Ecclesiastes 3: A Time to Tear and a Time to Mend

For everything there is a time and we've been looking at that idea the last 2 weeks out from Ecclesiastes chapter 3 is Solomon. The most wise man who's ever lived shares with us to these 14, couplets are various things that are first appearance of fear to be extreme opposites. And yet he's telling us that there's literally a time and a place for everything. Now I do want to clear one thing up as I as I've done this study, I keep going to coming across references where people are using this passage to say there is time for everything. And that's a different concept completely, there's an appropriate time and just say, well, if I do it, God will give me the time. Now, I believe that God does that and I believe that we can pray with him about that and I believe that their ways and strategies that we can utilize our time more effectively, but the bottom line is time as a commodity like money and we decide what our priorities are and how we're going to use it. And in fact there are appropriate times how do you do? English between weather is Right today and wrong tomorrow, or vice versa. How can that make any sense at all? What do you got to understand? Or we've got to understand that God, put all these things in us and then our world for a reason. And as you read down that list, you probably think will. I don't know what For this particular one and yet when you struggle with that, you can come back to that and find explanation there. Is it appropriate for everyday? No, but there are some days there are some moments when it is appropriate. So, no matter how brief the time we are asked to use these ideas, In constructive and useful ways. I mean put them into groups and today I'd like to do while I'm calling the third group. It's a real Jazzy title in it. There's only two sections that that will look at today. The first one is from first to write at the very beginning of the passage where it says, simply a time to plant and a time to uproot.

My yard needs to be replanted. I've had several people. Say what you need to do is start all over again. After forty Summers it. Like its caretaker is tired, and it's just not getting the kind of mileage that used to get it, and I got to do something radical out there. Maybe someday for the last decade, I've done overseeding, you know, you don't start all over again. You just put some seed over what's already there and, and work on those patches and try to get us to come along and especially with the Shady is, and that's trying to make it through. Would it be nice if I could cultural? Plants were planted that way? You're going to grow some vegetables. Can you overseed your garden from last year? No. Right now, some of you were probably working on preparing your garden for this year. You may have already been doing that. You made me composting all through the winter but now the time comes to uproot, what you planted things were there? Last year had to be taken out, got to be moved away, so that they don't interfere with the process of the growth. It's going to take place this year. It's a lot of work. As you look out there, you may think about this passage For eons, literally people lived in an agricultural age. They related to these agricultural comparisons because it was an everyday part of life. Sadie with child. Now, where does food come from? Walmart McDonald's. That's where food came from. Now, most of us even though

I'm trying to decide whether this a young or old matter, how old we are, we have some experience with agriculture, got to work in the big garden and various kinds of things. And saw that there was a process, their food didn't just didn't materialize and we sit down to eat. I don't know, think about the fact that God put this food on our table.

When the Israelites were in the desert didn't have any food, how they get food, God put man at their doorstep. Wow. Big Miracle. Is it a bit bigger mirror? Been maintaining great salt reservoirs on the earth and then taking from those salt reservoirs freshwater and scattering of it over the huge continents in order to water and feed and provide nutrition for the grounds of Grace crops.

God continues. To do powerful powerful things and he gives us the opportunity to participate with him in this process and it may be a find that very therapeutic, very satisfying. And part of the psychology of all that whether we recognize it or not, is that we're doing something with God, we're working with God. And when the process is completed, then we feel that since the Fulfillment

I'm not much of a gardener I have four, I have 10 thumbs and none of them were green. But for the sake of the grandkids, you know, we played with the with the crops, the years we made cucumbers and he would go outside, pick a cucumber. We come back in and cut it up and salt it and eat it. And even now, he'll say fun and it opens all kinds of opportunities to talk and have interaction. There's somebody here and I've lost it in my Bring him up there, who's do strawberries and this is the second year for the strawberries. Is this the rich family? They make it, maybe them maybe Mariah that was talking about this as those strawberries were kind of hovered over last year. And now this second year there might actually be a strawberry. He had a great lesson, that is what grade lesson in patience in effort, and even in face because of the second year. There's, it's going to be strawberries it. If you're actively involved in gardening, I would beg you to bring a kid into that whether it's your own child or a church child or a neighborhood child, or just any child because there's something. So beneficial about that process is so educational. But also so powerful and seeing God's hand at work. We see that when he says we're going to tear it down so we can plan it back. Solomon is telling us we have to prepare. Preparation is not something that we really like to do. It's like practice. You do people like to play the games with, they don't like to go to practice. They don't think various kinds of places. The whole Adventure is tied to, how good we are, How Stuff disciplines we are at the preparation. And as I just sat and thought, you know, I can think of two main things that God asks of us as Christians to be specially prepared in relationship to 1st Peter 3 verse 5 just put in your hearts. Revere Christ, as lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asked you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. We ought to always be able to answer the question. Why are you Christian What are you go to church? Why do you believe the Bible? Why do you buy your face, your life? And spiritual principles are going to ask us that question in a variety of forms and Peter says, be prepared to give an answer. And a lot of us are kind of son, sometimes, I don't know what they really interested in, or I don't know what the answer and I could call somebody or are various kinds of things, but it's critical that we be prepared to give a defense. We have a whole, and we need to know why we have that whole and what other people want to know why we may need to be able to say, this is the reason,

