{"id":1458,"date":"2000-12-31T14:34:00","date_gmt":"2000-12-31T14:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2020-12-03T00:21:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T00:21:03","slug":"the-right-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/the-right-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 31, 2000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year! At Christmas, all things brighten, glow with hope and cheer. Even the Ebenezzer Scrooges of the world who have been misers all their lives are transformed at Yuletide. The SF Chronicle<\/em> raised over $2.5 million for the Season of Sharing Fund. On one glorious night, all time is redeemed by Christ\u2019s birth. The Christmas carols speak of a \u201choly night\u201d when, in Bethlehem \u201cthe hope and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when I got up on Christmas morning, the gifts that I received even though I didn\u2019t expect or asked for, all of them revealed a little more of myself because the givers knew me more than I knew myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today we have yet another night that is quite different from the \u201csilent night, holy night\u201d of last Sunday. We have New Year\u2019s eve. New Year\u2019s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day events are not found in the Bible but rather are inventions of restaurants and Napa Valley and department stores for another chance for 50% off sales. This is actually a depressing time of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another year has ended, another will begin. You are one year older, one year closer to your end. Happy New Year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the reason for all of the parties and noisemakers. So that we can mask over our New Year\u2019s depression. We think we need the help of thousands of others in Times Square or Dick Clark\u2019s perpetual youthfulness to flip the page on our calendars to reveal 2001. This is rather a depressing time of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Everything There is a Season<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s Scripture comes from one of the poetry books in the Bible, Ecclesiastes. Like New Year\u2019s Eve, it\u2019s an appropriately depressing passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cFor everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal\u201d (vv1-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time when I thought of this passage with more favorable feelings. Remember in the 60s when the Byrds made this Pete Seeger\u2019s song popular, \u201cFor everything, turn, turn. turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn?\u201d These words sounded beautiful when I was a hippie and we were protesting the industrial military complex!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today, these once beautiful words from Ecclesiastes now reveal themselves to be terribly dark and depressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing\u2026 a time to keep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            and a time for peace\u201d (vv.4-8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything has its own time, as swift as the seasons roll along. After the flood in Genesis, God promised, \u201cAs long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease\u201d (Gen. 8:22). Last week, winter officially began and we look forward to spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time passes from one season to another. Presidents come and go. The seasons roll along, a time for this, then a time for that. It\u2019s the yin and the yang. And we begin to ask the question of ourselves,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cWhat gain have the workers from their toil?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the meaning of our lives? And what good comes from it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we look back on 2000. You have made 12 car payments, but your car depreciates as soon as you drove out of the showroom. You painted the living room but noticed how old your carpet looks now. You planted impatiens and pansies only to pluck them out to plant cyclamens and primroses. You take out all of the Christmas decorations from hard to reach boxes only to put them all back again to get out next year. But what gain had you from your toil?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a time to live. A time to write checks, a time to paint, a time to install new carpets, a time to plant and weed, a time to decorate, a time to put away the nativity, a time for Democrats, and now a time for Republicans\u2026and a time to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We seem to be living a lifestyle reflective of what is known as Greek time: circular, without beginning, without end. We are, in this circular, ceaseless ticking time, not moving forward, onward or upward. We are the rat in the cage, breathlessly running, turning the tread wheel to nowhere\u2026a time to plant, a time to pull up what is planted, a time to be born, a time to die. What gains have the workers from their toil?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty depressing? Now you see why we have New Year\u2019s Eve parties? It\u2019s about to get even more depressing. The poet in Ecclesiastes writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cI have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            (vv.10-11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a right time for every matter under heaven. Everything is suitable for its time. There is a right time to speak, and a right time to keep silent. But the problem is: we don\u2019t know when the right time is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the Right Time<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

As human beings, we embark on the long quest to find the right time for living. If you were a philosopher, you would devote yourself to discerning the proper time for everything under heaven. In many ways, the main purpose of education is to learn how to discern the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you think about it, everything is a matter of proper timing. When you call your stockbroker, you say, \u201cIs this the time to buy, or is this the time to sell? A doctor told me that timing is everything in diagnosis. If the patient comes in too early to the physician, the complaint is hard to discover, difficult to pinpoint, vague. But if the patient waits too long, the illness has progressed too far, and it is too late for treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a few weeks, we will once again witness the inauguration of another president. As we look back at past leaders, we see often that a leader is not only someone who has great talents, but someone who has great talents at the right time. Winston Churchill was the right man for England in time of war, but the wrong leader in time of peace. We often hear ourselves saying that Jimmy Carter was a good and decent president at the wrong time of the Iran hostage crisis. Only time will tell whether George W. Bush is the right president for this time of our history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we push on to find the right time. Some people say that it\u2019s all about moderation. Be cool-headed to know when is the right time for action. Today, we build computer models to envision what if all of these factors were in place, this would happen. And Alan Greenspan and his Federal Reserve Board predict and project how you and I might spend our salary raises at the right time to keep the good times rolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our century really changes tonight, we want to know what will 2001 be like. Is this the right time? So we work to figure it out, to try to predict the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only God Knows the Right Time<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Trying to find the right time before we act according to Ecclesiastes is a lie\u2014\u201cVanity of vanities.