Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to harvest,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up seeking,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Today is New Year’s Day. Right now we’re still in Christmas season and next Sunday we will celebrate Epiphany, but today is an unusual day in that the lectionary offers us a choice of three different liturgies for this one Sunday.
The first offering is simply referred to as the First Sunday after Christmas Day. The gospel story here occurs right after the visit of the Magi – the three Kings – when an angel appears to Joseph in his dream and warns him to gather up his wife and son and run to Egypt to escape the killing wrath of Herod, who wants to murder this “new born king” that he sees as a dangerous rival. This is where we find the story of the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”
Mary, Joseph, and the child will then remain in Egypt until they hear of the death of Herod, at which time they will return to Joseph’s home in Nazareth, where Jesus will grow to adulthood.
The second choice given for this Sunday is the day dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. The purpose of this liturgy would be to remind us that this newly born child is no ordinary child, but the one by whose name we will all be blessed, the sick shall be healed, the lowly raised up...all through the power of this name. This child is born with a name and a purpose and carries this gift from God all his life.
The third choice, and the one I chose for this week, is simply that it is New Year’s Day. And therefore, it is a good day to focus on the knowledge that in Jesus, with the coming of this new-born child, there is the coming of a new thing. As we are told in Revelations, “...the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’" New Year’s Day is a time to look into our lives and see what and how we are doing, and if we are truly watching and listening for God’s new things.
Our reading for this day comes from Ecclesiastes, which is one of the Old Testament books classified as Wisdom literature. The author is unnamed except to be referred to as “the preacher,” (ekklēsiastēs, in Greek.) This writer is also named as the king who is the son of David -- who could only be Solomon – and yet the writer never claims that name.
Whoever the author might be, his advice can best be encapsulated as “enjoy the good things that God provides while one has them to enjoy (because they likely won’t last).” But first one has to look honestly into what God has given us, before we can truly enjoy them.
The author begins our reading for today by reminding us that "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens", following this intro with a listing of 14 paired opposites – each of which is made up of two actions or attributes that pretty much make up life in this world.
It would be fairly easy to just read through the lists without giving it any particularly deep thought – I know this is so because that’s how I have always read it--but one point, I think, is especially worth considering here. Because of the way the words are presented, the paired words come across sounding almost as if we are presented with a choice between one or the other -- life or death, for instance. But if we pay attention we realize that the connecting word isn’t OR, it’s always AND. ‘There is a time to be born AND a time to die; a time to mourn AND a time to dance.’ In the fourteen paired statements we are given twenty-eight words or concepts that will, to some extent, each turn out to be part of every person’s human experience.
How could we ever know joy if there were no sorrow? How could we begin to understand love if there were never any such thing as hatred?
Another part I find extremely interesting in this reading is that there is no moral judgment given. Most of what we study in scripture revolves around what is “right” and what is “wrong”---there is none of that here. There is simply a statement of fact--these things are part of the human experience. If there is a question—and I don’t think there is one from the writing itself—then maybe we can ask one for ourselves; something like “How am I doing in this life I’ve been given?”
Certainly, we could cover several Sunday’s worth of discussions on some of these, such as a time to kill, a time to hate, a time for war, but, whether we like it or not, these are part of the human experience—ugly, unfortunate parts, but parts, nonetheless. Some of these can happen to us, remember, not always by us, and sometimes they are done by others supposedly acting in our name.
God has given us life, and this life is nowhere guaranteed to be all sunshine and butterflies. There is weeping and there is grieving–-but there is also laughter and loving and planting for the future. Our job here in God’s world, is to live the good times with joy and gratitude---and to face the bad times with as much grace and fortitude as we can—knowing God is with us, not judging us, but simply loving us through it all.
So, go out each day into this life God has made for us. GOD, the maker of all, has created this world and given it to us to live in, to use, and to enjoy! That is no small thing! Don’t take it for granted. Live this life; care for each other; be aware of every precious moment.
God blesses us, today and always...
Happy New Year to us all!
The first offering is simply referred to as the First Sunday after Christmas Day. The gospel story here occurs right after the visit of the Magi – the three Kings – when an angel appears to Joseph in his dream and warns him to gather up his wife and son and run to Egypt to escape the killing wrath of Herod, who wants to murder this “new born king” that he sees as a dangerous rival. This is where we find the story of the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”
Mary, Joseph, and the child will then remain in Egypt until they hear of the death of Herod, at which time they will return to Joseph’s home in Nazareth, where Jesus will grow to adulthood.
The second choice given for this Sunday is the day dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. The purpose of this liturgy would be to remind us that this newly born child is no ordinary child, but the one by whose name we will all be blessed, the sick shall be healed, the lowly raised up...all through the power of this name. This child is born with a name and a purpose and carries this gift from God all his life.
The third choice, and the one I chose for this week, is simply that it is New Year’s Day. And therefore, it is a good day to focus on the knowledge that in Jesus, with the coming of this new-born child, there is the coming of a new thing. As we are told in Revelations, “...the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’" New Year’s Day is a time to look into our lives and see what and how we are doing, and if we are truly watching and listening for God’s new things.
Our reading for this day comes from Ecclesiastes, which is one of the Old Testament books classified as Wisdom literature. The author is unnamed except to be referred to as “the preacher,” (ekklēsiastēs, in Greek.) This writer is also named as the king who is the son of David -- who could only be Solomon – and yet the writer never claims that name.
Whoever the author might be, his advice can best be encapsulated as “enjoy the good things that God provides while one has them to enjoy (because they likely won’t last).” But first one has to look honestly into what God has given us, before we can truly enjoy them.
The author begins our reading for today by reminding us that "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens", following this intro with a listing of 14 paired opposites – each of which is made up of two actions or attributes that pretty much make up life in this world.
It would be fairly easy to just read through the lists without giving it any particularly deep thought – I know this is so because that’s how I have always read it--but one point, I think, is especially worth considering here. Because of the way the words are presented, the paired words come across sounding almost as if we are presented with a choice between one or the other -- life or death, for instance. But if we pay attention we realize that the connecting word isn’t OR, it’s always AND. ‘There is a time to be born AND a time to die; a time to mourn AND a time to dance.’ In the fourteen paired statements we are given twenty-eight words or concepts that will, to some extent, each turn out to be part of every person’s human experience.
How could we ever know joy if there were no sorrow? How could we begin to understand love if there were never any such thing as hatred?
Another part I find extremely interesting in this reading is that there is no moral judgment given. Most of what we study in scripture revolves around what is “right” and what is “wrong”---there is none of that here. There is simply a statement of fact--these things are part of the human experience. If there is a question—and I don’t think there is one from the writing itself—then maybe we can ask one for ourselves; something like “How am I doing in this life I’ve been given?”
Certainly, we could cover several Sunday’s worth of discussions on some of these, such as a time to kill, a time to hate, a time for war, but, whether we like it or not, these are part of the human experience—ugly, unfortunate parts, but parts, nonetheless. Some of these can happen to us, remember, not always by us, and sometimes they are done by others supposedly acting in our name.
God has given us life, and this life is nowhere guaranteed to be all sunshine and butterflies. There is weeping and there is grieving–-but there is also laughter and loving and planting for the future. Our job here in God’s world, is to live the good times with joy and gratitude---and to face the bad times with as much grace and fortitude as we can—knowing God is with us, not judging us, but simply loving us through it all.
So, go out each day into this life God has made for us. GOD, the maker of all, has created this world and given it to us to live in, to use, and to enjoy! That is no small thing! Don’t take it for granted. Live this life; care for each other; be aware of every precious moment.
God blesses us, today and always...
Happy New Year to us all!
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