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THE BETTER LIFE, LIVED UNDER THE SON
“’Tis the Season to be ....”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
Bob Bonner
December 27, 1998
During this holiday season, there is a Christmas carol sung with great joy from many a heart. It is a song that describes many people’s outlook on life during this time of year. It’s the carol “Deck the Halls.” The second line of that carol is “Tis the season to be jolly.” It’s a time for many to kick back, put the troubles of the world behind us and dream dreams and live for awhile in almost a fantasy land among people who for a short period of time practice gentleness, servanthood and goodness rather than me-first attitudes, harshness and evil.
Yet, during these past 11 days, for many in this valley and the world, this has not been a season to be jolly. While many of us are in our own little worlds enjoying the snow-covered city and other wonderful surprises our God has brought, for others it has been a season of heartache and broken dreams. Take for instance these news items that we have read about in our own local paper. I’m only going to read seven successive days’ top stories. I think you will get the idea:
On December 16th, Iraq was bombed by the U.N. forces, led by the U.S. and Britain. Not a happy time for those being bombed or for the ones who have been ordered to leave their families at a holiday season to drop those bombs.
On December 17th, the media told us that the search for an eight-year-old boy, who was separated from his family and lost while on a family Christmas tree hunting expedition, was called off. He is presumed dead.
On December 18th, the impeachment hearings for the President of the United States began.
On the 19th, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President, which came as a genuine shock to him.
On the 20th, worshipers at First Assembly returned home from Christmas services only to find that their home had burnt totally to the ground, and that their family dog was presumed killed in the fire.
On the 21st, a White City couple, Jerry and Pamela Middleton’s, bodies were found in the back of their pick-up truck near Lake of the Woods. They had been missing since June. The parents have lived with that loss for months, only to find their suspicions verified during the Christmas season.
On the 22nd, a good Samaritan, a 19-year-old Newburg man was driving home from Tigard. He saw a car pulled off the road and a woman in distress was flagging him down. He pulled over to help her and a man with a handgun jumped out and robbed him of his Christmas money, stole his carload of Christmas presents and drove off.
What a contrast those events are to “Tis the season to be jolly.” The other day, I came across these words from Chuck Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministry. He wrote, “Life isn’t like a book. It isn’t logical or sensible, or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess.”
Oftentimes I think the non-Christian world looks at Christians as a group of people who escape to church every week to spend a few hours singing praise songs or hymns. They think Christians go to church and turn deaf ears to the world and close their eyes to the reality of pain that surrounds them. They think that we can’t handle reality so we go into denial. And for some that may be true. However, God has not called us to live in denial. He has called us to live in a world that is a mess and full of pain and disappointment. And as we do live for Him in this kind of world, He wants us to live in dependence upon Jesus Christ. He wants us to abide in Christ and allow Jesus to live His life out through us in His power so that others will see the real Jesus. He wants us to experience His supernatural joy and hope in the midst of a messed-up world so that we might share His hope, power, and joy with those who don’t know Him and need Him.
This calling to be real, to live life empowered by Jesus Christ amidst hurting people or in difficult seasons is what’s behind our passage of Scripture that we want to examine this morning found in Ecclesiastes 3.
This passage of Scripture has been made famous by its oft quotation by Jews, Christians and non-believers down through history. It was put to music by the Turtles, a music group from the 70's. More often than not, it is quoted out of context and as a result, at times, has been wrongly used as support to do whatever you want with your life.
As we look at this passage, let’s see what Solomon really meant to say about life lived in the real world, “under the sun” in verses 1-11. For those of you who are just joining us in this study, that expression, “under the sun” is a phrase used over and over again throughout this book to describe a life lived without God. God is left out of the equation. It is a view of life that might be best described as humanistic. Except, in our passage, we find one of the few positive references in this book to the place and role that God plays in the different seasons of our lives.
This passage has three divisions to it. In verse 1, Solomon makes a pronouncement about the different seasons of life that are common to the human pilgrimage. Then, in verses 2-8, Solomon shows us several patterns or examples of seasons that have been typical to the life experience down through history. In verses 9-11, Solomon explains his reason, the point of why he has brought up this subject of different seasons in our lives. He wants those who have learned to live life “under the SON” to understand where our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ fit, and the roles they play during these seasons. He wants us to learn something about God that we must keep in mind as we go through these difficult times if we are going to experience the joy from life that we really want and that God wants us to have even in the midst of difficult seasons.
