1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Thanksgiving Homily at S.M.C.C.

Our scripture, this morning, that was read from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, is one that is familiar to most of us. Indeed, at least one popular song and probably quite a few others have been written to these words. And so the words have been sung merrily for quite a few years: "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to harvest," and so on and so on.

You know, many people take a lot of comfort in these words from Ecclesiastes. Believing that there is a time for everything under heaven is assuring. Knowing that God has a time for being born, or weeping, or throwing stones, or dancing, or loving, or even dying gives us confidence that God has everything under control; that in spite of the apparent turmoil going on in the world, God has his hand on the steering wheel of our life, and his foot on the accelerator and break pedals of our existence. Never the less, there is something about this scripture from Ecclesiastes that I want us to think about. Certainly, God has a time for everything in our lifetime, but the question is, How do we know what time it is in our life? How do we know when it is time to give birth or time to die? How do we know when it is time for us to kill or heal or break down or build up? How do we know when it is time for us to tear or sew or keep silence or speak? How can we possibly tell what time it is?

Unfortunately, there are those persons who figure that when ever something happens in their life is when it was just supposed to happen. I've seen it a number of times when I have visited persons who have lost loved ones in tragic accidents. Sitting in the living room of the family suffering the shock of such a tragic death, there have been those well meaning persons who have suddenly broken the silence with the words: "Well, it was just his time!" Or, they'll try to give comfort by saying, "God knows better than we do. He does things in his time, not ours." Well, needless to say, I personally have a lot of trouble with such a fatalistic approach to life's happenings. I would much rather believe that a tragic death is really an interruption in God's plan for a person's life that makes the angels cry. I would much rather believe that a tragic death, just to use that as an example, is an interruption in a plan, God's plan, that must be altered by God's divine love; that it is a tear in the tapestry of life that must be repaired by the Master Weaver. I would much rather believe that there are things that take place in this world that don't go according to God's plan, that don't take place according to God's time schedule. And perhaps the biggest reason for these breaches in God's plan is what we call "sin."

Before you were born God had a plan for your life. It was a good plan. It was a perfect plan. And the question is: How many times has each of us varied God's plan? How many times have we interfered with God's time-schedule for our life, simply because we would not listen to God's voice of guidance? How many times has each of us "bam-boozled" God's schedule for our life simply because we wanted to do things our own way? Certainly, it is true that God has a time and a place for everything to happen, but how do we know what time it is? How can we know such things?

I firmly believe in the story of Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. It's a true story because it gets played over and over again almost every day in our own lives. Each of us has been given Eden on a silver plate over and over again in our lives: golden opportunities have come along for us, perfect situations. But what have we done? Over and over again, we haven't listened to God's voice, we haven't taken God seriously, we have thought we knew better, and we've lost it -- every one of us has had it happen in one way or another again and again. And no one can convince me that it is God's will that these things happen. It is not God's will that there is insensitivity and hatred in the world. It is not God's will that we should break God's laws. It is not God's will and it is not a part of God's schedule that there should be family break-ups, or that there should be alcohol abuse, or that there should be drug abuse, or that there should be children born to mommies and daddies who aren't ready to love them and take care of them, or that airplanes should crash, or that the innocent should suffer or die. Rather, I fully believe that these tragic things happen because, all too often, human beings, including ourselves, forget to listen or simply turn our backs on God's loving, caring, gentle, guiding voice. In other words, from the standpoint of our scripture lesson for this morning, we really do forget how to tell what time it is.

But, God knows what time it is. And God is only too willing to share that knowledge with us if we will listen. And, of course, we do that through prayer, bible study, worship, fellowship with others who are also struggling with the same questions, listening to our teachers and parents and counselors and clergy, and in many other ways. That's how we get to know what time it is. And the faster we can latch on to that wisdom, the better the better it will be.

On Thursday we will be sharing in the national holiday known as "Thanksgiving." In Greek the word for "thanksgiving" is "eucharist," the same word used to describe the Holy Meal of our Lord. But, literally, "eucharist" means "good grace," or "good gifts." In other words, "Thanksgiving," is a day when we celebrate God's good grace, God's good gifts to us.

God has given us so much, even the gift of knowing what time it is, if we will simply submit ourself to him and let God walk with us and lead us through our life. May God bless us as we open ourselves to letting God do his thing for us.

Amen.