Today we have the famous reading from Ecclesiastes
There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
But we should be clear that this does not refer to evil and sin. There is no proper time for evil. There is no proper time to sin. Evil And sin are always contrary to the will of God. God allows sin because he wants us to love him. Love must be freely given if it is real love. Therefore he had to give us free will. And unfortunately we abuse that freedom and sin and do evil.
You may say to me, "but doesn't the list in Ecclesiastes include killing, hating, and war?" And you would be correct. Notice it say kill and not murder. Unfortunately killing and war are necessary at times to stop evil. And we should always hate sin, even our own.
It is true that Jesus taught us that the peacemakers are blessed. But peace at any price, even in a family, can be a sin.
How many people are suffering right now in domestic situations because there is some dysfunctional person in the home but others erroneously believe that being a good Christian means peace-keeping or they are simply afraid of the battle? They don't want to start the war. Or they have been fighting battle after battle for years and refuse to acknowledge that the war is un-winnable. Love must always go hand in hand with truth. There is a time for patient endurance and there is a time for action. There is a time to fight and a time to walk away.
We want it to be simple but life is rarely simple. This is why we must constantly be training ourselves to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, listen to our conscience, especially when it is telling us what we don't want to hear. It is precisely in those moments when we must do the tough things that we show our true Christianity, our willingness to say "thy will be done" no matter what the cost.
