Sep 18-19, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me every day,
as You’re teaching me Your way,
that You do just what You say, in Your time.

The lovely song, “In His time,” was written in 1978 by Diane Ball, when she was a busy mother of 4 children ages 10-14, trying to juggle many things in her life. She was a camp director of a conference center in northern California. On one occasion she was behind in attending her scheduled luncheon speaking engagement which was to start at noon, all because her husband was busy till 11 am. Being a perfectionist, she was furious and asked God to give her peace. The words of Ecclesiastes 3:11 came to her” “He makes all things beautiful – in His time.” Amazingly she was able to finish writing the song before she arrived. Not only that, the luncheon was also delayed, and she and her family arrived just in time … in His time!

I too am a planner and a very impatient person, and I often get very frustrated when things do not go according to plan for no reason. This song reminds me that we need to trust God’s timing for when things seem to go wrong, and we are anxious and frustrated. For nearly two years during the COVID pandemic, my patience has been pushed to the limit so many times. Most recently the test comes in the plan and the timing for “Return to Church” for worship. We keep having to adjust our plans for the last three months, up until announcement time. I am learning that while it is true that if we fail to plan, we plan to fail; it is also equally true that while we, as humans, plan it is God who brings realization of our plan, in His time. It is a hard lesson!

Re-examining the text from which this song come from (Ecclesiastes 3:1-13), I would like to share some thoughts I have been able to glean from the passage. First of all, the main theme is set out in the first verse:

For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven. (ESV)

You may be interested to note according to biblical scholars, verse 1 is arranged in an ABB’A’ chiasm, which simply mean parallel elements are arranged like a mirror. Verse 1 is arranged as:

“for everything” (A); “a season” (Hb. zeman) (B);

“a time” (B’) (Hb. ‘et); “for every matter” (A’).

The terms “season” and “time” are parallel. In light of the parallelism with “every matter”, the term “everything” must refer to every event or situation in life. The NET Bible translate the verse as:

For everything there is an appointed time,

and an appropriate time for every activity on earth. (NET)

Exploring further in Scriptures, “a season” (Hb. zeman) or “an appointed (designated) time” was used in the context of the appointed or designated time for the Jewish feasts (Esth. 9:27, 31) or the length of time (duration) for Nehemiah set for his absence from Susa (Neh. 2:6). The word is related to the noun for “plan or intention” (Job 17:11) and the noun for “purpose, plan, project” as in “the purpose of God” (Job 42:2; Jer. 23:20; 30:24; 51:11) and man’s plan (Isa. 5:12).

Also, “a time” (Hb. ‘et, a point in time) or “an appropriate time” has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) time of an event) and (2) time for an event. The latter has a range of usage such as ‘the usual time’, “the proper, suitable or appropriate time”, “an uncertain time” (Eccl. 9:11), as for example, “the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “the time for harvest.” (Hos. 2:11; Ps 104:27)

From the context of Ecclesiastes 3, I believe the thesis of Eccl. 3:1 may be understood as “There is an appointed time (from God) for everything, and “an appropriate time” (for man or woman to act accordingly) in (his or her) every activity (desire or delight). Simply put, in everything, God has His appointed time, and it will be done in an appropriate time (sovereignly through His human agent).

Rev. Warren Wiersbe summarizes the theme this way:

In fourteen statements, Solomon affirmed that God is at work in our individual lives, seeking to accomplish His will. All of these events come from God, and they are good in their time. The inference is plain: If we cooperate with God’s timing, life will not be meaningless. Everything will be “beautiful in his time” (v. 11), even the most difficult experiences of life.

In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time.    (To be continued)

Your servant in Christ,

Rev. Simon Lee

Sep 18-19, 2021
李耀全牧師

親愛的列宣家弟兄姊妹：

祂做事有定時                        In His time, in His time,
按祂時候能成就美好事        He makes all things beautiful in His time.
主求你每日指示                    Lord, please show me every day,
教我明白你心思                    as You’re teaching me Your way,
我願遵行你旨意等候你        that You do just what you say, in Your time.

