“For Everything There Is a Season …”

Recently, I’ve found myself overwhelmed by a number of events—not, so much, by the events themselves but by the sheer number of them happening all within a short period of time. Family and friends, congregation members and colleagues in the ministry have all been involved in this emotional turmoil. The joys of births, baptisms, and wedding preparations have come face to face with the sorrows of illnesses and injuries, deaths and funerals. I felt myself ricocheting up and down, back and forth, bouncing like a wayward ping pong ball from one extreme to another. How to handle it all?

Then suddenly, in the midst of it all, the Holy Spirit graciously brought to mind the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes:

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 cast 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 cast 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. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

[Yes, for those of you who remember, these are the words of “Turn, Turn, Turn,” recorded by the Byrds in 1965. The song was written by Pete Seeger in 1959, changing the last line of the Biblical text to “A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late,” which changed the text into an anti-war protest song—not what Solomon had in mind.]

I refreshed my memory regarding this text by referring to Dr James Bollhagen’s  Concordia Commentary on Ecclesiastes (CPH 2011). There, he does list several ideas that might be seen as “central thoughts” of this poem. One of these is this: “The poem contains thought that is characteristic of biblical wisdom: God has built a natural order into his creation, and it is wise not to resist this order in your manner of life, but rather to fit in with it (the First Article of the Creed). As his creation ebbs and flows, you can expect life to do the same.” (page 132)

A helpful thought, to be sure. But this precious and powerful poem has more meaning than “interpretation” can extract from it. As Dr Bollhagen put it, “As poetry, the intent of the words is to move the reader, not merely to inform him.”

He then continued, “That is, in fact, true of all Scripture. Its purpose is not merely to reveal ancient history or provide engaging literature. Rather, God works through his Word to move people to repentance and faith in Christ. When all is said and done, there is a difference between the impact the reader feels as he is reading this poetic text and where the reader finally settles when the reading is done and further reflection has taken place. The reader needs to consider this poem within the context of all Scripture and settle in with the divine Author's final word, the Gospel. The ultimate message of this poem is the assurance of Jesus: “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33)

And there’s the good news! For all the turmoil we go through, no matter how muddy and messy life may get, through joy, through sorrow—yes, even through both!—Jesus has already overcome the world! That means all these “times” are already in His hands.

And so are we! And in His hands we have peace, whatever the “time” may be!