Let’s begin by reading Solomon’s opening statement about the various seasons of life that are common to all. He declares in 3:1, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”
It may be a little fuzzy in the English reader’s mind as to exactly what Solomon is writing here, but it was not so for those who read Hebrew. To them it is even more clear. Solomon simply is stating that everything in human life and nature is under a set scheme. There is an “appointed time” meaning a specific period of time as it regards a particular incident or event in one’s life, as we well as a “season” or length or duration of time during which the particular incident or event will last.
For instance: it could be a specific event, like the sudden death of a loved one. Although the results of that death will carry on in the hearts of the bereaved forever, that event takes place in a point in time. Hence, the “seasons” or duration in time of that event is short lived. That’s one example of an “appointed time.”
Another example of an “appointed time” could refer to the years of a difficult childhood. In that case, the “season” or duration of that time could be longer.
For those who are “under heaven” or who are living as though God doesn’t exist, it may appear to them that these are all seeming chance or unrelated events. They may feel like they are victims of bad luck or have been hexed, viewing life that way will steal the joy that God would have for them. But later we will learn that Solomon says that there are no chance events in life. They are all a part of a greater plan of a sovereign and good God. And for us to find meaning in the normal events of life we must be connected to and relating correctly to the author of all life, God the Father.
Let’s look now at verses 2-8 at several of the different events or “appointed times” of life common to the human race and their inter-connectedness. We read in verse 2, “A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.”
Notice that both of these illustrations deal with metaphors that concern God’s control over life and death. One deals with people, the other with plants. He is the author and controller over all life and creation.
The spirit of God hints here, and later states, that God is the author and controller of all the events in our lives in two ways. First, this list of common events in life begins with God’s appointment of our time of birth and death. Thus, the entirety of human existence sets the stage for what’s common, as it concerns God’s plan for creation.
Second, you will notice that in both illustrations concerning the time of birth and planting, both are ultimately beyond human control. As it concerns the subject of birthing, it is not making this statement from the point of the view of the one being born. Unfortunately, some of our translations leave us with that possible impression. But the literal idea is that this statement is coming from the view of the parent, the one giving birth. Mom may know that generally she can plan on a nine-month gestation period before her baby is born. But still, she has no control as to the exact time or place that a child will be born naturally. If she did, there wouldn’t be babies born in airplanes, taxi’s, or suddenly in the bleachers at a football game. When God says it’s time to give birth, there is very little we can do to stop it from happening.
Similarly, from a parent’s point of view, if a child is going to die, whether through a tragic accident like being lost in the snow, or as a result of suicide or as a result of a disease, the parent really can do nothing about it. For moms and dads, the time of their children’s deaths is out of their hands. You cannot plan out their lives for them. You cannot protect them from every potential hurt or danger that can affect them. You can give them guidance and the tools with which to discover a meaningful life in the Lord for sure. But beyond that, it rests in the hands of the Lord.
Likewise, for the gardener, the time when the ground is thawed enough to plant and the time when the weather has been such that a crop can be harvested, the planting and harvesting time is controlled by the weather, which is controlled by God. Soil conditions and natural disasters are beyond our control. If you could control those factors, then you could make millions in commodities and futures. Hence, we can generally plan and hope that at such and such a time we may have our crops planted; and by such and such a time, barring floods, droughts or other natural disasters, we can hope for the harvest. But control those events? No way. They are determined by God.
In the next verse, we have the common events of death and destruction. First we read about human life that there is “A time to kill, and a time to heal.” In this snapshot, we see life suspended somewhere between the battlefield and the hospital, murder and medicine.
It reminds me of the TV program “ER.” In one emergency room you have the doctors working on the first patient brought into the hospital. It’s a life and death situation. A young boy has been mortally wounded. The physicians are feverishly trying to save his life, but to no avail. The patient dies whom they wished they could have helped.