以上這首膾炙人口的美麗詩歌:“按祂時候”是由黛安·鮑爾(Diane Ball)於1978年所創作的。黛安是北加州一個會議中心營地的主任，亦是一位有4個10至14歲孩子繁忙的母親，故此她經常要在處理生活與工作上的大小事情而疲於奔命。一次，她原定於正午開始的午餐會中擔任演講，卻因為她丈夫一直忙至上午11時而令她幾乎趕不上時間。身為一個完美主義者，她感到非常憤怒，並祈求神賜下內心的平安。傳道書3:11的話當時出現在她腦際間:“ 祂使萬事各按其時，成為美好”。令人驚嘆的是，她竟然能在到達會場之前完成這首詩歌的創作。不僅如此，午餐會也因其他原因而延遲開始，她和她的家人得以及時到達……按祂時候！

我是一個注重計劃，同時也很缺乏耐性的人，每當事情無緣無故地不按照計劃進行時，我就會感到很沮喪。這首詩歌提醒我，當事情似乎出錯，令我感到焦慮和沮喪時，我需要相信神的時間安排。在新冠病毒大流行近兩年的時間裡，我的耐性的考驗多次被推到了極限。最近的考驗是在於“重返教堂”敬拜的計劃和時間方面。在過往三個多月的計劃中，直至宣佈重啟聚會的一刻，我們都迫不得已，需要不斷的作出調整。我明白到，事實上，如果我們不去計劃，我們就會注定失敗；然而，同樣真實的是，人作籌謀，卻是神在祂的時間裡去成就我們的計劃。對筆者個人來說，這是一個學之不完的功課！

在我重新細察這首歌的經文出處時（傳道書 3:1-13），我想分享一些我從這段經文中的思維拾穗。首先，詩歌主旨是在第一節：

天下萬事都有定期，(凡事)都有上帝特定的時間。 (參照:現代中文譯本)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (ESV)

有趣的是聖經學者指出，第 1 節是按ABB’A’ 對稱結構的交叉次序排列, 如下：

“一切事情” （A）； “一個定期” (B)（原文: zeman）；

“一個時刻” （B’）（原文: ét）；“每一件事”（A’）。

在此“定期”和“特定的時間”的句語是平行的。按照與“一切事情”的平行關係，“每一件事”一詞必須是指生活中的事件和情況。 NET(聖經新英文譯本)將這節經文翻譯為：

凡事都有指定的時間，
以及世上每項活動（人的慾望和行為）的合適/適當時間。

For everything there is an appointed time,

And an appropriate time for every activity on earth.（NET）

從聖經別處來看，“一個定期”(原文: zeman) 或“指定的 (特定的)時間”用於特定或猶太節日的指定時間（斯9:27, 31）或較長時段（持續時間）如:尼希米不在書珊城中的時間（尼2:6）。這個詞與“計劃或意圖”的名詞（伯 17:11）與“目的、計劃、方案”有關，如“上帝的旨意”（伯42:2；耶23:20；30:24；51:11）和人的計劃（賽5:12）。

此外，“時間”（原文:‘et，一個時間點）或“適當的時間”具有雙重含義：一般指（1）事件的時間/一個時間點）和另特指（2）事件的時段/時機。後者有一系列的用法，例如“通常的時間”、“適當的、合適的或恰當的時間”、“不確定的時段”（傳 9:11），例如“下雨的時候”（拉10:13）; “收割的時候。”（何 2:11；詩篇 104；27）

簡而言之，筆者認為從傳道書3章的上下文來看，傳3:1的論點，可以理解為“凡事都有指定的時間（來自上帝），以及祂對每樣事情（勿論人的慾望或喜悅是甚麼）的適當時間”（故此人該也相應地按照神的時間行事）。 換言之，凡事神有定時，而在適時成就 (透過神主權的安排)。

聖經教師及作家Warren Wiersbe牧師為上述主題作以下總結：
所羅門用十四個描述/說明去肯定神在我們個人的生活中行事，以實現祂的旨意。所有事情發生都來自神，而且一切有神美好的時間。立論很明確清晰：如果我們配合神時間的安排，生活就不會沒有意義。即使是處於人生中最艱難的經歷，一切都會“在祂的時間成為美好”（第11節）。

祂做事有定時 ，
按祂時候能成就美好事。（未完待續）

主僕,

李耀全牧師

Sep 04-05, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

Over the last few months, one question many of us have been asking is when are we going to return to our Church to worship. We had thought that by October we should be able to do so with the province going into Step 4 of the Reopening. However, because of the resurgent cases of COVID infections, we will continue to monitor the situation as we carefully go ahead as planned. We will ensure that we will return when we can stay safe. But ultimately we will also keenly watch for the “timing” and plan of God. Please stay tuned to regular weekly updates.

In our past articles, we have already noted that before the ascension of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus were more concerned with the time (Gk. chronos) of the restoration of the earthly kingdom than the coming of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus told them that God’s kingdom is to be ushered in by the sending of the Holy Spirit and realized by the empowered disciples in their evangelism and mission to the very “last” (Gk. eschatos) place [unreached people] of the earth. As disciples of Jesus, we too have the same Great Commission today, a concern that should not be lost as we have to deal with our daily concerns.

