What Time is It?

 

If you were in worship at Hillside Church last Sunday, or if you watched online, you heard me say, “At Hillside Church, it is not the time for weeping.” I then briefly referenced Ecclesiastes 3.  Here’s the entire section (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8):
 
For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:
² a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to break down and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek and a time to lose;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
⁷ a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
 
What time do you think it is in your life and at Hillside Church?
 
I believe it is the time to be born (not to die). God is beginning a new day at Hillside, a day different than our past seasons of growth and ministry activity. We’re now doing some ministries we did not do in years past; and many of the things we used to do, we no longer do.
 
I believe it is a time to laugh (not to weep). God has blessed our church with His reassuring presence, with a loving community, and with financial provision through COVID, and even in the face of a painful church split. Through dark, discouraging times, God has carried us and is now raising us up. We can celebrate past times of joyous ministry. We can grieve what we’ve lost (and who we’ve lost). But, take a look around. We’re here, we’re active, and God is among us. New people are coming. The Holy Spirit is the heartbeat of our community. Like Sarah laughing when told she’d be pregnant in her 80’s (Genesis 18:12-15), we look around our church, and we laugh with grateful joy as we see God’s provision and feel God’s touch. And we invite those outside to come in and, themselves, experience this kind, healing laughter.
 
This is a time to gather stones together (and not scatter them) (Ecc. 3:5). We’ve had enough of scattering in the past years. Now, we come together in our love of Christ, our love of each other, and our sense of call. God has joined us and constituted us to be His people with our doors, arms, and hearts constantly open to welcome in hurting people.
 
A time to be born; a time to laugh; a time to gather; this is how I see in Ecclesiastes 3 in relation to Hillside Church. What would you add? What time is it? As Hillside Church grows into our calling from God, what will your role be?

Pay Attention

            With the calendar flipping to August, something is definitely in the air. Yes, it is still summer. The dog days are ahead of us. Unbearable humidity and the accompanying exhaustion. Dry spells and boiling sun so hot you can cook an egg on the blacktop. However, …

            High school football teams and marching bands have begun their preparations for the fall. University students are finishing up internships and preparing for the rigors of the next academic year. And at Hillside Church, more new visitors are checking us out each Sunday, and many are coming back for a second and third time.

            I’ve given up trying to predict when change is in the air. What I urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ at Hillside church to join me in doing is this: pay attention. Who have you encountered who might say “yes, okay,” if you took a chance and invited them to worship? When, recently, have you come on Sunday morning and seen people you hadn’t seen before? Did you take a moment and introduce yourself?

            There are somethings I advise you to ignore. Political polarization. Arguments about masks and vaccines. The subtle advertising bombardment on your favorite social media platform. Alternative facts. Tune out all that noise. Don’t give in to the negative. Don’t regard others as ‘enemy’ or ‘antagonist.’

            Do pay attention to the people around you who need the gospel. Be present for those in pain. Be an embodied public advertisement for the gospel and for Hillside Church. As a congregation, we will employ strategies to promote growth. However, our best strategy is our committed members showing up in person each week, and inviting people they meet in the course of life to come to church, to be part of what we’re doing.

            As I engage new people in conversation on Sunday mornings and hear optimism from long-time members, I am made more and more aware, that God is at work among us and in our community. We need to see where the Spirit is active and join in what God is doing.