A Season and a TimeA Season and a TimeSunday, November 2, 2008

St. Croix Vineyard

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven– 2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:11Ecclesiastes 3:11

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Verse 11: AssertionsVerse 11: Assertions

He makes all things beautiful in their time

He has placed eternity in our heartsYet, even though we long for

understanding, we can’t quite see it all

‘‘Vanity, all is vanity’Vanity, all is vanity’

If you read Ecclesiastes at one sitting it seems so different from other parts of the Bible. A great king reflects on all that he has accomplished and decides that everything, work, wealth, pleasure, even wisdom, seems like ‘vanity’ in the end. Yet he keeps coming around to the realization that the

‘‘But it’s worth it to try . . .’But it’s worth it to try . . .’

ordinary things of life are rewards and it’s good for a man to work hard and do his best during the days of his life and rejoice in simple pleasures.

He’s wrestling with whether or not life is worth it. At several points he concludes that it is and that you should give it your best shot:

‘‘Enjoy your friends and family’Enjoy your friends and family’

“Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”

‘‘Remember God’Remember God’

Finally, he comes to the conclusion that it’s best to live life with an awareness of God and a desire to please Him: “Remember, also, your Creator in the days of your youth. . . . fear God and keep His commandments, because this

‘‘Everything will be revealed’Everything will be revealed’

applies to every person, because God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

Background

Author: Teacher or Preacher (traditional)

Literally: the Assembler (reference to Solomon—the verb is often used of him in regard to his building projects)

2 Voices: preface & conclusion book-ends message from Solomon or someone who is associating with him

Message

This book is all about life ‘under the sun’ (this phrase is used 29 times in the 12 chapters)

Everything in this realm is seen as vanity or emptiness (used more than 40 times)

‘Carpe Diem’ Sayings

Still, a laborer who sleeps at night is better off than a wealthy person who doesn’t

Simple pleasures are to be seen as rewards

Enjoy life with the one (or ones) you love

Existential despair

But there is such a realization of pain and futility

Tried pleasure (wine and women)Tried building great thingsTried wisdom (all die)Tried righteousness (it doesn’t

always work in life ‘under the sun’)

Meaning

The whole message is meant to take you beyond ‘life under the sun’

When you’ve tried all that life has to offer, and it’s left you empty, that’s the time to realize that God is there and you can develop a friendship with Him

‘‘To everything, turn, turn, turn’To everything, turn, turn, turn’

In the midst of this philosophical treatise is a beautiful passage that seems like a poem all by itself:

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven . . .” (KJV).

What can we learn?What can we learn?

Life is full-orbed, more like a dance (with highs and lows) than a walk in the park

We are invited to all of life, yet there is something in us that would prefer to have just half of this list

One half of lifeOne half of life

Give birth, Plant, HealBuild up, Laugh, DanceEmbrace, Keep, Sew togetherSpeak, Love, Peace

The other halfThe other half

Die, Uproot, KillTear down, Weep, MournPush away, Give up as lostThrow away, Tear apartBe silent, HateGo to war

A season and a timeA season and a time

One more thought:

“To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose . . .”

‘season’ and ‘time’ are different Hebrew words

In the Greek translation of the OT they are ‘chronos’ and ‘kairos’

Chronos & KairosChronos & Kairos

Chronos in Greek is a reference to chronology, to sequential time

Kairos is an event—it’s a moment of undetermined length when something special happens

In a moment of Kairos we are often astonished when we learn how much time has passed

KairosKairos

Kairos is an opportunity, often the moment of crisis, the event that calls for a particular response

In the NT, Christ comes when the ‘kairos’ has been fulfilled (Mark 1:15)

KairosKairos

In Eastern Orthodox churches, services begin with the declaration: ‘It is time (kairos) for the Lord to act’

In Liberation theology, kairos is often seen as the crucial time to act

The importance of kairos in lifeThe importance of kairos in life

Three ways we see this concept in caring for others:

◦Wisdom—knowing which side of life to embrace at the right moment

◦Grieving—recognizing the qualities of pain and joy from a deeper place

◦Courage—kairos provides the opportunity to embrace all of life

Victor Frankl: Victor Frankl: Man’s Search For MeaningMan’s Search For Meaning

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

Victor FranklVictor Frankl

Three ways to find meaning:Active—create somethingPassive—enjoy somethingAttitude toward suffering (the last of

the human freedoms)