We should also note that Jesus also said to the disciples, “It is not for you to know times (Gk. chronos) or seasons (Gk. kairos) that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”(Acts 1:7) Here “times” (Gk. chronos) refers to duration of time (when) and “seasons” (Gk. kairos) refers to both length of times and kind (nature) of times (e.g., hard times) or opportunity (cf. I Thes. 5:1). Simply put, we do not know the exact timing of God nor when the opportunity will come, because it is all fixed by the authority of God himself. This first of all applies to “the coming of the kingdom,” but also applies to anything appointed by God.

Eugene Peterson in the Message puts it this way: “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.” (Acts 1:7,8)

The important thing is we do not know the time, but God the Father knows, and that is all that matters. For us, we should take seriously the words of Paul to Timothy: “1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season (Gk. eukairos) and out of season (Gk. akairos)…” (II Tim 4:1,2) In other words, whether it is a “good” time or not a good time (untimely), we should be ready to proclaim (herald) the word, the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. That is God’s ultimate purpose for us all.

Carpe diem: seize the day! We must take advantage of the opportunities that arise as if it is the last day these opportunities present themselves, to serve God’s purpose. Paul teaches us:”15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time (Gk. kairos), because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17)

May we follow the timing and plan of God, live wisely, and be ready to seize the opportunities we have to share the hope that comes with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Your servant in Christ,
Rev. Simon Lee

Sep 04-05, 2021
李耀全牧師

親愛的列宣家的弟兄姊妹，

在過去的幾個月裡，我們可能都在問到底教會什麼時候才能開放，讓會眾回來敬拜。我們原以為到了10 月，當BC省的防疫措施進入重新開放的第 4 步時，就能夠做到這一點。但是，由於 COVID 感染病例的增加，我們將繼續密切留意，並會按照計劃，謹慎行事。確保弟兄姊妹能在安全的情況下返回。但最終我們還是需要跟隨上帝的“時間”和計劃。請繼續關注列宣家每周的家事報告。

在過去的文章中，我們已經提出，在耶穌升天之前，耶穌的門徒關心的是地上國度恢復的時機（Gk. chronos），而不是天國的來臨。耶穌告訴他們，上帝的國度的降臨將需要通過聖靈的降臨，並透過被聖靈賦予能力的門徒把福音傳到地球上“最後”（Gk. eschatos）地方[未得之民]實現。作為耶穌的門徒，我們今天也被賦予同樣的大使命，當我們埋頭處理日常事務時，也不應忘記耶穌賦予我們的使命。

我們還應該留意到，耶穌說：“父憑著自己的權柄所定的時間或日期，你們不必知道。”（使徒行傳1:7）這裡所指的“時間” (Gk. chronos)是時候 (when)，而“季節”（時機） (Gk. kairos) 指的是時候的長度和時候的類別（性質）（例如，困難時期）或機會（cf.帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:1)。簡單地說，我們不知道神確切的時間，也不知道機會什麼時候到來，因為這些都是屬於神的權柄。

神學家尤金彼得森(Eugene Peterson)在他的信息本翻譯是這樣寫的：“你不知道時間。時間是父親的事。你將得到的是聖靈。當聖靈降臨在你們身上時，你們就可以在耶路撒冷、猶太全地和撒瑪利亞，直到世界的盡頭，為我作見證。” （使徒行傳 1:7,8）重要的是我們不知道時間，但父神知道，這才是最重要的。對我們來說，我們應該認真對待保羅對提摩太的話：”1我在神面前，並且在那將要審判活人死人的基督耶穌面前，憑著他的顯現和國度叮囑你： 2 務要傳道；無論時機(Gk. eukairos) 和(Gk. akairos)是否適合，都要常作準備；要以多方的忍耐和教訓責備人、警戒人、勸勉人…。”（提摩太後書 4:1,2）換句話說，無論現在的時機是“好”還是“不好”（不合時宜），我們都應該準備好傳揚（宣揚）耶穌的道、福音和救恩的好消息。這是上帝對我們所有人的託付。

把握當下：抓緊時機！我們必須利用任何放在我們眼前的機會，就好像把這些機會看成為最後一次出現在我們的眼前那樣，事奉上帝。保羅教導我們：”15所以，你們行事為人要謹慎，不要像愚昧人，卻要像聰明人。 16 要把握時機（Gk. kairos），因為這時代邪惡。 17 因此，不要作糊塗人，要明白甚麼是主的旨意。”（弗 5:15-17）

願我們遵循上帝的時間和計劃，活出有智慧的人生，並準備好自己，抓住每一個機會分享耶穌基督的好消息所帶來的盼望。

主僕，
李耀全牧師