View today's sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XFnqfU3FTI.

This is Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola's Sept. 27 sermon from our service of Farewell and Release.

To listen to her sermon begin at 40:51 of the above service.

God’s Clock

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

3 There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be 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.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15 Whatever is has already been,

    and what will be has been before;

    and God will call the past to account.[b]

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Your Pastor TJ chose the scripture from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And it is a beautiful scripture to accompany this day of goodbye to one another. These 15 verses in chapter 3 beautifully describe the seasons, the experiences, the times of life on this earth—all determined in the eternal world; all expressed in the moral world.

Because it is considered part of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible, both Hebrew and Christian tradition attribute the author to Solomon, who was considered wise beyond mere human wisdom. Solomon refers to himself as “teacher”, with words of mortal and eternal life that are essential to life and faith.

We begin in chapter 3 where we read that God appoints a specific, purposeful season for every event under heaven, reminding us that we cannot control time, we cannot control events, we do not control when we say hello or goodbye, but we can trust the Sovereign God who holds all time and seasons. We can trust God’s clock because God travels with us all of the time. It is God’s time, God’s clock; nothing that we can control ultimately, although we so yearn to control, don’t we?

If we were to read carefully the first 8 verses, we would see a tribute to the cyclical seasons of life: a time for everything under heaven: from the heights of joy to the deepest sorrow. Fourteen opposites of life that most of us, maybe even all of us experience; the entirety of human experience. As much as we would like to choose and keep one of those opposites, we cannot. Spring does not last forever. Neither does winter. Joy doesn’t last forever. And neither does sorrow. We enjoy our life surrounded by loved ones. We argue and disagree with our loved ones. Sometimes relationships last for a lifetime; some last for a season. We see times of war and peace and we wonder why. We live a long or short time, we get sick a little or a lot, We die before we want to, or wish death would come sooner. And when we embrace a new minister, we hope that relationship lasts a long time and sometimes the relationship lasts a short time. We wish we had more control over life, but the most constant is that life changes and we have less control over that than we would like.

And, the Teacher re-assures us: whatever cycle we are in, we can live throughout it because God is with us, intimately, laughing with us, celebrating with us, grieving with us, crying with us—always with us.

Today you are facing the end of a cycle of your congregational life. When TJ was first called here, it was God’s call to her—and to you—to embrace one another for a season. At the time, you hoped beyond hope that would be for a very long time. Alas, you are saying goodbye to your pastor whom you have loved and wish would not go. And yet you rejoice with her that she is following God’s plan for her.

When I was called to my last church as local church pastor, the beloved congregation wondered how long would I stay? They were anxious because their previous pastor did not work out. I remember saying to them “I am called by God to you and you to me—and as long as God calls, I will be your pastor.” After 10 years, we moved on, and there was sorrow and we leaned into the sorrow—knowing that sorrow would not last. Hope and newness and new joy would soon be upon us. Them to a new pastor; me to a new call to conference ministry. But the season and the timing belonged to God.

Today we say goodbye to a beloved pastor and we are sad. The beloved in this congregation are sad. I am sad. Many in this conference are sad. We are saying goodbye to a loving, faithful, wise, pastor and minister of the gospel who follows God’s heart. And we cannot help but know the opposites in that experience: we cry for our loss; we rejoice that TJ is following the path God has laid out for her. Beloved, embrace the sorrow; embrace the joy; knowing that God cries and weeps, rejoices and celebrates so very close—as close as your own breath, deep within your hearts.

TJ, you have discerned God’s clock for you. It is time, God has told you. It is time to follow new experiences, new ministries, tender times with family. Beloved TJ, embrace the sureness of this call; embrace the sorrow of saying goodbye to these beloved, be free to rejoice the life that God has waiting for you—so very close, as close as your own breath, deep within your heart.

Beloved People of Hancock, celebrate the sacred life, the holy season that God has ordained for you these past years. Laugh joyously for all the blessedness of the relationship of pastor and congregation. And know that God is laughing joyously with all of you. And weep, openly weep and embrace one another, and know that God is weeping with you and embracing you. And know in your deepest being that God has plans for you that are blessed and sacred as you continue your ministry, as you look to your next pastor whom God is preparing to send you.

Ultimately, we have little or no control of the rhythm of life. The rhythm of life is God’s work, not ours, no matter how hard we try to make it ours. The more we can lean into that, the more content we will be. Because Ecclesiastes also tells us that God “has also set eternity in the human heart.” Each of us has that sense of eternal time—God’s clock—deep within our hearts; deep within our spirits.

Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola – September 27, 2026