Sermon: “A Time to…”, Luke 24:44-53/Acts 16:23-34 (May 29, 2022)

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We all intuitively recognize the wisdom in this famous passage from Ecclesiastes [3:1-8, CEB]: “There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted, a time for killing and a time for healing, a time for tearing down and a time for building up, a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourning and a time for dancing, a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces, a time for searching and a time for losing, a time for keeping and a time for throwing away, a time for tearing and a time for repairing, a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking, a time for loving and a time for hating, a time for war and a time for peace.” The writer of Ecclesiastes probably didn’t need to include 14 separate examples to make his case, but because he did, his point is inescapable: the righteousness of every action must be considered in its context. There is a time that it is right to do one thing, and there is another time that it is right to do its exact opposite – and God is the one who can always tell us which is which.