Meanwhile, moments after the victim has died in the hospital, the murderer of the young boy comes in, injured in a car wreck while trying to flee the murder scene. He too, is seriously injured. The same physicians are working with equal skill and tenacity to save this killer’s life, and do. Before they begin working on the murderer, they want to kill him for what he had done to the child; but they realized that that was not the time nor their job.
That’s somewhat the point of this verse. It is not a verse to say that you have the right to just go out and kill somebody any time you wish. It’s talking about those bizarre times of killing and healing that make no sense.
In the latter part of verse 3, we see a snapshot that could have been taken by a construction company. We read that there is “A time to tear down, and a time to build up.” Sounds almost like a modern day urban renewal project. If you lived back east in New York City, it would be a common site to see demolition crews come in and destroy an old housing project, tearing it down and then leaving. Yet, before they leave the property, new construction crews arrive and begin building afresh.
In both of these two verses, whether we are thinking of human life, plant life, or the product of human effort, whenever an aspect of life is destroyed or killed something happens to the human soul. In verse 4 we read about what’s going on inside the human spirit when that which we love or that in which we invest ourselves or our dreams ceases to be. Solomon states that there is “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
There are times when our souls feel like they are being crushed and there are times of such emotional height that we fear for the time it will end. Some of those occasions are private, when we weep or laugh alone in our rooms. Then there are those more public occasions, such as at funerals and weddings.
From here, we move to what appears to be verses dealing with personal relationships. The first is seen in verse 5 that spans the gamut of confrontation and congratulation. Here we read, “A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing [or more literally, to be far from or to stand away from or to pull back from].”
Clearly, the first metaphor involving stones comes from farming. Often, as a farmer prepares a field for planting, he moves through the field with a plow, unearthing large stones and boulders as he goes. When he comes to those stones that make it difficult to plant, he throws them to the side. However when he is finished plowing, he may go back to those very same stones that he threw off to the side, gather them up and build a retaining wall around his field to keep out the cattle so that they won’t trample his crops.
Likewise, when it comes to our relationships with others, there are times when we get hurt by people and those times are like boulders in our field; we toss them to the sides of our lives because they have caused hurt. But then later, we learn that those very stones of hurtful experiences have become the stone walls that have protected our field from other intruders that would damage our growth. So, in submission to the God who allowed the stones to be in our field in the first place, we learn to use those stones in a positive way in our lives. We even embrace those painful relationships through forgiving and being forgiven.
That was Jesus’ whole point of church discipline. When Christian’s in the local church family become divisive or continue to ignore God’s clear-cut instructions, we need to confront them. If they refuse to obey what God clearly says, we are to refuse any further association or assistance. We put them to the side, like stones. But, if they are repentant and come to their senses, then the time of shunning has served its purpose. Now it is time to restore and embrace that person. They, in a unique way, become one of the stones in the future protective wall that surrounds the church family and guards it. They’ve been down that road of rebellion and they desire to protect others from the same foolishness.
In the last few weeks, this next verse has really had an application in our community. Verse 6 reads that there is “A time to search, and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep, and a time to throw away.” In both of these metaphors they infer that whatever is involved is something of value. It could refer to possessions or people. A very modern paraphrase of this verse might be that line from Kenny Roger’s hit song, “The Gambler.” “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, you’ve got to know when to fold ‘em,” speaking of holding or staying in a card game or when you should fold your hand and quit that round.
Two times in the last couple of weeks we have had stories in our local papers of two individuals who have been lost in the woods. One was an eight-year-old boy, who while out with the family was looking for a Christmas tree got separated from his family and was lost. Tragically, after several weeks of freezing cold nights, they had to eventually give up the search for their son. They had to realize “the time to give up.” They’ve had to “fold their hand.” I can’t even imagine the terrible grief and pain this family is suffering and will suffer for the rest of their lives over this holiday-season tragedy.
Yet, just over a week ago, a middle-aged lady and friend were out in the woods near Selma looking for moss for some Christmas decorations. They got separated and she was lost for two days in freezing weather. When rescue workers searched, they found her. Why one and not the other? Only God knows the answer.