the other thing I thought about with preparation is, Jesus, Matthew 24. They're trying to figure out Lord. How we're going to know when you come again. And Jesus is like a plan for you.

And still today. There are people hunting all over the place, trying to find some Advance warning of when Jesus is coming back. Some kind of inside data that tells you the okay, now is the time to get ready now is the time to lay aside worldly things now is the time to focus on spiritual things. Now is the time to get everything all polished up because Jesus is coming back and Jesus says

Be ready. Be prepared. You don't know when the dawn will break, and it leads us, right? In the second coming of Jesus. Be ready for both of those things.

The more prepared we are, the more likely we are to be successful. It takes time. It takes effort to uproot the old. I just started new. The second one. He's down in verse 7. but it says, A time to tear and a time to mend. Last Sunday, I wore my snow boots. I didn't know how cold it would be here, how, but it would be. But when I bought the boots on, I put my wheels socks on and they had holes in the heels. So, what did I do? You're my phone out punch to Amazon, got the socks couple days later. They came to my house. I dropped them in the boots. So the next time I wear the boots, I'll have

it's almonds time. Where was there? Amazon?

Mostly, they were married to them. They were people who were working their hearts out to put clothes everybody in the family. It's terrible job to buy clothes. Keep clothes iron clothes, make sure the clothes are ready. What if he had to make everything from scratch? You couldn't even go to a material store. You were going to start a step earlier than that, even You think I just threw out socks and called Amazon know, they didn't and really, that era hasn't been gone very long at all. Or if you think about it, then we're in socks, all that people in the, in the Solomons time, we're going to that stage yet. But when you had some, when you needed something, you made it and you protected it and what happens if it got used up. Will you probably found a way to use it again? Or take it apart and to restructure its. So they could be a part of of something else that was there. Proverbs Chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 31, The Virtuous Woman. Says she selects wool and flax and works with your hands and her lamp does not go out at night in her hand. She holds the distaff and graphs Aspen spindle with their fingers long after everybody else is asleep. Your people still at work. Trying to take care of the needs us. And I've been to this before because we live in a culture that doesn't believe in repair. We replace we don't repair things and I was thinking about, you know what, I was a kid in the TV. We go out What would you do? Are you call the TV repairman? Are there even such things today. Okay? Not even the TV repairman out there and and good wait several days for the TV Guide. To come hoping. It wasn't the picture. There were secondary tube that were less expensive and could frequently be replaced, but if it was the picture tube admit, you had to save for a new TV. What does it mean in our day when the TV conks out? What's the other one? You can watch the one in the bedroom? How many of us only have one TV? And then we run down to Walmart or Where We Buy electronics and get another one in really gets. Much inconvenience at all. And because we do that, it gets us to the place where I think. We stopped thinking about repair. We stopped thinking about reusing. And let develops all the way to the point where people even our cells were involved. We start to lose the concept that things and people can be repaired can be mended. Can be sewn, back together. I doubt if they gave up much stuff because it came at a very high price.

When I was a kid, we had a cabin. We had a cabin, our family had a cabin in Ruidoso New Mexico at my brother's service a couple weeks ago. So, I guess one of my cousins and I said that you remember, going to the cabin and she said, yeah, that was my grandparents cabin and I said, no, it was my grandparents cabin. She was like, are you sure?

