A Time for Everything

I. Introduction
A. In this series on Ecclesiastes we are listening to a wise man who’s at the end of a long life and wants to tell us all he’s learned. He wants us to know what life is like, and how you can and can’t find happiness in this world.
B. I’m going to do this passage in two sermons: today on the meaning of it as a whole, and the next time reflecting on the meanings of each of the pairings in Eccl.3:2-8.
II. Explanation
A. God created the whole universe and said, “It is very good.” But this “very good”was referring to more than just the stuff God made. God has not only created the things of the universe, He has ordered the universe, and given it a certain balance. Part of that order is timing.
B. Think of it as God calling mankind to a dance. And He wants to teach us the dance.
1. There are steps we have to learn. And we have to learn the timing. It’s not just putting your right foot forward or sliding your left foot left, it’s a matter of doing it all at the right time.
2. It is a beautiful dance. But it’s not easy to learn, and because of our sin it’s not easy to follow His lead (because we prefer to do things our own way, we want to do our own dance). You see, God’s dance includes things we wish were not included.
3. But even though God has included some difficult steps in His dance, He has a purpose for how He sets things up. It’s set up the way it is for good reasons.
4. This is why God’s call to us is to get in step with the Spirit. (Gal.5:25)
C. Another analogy that might be helpful is to think of this in terms of an orchestra or choir. We are singers or players called to sing or play in accord with the conductor.
1. We are called to be in step with the conductor, as opposed to being in step with our instincts, with our impulses.
2. We don’t get to do it the way we like.
D. The pattern we get a glimpse of in Eccl.3 includes every area of life:
1. v.2 Beginning and ending things
2. v.3 bringing to life, ending life
3. v.4 emotions
4. v.5 drawing things close or pushing them away
5. v.6 possession
E. These are descriptive, not prescriptive. That is, altogether these illustrate a principle; they are not a specific list of the things for which there are given times; the principle here teaches us about all aspects of life, not just those mentioned. The principle here applies to many other areas of life not specifically mentioned. E.g.:
1. There is a time to eat, and a time to refrain from eating.
2. There is a time to rest, and a time to work.
3. There is a time to chat with a friend, and there’s a time to say good-bye.
4. There is a time to hurry, and there’s a time to take your time.
5. There is a time to pray for something, and there’s a time to give up praying for it and move on.
F. Some of the activities mentioned are things we have control over and some are things out of our control.
1. E.g. we do control: “a time to kill” but don’t control: “a time to be born”
2. But the point is the same with both: We need to submit to God’s ordering of the world in things we can and can’t control. E.g.
a. We need to accept when we’re born, that God gave us the right birthday and birth year.
b. We need to accept that when someone is taunting us and trying to get us to react, that is not the time to kill, even though we might feel like it.
G. And we’re told in Ecclesiastes 3:17 that mankind will be judged based on whether we cooperate or resist things as He has set them up: “I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.”
1. The righteous here are characterized by proper, Biblical timing, trusting in God’s wise and good order, the wicked by doing things in their own timing.
2. And it’s not so much what you do, but when you do it. There are not good and bad things as much as there are good and bad times for all things.
3. Both the OT and the NT tell us that all things are good — in their right time.
4. So, another way of saying a person does evil deeds is to say he does deeds at the wrong time.
H. This divine order is part of the assessment of what life is like by the author of Ecclesiastes.
1. In Eccl.3:10-11 he sums it up: “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
2. God has made everything in this world beautiful in its time. Not only this, but He has given man a sense of the divine, a sense that there is Something bigger, Something beyond all this. And yet He has done all this in such a way that man cannot figure everything out re: what God is doing and has done from the beginning to the end, so that much of what he experiences in this life remains a mystery.
III. What this means for our lives
A. This gives validity to the concept of appropriateness.
1. Kids, you’ve grown up hearing from your parents over and over that this and that isn’t appropriate right now.
2. We might argue over whether or not something is appropriate in a given situation, but we can’t argue over the concept of appropriateness. It’s loud and clear right here in Eccl.3.
