time with Bill, I’d always regret it.  So I put a weekly coffee with Bill on my calendar.  I’d guess that we probably only made it happen 50% of the time.  But over four years, that added up to  104 coffees!  You know what, I don’t care that we weren’t perfect.  I’m just so thankful for those 104+ hours I had with my good friend Bill.

Some of you want to build a stronger marriage, but you have no plan for it.  Something I’ve noticed that’s pretty basic when you think about it is that strong couples spend intentional time together regularly! It’s who they want to become.  Some couples don’t put any date time on their calendar because they don’t think they can do it every week.  But if you put a weekly date night on your calendar and only make it happen 50% of the time, when you celebrate your 50^th wedding anniversary you will have had 1300 dates with your spouse!  1300!  I’m reminded of the advice my dad gave me after being married three times: You either grow together or you grow apart.  Put “grow together” on your calendar.  The calendar isn’t just for your work schedule.  It’s for everything you hold dear in life.

Jesus says:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
~Matthew 6:33 ESV

Seek first.  Put it on your calendar first.  Put God time seeking God’s kingdom first.  Daily time.  Church time.  Family time.  Community time.  Everything else will line up in your calendar if you put God first.

I’ve had a front-row seat at more than the average number of funerals.  When I listen to families talk about their loved one they tend to fall into one of three camps:

1. Not much positive to say about their life but since it’s their funeral we’ll come up with something.
2. They really spent their life in a positive way and we’ve got too much to tell you about it.
3. They really messed up the first half of their life, but then by God’s grace they turned it around and I’m so thankful they got the second half right.

How did #2 & 3 not be a #1?  It all came down to time slots on a calendar.  How did they spend their time?  Seeking God and God’s will for their life and relationships or did they use their time in some other way?  Not making the most of every opportunity God put before them?

So here’s your homework this week: Redraft your schedule to seek God first with your calendar.

Put the God stuff in first.  Don’t create a calendar that is filled up by asking, “What do I have to get done?”  Create a calendar by asking, “Who do I want to become?”  You’re not going to become someone different than you are right now if you don’t put commitments on a calendar.

God, help me seek you in my calendar.  Help me spend my time to become the person you are calling me to become.  Give me insight into what needs to go on my calendar and give me courage, perseverance, and endurance to do it.  In the name of Jesus and by your Spirit.  Amen.

Next Steps

1. Draft a God-first calendar
2. org
3. Join a small group
4. Spiritual Retreat with Pastor Tom (Nov 10)

*This sermon is based on a sermon first preached by Bill Hybels