There was no heat in this cabin Ruidoso. We live in Alamogordo, the cousins, lived in El Paso with meet at the cabin and stay or the weekend. No heat in the cabin this summer. That's not such a bad deal in the winter time. It was cold. So what are you do a whole bunch of quilts and then you get into this comfortable bed and enjoy it. So, very much. And you look back on the beauty of the quilt. When we first moved to Guthrie, Terry wanted some quilts we didn't have wheels. Basically, we had a few things like that, but we didn't have any handmade quilts and so she would buy some antique stores. And we often thought about what the story was, the story of this particular quilt. I'd like to know what was going on in the life and in the process of that person.

As she was teaching school. There were a couple of her classes where each student did a square. And then parent or parents made quilt for that year and she still has those. When I was in Ministry, a guest for you, two, ladies in the lady's class, did that for me, a couple of times. And I had went out the other day, looking at it, only one only one person was still alive of the 16. He would participated in that quilt part of that process of quilting. Is this renewing? One of the things that are they are they are because they're available. Thank me to be reused. We have a really good friend, she loves the quilt. And as each of her three children had gone off the college. She's made them a quilt Comfort to put over there bed in their dorm room. And all of those things on that quilt are personal. And what mom was trying to do was Define the child. And give other people who came into this or that room, some ideas about their character and who they were. The kids didn't know that. But this works really, really well. That quilt has such incredible power. Proverbs 31 verse 21 through, 22 does when it snows, she has no fear for her household. For all of them are covered are clothed in Scarlet. She makes her covering for her bed and is clothed in fine linen and purple. Many of you know that Carol and cider is actively involved in quilting and sewing and she was one of the reasons so I thought about this particular topic and she did not talk about it just a little bit and if you seen the quilts that she and the other people that she work with Meg, They aren't just. Something to keep warm by. They are literally work bark. They're beautiful. I could not do quilting. First of all, the ten thumbs real problem. The other one is I can't do the math. I mean, the map is incredible. Trying to keep all these pieces in your mind where you can lay them in properly for the all fit together. Exactly that plan that developed out. There is just unbelievable. All of the Steal This involved. It's just literally overwhelming. The details are incredible, every Stitch, Is done with love. And from that love you feel that answer could work. That just super sees all of the forms and protection. Now, do you have a quilt it's made by Carol Ann, please tell the next person who supposed to get the quilt where it came from and what it's like, and what it's for, that story, could be very powerful, very useful,

At my house. We have a quilt made by Carolyn. He made it for me. And yeah, when I had a stroke in 22, we haven't used it. Pause it special. But Terry likes it. And she gets it out and sleeps under it and for a long time, I was putting it back up somewhere where she could have a hard time finding it. Cuz it was a special boil.

And this lady over there, said stop doing that.

Let her sleep under that quilt. Because some way somehow she's identified. It was comfort and protection and love. And that's so valuable, that's Skittle of caring and Mindy. Even some translations is still the same ending. Say so, It's a great skill. It's been used in Christian circles, it's using this Christian Circle, it's a very powerful thing.

several years ago about a decade ago, The kind of goofy up the thing. This What is this thing called this morning? I was reminded of this. There we go again, suji. I will leave is how you say that word, some of those beautiful stuff you'll ever see, it's a Japanese art that's based on repair. Where you put something back together and in their mind and in their practice, you put it back more beautifully than it was in the beginning. And this stuff fascinates me and I have tried it. It is incredibly hard to do. Let me tell you, if you don't practice with gold lacquer.

Your dad that way more money than I have to do that. But there are colored blacker's that you can use, and it looks like it would be relatively simple extremely hard to do, but this beautiful things and the concept is so great with the artists. Now, that's not a broken cup. That's not a shattered Bowl. That's not a cracked play. That's a canvas. It's a canvas to be reshaped and repaired to the place. I was better. The one that started.

Because we really don't really emphasized repair. We have a tendency to ignore repair, don't ignore repair. God is in the business of repairing.

Isaiah, chapter 61 30 verse 1. A spirit of The Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor. This is Jesus's mission statement. He has sent me to bind up the Brokenhearted to claim freedom for the kappas and release from Darkness, for the prisoners to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor, and the day of Vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn. bind up the Brokenhearted some versions even say mend the broken hearted Your world needs to be different if your life needs to be different. If your approach needs to be different, your heart may need to be mended by the great physician, if that's the case. We invite you to join us in this. In this invitation song, this morning, come to the front and make that note. And we've helped you in any way that we possibly. Can we stand with me?