Seasons Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 PW Emerson 06/16/2013 Ten:27 Ministries Most people would say we have FINALLY hit summer. Today s hi is forecast to be 84 degrees and no rain until late tonight. ASK Who here says that summer is their favorite season? Why is summer your favorite? Anyone here say that winter is your favorite? Why is winter your favorite? It is clearer in Minnesota than in Florida: Seasons change. They don t stay the same. That is especially true for seasons of our lives. People often refer to sections of our lives as seasons. You may have job whatever for 7 years, for a particular season of your life When we talk about different seasons of our lives, Ecclesiastes 3 always comes to mind: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 1 3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. The book of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, known for great wisdom (wisdom that came from God). When we look at seasons from this perspective, times or sections of our lives, there are LOTS of seasons in our lives! I had a season as a computer geek before I ever thought about becoming a minister Many adults have a season as a single person and a season as a married person (I haven t gotten to the married season yet). Hearing about my parents in their retirement has caused me to think about what it will be like when I m in that season of life! As I smile thinking ahead about the summer that is just getting underway, I started to wonder what God wants from us during this next season. That led me to today s piece in Ecclesiastes 3. What does God want us to keep in mind during this next season? 2
FIRST, GOD USES DIFFERENT SEASONS TO TEACH US DIFFERENT LESSONS Daniel 2:21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. God raises up He gives wise I am a minister and have been for many years. 20 years ago I was NOT a minister. WHY? Because God needed that time to prepare me for ministry! I was a volunteer helping at a church with their 7-12 graders, youth ministry I worked at a shelter for foster kids St. Joseph s Home for Children I was a foster parent (being any kind of parent is a learning experience, period) During this time I worked with kids at summer camp and on retreats I chaperoned kids to mission trips & youth conferences I attended bible studies and finally led a bible study God needed time to prepare me to be a minister! GOD USES DIFFERENT SEASONS TO TEACH US DIFFERENT LESSONS 3
We learn different things during different stages of our lives, during different seasons On a crisp Minnesota fall afternoon, my four-year-old son was helping me rake leaves in the front yard of our farmhouse. I glanced up just in time to see a flock of geese flying over and pointed out how they flew in a formation shaped like a "V". He patiently watched them as they disappeared over the horizon and then turning to me asked, "Do they know any other letters?" Contributed by L. Scott Martens, Reader's Digest. When I read about David, of David & Goliath fame, I am amazed because there was a season in David s life, after he had been anointed king yet before King Saul died. David learned and grew as a soldier He learned a great deal about friendship and compassion And he learned a LOT about being respectful of God David was in no hurry to get rid of Saul, God s appointed king, because he was learning lots of lessons in that season of his life. Typically when we are preparing for something, we want to get through the preparation as quickly as we can to get on with the main activity. I wanted to get through seminary as quickly as possible, so I could be a minister sooner rather than later I took summer classes, J-term classes and maxed out each term so I could get through it quickly Only now in hindsight do I know how foolish that was! I should have enjoyed that time and allowed more to sink in! One of the hardest parts about being a minister is dealing with the deaths of young people: 4
Teenage suicide Teenage stage IV cancer Talk about a time to mourn and weep GOD USES DIFFERENT SEASONS TO TEACH US DIFFERENT LESSONS BUT We should also realize that EACH SEASON HAS OPPORTUNITIES Christmas is a time of celebration! We decorate specially for the season of Christmas We give gifts, symbolic of the gift God gave us on Christmas We have special events during Christmas o Choir does special songs o Children s Christmas pageant at churches o There are Christmas parties Christmas is NOT the time of the year when lawyers take out huge ads on TV 5 You could get into a car accident any day
So let s make sure your will is up-to-date Ministers don t visit with every church family during the Christmas season Could we talk about what your funeral should be like, in case you get in a car accident and die sometime soon? As a minister I m just trying to be prepared. EACH SEASON HAS OPPORTUNITIES! We are on the cusp of summer. Are there ways to reach people with God s word during the summer that aren t available during the winter??? YES! Church block parties much harder to do in the winter Single parent oil change ALSO more difficult to do in the winter You are thinking to yourself, those are nice events. What about something ONE person can do as an individual? Take a piece of chalk and write out scripture on someone s driveway. Write them an encouraging note! WHITE BOARD MARKERS aka dry erase markers leave notes on peoples windows or mirrors Use butcher block paper make a thank you card TEN TIMES larger than any other and put on their windshield! A couple years ago Cody & I handed out bottled water because on a Wednesday in July our heat index was over 100! These things are much harder to do in the winter! 6
EACH SEASON HAS OPPORTUNITIES You and I will have opportunities to reach out to people with God s love this summer! What we will do with those opportunities is another question.. Ezekiel 34:26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. Will someone I did some one-on-one ministry with help prevent him from shooting up a school? We will never know only God knows. We someone you work with go on to be a supreme court justice that otherwise wouldn t? Someone I was ministering to yesterday asked how I could possibly take time to help him knowing how busy I am. Each individual is important. Jesus made that clear during his time on earth If God brought you into my circle, then I care. Someone at Andrew s open house asked It must be really hard taking people/strangers into your house No the hard part is taking them into my heart that where God wants them to have a place. 7
If God has brought someone into my house for a season, that gives me an opportunity to help them see God s love in action! I like reading history but I read a piece last week that the author got wrong We missed him. Our chance to change things came and passed and we did not know it was there. A dark-skinned little boy sat through Sunday School classes for three years at a great Baptist Church (First Church, San Antonio) but some one missed him. His name was Sirhan Sirhan, and at age 24 he shot and killed Senator Robert Kennedy. In a welter of words and the shudder of grief throughout our nation, the persistent thought keeps recurring...someone missed him. The problem wasn t that SOMEONE missed him The problem was that EVERYONE missed him. CONCLUSION Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. What are you going to do with your summer? 8 In 1269 Kublai Khan sent a request from Peking to Rome for "a hundred wise men of the Christian religion...and so I shall be baptized, and when I shall be baptized all my baron and great men will be baptized, and their subjects baptized, and so there will be more Christian here than there are in your parts." The Mongols were then
wavering in the choice of a religion. It might have been, as Kublai forecast, the greatest mass religious movement the world has ever seen. The history of all Asia would have been changed. But what actually happened? Pope Gregory X answered by sending two Domnican friars. They got as far as Armenia, could endure no longer and returned home. So passed the greatest missionary opportunity in the history of the church. Let s not miss an opportunity for God during this season!!!! 9