Nine: Watch Your Steps

http://www.esvbible.org/Ecclesiastes+5/

Louie Giglio's little book, “The Air I Breathe” made an impression on me. The book is a discussion of worship, and at the heart of worship is attitude. Early on Louie notes how casually we go about coming to a worship service. More often than not, a stop at the church is sandwiched in between any number of other commitments from a stop at the café, to a post church lunch or brunch, then to the mall, the movies, or the ballfield. These additional stops are issues of conscience. If you can conscience a stop at Barnes and Noble on the way home from church, then more power to you. But if you are sitting through service, wondering if they have any cool new Doctor Who stuff since the last time you were there, you should be paying attention to the service! And that is part of the problem nowadays. We sort of cram church in to our already distracted schedule.

I am well aware of dangers of equating church attendance with spiritual maturity and devotion, what we are talking about here is something more.

When you are in worship, are you there?

How did you prepare before you get there?

If you are not there, invested, the question becomes, “Why did you come?” We should try to make the best of that time.

Guard your steps, as in, don’t just run in talking away on your mobile or whatever. Take a breath, put your device and you on airplane mode, and head in to worship and revere God. While I am on the subject, I wonder if some times, we spend too much time talking to one another at church and not enough time talking to God.

If we come to God, to make a request, or a vow, etc. even though he knows our thoughts, we should think the thing through, and bring it to God in a manner worthy of Him. God will hear a “quick prayer” as we call it where I live, typically full of fillers like, “Um” and “Lord God”, but shouldn’t we give more consideration as we approach the Creator? 

And I am just as guilty, certainly talking to myself here, and using too many words to do so!

Our society prizes people who spew like a fire hydrant without the cap on. God wishes for us to reason out what we are going to say, to one another, to him, and to be careful to recall that “where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable.”

When you do make a vow, keep it. Even if it is difficult to keep. I would hope that very few times in my life have I renegotiated or left a vow unfulfilled. God help me if it was to Him. But we so often do vow to God, or to our church, or to others. When you make a vow, keep it. It is better to not vow, than to vow and not pay; otherwise there will be consequences.

Verses 3 and 7 are linked. There are more than a few daydreamers out there. They hope that their dreaming will bring about what they want more than work. Talk, and dream all you want, but it is work and God’s blessing that bring reward.

Better Unborn?

Start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/4.htm

Could it be that it is better to be dead than alive? If that is the case, could it be even better if you had never been born? Solomon seems to think so. There is corruption in the courthouse, and in the church house, and in the school house, and as such, the cry of the oppressed is faintly heard if at all, and often ignored. 

For us who have to go about the business of living, it is going to be difficult. We’re going to work, and it going to be hard. Some people are going to do nothing, but they will reap the consequences of that (eventually). Then there is the wisdom that being poor, and living a quiet life might not be so bad. Many wealthy people wish their life was as simple one. I think about Johnny Cash’s song, “Country Boy”.

There is also this single guy, and he works harder than anyone, and for what reason? In the end, who is he going to leave it to?

It is better to work hand in hand with someone else; you will stay warmer, and if you ever get in a fight, you will win.

And in the end, a young wise man is better than an old fool, but still, whatever he does he will be forgotten eventually. (I find this amusing because Solomon may well have been talking about himself.) 

Now, go get em…

Or maybe that is not all.

Who will cry out for the poor? And who is it that will lead wisely? And who will be the faithful friend?

Remember that the message of Ecclesiastes in part is that what we see around us is futile. Because of this, we hanker for Heaven. We have a sense of homelessness that leads us to home.

From this hopelessness can spring hope. Sometimes it is only in seeing the impermanence of what we desire that we can finally long for God. 

Maybe Solomon was not saying any the above, but I suspect that he was. 

The Joy of Work

“So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him.”

What is the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer? One set the temperature, and the other just reads it.

Another thought on work. If we are little more than beasts of burden, let us at least rejoice in what we have. The roof above your head, the food in your stomach, the clothes on your back, the shoes on your feet. As Pollyanna (or perhaps today, as Unikitty) as it sounds, think about what you do have, not what you do not have.

If you have gotten to choose what to eat today, you are doing better than a lot of people throughout the world. If you get your water from a tap, and it doesn’t put you on a sick bed, you should be very thankful. Did you take a Tylenol? Someone, somewhere, would give you a king’s ransom for one if they could.  

Beyond this though, you have work to do. Since the later part of the last decade, this is far from a given. If you have a place, a function, you have something to rejoice in.

You cannot see the future. Kevin DeYoung aptly said that “Worry is trying to live tomorrow before it happens.” So instead of trying to live in tomorrow, or perhaps in yesterday, live in today. Be where you are, and be joyful for however long you have. One day you will return to the dust from whence you came.

In the meantime, if you choose joy, you might just reset the temperature. 

Try it along with me today. 

Unjust Judges and Unrighteous Preachers

"Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there."

What can be said?

We live in a world where the places where we should feel most safe have become most suspect.

Confidence in the government is at an all-time low in our nation. We are more like Rome than ever in that the wheels of justice and administration seem to be greased by money as opposed to virtue. It’s like finding a statesmen in a politician stack. Few and far between is the lawmaker who lives within the law of God or man.

