Mark Twain said, “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.”
Time was not created by any man. It was there when we came. In the United States it was a railroad engineer's suggestions that time was finally standardized on November 18, 1883. Before that, every community decided what time it was on their own. all railroads out of New York ran on New York time, and railroads west from Chicago mostly used Chicago time, but between Chicago and Pittsburgh/Buffalo the norm was Columbus time. Standard time was not enacted into US law until the 1918 Standard Time Act established standard time in time zones; the law also instituted daylight saving time (DST). Back in 1792 the French tried a ten-day week with ten hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour and 100 seconds in a minute. the Russians tried a five-day week in 1929 and even named the days of the week after colors. Although the way we describe time hasn't been around all that long, God has been working with time since the beginning of creation. In fact, He's the originator of time. The first mention of time is in Genesis 1:5: "So the evening and the morning were the first day."
Life is a part of time that we fill with events. The events come in pairs of combination as contrasts. The author of Ecclesiastes, believed to be Solomon, illustrates this truth in chapter 3 by comparing the opposites: fourteen pairs of contrasting activities as examples of how life is comprised of various seasons. A straightforward reading of the passage reveals that there are good and bad events listed. He is not justifying one over the other, rather states that God's plan for life involves a variety of experiences and activities. Weeping may be part of life, but life is not all weeping; laughter has its place. Construction is good in its time, but sometimes deconstruction is unavoidable. Wars may not be good, but become a reality at times.
The author is not suggesting that we make time in our lives to kill, and time to hate, and so on. He’s taking a look at life and observing. It is a descriptive narration as he sees it, and not a prescriptive text. He is not prescribing or telling the readers what to do. We don’t want everything on this list. Looking at closely, we may like one side of each pair more than we like the other. We love births; not death. We healing and not killing. We love peace, but not hatred or war.
But we don’t get to say what we get on this list. Like a card game, the cards one may get will vary, but we all have cards. Of course, some cards are better than others. Failure is that moment when you pick up the cards and turn them over that you realize that you’ve been given a card that you didn’t choose. Some of those cards are not ones that you would have chosen. But they are your cards. They’re part of your game from that point on. Solomon is saying the same thing in this passage. We would all like to choose some of these things and not others, but you are not going to have as much say as you think.
Everyone goes through good times and bad times; together they make up the season of life. It's not the times of our lives that shape us, but the seasons shape our lives. We cannot live only just for the good times while bad times are real. It takes both to make a life. You may not like the time, but you can enjoy the season.
The writer notes with a promising point at the end that there is beauty in time. "God has made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccl 3:11). The proper activity at the right time, bringing about God’s purposes, is a beautiful part of God’s overall plan. The word "beautiful" in this context has also been translated by some as "fitting". There is a fitting point in time that God has determined something should happen. The most beautiful thing God has done is that He made you and me fitting in His great plan. Now we are here at this place, on this day of this year, waiting for another year to dawn. God excels in making all things new and He makes all things beautiful.
There are seasons we can move through as individuals. In any given sanctuary on any given Sunday, you’ll likely find people who are celebrating new life, and people who are concerned about the end of life, people who are struggling, and people who are deeply content. Over the past year, we have been grieved to watch the health of beloved longtime members deteriorate and some of us had to say farewell to the a number of our dear ones. But we have also rejoiced together at the gift of new life and enjoyed watching all those little ones adding joy and liveliness to our daily lives. Endings and new beginnings. Times for grieving, and times for celebrating.
That’s what it means to be a part of family of God – to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice, to build one another up; not just to play for the same team, but to be one another’s cheerleaders. Whether we find ourselves in a season of dancing and embracing or a season of loss and disappointment we are here to support one another for better or worse.
So no matter which season you find yourself in at the moment, we can be assured of the fact that we are part of a larger family. No matter what season you live in today, there is a word from God for those who listen. And no matter how exhilarating, confusing, or infuriating life may be from one day to the next, remember that the sun will rise and it will set, the wind will blow, those streams will keep running to the sea, and—more importantly— people who trust in God will stand firm through it all.
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