SERMON SUMMARY
A good grasp of this short passage:
· V 1 Introductory Thesis Statement: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. While time is measurable, the sense which it is used in the verses from v 2 onwards is “Kairos” (Greek) which means an appointed time, an opportune moment, or a due season.
· V2-8 Poem on the times
In the poem, 14
comparisons are made, each line constructed in the form of antithetic
parallelism. We think of ourselves uprooting or planting, birthing or dying, building or
tearing, tearing or sewing…
Questions to ponder:
- Can you picture yourself in these various periods of life?
- Have we approach time with arrogance, ignorance, ungodly sentiments and even idolatry?
- Have we sought the Lord about how this year should be expended?
- What’s God’s take on YOUR 2017? Do you know?
By putting these contrasting pairs side by side, the teacher tries to enable us to appreciate the sense that one moment cancels another out like the swing of a pendulum.There is something built-in in the seemingly opposing experiences. So what is it that we accomplish at the end of the day?
· V 9 The Rhetorical question is asked again: The teacher is expecting a negative answer: “Mankind gains nothing from his toil!” Any
profit or advantage that man might gain from his toil is nullified (made
invalid) by his ignorance of divine providence. It is not uncommon to gripe, “Why should I
work so hard building a business when it’s all going to be destroyed? Why get
married when you just end up fighting and hurting one another?
· V10-11 Reflections on the poem
With his “I have seen,” the Preacher
begins a reflection on the poem (vv 10-11). He tells us that God has given 3
things:
i. V
10: “The instead of ‘burden’, the word is better
translated as ‘business,
occupation’ for everyone to be busy with.” Whatever you have
as an occupation (you may still be studying… all the same) it is a gift from the Lord. You are to find satisfaction in a job well done whatever your
occupation.
ii. V
11: “a sense
of past and future”: Unlike animals who live only for
the present, we can study the past and contemplate the future. God has given us
the capacity to transcend the present and reflect on the past and the future.
Yet, we cannot grasp the whole picture.
- Do not fret over what you cannot know. This is God’s prerogative alone, so don’t go away wanting to know what is not in your place to know. You will be very frustrated and overwhelmed.
- Secondly, therefore we must not judge anything before the time appointed for it to be understood. There will come that appointed time when that final pattern is finally shared with you.
- Till then, trust that God will make all things beautiful (comely, seemly, pleasing, wholesome, suitable, appropriate) in its time (kairos moment), whatever that bag labelled “all things” might carry. Be still and abide with God. Focus on what we’ve already been told in the Word, live out what we know and leave what we don’t know to the One who knows all.
iii. V13:
the ability to “eat
and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” How is man
to respond since he is only able to see a glimpse of things from the
perspective of eternity but not being able to do anything about it? The
teachers tell us that it is for the man to enjoy the gift of life itself from
moment to moment. However,
that is not a call to hedonistic lifestyle.
God tells us in v 15 that “God will call
the past to account.” In our enjoyment, we need to remember this fact.
The present will become the past and the present follies will need to be
accounted for when they are past. A
life that is fulfilled is a life that cherishes the gift of time and
opportunities and a life on the look-out for meaning of those special moments
that come our way, however foreboding they may appear.
Further, in his
conclusion the Preacher twice repeats the confident, “I know” (vv 12-14)
· V12 & 14 Two conclusions
The teacher gives us his 2
conclusions, each beginning with “I know” (3:12 and 3:14). I have shared the
first conclusion and i.e. to enjoy the opportune moments God has carefully
scripted in each of our lives. Don’t
approach your new year with an irrational fear. Even in the seemingly negative
experience that will come, there is a purpose for its presence.
The second conclusion contains a proverb, “Nothing can be added to it, nor anything
taken from it” (3:14). In “doing life” we need
to recognize our limitations: we have no such power. Praise be to
God that the good and the bad in our experiences have their place and purpose
in God’s plans for us. Purge the fear from
our hearts that prevents us from recognizing God’s hand in the unexpected.
Questions for Reflection:
You may respond like:
A. a horse with blinders who
commits himself to plow the ground for hours and hours every day. Since v 15
says, “Whatever
is has already been, and what will be
has been before” then I am resigned but will be faithful… totally committed to
the grind. With all the vigor that I can muster, I shall put my head down and
plow the field ramming as much as I can into 24 hours.
B. a hawk with sharp
senses always scanning the area as it flies over the landscape, wanting to
pick out the God-appointed opportunities. God invites us to be a focused
watchman whose senses are attuned to the slightest hint of an opportunity, on
the lookout to leap upon them with all his might when the kairos opportunities surface.
Let’s take courage to organize ourselves wisely in such a way that enables us
to seize the opportunities when they come.
Will you be a horse or a hawk?
[1]
Derek, Kidner, A time to Mourn, and a
Time to Dance: Ecclesiastes and the Way of the World. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 39
