God of All Seasons

Intro:

A team of landscape architects conducted a study to observe the correlation between the physical and psychological influences of having a fence around a playground and how its effects would impact recreation. The researchers found a striking difference in how the children interacted in the spaces. On playgrounds without fences, it was observed that play tended to gather around the teacher, reluctant to stray far from view. On playgrounds that were fenced in, however, they ran all around the entire playground, feeling more free to explore. The researchers concluded that with a boundary, children felt more at ease.

I promise I’ll come back to that, but what I want to pose to you for reflection as we read today’s Scripture is, what does a blessing look like? Would you know it if you saw or received one? And, can you find satisfaction in the search—the pursuit of God, rather than simply celebrating the gifts he gives?

Scripture:

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 reads: 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Illustration:

“To everything turn, turn, turn; there is a season turn, turn, turn,” I added that last part, well, Pete Seeger and the Byrds did in their 1959 hit. Did you know that their hit song literally came straight from the biblical text; they only contributed about six words?

Their song attempts to bring comfort to people who think, ‘It doesn’t matter how bad things get; good times are just around the corner!’ After all, if life ebbs and flows, and if I am in a bad season now, better times are surely coming.

The comfort their song attempts to deliver, observed by Bible commentator Daniel Akin, is that it does not accurately communicate the author’s mood or intention in Ecclesiastes 3. He proposes, instead, that “Time” by Hootie and the Blowfish better conveys the sense of its message because, in that song, time haunts rather than comforts. Hootie & the Blowfish regard time as a punishment, saying that it crushes dreams, causes tears to fall, and brings all kinds of pain and sadness into your life; that it is an enemy rather than a friend.

Transition:

So far in Ecclesiastes, we’ve heard that if this cursed world is all there is, our actions in this life are futile. We do things that don’t matter, and then we die. In that reality, nothing in which you look to for meaning, and nothing you turn to in order to distract yourself from that awareness, really works. Pleasure doesn’t satisfy longings, wisdom, work, money, or any of the things we spend so much energy chasing.

As I prefaced the first sermon in this series, Ecclesiastes 1, that’s the prophecy! Without the cross, that’s where you’re left.

So, in the first part of our Scripture, we’ve got a poem describing activities and seasons; “everything under the sun.” Our author doesn’t remark on them or evaluate them as good or bad—that’s not the point he’s making.

Interpretation:

Pete Seeger and the Byrds try to give a worldly application to the passage in their song, telling their listeners how to capture the positive things on the list and that, surely, good times will follow your bad times. In the grand scheme and application of the book, I would say their takeaway communicates a gross misunderstanding—its message is altogether disparaging and hopeless. ‘Create your own peace.’ ‘Seek the blessings of God, rather than God himself.’

Ecclesiastes 3 is sometimes read at funerals in an attempt to provide comfort. People often say, “Death, in the cycle that is life, is on the same continuum as birth.” And that may be true since the fall, but that is not how it was originally supposed to be. God created life, and death is its enemy. It’s why Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus; it’s an ever-present reminder that we live in a cursed world.

Application:

In chapter 3, verse 9, however, I see a shift in the author’s writing. Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature, particularly what I’ve preached through so far; chapters 1 and 3 can be considered philosophical discourse. What I mean is, that we shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions, and perhaps in addressing chapter 1, I advocated or insinuated a particular interpretation, but here the author seems to play a bit of ‘devil’s advocate.’ What I mean is that it is possible, even probable, that the author proposes things for consideration so that the reader comes to his intended conclusion.

Paul does the same thing in Romans: [5] “20The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 3, verse 9, reads, “9What do workers gain from their toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

The author starts to provide commentary. He acknowledges that, though we long for better things than our present miserable existence, that we aren’t on the judgment seat and can’t see the complete picture. Trapped between time and eternity, we must trust that God uses the monotonous and trivial details, our mistakes as well as our accomplishments to work together for His glory.

Illustration:

Toward the end of the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” the CIA officer, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, cautions Senator Wilson, played by Tom Hanks, with a cautionary fable of a Zen master and a boy:

On his sixteenth birthday, the boy gets a horse as a present. All of the people in the village say, “Oh, how wonderful!” The Zen master says, “We’ll see.” One day, the boy is riding and gets thrown off the horse and hurts his leg. He’s no longer able to walk, so all of the villagers say, “How terrible!” The Zen master says, “We’ll see.” Some time passes, and the village goes to war. All of the other young men get sent off to fight, but the boy can’t fight because his leg is mangled. All of the villagers say, “How wonderful!” The Zen master says, “We’ll see.”