The last part of this verse reminds me of “Garage Sales.” Someone else’s junk becomes my treasure. There is a time to hang on to stuff and other times it’s time to clean house. It also reminds me of both Jonah’s and the Apostle Paul’s experience on boats in storms at sea. In both cases, the ships were carrying valuable cargo. There came a time when their very lives depended upon them no longer keeping their cargo. Instead, they had to throw it overboard to save their lives.
In verse 7, Solomon focuses upon times in our relationships with others where events have brought about great sorrow and grief and anger. He says of those times that there is “A time to tear apart, [rent your clothing as a sign of agony, grief and frustration] and a time to sew together.” This “sewing together” was a sign that time had passed and now we need to move on with life, scars, tears and all. There’s a time to bring closure to broken events and relationships in our lives. In Solomon’s day, you didn’t just cast away those clothes that you had torn as a sign of your emotional pain, you sewed them back up and wore them again, scars and all. Clothes were too valuable then to just toss them. Likewise, relationships are too important to carry on bitterness. Okay, you’ve been hurt, emotionally scarred, or wronged. Understand the pain. Forgive and move on. Don’t hold on to the pain of the past. Don’t allow the wicked one to trick you into believing that you are a victim. That will only poison other relationships in your life.
Then Solomon adds, there’s, “A time to be silent, and a time to speak.” Sometimes in our relationships with others, when we are hurt, we just want to scream and throw things. Too often, we shoot off our mouths without thinking and we make matters worse. When we come together, we spew more bitterness and hate. We don’t bring closure to the situation, we inflame it.
But notice that Solomon begins this clause with being silent first and then speaking. When hurt, it’s better to go somewhere, sit down and be quiet. Think it through. Pray. Get God’s perspective. Were we wrong in this situation? Then we need to deal with our wrong first. We need to humble our selves before the Lord and make it right with Him and whomever. If we were not wrong at all, then we need to begin the forgiveness process. That begins with remembering the Lord’s forgiveness of us, and then, in the power of Jesus living in us, to forgive those who have wronged us. So, first, its get alone with God and be quiet. Then, after we have gained some wisdom, insight, and healing with Him, speak to the other party.
Like sewing the torn clothes back together, our speaking is not to bring more harm; to speak is to bring healing and closure to the situation.
Finally, he adds in verse 8, there is “A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.” This speaks to those obvious times where we need to be accepting, and also those obvious times to reject even permanently from our midst. When you kill someone at war, that is ultimate and final rejection. There is no bringing that person back.
It’s interesting to me that in the past two weeks, the two greatest national-interest stories can fall under this verse. As it comes to the impeachment process, there was a time where the American people could have warmly and with not too much hesitation, forgiven President Clinton’s indiscretions and violations of the law if he had been honest with us. There was a time for loving forgiveness. But his continual refusal to take complete responsibility for his actions has brought about his impeachment. Until he demonstrates a repentant heart, national forgiveness will not be. Rejection or hate will remain.
That term “hate” does not so much refer to an emotional reaction that is devoid of love or concern. It refers to lovingly taking a position to put someone out of the house, out of the family, out of the kingdom, out of a position of leadership, for the betterment of the community. President Clinton needs the Lord now more than ever. And he needs our prayers.
The latter part of this verse deals with another world ruler, Saddam Hussein, and the call for war with Iraq. There is a time for war to begin and time for one to end. The attacks on Iraq took place for a short period of time. They may start up again. Someday, there will be a time for complete peace.
As we look over that list of life situations, Solomon is demonstrating for us that the circumstances we find ourselves in, are sometimes beyond our choosing. Sometimes they are tragic and make no sense. For sure, we can’t avoid all of them. If there is no God then we are more the victim of our circumstances than we are the masters of our destiny. And sadly, along with the victim mentality usually come broken relationships, bitterness and eventually, loneliness.
But as we come to verses 9-11, Solomon brings us back to life under God’s leading, in the midst of these different seasons. He doesn’t want us to live as victims, who have no sense of healing or hope for the future. So, Solomon brings us back to life that includes God in the equation rather than ignoring Him.