B. This also gives validity to the concept of balance.
1. Balance can be a cop-out. Maybe we could talk about that some other time.
2. But there really is a very important balance in the way God has ordered this world.
3. It’s not only: this, but it’s: some of this and some of that.
4. This means we’ve got to be informed; we’ve got to be sensitive; we’ve got to be paying attention.
5. It requires skill and wisdom and versatility and agility and flexibility and adaptability.
6. Life is nuanced and complicated, not simplistic and always obvious.
7. There are a lot of tools that need to be used, not just a few. E.g. let’s take 1Thes.5:14 “Brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”
a. We’ve got to be able to do more than one thing: we’ve got to be able to admonish, encourage, help, and be patient.
b. And you’ve got to know when to do which. You’ve got to be able to read people and their needs.
8. Of course we’ve got to desire to do things the Lord’s way, but desire is not enough. We also have to have the knowledge and wisdom to know what to do when.
C. This means we’ve got to be able to evaluate and manage our impulses.
1. Just because we feel the urge to do something doesn’t mean we should do it — even if it’s a good thing.
2. The temptation to do a good thing at the wrong time is a temptation to evil.
a. For instance, what if you feel compelled to clean up (something I very rarely feel)? Well, maybe that’s good, or maybe it’s not. We might be avoiding something more important, like taking a nap or eating lunch or calling a friend. Or maybe we’re on the internet when we should be cleaning up. But it’s not enough just to do what we feel like doing.
3. We have to be able to recognize our impulses and ask ourselves: Is this the thing the Lord wants me to do right now?
4. Sometimes an impulse is a divine directive, and sometimes it’s a devilish temptation.
5. The same thing is true about urging from another person.
IV. Three disclaimers
A. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t more than one thing that is appropriate to do at any given time.
B. It also doesn’t mean it’s always clear what is the appropriate thing to do. E.g. there are times when I think it’s time to keep and my wife thinks it’s time to throw away.
C. This doesn’t mean you should impose your sense of what’s appropriate on others. E.g. the story of Martha/Mary in Luke 10:38-42 (the thing Jesus rebukes Martha for is not that she was preparing food when she shouldn’t have been, but that she was criticizing Mary for not seeing that she should have been helping her).
V. Conclusions
A. I don’t actually think the author of Ecclesiastes is too happy about what he’s telling us in Eccl.3:1-8. He was hoping that he could find ultimate pleasure here on earth, but he has realized that it is not here to be found.
1. Here we are servants of Another. Things don’t always go as we want them.
2. On one level at least, there is a sad element to this. We live in a world we don’t get to order. We don’t get to do what we feel like doing. Sometimes we’re not going to like the way things go, or the things God asks us to do, or not do. Sometimes it seems like the wrong time for something to happen (like for a young person to die).
3. Or sometimes it seems like the right time and yet God says no (e.g. as two young people get close, becoming sexually active just seems so natural).
B. There is a very positive side to this as well, of course.
1. When we realize that in fact we don’t have the skill or wisdom to order things well, this gives us the comfort of knowing that the One who knows all things and who is perfectly good has it all well in hand.
2. All this comes down to the connection between salvation and life.
3. If we believe God gets it right re: salvation, we ought to be able to trust that He is able to order the rest of my life well.
4. Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
C. Ultimately, Eccl.3:1-8 is a description of the life of Jesus.
1. Jesus is the One who always did everything at the appropriate time, who always knew the appropriate thing to say, and even had the appropriate emotions and desires for each occasion.
2. All sides claim Jesus as their advocate and proof, because you can find Him doing whatever it is you’re championing. (E.g. if you’re promoting pacifism, self-defense, meekness, boldness, marriage, singleness, party-going, abstinence, tolerance, moral outrage, etc., etc. etc.) But the fact is that He was a man who did ALL things — in their time. He lived out the perfect balance. E.g. a time to punish, a time to forgive:
a. Woman caught in adultery: they thought it was the time to punish, but Jesus showed it was the time to forgive.
b. The cleansing of the temple: Jesus showed it was the time to morally outraged, when no one else seemed to see it.
3. WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) It’s not a matter of simply copying Jesus. Being like Jesus is way beyond us. Only by abiding in Him and He in us, only by being filled with His Spirit, can we begin to live lives that reflect His wisdom and love and power.