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August 1, 2004
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Seasons
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There have been thirteen ministers who have served as Pastor/Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church. Only three ministers have voluntarily left our church to serve another congregation. [1]
- The last time this happened was in 1958 when Dr. Ted Lilley moved to Buffalo, New York. [2]
- Prior to that, in 1927, Dr. Alvan Magary accepted a call to Detroit. [3]
This means that as a congregation we are entering an experience for which we have little precedence.
Is there a word from the Lord that speaks to us in this situation?
Let us pray: O Lord, as you weep with us when we weep and rejoice with us when we rejoice, support us as individuals and as a congregation in the weeks and months ahead. May the words I speak from this pulpit be yours; and may they take root in the hearts of those who hear them as individuals, and may they take root in the heart of this body as a congregation, so that, at the end of the process, we may together say, "It is well with my soul, it is well." In the name of Christ. Amen.
I.
A word that I believe speaks to our situation today comes from Ecclesiastes. It is one of the most familiar passages of scripture.
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck up what is planted;A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw away stones,
And a time to gather stones together;A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace. [4]
Scholars point out that in its poetry, this passage names twenty-eight experiences that collectively cover the range of human joy and sorrow: [5]
Birth
Death
Planting
Harvesting
Laughing
Dancing
This passage wraps its arms around all human emotions and earthly experiences.
The passage also depicts emotions and experiences that are as opposites to one another:
Birth is paired with death.
Seeking and losing are in the same sentence.
Speaking and keeping silence make a rare joint appearance.
Beyond this pairing of opposites, no apparent order exists in this passage. In fact, these experiences seem quite random:
Planting and plucking are followed by killing and healing, which in turn are followed by breaking down and building up.
It appears the writer has drawn this list from a Powerball lottery barrel and placed them on the page in the order in which he or she has drawn them.
Finally, this passage nowhere mentions the name of God.
Thus to summarize: in this famous passage, experiences of life seem to come in random order, opposites clash, and God is absent, retired, or, at best, away from action.
II.
So how does this passage speak to us today?
a.
First, this passage reminds us that that we have choice.
There are fourteen stanzas, twenty-eight experiences in this passage.
The first is birth; the second is death. We have no choice about when we are born or when we die. But the other twenty-six experiences this passage names involve human choice:
Planting
Plucking
Killing
Healing
Breaking down
Building up
Weeping
Laughing
Mourning
Dancing
Throwing away
Gathering
Embracing
Refraining from embracing
Seeking
Losing
Keeping
Throwing away
Tearing
Sewing
Keeping silence
Speaking
Even making war and making peace
All are matters about which we have choice.
This passage appears in the section of the Bible known as wisdom literature. Wisdom literature emphasizes the responsibility of each individual to make choices guided by God. It is the human task "to know when the right time has come to move visibly with whatever invisible program there is." [6]
My friends, I have made one of the most important choices a person could ever make:
- I have chosen to leave this congregation — a group of people who as individuals and as a congregation I have grown to love.
- I have made this choice — as I said in my letter to you — because I believe that a new leader God calls will lead you to a full development as a Magnet Congregation just as God called me to lead you to the point of renovating facilities to become a stronger Magnet Church.
- I have made a choice to accept God's call to serve in a congregation and a community that I believe will benefit from what we have experienced together — and I have learned from you — these fourteen-plus years we have had together.
I have made this choice because I believe it is the wise thing — under heaven — for your future, for the stewardship of my ministry, and for the congregation that is calling me. I have made this choice because I believe that it is the right time — the right season — for me to accept this call.
b.
Is God a part of this choice?
I hearken back to earlier words in this sermon: The human task is "to move visibly with whatever invisible program there may be." [7]
I believe there is an invisible program at work in our congregation, First Presbyterian Church.
- This invisible program called me here nearly fifteen years ago.
- This invisible program used pent-up desire on your part for renewal of membership, children's and youth ministries, and growth.
- This invisible program used the energy and drive all of us brought to this church.
- This invisible program forgave our mistakes — especially mine — and even used our mistakes for good.
- This invisible program led me to stay in this pastorate during a tough period of conflict and led you to allow me to go through a period of personal pain and remain as your pastor.
- This invisible program has led us all to the point where we have made tremendous commitments to the Magnet for Ministry Renovation, where the costs have come in within budget, where we are ready for one final vote, then groundbreaking.
- This invisible program has strengthened the life of our congregation, Session, and staff to the point that no decision is depending upon any one individual, no decision belongs to any one individual, no decision is implemented by any one individual.
- This invisible program has strengthened our church to the point that we are about as healthy as any church ever becomes.
c.
What is this invisible program? Who is it?
- It is God, our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, the Holy One of Israel.
- It is God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.
- It is God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Who is this invisible program? What is its name?
- Jesus Christ
- Author and Pioneer of Our Faith
- Lamb of God Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
- Messiah
- Chosen One
- Narrow Gate
- Good Shepherd
- Water of Life
- Bread of Life
- Light of the World
- Prince of Peace
- Parabler
- Walker on Water
- Healer
- Teacher
- Rabbi
Who is this invisible program? What is its name?
- Holy Spirit
- Advocate
- Paraclete
- Witness
- Counselor
- The One Who Stands Beside.
d.
Where will this choice lead?
On a practical level, it will lead to changes:
It will lead to the search for an Interim Minister, a process the Session will begin at 11:00 o'clock this morning.
It will lead to a search for an Installed Minister, which, according to the outstanding meeting the Session had this past Monday, will begin about as quickly as any Presbyterian church is ever able to begin such a search.
t will lead to an opportunity for a new person, with new ideas, with new perspective, with new history, to lead you to develop fully the program aspect of Magnet for Ministry, to move on to Phase II of the renovation, and love you as our Pastor.
III.
- When the writer of Ecclesiastes composed this piece, he or she began by naming the positive first, followed by the negative: "A time to be born" followed by "a time to die."
- Had the author continued such symmetry, the last stanza would read: "a time for peace, and a time for war."
But the author broke the symmetry, reversed the last line to read: "a time for war, and a time for peace."
Thus the passage begins with the word "birth" and ends with the word "peace."
The effect is to say that all human experiences — positive and negative — occur between birth and peace.
- Birth and peace are the overhanging trees under which all experiences walk.
- Birth and peace are the bookends between which the good literature and the painful literature of life stand on the shelf.
- Birth and peace are two poles between which the electricity of joy and sorrow passes.
Through this passage, God is saying:
- The first word is "birth" and the last word is "peace."
- The first word is a word of life and the last word is a word of life.
- The first word is God's and the last word is God's.
My friends, I believe that the word of the Lord for us today is this:
Nothing under heaven,
Nothing under the sun,
Can undo the words of birth and peace
That come from God,
Through Christ,
Daily administered to us as individuals,
Daily administered to us as a congregation,
By the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
1 "The Congregation's First Century: 1847-1947," in In The Heart Of The City: A History of First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1847-1997, by Allen Fisher and David Hay (Cedar Rapids: First Presbyterian Church, 1997), 1-25. go back
2 Hay and Fisher 39-40. go back
3 Hay and Fisher 21-22. go back
4 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. go back
5 William P. Brown, Ecclesiastes (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2000), 39-42. go back
6 W. Sibley Towner, "The Book of Ecclesiastes: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflection," in The New Interpreter's Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume V (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997), 305. Italics added. go back
7 Towner 305. go back
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Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
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