We continue looking at the depths of inspiration found in
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. This has always been a citation that I sort of skimmed
over. As I look more deeply into the words and insights, I find that I am
surprised by what this section of the Bible really says.
Today we are looking at Ecclesiastes 3:3b—the second half of
the third verse. We looked at the first half of the verse on June 28 when we
considered the dichotomy of a time to kill and a time to heal. This phrase says
there is a time to tear down (destroy, pull down, break down), and a time to
build up.
The first thing that comes to my mind is construction. If
there is to be a new building, what is already there has to be torn down, or at
least the land cleared. In my neighborhood, a long vacant lot is being prepared
for something. Bulldozers came in and scraped together all the brush and weeds.
Then that was loaded into trucks and taken away. Only then could actual work
begin on the land. Now the constant beeping of the heavy equipment drifts over
the neighborhood, causing my grand-dog to go a bit crazy.
Throughout the Old Testament we hear God pleading with the
people of Israel to be built into a holy nation. Time and again, the people
are faithful, and then they slip into the old and easy ways of doing their own
thing.
In Isaiah 5, we hear the heart-cry of God. Let me sing
for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with
choice vines; he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine
vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes…And now I
will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it
shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste...For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of
Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected
justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! (Isaiah
5:1-7)
The prophet warns the people of Israel that God, who expected
the good fruit of justice, has instead found a crop of bloodshed. God has heard
the cry of those who are downtrodden. God will act.
In this time of COVID19, we have the opportunity to look
at our priorities and our lives. We have the chance to see what sort of fruit
we are bearing. We have the time to do hard soul work where necessary to
start to dismantle the systems that bring forth wild grapes of
injustice.
Whether that is in the arena of BLM, or the inequality in
health access and poverty, or climate change, or the myriad of other items that
catch the attention of the media briefly, there are plenty of places to do some
hard work. We can cling to our privilege, whatever it is, and turn a blind eye.
We can continue to produce sour grapes. However, we can also uproot and tear
down the things within ourselves that contribute to injustice, poverty, racial
inequity, climate destruction, and more.
It is hard work. It is important work. It is the Kingdom
of God work. Each of us is under construction, a work in progress, to fulfil
God’s plan. There are things inside me, and inside each of us, that need torn
down in order to be rebuilt on God’s foundation.
In Jeremiah we find the Lord restoring the people because
they have turned again to the way of God. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in
its towns when I restore their fortunes: ‘The Lord bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!’ And Judah and all its towns shall live there together, and
the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. I will satisfy the
weary, and all who are faint I will replenish…’The days are surely coming,
says the Lord…just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to
overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to
plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The parents have
eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’… The days are
surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant…I will put my
law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:23-34)
Jeremiah is proclaiming a vision of the Kingdom of God,
where justice and right action are evident. God’s law is in each heart, and they
shall be my people.
What can I do to tear down the walls of injustice? There are
so many that it can seem overwhelming. I can pray for God to show me what one
small thing I can do. Perhaps it is buying less or buying local. Maybe it
is learning about racism and the insidious impact of ‘white silence’, ‘white
privilege’, ‘white apathy’, etc. that undergird white supremacy. I could learn
about the BIPOC history that I didn’t learn in school. It could be entering
into uncomfortable conversations about my WASP upbringing.
What can you do to bring the Kingdom of God’s loving justice
more fully present?
Where can you allow God to do some construction work on your
life, attitudes, assumptions, pride, etc., etc.?
