Ben Sasse was a US Senator from Nebraska from 2015 until his resignation in 2023, when he left politics to become President of the University of Florida. Two distinctions of his political career are that he won the most votes in history for any statewide candidate in Nebraska history, and that he was censured by his own party more than any other politician (for failure to fully support President Trump). I would add two other notable distinctions for a modern politician, specifically, that he’s a genuinely decent human being, and he didn’t spend decades in Washington to get rich off insider trading and influence peddling.
Sasse announced last December that he’s dying. As we all are, but in his case, a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis has provided a more near-term view into when. He recently gave an interview on the Hoover Institute’s “Uncommon Knowledge” podcast. The hour-long interview covered politics, America, impacts on the future from AI, faith, family, and freedom. Regardless of your political leanings, I would highly recommend you take time to listen in.
One portion of the interview that resonated with me was the discussion around the “old puritan phrase to redeem the time.” Redeem the time, what does this mean?
In Sasse’s words: “Redeem the time in my theology means it is a great blessing to be able to live a life of gratitude to God by doing stuff that tries to benefit your neighbor. It is a blessing to get to be co-creators, but we don’t build any storehouses that last, the things that matter and endure [are] our human souls and things way bigger than any of my projects. That doesn’t mean we…should be neither triumphalist nor despairing, right? Like no, nothing we build is gonna last. But that doesn’t mean nothing matters. The chance to love your neighbor and serve…is a blessing. And that’s what…the puritans meant by redeem the time…”
The idea of redeeming the time is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, 5:15-16 (NKJV); “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Paul was exhorting the church to live wisely in an evil culture, to give thanks and serve others. Literally, to ‘redeem’ or ‘buy back’ time so that it can be used profitably and for good.
Our days are numbered, and none of us know when we’ll be called home. Living while we’re still here should be a priority, shouldn’t it? Redeeming the time to live well, love others, and be of service to the best of our abilities.
The “Uncommon Knowledge” interview ended with Sasse reading an excerpt from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Ring Out Wild Bells.” I’ll leave you with that also, as well as a link to the full interview.
And a prayer for the Sasse family in this time of trial, and a prayer for us all that we use the gifts given to redeem our time to the fullest.
Soli Deo Gloria
Ring Out, Wild Bells
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
P.A. Tennant 