Ecclesiastes 3 starts off saying, “There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens.” The following seven verses then share several statements that put side-by-side contradictory actions that we are all at least familiar with in our human experience: “a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted… a time for tearing down and a time for building up... a time for loving and a time for hating, a time for war and a time for peace.” I think you get the point.
Now, this is a great reminder for us that no one event or stage in our lives is going to last forever. With the help of Ecclesiastes, we can begin to believe the popular phrase, “This too shall pass.” Now, I recognize that I am in a particular stage in my life. Just as high school, college, and seminary were stages in my life that did not last forever, I know that I am not going to be a dad raising kids forever. Eventually, my 5-year-old, my 2-year-old, and our baby on the way will grow up and move out of the house (insert obligatory dad “Or else I’ll kick them out of the house!” comment here that we all know isn’t true). I know that when I get sick, that is only an event that will pass as my body heals. Yet, even knowing that there is a season for everything, I have been noticing more and more lately that life is more complicated than that. Often times, stages in life don’t take turns and seem to run together.
For example: I had the immense honor and pleasure of officiating my baby sister’s wedding. She had finally found a good guy who is a good fit for her to share her life with. The only thing I wish is that it didn’t mean that she was moving to a small town in western Kansas! Maybe two weeks before the wedding, my new brother-in-law’s grandfather passed away. He was one of the first family members of Reagan’s that my sister, Britt, met. This was a devastating loss for the family… and all the while, there’s still a wedding to be planned. 5 days before the wedding, my dad was in an accident where his leg was injured, which drastically changed some things about how this weekend wedding in Wichita, KS was going to logistically play out (such as me doing all the driving now). Then finally, the same weekend that my sister’s wedding is happening, The United Methodist Church as a worldwide denomination was convening in St. Louis in an attempt to come to some sort of decision of how we, as a denomination, was going to move forward concerning how inclusive we were going to be of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. What would be decided (or not decided) doesn’t change my ministry objective of making disciples of Jesus Christ, but it does have ramifications on how I go about it.
In some ways, going into the wedding weekend, it felt like a perfect storm… and yet, there in the moment, with the loss of loved ones, injuries, and the fear of possible implications for my denomination swirling all around these four days, ministry was still happening. I saw where a nurse from Bucklin (my sister’s new hometown) helped to change my dad’s wounds. Encouragement and love seemed to rain down on Britt and Reagan. People were chipping in and helping with all the non-glorious, behind the scenes things because they loved my sister. God’s love was present all over that wedding, no matter what was happening that could have deterred it. Ministry still happened – and not just from me, the pastor!
Last weekend was another reminder of this. My 2-year-old was sick so my wife and kids didn’t make it to church so that my daughter could get better and not share the virus she had with the congregation. All throughout the service, I was concerned about my daughter. Even while that was going on at my home, though, we brought in 3 new members to the church, two by profession of faith, and one of them was baptized!
One can look time and time again throughout history and in your own personal lives where everything from sickness to tragedies to hate were in play, yet you can still see where God was at work through the Body of Christ. Historically, you see where ministry was still happening in the midst of the Great Depression as churches were stepping up and feeding the hungry. We hear stories of brothers and sisters in Christ housing Jews in Nazi Germany during the Second World War. We see where Martin Luther King, Jr. led by civil disobedience and preaching God’s love for ALL of humanity to promote racial equality in the midst of the practice of segregation. Then, going through the Scriptures, you come across story after story of how God’s people were facing adversity – whether it was famine, enslavement, or being oppressed by an occupying force – and God’s love was still being shown by prophets like Elijah, Queens like Esther, and even the woman, Mary, who would share the good news to a room of disbelieving men that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Simply put: ministry doesn’t have its own stand-alone season. No matter if the season of life that you are in is joy or sadness, a season of youth or a season of golden years, there is always time for ministry. There is always time to share God’s love with those around you. May you be empowered, no matter what season of life you feel like you might be in currently, to minister to those around you; for ministry is ALWAYS in season!