THE SEASONS OF LIFE

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 NIV)

A number of years ago (late 1950’s) the singing group THE BYRDS sang a song written by Pete Seeger called TURN! TURN! TURN!  It became  an International hit that topped the music charts for a long time.

It is interesting - the last verse of that song was taken word for word from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 about the seasons of life that we must all go through.

As I look back on the fact that I have more years behind me than I do in front of me I can say with great confidence that there are many seasons that we must all go through in our journey called life.  There are no short-cuts and there are no free passes.  It is a mandatory requirement that no one is exempt from.

Sometimes there are distinctions between the seasons and sometimes there are times of overlap of being in two seasons at once.

Over the centuries the church has developed different ways of identifying and describing the set of experiences which seem inevitably to come to a congregation.  This became known as the church calendar.

They identified six basic seasons.  It is important to know that the church calendar was made to adapt to man and not man adapting to the church calendar.

All of us  need to look at our personal life through the lens of the church calendar. Understanding this calendar will also help us to understand the events that are taking place in our own life.

1st Season - ADVENT - Looking forward to the birth of Christ.

Nothing happens in the Church or in the Christian life unless the people want and expect something to happen.

This is the reason the church calendar begins with this season.This is the season of expectant preparation and search.  Example – of when expectant couples are preparing to have a baby.

Some of the words and themes which describe the meaning of this season are: preparation, expectancy, hope, searching.

The first advent season came into the humdrum of existence of a depressed people.  But something happened that put a shudder within them and caused them to begin to make preparation.  They felt an expectancy - a hope.

We have the advantage of looking back and knowing what it was - the coming of the Messiah.  They weren’t so sure. The wise men followed their hope to find the baby Jesus.  God saw their longing and responded to them, but not in the way that they expected.

2nd Season - CHRISTMAS - The birth of Christ.

You know it’s going to happen. God will always come through to those who search after Him.  However, sometimes the gifts are not what we expect and we don’t recognize the answer.

Even John the Baptist did not recognize him.  He probably lived around him for 30 years.  They began their ministries side by side and he still did not recognize him.

Words and themes used to describe the experience of Christmas are: gift, surprise, joy, birth, incarnation.

3rd Season - EPIPHANY - The celebration that Christ was not sent just to the Jewish people.

The gift of Christ is to be shared with the whole world.  You are like a sponge during this time.  You can’t get enough of God, Bible, teaching, etc.

Words and themes which describe this season are: light, life, manifestation, call mission.

CHRISTMAS ALWAYS LEADS TO EPIPHANY.

When you get such a gift from God, how do you send an appropriate “thank you” note?

You do that by telling others of the good news.  The church needs to go into all the world and say, “Look, what I have.  Isn’t it amazing, we want to share it with you also.”

Matt 28:19  ""Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (NKJ)

4th Season - LENT - The season of breaking and dying.

This is the dark season of our lives.

We go through depression, discouragement, and even death sets in.  People tend to fight over minors and insignificant issues during this time.

As Christmas leads into Epiphany, Epiphany leads into lent.

We begin to feel unworthy of the gift given to us, the task ahead of us.  We grow tired from all the good work.  We have cared for the world, we have neglected to care for ourselves.

When we are tired and we easily become discouraged.  We begin to withdraw from the work and become introspective.

Some of the words and themes which describe lent are: denial, loneliness, discouragement, depression, desperation, repentance, suffering, and death.

It begins with a tiredness that leads to depression.  The depression leads to despair.  Finally, there is alienation, brokenness and death.

The church has worked itself to death.  It has sown all its seed (Epiphany).

Now the seed must lie silently in the ground and rest awhile, getting ready for the great multiplication miracle of harvest.

John 12:24  ""Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. (NKJ)

We don’t understand why God ordains it to be this way, but the doorway to life is death.  Unless there is a breaking, there can be no multiplying (Mark 6:41).

Unless all the seeds we plant; all our hopes, our efforts, our programs are finally surrendered up to God to the point of death, they will remain a single seed.

We may keep it alive but it will never multiply.

The truth is that God leads the church through Lent in order to give it new life.  Don’t run from this important season in your life.

5th Season - EASTER - The season of resurrection life

The season of tiredness, despair, alienation and death leads to God’s second surprising gift; new life, resurrection life, eternal life.

This is the time of which we know that God comes and breathes life out of death.

Just when they thought it was over, just when they were gathering the spices to embalm their dreams, just as they were coming to say their final goodbyes - they discovered that the stone blocking the way to immortality had been rolled away.

Words and themes which describe te Easter experience are: resurrection, new life, redemption, triumph.

6th Season - PENTECOST - The season of harvest and celebration.

This is the wonderful experience of when the harvest begins to come in.  It is the season of Pentecost.

This is the other side of Epiphany - a time in which you see your rewards for your work.

Ps 126:5  Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. (NKJ)

But after the harvest is all in there comes a time when the church begins to say, “Our buildings are built, our mortgages are burned, our ministries are fruitful beyond their wildest dreams.  Now what?

And with that question the church moves forward into Advent and begins its journey through the seasons all over again.

A lesson to all of us - WHATEVER SEASON YOU FIND YOURSELF IN, THIS TOO, SHALL PASS.  YOU WON’T BE THERE FOREVER.  One season leads to another and God grows you during whatever season you may be in – even if it is lent.

Don’t give up.  Don’t be in despair.  God’s got a plan for you and it good.  He will bring you completely through whatever you are going through.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ NIV)