Wednesday, September 1, 2021

A New Season! (September 5, 2021)

It’s September.  It’s September?  It’s September!!!


I know that we have talked about this before, but the fact remains.  Time moves quickly.  Really quickly.  One moment you’re packing away all of your winter clothing and are excited about what lies ahead in the spring and summer.  The next moment you’re dreading the fact that it is soon time to pull out all of that winter stuff because the summer is wrapping up.  Still, no matter how you feel about it, no matter how quickly it has seemed to transpire, the seasons change.  The dates flip over.  Time passes.  It seems to pass quickly.


Right now we are in a time of transition from one season to the next.  No, summer hasn’t officially ended and will not do so according to the calendar until September 22.  Regardless, the shift is taking place.  The nights are getting a little longer.  The days are getting a little shorter.  The temperature has been showing signs of decreasing.  Plus, there is the telltale sign of fall approaching…people taking pictures of their kids on the first day of school.  If you have social media, you can’t miss them.


“Look at little Billy as he gets ready for 9th grade!  Aren’t you so glad that he finally got that front tooth?”  (And then there’s the comparison picture of Billy ready for the first day of kindergarten without the tooth.)


“Look at our Sally!  Still wearing those princess dresses!”  (And there’s the picture collage…12 years of Sally starting the first day of school in a Belle dress.)


“I don’t think Junior wants to go to school this year.”  (Of course, there’s the video of 16-year-old, 250 pound Junior clinging to his Mom’s legs as she drags him to the bus.)


If that weren’t enough to convince you, if you need more evidence than the school pictures, please don’t forget about pumpkin spice.  That stuff is back.  In full force.  It’s not even Labor Day.  Wait a moment, please!  Hold off on the pumpkin spice!  I’m not ready!


Yep.  


We’re in that transition.  Summer is winding up.  Fall is beginning.  16 months of winter are ahead.


This is nothing new.  We’ve been here before.  Still, it is good to be reminded.  It is good to remember.  It is good to reflect on the same truth at different seasons and different years of our lives.  With that said, here we go.  Let’s remember the Byrds’ song once again…oh wait, that’s a Bible passage.  Let’s look at that instead.


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 uproot,

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,

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.

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8


A time, a season.  Let’s add a few.  (Not that we’re actually adding anything to the Bible…we’re just exploring a few more ideas to emphasize a point.  I’m certainly not saying that God fell short on the list provided.)


a time for summer and a time for winter,

a time for warmth and a time for cold,

a time for rain and a time for snow,

a time for swimming pools and a time for school,

a time for consistency and a time for change,

a time for blueberry pie and a time for pumpkin pie,

a time for lemonade and a time for hot chocolate,

a time for ice cream sandwiches and a time for Christmas cookies.


OK.  I can see why these were left off of the list.  They don’t quite have the same power, the same emphasis, but it is still a bit fun to think about some other things that have seasons.  (Just as a side exercise, what would you add?  A time for iced cappuccino and a time for Nutella hot coffee?  A time for ____ and a time for ____.  What would you add?)


As I read this list, a couple of things strike me.  


One, I have a preference in most cases.


I prefer birth over death, planting over ripping out, healing over killing, etc., etc., etc.  In most of these contrasts, in most of these seasons, in most of these times, I prefer one over the other.  Granted, there are some that are a harder choice (blueberry vs. pumpkin pie), but for the most part, I like one end of the statement better than the other.  This causes me to question, “Why must I experience both sides?”  If I were the one to set this whole thing up, if I were the one to design how life worked, I’d be tempted to just keep my preferences.  I’d rather just say that all will be peace, all will be healing, all will be mending together, all will be summer and swimming pools and ice cream sandwiches and lemonade.  Nobody asked me.  Besides, that is not the nature of the world in which we live.  This is not reality as we know it.  Not only that, but sometimes the greatest work, the most significant advances in our faith or in our relationship with Jesus don’t take place in those times we prefer.  Sometimes, they take place right in the midst of the more difficult seasons.


We may not wish for the winter.  We may not prefer the ripping out or the giving up or the throwing away or the war.  Regardless, in those moments, in those times, in those seasons, there is still reason to hope, there is still reason to trust, there is still reason to press on.  Why?  Because we know that God is at work.  We know that God is at work in the stillness, in the dryness, in the harshness.  We know that sometimes the greatest growth takes place in us through seasons of hardship and trial.  Remember this passage from James?


Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  

~ James 1:2-4

Sometimes God uses the more difficult seasons in our lives to produce things that the “easy” seasons would have never produced.  Plus, we know those seasons will also be temporary.  Time will keep passing and we will once again be looking at spring and summer.  Most importantly? Through each season we can trust God.


That’s the second thing that strikes me (well maybe it should be the first thing, but that’s another conversation).  We can trust God.  In times of feast, in times of famine.  In times when we have much, in times when we have little.  In times of laughter, in times of crying.  In times of victory, in times of defeat.  In all times, in all seasons, we have a good, a loving, a kind, a holy God in Whom we can place our trust.  We can trust that God will be true to His promises.  We can trust “…that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 1:6)  We can trust “…that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  We can trust that “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)


Friend, we can trust God.


The changes coming may not be our preference, they may not operate according to how we would like to see things go.  We might wish that we could remain in a perpetual 78ยบ climate with no bugs, no rain, a heated swimming pool, all of our favorite recreational activities close at hand, endless supplies of lemonade and plates full of a variety of sweets with all of our friends and family right with us.  No cleaning, no laundry, no dishes, no dusting, no picking up, no making the bed, no worries, no cares, no frets, no fears, no school.  We might long to live in such a place, but that isn’t reality.  Such a place does not exist on this side of heaven.  Plus, we wouldn’t be content, we wouldn’t be happy if we were there apart from God.  If God is calling for us to walk through winter, we are much better off to walk through that winter than to try to escape it or to keep pining away for summer to come once again.  If God is calling us to experience fall, we are much better off to look for the blessings that fall might bring, the changing of the leaves, the crispness of the air, the pumpkin cake than we are to try to escape the fall and move quickly into spring.


It’s September.  


Fall is approaching.  Summer is leaving.


This is the reality.  


What remains to be seen…How are you going to trust God in this new season?  How are you going to grow in your relationship with Christ?  God has something in store for us.  We can trust in the Lord.  I, for one, can’t wait to see God is going to move, to act, to bring forth good out of this season as well as the next.


“To everything, turn, turn, turn…”


                                                                                                                                                    ~ Pastor Chris