8-6-2023 “Rejuvenation” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Pentecost X

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

I love my summer sojourns to Sebago Lake. Not only is it a time of rest and relaxation, a time to recharge my batteries, but ever since I started going there eleven years ago with Cindy, it has also been a spiritually enriching time for me. It’s hard to pin down exactly why. There are many reasons. Part of it has to do with being in nature. I have always loved nature, and I totally agree with those who say that they can find God in nature. If you can’t, then you’re not looking. God is all around us. He can be felt in each gust of wind that envelops you with fresh air — air that can’t be found in the city. He can be seen as the sun sets in the cove behind our campsite as the smoke from campfires starts drifting above the tree line forming a thin, gray mist. He can also be seen in the ducks, chipmunks, and minnows scurrying around for food — agile, active life in search of its own destiny.

For me, it is not any one thing in particular, so I find myself on the beach cracking open a book I have been saving for a time like this — a book (or two or three) that will feed my soul. The ducks are feeding off bugs and bits of snacks that campers have left behind. I am feeding off words.

When the right ones hit me, I feel it. It’s not a particular book that I am thinking about. It happens to be many books — and times of silence as well, when I can simply look out across the blue-grey ripples of a gigantic lake and let the sound of lapping waves lull me into quiet contemplation. Or it is the laughter of children playing on the shore or in the water, which reminds me of not just myself at their age, but me now — and how older campers may look at me and say, “Gee, I remember what it was like to be in the prime of my life.” All time is relative, and all time belongs to God to dole out and reclaim as he sees fit.

Life is amazing. It is filled with joy and hardship. It comes in different measures for different people, but it’s all the same. God fashioned you out of nothing, placed you in a particular place at a particular time with particular people, and said, “Have a go at it. See what you can do.” I could have been anybody — even one of those ducks looking for bits of bread — but I am me and I am me for a reason, and so are you.

The legendary singer-songwriter-and-guitarist extraordinaire James Taylor once sang, “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.” Those lines have been running through my mind lately. Life is about enjoying the passage of time — about savoring every moment. This is all we have. Moments. The past is gone and the future is on the horizon. We need to focus on the now.

But it isn’t just about living in the moment for the moment’s sake. It is about doing the most in each moment because that is what God has given us: a series of perpetual moments.

What is each moment calling you to do? Who is each moment calling you to be? Surely, it depends on the moment, but, in general, I think each moment is about living in God’s light to the fullest. It is about being aware, intentional, and thoughtful. There is a time for everything, and every matter under heaven, as the writer of Ecclesiastes said. Some of those moments are a call to action. Some are a call to rest. Some are a call to be present with someone who is lost. Some of those moments are a cry to be found. Always it is a time to love — a time to rely on the grace of Jesus to see you through it all.

Maybe that’s why we need summer breaks. The regular hustle and bustle of our workday lives fills us with worry and pushes our waking hours into making lists of everything that needs to get done and happily crossing items off when we do them. But there are times when we have to be still, as the Psalmist said, and to know that “God is” and that he is with us as our guide and stay. Sometimes I feel as if he is saying, “Slow down and breathe deep. Take some time for me and for our relationship. Take some time to make sure that you know yourself, and that you savor all the possibilities I have placed before you.” Yes, some of those possibilities are tasks that need to be completed. Some of them are prayers that need to be offered. Always, they are times to get in touch with your spirit and to make sure that it remains connected to the divine essence, the sacred spark that illumines all life and lies in the heart of God.

There is a time for everything, every season under heaven. We have about a month left in this season of rest and rejuvenation. How will you spend it? Will you use at least some of it to find a way — a new way — to allow God to move in your life, to shape it, and craft it as He sees fit? All it takes is surrender: allowing the Living One to speak to you through quiet moments of prayer as you chew on a verse of Scripture or two. All it takes is seeing times of relaxation not as laziness, but as faith-work: allowing yourself to pause and to be open to the Holy Spirit, allowing it to saturate every thought and feeling you have, every pulse of your being.

And then the real challenge, after the summer ends, is to find moments of rest throughout the year. We need Sabbath time. In the Gospel of Mark 2:27, Jesus said that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” He meant that rest and reflection were necessary for all people, and we need to find those Sabbath moments. It is not just a Sunday thing. It is carving intentional time into each day.

Be open and aware. Listen. That can be hard to do with all the noise around us, so maybe, sometimes, you need to escape from the noise. I am losing my hearing. My audiologist said I have moderate high-end hearing loss, which means a few things — among them I have trouble hearing people speak when I am in a loud room, like a noisy restaurant. I think we all have moderate high-end hearing loss when it comes to God. It is hard to hear him when other, louder voices are vying for your attention. God’s is the still small voice. When Elijah is standing on the mountain waiting to hear God, he realizes it is not in the wind, the earthquake, or the sound of fire. It is “a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Listen carefully for that whisper. It will say, “You are mine — and I love you. Make the most of what I have given you.” Amen.