Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain have the workers from their toil? 1I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain have the workers from their toil? 1I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
Who
else made a new year’s resolution? What are they? There is nothing wrong with
making resolutions. But often, we set goals
for ourselves- but we haven’t prepared ourselves internally for change. So if we say, “I’m going to join a gym and work out three times a week- and I
figure it will take a total of 6 hours”- that means you have to give up
whatever you were doing during those 6 hours last year. You need to make 6
hours of extra space in your week.
A friend of mine is considering gastric bypass surgery- its one of her resolutions. But when you ask her “what will you do now instead of eat? What will you replace food with?” she said she hasn’t thought about that.
Lots of people on social networks, Facebook, Twitter, etc, are making statements like “my new year's resolution is to spend less time on FB." Ok- then what are you going to fill that time with?| Even in church life, and sometimes especially in church life, we want to step up to different things, but we haven’t taken stock of everything we are already doing and decide systematically where we are going to fit things in.
In your personal life- you might say “My resolution is to spend more time with God this year- to read the bible through, or to pray more”- great! But what are you going to do with the things that filled that time before… do you see what I’m asking you to think about?
You see it's fine to have goals or resolution, or to get more involved, or even to step up in following God’s call to leadership; but first we need to plan for those goals realistically. When you make a plan to implement anything new, in your life, you first take stock of what you already have- already doing… and in our case, what already fills our time.
It’s why I picked this text for today from Ecclesiastes. It’s perfect for what we are talking about because it’s all about time.
And although our translation says “there is A time to be born, A time to plant, A time to laugh- in the Hebrew there is no article. In other words, the Hebrew reads, 'in everything there is time to be born, time to plant time to laugh…'
What that means to me, is that God has given us time for everything. And if that’s true, then most of us are doing something wrong, because in any given day I don’t have the time to do everything I want to do, much less add something new- and now I have these resolutions I want to add… hmmm. So maybe it’s time to take stock of where we are… of how we have spent our time last year so that we can be free to make space for the new things we desire for our lives.
And I thought we could do this together, via a time of meditation and reflection (don’t get scared…) I’m going to go through the text slowly, and add some simple questions to guide you in thinking about the past year… Some find it helpful to close your eyes- some to take notes, whatever you are comfortable with. Let's begin….
For everything there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven: time to be born, and time to die; How have you celebrated birth this year- think about the new babies who have been born this year… have you celebrated your own birth… the birth of Christ… rebirth of some kind…and who are the ones you have said good bye to this year…
...time to plant, and time to pluck up what is planted; - what things did you sow into this past year- what did you invest in that would build something or someone up… what kind of a harvest did you see from what you planted- what got finished this year that you consider an accomplishment… (doesn’t need to be big)
time to kill … what are some of the things you stopped this year- things that needed to come to an end that you had the courage to stand up and say, no more… what things have you intentionally left behind
and time to heal; what healing has happened in your life this year? Emotional? Physical? Spiritual?
time to break down… what are the things you have taken apart this year… or, when have you broken down this year… meltdowns and coming apart happen in all kinds of ways.
and time to build up; when have you experienced a sense of building this year? What things have you been intentional about improving or building on? What have you learned?
time to weep… when have you cried this year? Why? What came out of it? Was there cleansing or did the crying just lead to more tears… when has your heart been broken? When have you been moved to tears from sheer joy?
and time to laugh; when did you find yourself in an all out guffaw! When did you laugh so hard your cheeks hurt? And... did you spend enough time laughing?
time to mourn, have you taken time to grieve this year… the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of an idea or a dream… the loss of health, or independence... the loss of an expectation… have you mourned for the things you have lost, even though you may be in a better place?
and time to dance; did you dance this year? Even if it was in the middle of your kitchen or in the shower where no one could see you… even if you just bopped your head up and down in church… when did you let your body become a physical expression of your emotions?