In these verses we gain a little insight into life and why God permits these varying events to happen to us. One of His ultimate conclusions is that all the events of our lives are determined by a sovereign God and are beyond human control and understanding. We will never fully understand the answer to the question “Why?” certain things happen. All we can be really sure of is that God is in charge. Apart from Him, we can’t understand a thing about our lives. And even with Him, sometimes we will never understand things in this life. Everything in life brings us back to Him and into submission to His purposes.
In verse 9 Solomon begins to make his point with a question. He asks, “What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?” The answer one would expect from this would be negative. “Nothing.” Yet, in the following verses, Solomon makes two observations from all of the examples of human activity he has just cited in the previous verses. These observations somewhat answer the question of reason or profit behind good and bad events in our lives.
The activities of the previous verses are called in verse 10, “a task” or “burden.” Here, Solomon states, “I have seen the task [these events or seasons He has just mentioned] which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time.” This sovereign God who is in control, and even allows the bad times along with the good, says that all of these events are “appropriate” or literally “beautiful.” These sorrowful events are good and needed for us.
His point is that God has not made any mistakes even with tragedies that come into our lives. God has “appropriate” reasons for all of the events He has planned for our lives. He plans to use them for His good and ours. These painful times are actually gifts from Him. Just as James tells us in 1:2, “Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials.” Those trials are gifts from God that will produce something great in our lives in the future. They may not feel like gifts now, but in the future when the story is completed we will see that these events were “appropriate.”.
Solomon not only says these events in our lives are gifts from God, but he adds that God, “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.” In other words, through these difficult and joyous events, one positive product that has come from these times is that God has put a longing in our hearts to know or understand the eternal significance of such events in our lives. These good and difficult seasons in our lives are like cattle prods that move us in the right direction. God uses difficult events in our lives to prod us toward knowing the eternal God.
We realize that there is something and someone out there bigger than us. The world does not revolve around us. But through such events, we become awakened to our smallness and neediness to know and depend upon God. Peace in our lives doesn’t come from knowing the answer to the question of “Why?” but rather “Who?” Solomon makes it clear that we will never fully understand the “Why?’s” but that’s okay; because knowing the “why’s” pales in our need for knowing the “Who.”
There are two principles that come screaming off the passages of these verses. They are so simple, but true. They are foundational to finding meaning in this world. Yet, they are quickly forgotten during many seasons of our lives.
First: Meaning in life is not found in our work, religions, books, or human relationships. Meaning is found through an intimate personal relationship with God. He is the one who is in ultimate control. He is the one who knows the beginning from the end. He is the one who gifts us with different events, both pleasant and unpleasant, that we might get to know and enjoy Him better.
I see a second point more in line with a warning that comes from these verses. When difficult times come in our lives as individuals or difficult times come to us as a church family, there is the natural but wrong tendency for us to jump in and try to fix it, without ever stopping and checking in with God. So, we take control and bring unnecessary hurt and harm to ourselves and others.
Or, equally wrong, our tendency may be to sit back and play the victim. We feel sorry for ourselves because we didn’t have the advantages that other people had, our dreams were never realized. We are the victim because we missed out on the “normal” life that everyone else seems to have enjoyed. All the while, we play the victim, forgetting the fact that the sovereign and good God is in control. When we forget God’s role, playing the victim will only lead to fractured relationships, bitterness and loneliness. It will lead to spiritual bondage. Hence, the warning from these verses is twofold: Do not try to usurp control from God in areas where He has not given you control.
Or the other side of the coin, Do not sit back and play the role of the victim, spewing bitterness on others. Trust in the loving, good sovereign God’s control. Take those victim thoughts captive and submit them to the Lord Jesus Christ and His sovereign plan for your life.
Question: Where does this teaching hit you this morning, right now? Are you or someone you are close to going through some hurtful heart wrenching time? Could this be a wake up-call to you and or them to consider the Lord’s role in your life? Are you ignoring God, running from Him, or even accidently playing the role of a victim? As a Christian, are you living in complete submission to what you know for sure is His will for your life? Could it be that God is calling you to visit with Him?-- to wait upon Him? Maybe it is one of those special times when, if you turn to Him, He will make Himself very real to you. Why not turn to Him?
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