Seasons of Life
By the Rev. John Davis, Special to the Gazette
Friday, September 25, 2009
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons ...” — Daniel 2:20-21
A season changed this week. Summer, the season of long, warm days, gave way to autumn and its shorter, cooler days.
Since the beginning of the human race, “times and seasons” have played a leading role in our awareness of God, our world and our selves. The study of the most ancient and primitive cultures suggests that the consciousness of time and its unrelenting passage has been important to survival. Knowledge of when to anticipate the migration of the animals on which humans depended for food or when to plant crops in expectation of rain to make the crops grow and produce was a matter of survival for early humans, just as it is for much of the world today
A consciousness of the passage of time and of the seasons of the year and the seasons of life has also enabled humans to gain a greater understanding of the human condition. The writer of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes wisely observed that there was a season and a time for all things. Life’s good times and life’s misfortunes, like life itself, come and go conditioned by God’s will. An awareness of times and seasons was and is helpful for our understanding of life and of our dependence on God. The seasons of the earth’s temperate zones have a symbolic meaning which has been applied to the course of life itself. Winter is that time of cold, barren lifelessness. Spring has come to be the symbol for birth and growth. Summer has come to represent the human experience of maturing and coming to our full potential. Autumn is the season of reaping life’s harvest of what has previously been sown.
Autumn is the quiet season. Folks in my age category often speak of being in the “autumn of life,” often with sort of a wistful, melancholy sigh. The season of autumn bespeaks coming to terms with the realities of life and its limitations. It is a time for closure, for realizing that some of our hopes and dreams will never be — but that’s alright. It’s a time for coming to grips with the fact that we cannot undo all the mistakes we have made. The bad decisions that we have made, the foolish words that we have spoken, the damaging deeds that we have done, and the hurts that we have caused will be etched in the record of our lives permanently. What has been will be, because we are powerless to change it. Winter will come and death’s chill will be unavoidable.
And yet God, who hallows all the seasons of life, remains the One in charge of the times and seasons of the calendar and of our lives. What we cannot change — all our past failures — God changes by forgiving what is past. By God’s great work of Redemption, accomplished through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the chilling season of death gives way to the promising season of rebirth and new life. The Resurrection of Jesus assures us that our past sins and failures can be forgiven and are in the past, never to be dragged up to accuse and condemn us again. Even death lasts only for a season. God who created life will restore life when Christ comes again. Christians live in Resurrection hope. As surely as the killing frosts of winter give way to the power of life in spring, so the soul killing chill of sin and death gives way to the life-giving power of Christ’s Resurrection.
“Because I live, you, too, shall live.” Jesus said.
We can take him at his word.
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. John Davis, pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.