A Time for Everything, Part 2

I. Review from Part 1 last week
A. Life is like being in an orchestra. We are following the Conductor.
1. We don’t get to do it the way we like. We must be in step with the Conductor, and follow His timing, as opposed to being in step with our instincts & impulses.
B. These 14 pairs are descriptive, not prescriptive. In other words, the principle here teaches us about all aspects of life, not just those mentioned.
1. What is the principle? “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
C. We must not be for one thing and against another. Instead we must be for both things in their right time and against both things in their wrong time.
1. This has so many applications and repercussions that I can’t possibly mention them all. We must take this principle to heart & use it to think through the various issues & convictions important to us.
II. Reflections on a few of the pairings in v.2-8
A. 3a a time to kill, and a time to heal;
1. First of all, there’s a time to kill. Granted, it is not very often. But there is a time to kill.
2. The sixth commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exod.20:13, Deut.5:17).
a. Like many other divine commands, this one is tempered and qualified by other parts of Scripture.
b. Even within a few verses of this command, God is telling His people occasions when it is time to kill (e.g. Exod.21:15-17, 23).
3. When we put it all together, we have the balance:
a. In general, killing is an evil thing.
b. But every once in a while, in certain very limited circumstances, there is a time to kill.
4. But, I would suggest that almost always when it’s the time to kill, it’s not the time to laugh.
a. Some, frankly, seem to treat killing lightly, as if human life is, at certain times, cheap and expendable.
b. For instance, it is the tendency of nations to treat the lives of their enemies cheaply in wartime.
5. And it seems to me that this is part of what has led some to react against this flippant attitude toward killing by claiming that killing is always unethical.
6. There is also a time to heal.
a. Jesus healed. His miracles were mostly miracles of healing.
b. And He didn’t just heal bodies. He healed souls. Is.53:5-6 "By His stripes we have been healed...Surely He took up our infirmities."
c. Jesus looked out at the crowds and saw people in need of healing: Matthew 9:35–36 “Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
d. The #1 emotion of Jesus mentioned in the gospels is compassion.
e. The gospel heals. It convinces. It cleans up. But first and foremost it heals.
f. How do we see people? In need of condemnation? In need of scolding? Predominately Jesus saw people as broken and hurting, and in need of healing.
g. There’s a story that illustrates two different ways to view people in Luke 9:51–56. Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria on their final journey to Jerusalem. “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But He turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.” (Contrast this with Jesus’ compassionate interaction with the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-42.)
B. 3b a time to break down, and a time to build up;
1. One way the Bible uses the language of breaking down in a positive way is the breaking down of idols.
a. In the OT the godly kings broke down the high places and the idols. We likewise ought to break down our idols and our pride.
b. 2Cor.10:5 calls us to fight with spiritual weapons to demolish enemy strongholds and arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God.
2. Unfortunately, instead of breaking down their idols, I’m afraid that many Christians are tearing down the church.
a. They have some grievance/criticism/bitterness/grudge. So, without even realizing it, they tear down the church through their words and attitudes, talking behind people’s backs in a critical, biting way.
b. I know this kind of thing is easy to do: I’ve done it myself.
3. But Jesus says He is building His church, and we’re supposed to be helping.
4. Listen to God’s call to His people to be involved in building up His house instead of just being concerned with their own. In Haggai1:2–9 the people had returned from exile in Babylon and the temple was in ruins. But the people were focused on their own homes. “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD. Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.”
C. 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
1. There is a time to weep and mourn.
2. In fact, in Luke 6:21, 25 Jesus said, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh...Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”
3. And Ecclesiastes 7:2-6 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.”
4. There is great value in mourning. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
5. And yet, it is easy to refrain from weeping when it is, in fact, time to weep.
6. It is so much more pleasant to laugh than to cry. Who would pursue tears?
7. We want to have our fun now and avoid all the heartache. Unless you are an actor, a manipulator, or a professional mourner, you generally don’t like to cry.
8. But Jesus calls us to weep. He wept — because He loved: “See how much He loved him.” (John 11:35-36)
9. But He also calls us to weep for our sin — “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.” James 4:9 (It’s also fitting to weep for others’ sins — Psalm 119:136: “Rivers of water run down my eyes because they do not keep Your law.”)
10. Also, in Romans 12:15 God calls us to “weep with those who weep,” to show compassion to those who are suffering.
11. This verse also calls us to rejoice with those who rejoice. We need to rejoice with those who rejoice, laugh with those who laugh, celebrate when a brother is honored.
a. If a brother receives a blessing, opportunity, reward, privilege, we should laugh, not envy.
D. 7b a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
1. Some of us (like myself) are big talkers. We get all wrapped up in our thoughts and feelings. And God calls us to stop talking and start listening:
a. With people: “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” James 1:19
b. With God: after many chapters of arguing and complaining, what did Job do when the Lord confronted him? He covered his mouth. (“Be still and know that I am God.” Ps.46:10)
2. (There are also times when we should be speaking to God and we’re silent.)
3. But there is also a time to speak
a. Sometimes we need to be willing to speak the truth in love (Eph.4:15) even when we know we’ll be despised for it.
b. Sometimes God calls us to say something that needs to be said — Matt.18:15. It’s hard, isn’t it?
4. There is a time to be silent about someone’s sin, too: “Let love cover a multitude of sin.” (1Pet.4:8)
5. And when someone says something to you it’s easy to be defensive or to explain or to rationalize when it’s time to be silent.
E. 8a a time to love, and a time to hate;
1. Jesus calls us to love when it seems natural to hate: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who hate you. (Matt.5:43-44, Romans 12:14, 1Pet.3:9)
2. Jesus also calls us to hate when it seems natural to love: Hate your loved ones — and your own life — Luke 14:26.
3. Loving your neighbor is not only a command, it’s a duty to love all people.
a. Romans 13:8 refers to the duty of love we owe to all.
b. Why do we owe a duty of love to all men?
(1) We don’t really need to know. And I’m sure there are many valid answers, but let me suggest one.
(2) All men are God’s children by birth. They are made in His image. They belong to Him.
(3) And God commands us to love them. And since God has given us life itself and everything else we have, we owe it to Him to love His children.
F. 8b a time for war, and a time for peace.
1. I’m not going to say much about this. Let me just ask a couple of questions:
a. Why is it that one person never met a war he/she agreed with?
b. And why is it that another never met a war he/she felt needed to be protested?.
2. In the minds of some, love for country means agreeing with every one of our country’s wars.
3. On the other hand, for some others: if you agree with any war, you’re bloodthirsty, cruel and warlike.
4. Does the Bible not cast doubt upon both of these viewpoints?
5. What does the Bible say? There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.