Time, What Is Time

SERMON: “Time, What Is Time?”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
March 22, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

What is time?
Time is made up of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks,
months, and years. Time is the movement of the
earth, the suns, and the planets.
Time is a gift. It’s a fair gift, because
Everyone is given the same.
It’s a gift of life.
It’s a gift of learning.
It’s a gift of opportunity.
What is time?
It depends, doesn’t it?
It’s a matter of perspective.

“For everything there is a season and a time for every
matter under heaven.”
There is a time to be born
And a time to die.
The Preacher of Ecclesiastes says, everything has
Its time and its purpose.
Might we conclude then that each of us has an
appointed time on the earth? Think about that!

Time: It’s a matter of perspective. Listen to these
Thoughts—

As lousy as things are now, tomorrow they will
be somebody’s good old days. –Gerald Barzon

The best thing about the future is that it only comes
one day at a time. –Abraham Lincoln

Slow down and everything you are chasing will
come around and catch you. –John DePaola

When planning for a year, plant corn.
When planning for a decade, plant trees.
When planning for life, train and educate people.
--Chinese Proverb

Time is about life, about choices, about what to live for,
About what’s important, and about destiny.


2

In Today’s economic down turn, every day our eyes
are on the economy, on jobs and job losses, on housing
foreclosures. How is it that in our American conscience
we can have so much greed and so much selfishness in
the field of finance?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher says, I saw under the
Sun, in place of justice, wickedness. He goes on to say,
“I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the
wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter and
for every work.”
There is a time to seek and a time to lose.
There is a time to keep and a time to throw away.

When we were young children, we were taught—
If you borrow something, return it.
Work hard, apply yourself and you’ll get ahead.
Always show respect to your elders, your parents, your
teachers and respect other people’s property.
Stealing, cussing, and lying are no-nos.
Wash your hands. Where I grew up barefoot; wash your feet!
Wait your turn.
Be kind and courteous.

When I was in the 7th and 8th grade I was given a responsibility. I
was in charge of the PA system. That’s the sound system.
I was also in charge of the Bell and Howe eight millimeter
movie projector. Whenever we had an assembly it was my
job to set up the sound system and when we had a movie I
was the projectionist. I’m still doing it today, not it’s called
Power Point. The lessons we learn today will help us in the
lessons of tomorrow.

Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and
steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where
neither moth nor rust consume nor where thieves do not
break in and steal.”
“Where your treasure is, there is your heart also.”
(Matthew 6:19-21)



3
Money, everybody needs money. We all need a roof over our
heads, food on the plate, wheels to take us one place to
another especially in California, we need at least two
pairs of shoes, one for easy walking and one for formal
wear, tuition for our college kids; be sure to have a
washer and dryer cause kids come home to do their
laundry…and the list goes on.

But let us not lose our perspective of time and money. Jesus
made it very clear. Where your treasure is, there is
you heart also. Listen to these thoughts—

Money will buy…
A bed, but not sleep
Books but not brains
Food but not appetite
Finery but not beauty
A house but not a home
Medicine but not health
Luxuries but not culture
Amusement but not happiness
A crucifix but not a Savior
Religion but not salvation
A good life but not eternal life
A passport to everywhere but not to heaven.

When the chips are down, what will you choose?
Charles Swindoll tells this story. This is a true story
about a woman who was on the Titanic. As the
Titanic was sinking, they got people on the life boats
and before they lowered the lifeboat, this woman
realized she forgot something important. She asked
permission if she could go back to her stateroom. They
said, you have three minutes. She got out of the lifeboat,
ran to her room; she went through the gambling and
money had tilted off the tables and the floor was filled
with cash ankle high. She kept running. When she got
to her stateroom, she pushes aside her diamond bracelets
and diamond necklaces. She reached over her bed and
grabbed three oranges and she ran back to the life boat.

Just 30 minutes earlier, aboard the Titanic, the woman would
Never, never had chosen three oranges over all her
Diamonds. But….in 30 minutes, the value of her diamonds
Came down to nothing.
4

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed
a final exam.
To realize the value of three minutes, ask a survivor of the
The sinking Titanic.
To realize the value of one minute, ask a businessman who
missed his plane.
To realize the value of a millisecond, ask the swimmer who
won the Silver medal in the Olympics.

Adam was 830 years old when he died. Enoch lived for
365 years. The Bible says, “Enoch walked with God
and he was not. God took him.”
Methuselah lived the longest – 969 years.

So what is time?
Time is seconds and minutes.
Time is a deadline—April 15 your taxes are due.
Time is memory. One day Don Pepe and I drive up the
a mountain village in Costa Rica to meet with some
leaders. We went there to see if there any way we could
help them with some self-help projects. We have helped
some communities build a water system, impact roads,
and a health community center. On the way back the
mountain, as I was driving, I could see that the brakes
were failing. We had not brakes. I didn’t tell Don Pepe
what was going on. I knew what I had to do. I had to
throw the gear shift into the lowest gear. I got ready,
I double clutched, and dropped the gear. Got it! The
Jeep came to a crawl. When we got to the bottom, I
told Don Pepe, “Perdimos los frenos.” We lost our
brakes. …But Gracias a Dios! Thank God we made it!
Folks! Prayer actually works!

When I was in seminary, I was studying as my theologian, Paul
Tillich. Tillich defined God as the “Ground of Being.”
God is the foundation of everything that is. Everything
We have we received from God. Tillich went on saying,
“Christ is the center of history.” Now, that didn’t make
sense to me at first. Then Tillich says, “Christ is the center
of history because he gives meaning to history. Now that
makes sense! I have a lot close calls in my life, and one
thing I believe, God is with us at all times. In Christ we
live and move and have our being. In Christ we live!