time to throw away stones, What are the things you have thrown out that were weighing you down? Or, what things did you get rid of that you used to use to hurt others, or yourself? What have you moved away from so that it can’t do any more damage?
time to gather stones together; what things have you put into your back pocket this year… things that you want to keep with you that you have picked up along the journey of faith… things you have been surprised at… thoughts you’ve begun to collect- teachings you have gained understanding of… new friends that have entered your life that now you can’t picture living without…
time to embrace, -This one can mean so many things but, literally- think about all of the people you have hugged this year… how it felt.. their faces when you embraced them…
and time to refrain from embracing; when have you had the urge to do something, but knew it wasn’t the right thing- when you stopped yourself.
time to seek, When were you intentional about looking for something? keys or earrings…or relationship... or maybe you were seeking God…discerning God's call on your life...
and time to lose; when have you had to accept defeat this year… when have you had to accept loss… and when did you lose on purpose- or sacrifice on purpose…
time to keep, what things from the past did you decide to hang on to… and a time to throw away; 7
time to tear, what did you rip apart this year- what has been torn in your life…
and time to sew; what things have you taken the time to create… or put back together.. Is there someone you have hurt this past year through your words or actions? Did you ask for their forgiveness? Is there someone who has hurt you this past year through words or actions? Can you offer them forgiveness?
time to keep silence, When have you kept silence… not praying, or thinking or sleeping… but just kept still... and had a quiet moment… or, when hav e you just kept your mouth shut, that later on, you though... I'm so glad I was quiet...
and time to speak; when have you spoken out when you found it difficult… have you spoken for those who had no voice… have you spoken for yourself?
time to love, have you let yourself really love this year? What or who have you loved…
and time to hate; have you seen things wrong in the world that cause you to be so angry you would call it hate…
time for war... what have you fought for or against this year…
and time for peace... when did you seek shalom… when did you work toward or experience peace…
I could finish this up with some conclusion that I come to of that I have come to- but I think I’m just going to end it here- because hopefully each of you can come to your own conclusion about your life this past year, where you have spent your time, and what you wish to make time for this coming year... If you want to take it to the next step- Make a list of the five most important and soul-nourishing activities, and spend a day or at least take time before New Year's Day to savor these experiences. We all get the same gift of time... time for everything...
A friend of mine is considering gastric bypass surgery- its one of her resolutions. But when you ask her “what will you do now instead of eat? What will you replace food with?” she said she hasn’t thought about that.
Lots of people on social networks, Facebook, Twitter, etc, are making statements like “my new year's resolution is to spend less time on FB." Ok- then what are you going to fill that time with?| Even in church life, and sometimes especially in church life, we want to step up to different things, but we haven’t taken stock of everything we are already doing and decide systematically where we are going to fit things in.
In your personal life- you might say “My resolution is to spend more time with God this year- to read the bible through, or to pray more”- great! But what are you going to do with the things that filled that time before… do you see what I’m asking you to think about?
You see it's fine to have goals or resolution, or to get more involved, or even to step up in following God’s call to leadership; but first we need to plan for those goals realistically. When you make a plan to implement anything new, in your life, you first take stock of what you already have- already doing… and in our case, what already fills our time.
It’s why I picked this text for today from Ecclesiastes. It’s perfect for what we are talking about because it’s all about time.
And although our translation says “there is A time to be born, A time to plant, A time to laugh- in the Hebrew there is no article. In other words, the Hebrew reads, 'in everything there is time to be born, time to plant time to laugh…'
What that means to me, is that God has given us time for everything. And if that’s true, then most of us are doing something wrong, because in any given day I don’t have the time to do everything I want to do, much less add something new- and now I have these resolutions I want to add… hmmm. So maybe it’s time to take stock of where we are… of how we have spent our time last year so that we can be free to make space for the new things we desire for our lives.
And I thought we could do this together, via a time of meditation and reflection (don’t get scared…) I’m going to go through the text slowly, and add some simple questions to guide you in thinking about the past year… Some find it helpful to close your eyes- some to take notes, whatever you are comfortable with. Let's begin….