\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecclesiastes, while agreeing that there is a right time for everything, believes that only God can know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cHe has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only God knows what is the right time. It is beyond us to fully know the appropriate time for anything. God is God and we are not. Not only is God more knowledgeable and more powerful than us, God is the only one who knows when is the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I used to train Sunday school teachers and youth advisors across the country, I would help them to understand the importance of knowing the needs and stages of development of their students. Then I would introduce them to the printed curriculum and how it was designed for their use. I would also remind them about how they have been gifted by God with talents and skills that they can bring to the classroom. But finally I would end up confessing to the fact that after all the preparation that they may have done and their students have done for the class time, there is that \u201cteachable moment.\u201d This \u201cteachable moment\u201d is the sacred, unknown moment when the listener becomes a learner, the eyes light up\u2014you can see it in the eyes\u2014the heart beat quickens, and it\u2019s the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most teachers and perhaps preachers, it\u2019s probably about 80% of what I preach is the right message\u2014at the wrong time! It\u2019s a great sermon, but you\u2019re not ready for it! Oh, to be granted the wisdom to know the right time when the student is receptive and ready to learn, the right time when the congregation is receptive and ready to be moved into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The older I get, the more I see how often I have done something right, but at the wrong time. Dr. Chuck reminds me that I left CBC too soon at the wrong time in 1978. Either we pushed our children too soon, or we missed a golden opportunity, or jumped forward too prematurely when we should have stood still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be great to have the wisdom to know the right time. But we can\u2019t. You and I are not God. Too much is outside our ability to control and therefore to predict. The right time, is in God\u2019s hand, rather than in ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing God\u2019s Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wisdom of Ecclesiastes is for us as God\u2019s creation to face God\u2019s time and revelation for our lives. God is the only one who knows what is the right time for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see this in the New Testament. Jesus came at the right time, the time that only God knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In Romans 5:6<\/a>, \u201cFor while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            the ungodly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Paul speaks of the fullness of time to the Galatians 4:4-5<\/a>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son\u2026in order to redeem\u2026so that we might receive adoption as children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus came at the right time, the time that only God knows. In graciousness, God makes our 80% of fumbling wrong time into his time. God catches up our untimely actions when we may have acted in the wrong time and makes it his time, God\u2019s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas is such a time\u2014the right time. Mary and Joseph didn\u2019t know it as they went about paying taxes, visiting relatives, getting engaged, having a baby, that it was the right time. God knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a young couple comes to me, thinking about marriage, they often say, \u201cWe are waiting to be married until we\u2019re sure it\u2019s the right time.\u201d And I say, \u201cForget it. It\u2019s always the wrong time for marriage. You never have enough money, or security, or certainty. All the planning that they may do before the young couple gets married will still leave some things out. And those who get married at the \u201cwrong time\u201d today can confess that, in God\u2019s grace, their bad timing was transformed into God\u2019s right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a person who has tried faithfully to follow Jesus Christ in life says that he\u2019s not ready to become baptized because there is still so much more of the Bible that he hasn\u2019t learned yet, I say to him, \u201cYou will never acquire all the information that you think you need. Being baptized is the first step on a life-long journey. And if you think that this is still the wrong time, from God\u2019s grace, your decision will be transformed into God\u2019s right time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we as a church, a community of disciples begin to envision what God is calling us to do in faith and action in 2001, we will stretch our imaginations to explore new ministries. We will work and cooperate with each other across generational and language lines. We will expend time and energy to achieve objectives and projects. And most likely, in the efforts that we will be about in the coming year may very well end up as actions and decisions made in the \u201cwrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we can trust God\u2019s grace that in our bad timing, God will transform what we do into God\u2019s right time. That 80% of the time when we may have missed the proper timing, God will come and transform our lives for his divine purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ecclesiastes, we learn that although we don\u2019t know God\u2019s time, God wants us to live life fully,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cI know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God\u2019s gift that all should eat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are to go about with our lives, with no fear. In the time that we have, we are to eat, and drink and take pleasure and one day you will look back and, wonder of wonders, it is the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Joy and I decided to leave you in 1978, it probably was the right decision at the wrong time. You and we went about with our lives serving the Lord in Valley Forge and in San Francisco. And now as I look back at that decision that I made in 1978, I pray in humility that God has worked wonders in my life so that I can be here with you today. Believing in God\u2019s will, I pray that our ministry together is happening in God\u2019s right time. Only God really knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Year\u2019s Day<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

So on New Year\u2019s eve, the truth I have to tell is not one that modern people want to hear: You and I are not gods unto ourselves; we cannot know the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, here is the good news: Wherever life takes you in the coming year, the seasons of your life are held in God\u2019s hands and by God\u2019s grace, it will be well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a happy and joyous New Year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracious God, we pray in obedience to your plan for our lives. Help us to live our lives fully utilizing our gifts and talents from you to spread the Good News of Lord Jesus in the world and to work diligently for peace and justice with our brothers and sisters. And when we realized that we have made decisions at the wrong time, we have the faith to trust that you will transform those decisions for your purpose in the world. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 December 31, 2000 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco. Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year!Continue readingThe Right Time<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37,11],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-ecclesiastes","tag-fcbc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2523,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/2523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}