Interpretation:

The message behind this story and the point Solomon is trying to draw is pretty clear. We’re prone to draw conclusions about whether something is “good” or “bad.” We are especially quick to label something as “bad.” The reality is that things can be either good or bad, both good and bad, or neither.

The Bible is full of such examples. When Moses killed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave and fled to the desert, it looked like the end of his career. When Joseph was sold into slavery, things appeared hopeless. When Jesus was crucified, the disciples were scattered and denied him, some returning to their former professions.

That is the frustration the author feels. But here, finally, we get a glimpse at the confidence he has that something more is going on.

Scripture:

12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Interpretation/Application:

We are frustrated because we cannot see the whole picture. We have a small vantage point. We want our lives to have a purpose, to feel fulfillment, and we try to find ways to make that happen. We look to all kinds of pleasures, experiences, relationships, and possessions in vain hopes of making sense of things. But we need to understand that God is sovereign, who not only sees all that will happen but declares all that will happen.

We were made for God and His purpose; we shouldn’t be surprised when we’re frustrated after turning away from Him. That’s the frustration Solomon has been referring to throughout the book. Perhaps Pete Seeger and the Byrds captured Solomon’s point right by saying at the end, “it’s not too late.” God wants you to be dissatisfied until you come to fellowship with Him.

Matt Chandler likens us to children in the “why stage.” When you tell a child in the why stage to do something, they’ll inevitably ask, “why?” into infinity, until eventually, you say in exasperation, “Because I told you so.” In the same sense, we cannot handle all of the ‘whys’ of God’s plan, nor are we owed that.

Transition:

According to a recent Gallup poll, 65 percent of Americans name satisfaction as representing the most significant decision when weighing employment options. With that level of foresight and awareness, one would think that would translate to a near 65 percent job satisfaction rate. In reality, 83 percent of Americans suffer from work-related stress, with 25 percent saying their job is the number one stressor in their life. We are neither capable of adding fulfillment to our own lives as we are entitled to accuse God of absurdity.

I want to Go back to verse 13, “That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” That was profound to me, and I think for Solomon, too, he repeats it in the final verse. Provision and contentment are the gift of God. That’s kind of like the fence on the playground. Being around the teacher brings comfort, but the Spirit, as Jesus said in John 16, goes with us. The same can be said about rules—they outline the game, help us understand it and make sense of otherwise anarchy. They enable us to have fun, not limit it.

Application:

So, what does a blessing look like? Would you know it if you saw or received one?

Jesus references an ‘Unforgivable Sin’ in Mark 3, “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.” It’s less an action than it is an attitude. Blasphemy is the misappropriation—the misattribution of credit, recognition, or praise. It isn’t a one-time thing, so don’t worry if you think you’ve done it. The heart that cannot accept the workings of the Spirit cannot, therefore, logically accept that God does, in fact, do works or is worthy of appreciation, and therefore doesn’t and can’t.

In TobyMac’s 2022 Christian hit “The Goodness,” he suggests, “[God] made the rain, so, when it falls on me, should I complain? Or feel You calling me? It’s all on me to stay and really catch what You’re showing It’s my roots that You’re growing, ’cause life is more than this moment.”

We tend to be worshipful to the God of the Harvest, but can we still have praise in our hearts for the God of famine and pestilence? Horatio Spafford was friends with famous evangelist D.L. Moody. After tragedy struck his family, he went from being a wealthy businessman with 5 children to losing all his investments in the Chicago fire in 1871. Soon after his son died of scarlet fever, his family decided to join Reverend Moody on his crusade in England. While Horatio was temporarily delayed, finalizing some business, the ship his wife and four daughters was on suddenly sank. As he set sail to reunite with his wife, who was found alone and unconscious floating on a plank, the captain summoned him to the bridge as they passed over the spot where their ship had sunk and where his daughters had died. It was there that he penned the chorus to his famous hymn “It is well with my soul,” the first line of which is, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll.”

Conclusion:

We, here, have not committed the ‘unforgivable sin.’ But still, we’re prone to jump to conclusions, putting ourselves on the judgment seat about whether something is ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ or skipping parts of life we’re not so fond of. Provision and contentment are the gift of God. They’re proverbial rain. We can encounter some hard times, all of us, and we’ll certainly experience them differently. Still, they’re trying and difficult to the one who is in the midst of it all the same. But that rain is, too, provision. And sometimes that provision is really good, or bad; both good and bad—and neither, but it’s always God’s faithfulness to us for our pursuit of Him, not the thing after which we pursue. And if it becomes about the blessings, we’ll keep following them—rather than God—and will find ourselves no longer content.