So, this is the beginning of our
Lenten journey. It is the beginning of our series on change and we start with
the change of the seasons. I have to admit that I am excited about this
morning’s scripture reading. I am excited because it is about one of my most
favorite passages in the bible; Ecclesiastes. These words are not only famous
because they are in the bible. To me and maybe some of you, they became famous
because of a song. Do you know the song…To everything turn, turn, turn: there
is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven?
This song was written by one of my
most favorite songwriters, Pete Seeger. He was a very controversial songwriter
but through his songs, he changed parts of our everyday life. He wasn’t the
only one who changed the world. The group who brought this song into the
mainstream of rock and roll was the musical group The Byrd’s. They recorded
Pete’s song and it helped them become stars. While I love the music and how
they interpreted this reading from Ecclesiastes, I love the words; “For
everything there is a season…a time to plant, a time to harvest; a time to reap
and a time to sow; a time to speak and a time to remain silent…” these are all
beautiful words.
For right now, I think it is a time
to learn about this book called Ecclesiastes. This book was written long before
Jesus. The exact date cannot be pinpointed but the era has been well accepted.
This book was written during a time of great change. The world in that time was
in the process of changing on so many levels. The languages…typically in the
times of great conquest the winner got to choose the language that would be
predominant. If it was the Greeks, Greek would become dominant. If it was Rome,
Latin, Egyptian, Phoenician. I think you get the point.
In this time of Ecclesiastes, the
languages were in the process of changing over. There was not one predominant language.
There were all kinds of references to different languages in the words written
here. Some words had their origins in Greek, Latin, and Phoenician. The world
was in the process of standardizing its currency. They were trying to get all
the nations to use one form of currency because the world was in a state of
change. That must have been a difficult time. It must have raised all kinds of
concerns in everyone and about everything. I would not be surprised if people
felt like there was nothing to trust BECAUSE everything is changing.
We are confronted with a whole lot
of opposites: Birth and death, planting and sowing, Killing and healing,
breaking down and building up, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, and
the list goes on and on. These opposites go from some real extremes. With these
extremes, I think it covers what the people of the time are feeling. They are
being constantly pulled from one direction to another; it appears quite rapidly
and that might be so. I am sure they did not know which end was up, which was
left and which was right, who is right and who is wrong, and I bet they didn’t
even know who they could trust.
Despite all these opposites and all
this turmoil of the times, I do believe in these words we can find hope. These
extremes are quite opposite. It shows that these one sides like killing,
mourning, weeping, and even planting are not permanent; because even these
opposites are good things like: healing, laughing, reaping or harvesting, and
dancing. We are seeing that in this book of Ecclesiastes that the evils or the
things that we see as evils are temporary. There dark or evil things happening
but there are Good and hopeful things that are to come.
It also shows that these are things
that we cannot control. We don’t control everything in our lives, as much as we
want to. There are things in our own lives that we can control. We can decide
not to get behind the wheel of a car after having too much to drink. We can
decide not to say words that hurt one another or do things that intentionally
hurt others for our own gain. We can control reaching out to people who are in
need and helping to provide a meal, or clothing, or shelter whenever we can.
But there are things we do not have control over; the decisions that other people
make about getting behind the wheel of a car after a night of drinking, or
making a dangerous maneuver in traffic, hurting others through words and
actions for the sake of self- gratification.
These words in Ecclesiastes tell us
that it comes down to one thing and one thing only: that it is all about God.
Despite these bad and evil things that can happen; these opposites of Good
things: eating, dancing, loving, healing, a time to seek they are all gifts
from God. This book of Ecclesiastes wants us to know that God wants us all to
have these wonderful gifts of laughter and love, and healing. It is God who has
created these gifts and despite the evil and bad things that happen that God
does not want us to live in the mourning, death, anger, despair, and killing.
It is that God wants us to know the gift of life, love, healing and laughter
that enable us to enjoy the gift of life and relationship with one another.
I think we share something with the
people of the Book of Ecclesiastes. We are in a time that is highly uncertain.
We have international crises going on, it seems like anything we do or say
could lead us to war. Our own politicians are fighting and calling each other
names, there is this constant looking to blame someone for something. There are
changes in dominant languages going on, economic statuses, and even our church
world is changing. People are not coming to church like they did in the past.
We know about this uncertainty because we are living it AND IT IS SCARY! It is
scary not knowing what is going to happen next, what alternatives there are and
how we are going to get through all this stuff; so we can definitely relate.
But we, too, can look to this
reading and see hope. We can see the hope in that all this uncertainty in the
world is temporary. We can hear these words that God does not want all these
bad things to happen to us, but wants us to see the gifts that we have been
blessed with. We have been given the many gifts from God in our lives and that
God wants us to use the gifts of laughter, love, healing, compassion and
helping one another; because those are definitely gifts from God.
We know this because God sent his
only son into the world to show us and teach us these gifts that we have been
given. Through the words and actions of Jesus Christ, he has shown us the power
of God in love, healing, laughter, and compassion. We have seen it throughout
the ministry of Jesus. With all the people he encountered along the way, we
experience that God is a loving God willing to go out to the areas of the
unclean, gentiles, and the broken people of the world to show them…to show us
that God is a God of love and compassion; to show us that each and every one of
us is worth the price of God’s Son on the cross for you and me and for our
salvation; because of our sin.
As a side note, I want to address
one burning issue that can come out of this reading. It is the first line: “to
everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” Some
use that phrase to say “everything happens for a reason.” It is said when
disasters hit, someone dies, or whenever a terrible tragedy hits. I do not
believe that people are killed because God wants it to happen. I do not believe
that takes lives to teach one of us a lesson or to prove a point. I do believe
that sometimes things happen because of a decision that is made or the lack of
a decision that someone makes. But to say that God kills or takes to prove a
point…that is not the God that I know. I believe when lives are lost, for
whatever reason, or there are victims of crimes that God weeps right beside us
wanting to hold us and let us know that God is right there with us.
In this day of Ecclesiastes, in this
world of turmoil and fear for the future, hear the words of hope in this
passage. As we experience what hopes to be the last days of winter, hear the
words that there is a time to plant. In this season of Lent, hear the words
that our sinful selves are reminded of this season or self-reflection of our
sin and bringing them to the cross is at hand, but the day of salvation…the day
of new life is coming. AMEN!
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