In May of that year, I graduated from high school. I landed a great summer job and I was then off to college in the fall. Before year’s end, the sound of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” resonated with things happening in my life. Life just got better and better.
The song is an adaptation of Ecclesiastes 3. Most of the words come directly from Scripture. It was Solomon, who from the vantage point of experience and reflection, insightfully wrote: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”.
Solomon also wrote: “And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there, in the place of justice--wickedness was there. I thought in my heart, ‘God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity – a time for every deed’”.
Solomon references some things we don’t typically talk about in church. He shares some things in his book that are not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture; but he says these things because his transparency spills over into the things universally everyone is thinking about. With a sense of transparency, he recounts the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a sheer honest appraisal of what worked and what didn’t work.
Broken people have the capacity to make a mess of things. We’ve been given the resources needed for life and we don’t always appropriate and use it wisely. The passage says there is a time for all kinds of stuff including stuff that doesn’t work in our best interest.
It is interesting that we manage our time in a way that we focus on what is important to us. Our priorities may not be the priorities of God. Our utilization of time may not reflect the heart and love of God.
There are two forces at work in our world and we see evidence of self-destructive behavior on a daily basis. We live in an environment of troubled waters. The year 2020 is slightly over half gone. These are tough times. I don’t need to articulate for you the many areas of our lives where things seemingly are out-of-control. Both as a nation and individually, we are facing problems that are debilitating and seemingly unsolvable?
The majority of the world has been preoccupied with “slowing the spread”, the economy, violence in the streets, political issues, and add to that – this last week a hurricane with “unsurvivable storm surges”.
In honest transparency, Solomon highlights that life isn’t easy. We, like Solomon, are confronted with a host of choices on a daily basis and often the things we appropriate are not from God. Paul even said of himself, I am chief among sinners.
The back and forth way that Paul speaks illustrates this inward conflict when he says, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [Romans 7:15]
And even so, how many times in our own life can we identify with the inconsistency and failure to be true to our calling as the children of God? We seek to be faithful, but at the end of the day we miss the mark.
Solomon begins with the affirmation: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. When it comes to time, I guess we are all on a level playing field with 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours a day. In our human frailty, we sometimes get timing out of sequence and it creates awkward moments.
Based on observation - There are people whom I suspect were born late and have never been on time to an event in their life – On the other end of the spectrum, there are people who think they are late if they come only fifteen minutes early.
Normally at a wedding, I ask the mother of the bride to stand in her daughter’s honor when at that point in the wedding processional, it is time for the bride to come down the aisle. It serves as a signal for everyone to stand. It is not a difficult concept.
If the mother forgets, I simply motion for people to stand. I officiated at one memorable wedding where all of the bride’s maids were still at the beauty shop when it was time for the wedding to begin. In addition, the wedding cake had been delivered to the church where the reception was also taking place, but it had not been afforded time to cool before delivery. The top layer slipped of the top and landed in the floor.
When the wedding finally started an hour late, the bride’s mother stood up when the groom walked in. And everyone else followed her lead. When things get out of sequence, it can be awkward.
How many of us really enjoy a life that is multi-dimensional? I know people who work all of the time. How about you. How many people do you know that lead a balanced life?
Solomon writes that there is a time for everything. How well do we balance our walk with the Lord, our family commitments, or even our work for that matter? - some of us cheat sleep and never get caught up on our rest.
Solomon’s says there, “is a time to be born and a time to die.”
Birth and death represent the two bookends of life. Both take place without any of us having control regarding the timing or circumstance. A couple of weeks ago, I telephoned a friend to congratulate her on being a grandmother again. Her oldest son and his wife had just given birth to their firstborn. Without knowing, I reached her by telephone just as the hospice worker left the home of her parents. Her father was not expected to live throughout the day. – Birth and Death – Things that we ultimately have no control over.
Sometimes it would be nice if we could slow the hands of the clock and afford ourselves more time or make different choices. It really is true, time marches on.
All My Best!
Don