For everything there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven: time to be born, and time to die; How have you celebrated birth this year- think about the new babies who have been born this year… have you celebrated your own birth… the birth of Christ… rebirth of some kind…and who are the ones you have said good bye to this year…
...time to plant, and time to pluck up what is planted; - what things did you sow into this past year- what did you invest in that would build something or someone up… what kind of a harvest did you see from what you planted- what got finished this year that you consider an accomplishment… (doesn’t need to be big)
time to kill … what are some of the things you stopped this year- things that needed to come to an end that you had the courage to stand up and say, no more… what things have you intentionally left behind
and time to heal; what healing has happened in your life this year? Emotional? Physical? Spiritual?
time to break down… what are the things you have taken apart this year… or, when have you broken down this year… meltdowns and coming apart happen in all kinds of ways.
and time to build up; when have you experienced a sense of building this year? What things have you been intentional about improving or building on? What have you learned?
time to weep… when have you cried this year? Why? What came out of it? Was there cleansing or did the crying just lead to more tears… when has your heart been broken? When have you been moved to tears from sheer joy?
and time to laugh; when did you find yourself in an all out guffaw! When did you laugh so hard your cheeks hurt? And... did you spend enough time laughing?
time to mourn, have you taken time to grieve this year… the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of an idea or a dream… the loss of health, or independence... the loss of an expectation… have you mourned for the things you have lost, even though you may be in a better place?
and time to dance; did you dance this year? Even if it was in the middle of your kitchen or in the shower where no one could see you… even if you just bopped your head up and down in church… when did you let your body become a physical expression of your emotions?
time to throw away stones, What are the things you have thrown out that were weighing you down? Or, what things did you get rid of that you used to use to hurt others, or yourself? What have you moved away from so that it can’t do any more damage?
time to gather stones together; what things have you put into your back pocket this year… things that you want to keep with you that you have picked up along the journey of faith… things you have been surprised at… thoughts you’ve begun to collect- teachings you have gained understanding of… new friends that have entered your life that now you can’t picture living without…
time to embrace, -This one can mean so many things but, literally- think about all of the people you have hugged this year… how it felt.. their faces when you embraced them…
and time to refrain from embracing; when have you had the urge to do something, but knew it wasn’t the right thing- when you stopped yourself.
time to seek, When were you intentional about looking for something? keys or earrings…or relationship... or maybe you were seeking God…discerning God's call on your life...
and time to lose; when have you had to accept defeat this year… when have you had to accept loss… and when did you lose on purpose- or sacrifice on purpose…
time to keep, what things from the past did you decide to hang on to… and a time to throw away; 7
time to tear, what did you rip apart this year- what has been torn in your life…
and time to sew; what things have you taken the time to create… or put back together.. Is there someone you have hurt this past year through your words or actions? Did you ask for their forgiveness? Is there someone who has hurt you this past year through words or actions? Can you offer them forgiveness?
time to keep silence, When have you kept silence… not praying, or thinking or sleeping… but just kept still... and had a quiet moment… or, when hav e you just kept your mouth shut, that later on, you though... I'm so glad I was quiet...
and time to speak; when have you spoken out when you found it difficult… have you spoken for those who had no voice… have you spoken for yourself?
time to love, have you let yourself really love this year? What or who have you loved…
and time to hate; have you seen things wrong in the world that cause you to be so angry you would call it hate…
time for war... what have you fought for or against this year…
and time for peace... when did you seek shalom… when did you work toward or experience peace…
I could finish this up with some conclusion that I come to of that I have come to- but I think I’m just going to end it here- because hopefully each of you can come to your own conclusion about your life this past year, where you have spent your time, and what you wish to make time for this coming year... If you want to take it to the next step- Make a list of the five most important and soul-nourishing activities, and spend a day or at least take time before New Year's Day to savor these experiences. We all get the same gift of time... time for everything...