Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 & 3:1, 7

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

This evening’s Bible passages are both from Ecclesiastes:

There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (2:24-25)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak (3:1, 7).

My thoughts tonight are less a Bible study and more a brief personal note to you all after three months serving as your interim pastor in all but name.

When we embarked on this journey together, my understanding with the elders was that I would serve half-time, preaching on Sundays, leading an occasional Sunday School class, and moderating session meetings. Then COVID-19 hit. I’ve been working full-time since the middle of March.

I discussed this with the session last night. Your elders are wise men who care very much for me as they do for you. They have advised me to draw some boundaries (not to keep any of you out, but to keep my own sense of pastoral responsibility in check), so that I can get back to something more like half-time. At the age of 71, that’s about all I can see myself managing for a stretch of months.

As a first step, we decided that I should reduce my evening meditations from six to three a week. (Dear Linda Gerke told me weeks ago that I should do this!). So, starting tomorrow, I plan to send out meditations on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hence the quotation from Ecc. 3: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” As a second step, we decided that I would take weekends off, so that Ann and I can enjoy the same two days a week off work.

We’ll reassess all this in a few weeks and see how well it’s working. Maybe it’ll need further tweaking. In the meantime, however, I’m confident that these two changes will make a significant difference to the enjoyment of my pastoral role. Hence the quotation from Ecc. 2: “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

Your brother in Christ,

Max