Even in houses of worship, it is hard to find one who is the same in private as they are in public. If Ezekiel’s vision were to come true today, would the angels still begin at the Temple, their slaughtering weapon in their hand? Mercy, Lord. Where we should find the greatest safety we do not, and some fear the harm that may befall them even in the house of God. Fearing they may be the fleece that is fleeced.  

We can identify with The Preacher. He is cries out like a prophet, “Where is just judgment? Where is true righteousness?”

God will judge the righteous and the wicked. It is a comfort for the righteous, a clarion call to the wicked. Hold fast, you righteous. Act fast, you wicked. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and in that day, we will have only Christ to stand upon.

Hold out hope, for the hope that Solomon could not have known, that in due time Christ the Righteous Judge will come to hold account the quick and the dead. This is not a message of fear, but of hope. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

Until then, let us be the change we long to see in the world.

*******
Two days after this blog was posted, this hit the news:

http://fox4kc.com/2014/06/24/former-it-director-of-warrensburg-school-district-charged-with-sex-crimes-against-girl/

Work

Start here: www.biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/3.htm

Work gets a bad rap. We often think of work as being a consequence of The Fall (Gen 3), and while there are consequences from the curse associated with work; there was work before the Fall, and it was “good”.

We spend much of lives complaining about work, avoiding work, and looking forward to one day we can stop working altogether. Indeed there will be a Heavenly rest for those in Christ; but it is not as if we will sleep for all eternity; there will be work to be done even in eternity. 

Our grandmothers were on to something when they admonished us about idle hands being the Devil’s workshop, because they absolutely are. If you are busy, particularly doing what you ought to be doing, it sure helps one to stay out of trouble. Yet so much of our effort is expended on not expending effort.

God created us to work, and to do his work.

I suspect that one of the root causes of the disaffection we have in modern life comes from the absence of real physical labor. There is something uniquely satisfying about seeing something that you built with your own hands, eating something that you planted with your own hands, and so forth. Modern work often has such delayed or abstract gratification. People were not made for cubicles.

So Solomon exhorts us to be joyful, to enjoy the fruit of our labors, recognize that that fruit is reward from God and ultimately recognize that all we have is from the hand of God.

What God does is permanent, but what man does is impermanent, so we can see how great God is. 

God is the one who determines whose work will be rewarded and how, in both the here and now and in the hereafter. He will judge us for all that we do. God is testing us, in part through our work.

You can certainly learn a great deal about someone from their work.

Eturnity

Start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/3.htm

There can be little doubt that this is the most well-known passage in Ecclesiastes. Much of the credit for its endurance in pop culture goes to The Byrds for their folk rock version of this passage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4

Stylistically, there seem to be pairings: birth and planting, kill and tear down, weep and mourn, etc. each of these is contrasted with either the end result (plant à uproot) or a direct contrast (kill à heal). The message is simple: Just as there are seasons in the year, there are seasons in our lives. Some seasons are times of creativity, and wonder; others of turmoil and trouble. Again, there is an invitation to consider the big picture, the full spectrum of life.

While there is a time for planting, eventually you will reap what you sow. At times we scatter, other times we build. Some days we dance (as long as we are not Baptists) and other days we weep. While there is a time for embracing, there is a time for “personal space” or even to avoid someone altogether.

Perhaps the final words, “a time for war, and a time for peace” are the most difficult for Christians to accept, yet, the message here rings true (contrary to the final message The Byrds insert into the poem). There may be a time for peace, but in the fallen world we live in, there may not be a chance for it.

It seems to me that verses 9-11 are the ending of this section, at least conceptually; the message being, “What profit is there? All things are made appropriate (NASB) or beautiful (ESV/NLT) in their time, concluding the thought of 3:1, “there is a time for everything…”). Somehow all the good and bad, the planting, uprooting, silence and speaking, and so forth contribute to the appointed time, the purpose or “work” (NASB) that God is doing “under Heaven” in and around us.

The highlight of this passage for me has always been the thought that “He has set eternity in our heart…” as if there is a seed of longing (think C.S. Lewis and senhsucht). That is why in the end, all things are meaningless, repetitive, seemingly vain under the sun, but in Heaven, all things have a perfect purpose; including that sense of dissatisfaction. This discontent, or disassociation that we feel at times with the world around us has divine purpose, to cause us to long for the eternal. In that sense, the meaningless we trudge through here makes us hanker for the hereafter, and this is a very good thing.   

Sorrow and Steaks

Start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/2.htm

At times, Solomon must be venting. Why else would the one who compiled the Proverbs turn to us and say, “Living wisely is better than living foolishly, but in the end, we all end up the same.” The wise dies like the fool, there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool.

Compounding this is his assessment about his heir (v.12, 18&ff). He will work his entire life, and leave all that he has worked for, all that God has entrusted to him, to one who did not work for it, and who may squander it through foolishness. We’ve all seen that. A hardworking father who labors to build a business, a reputation, who hands it over to a son that runs it into the ground. Life is just not fair.

The wise die. The hardworking die. All we’ve worked for may evaporate, and the name will one day wear off our tomb stone… So, what are we to do?

Go have a steak.

No seriously, that is exactly what he says.

God has given you only so long to live; so live a little. That is your reward, when you sit down to a meal, when you embrace your children, when you watch a great show on TV, or read a good book, when you have a glass of tea on the porch, when you reap the fruits of your labor, thank God for what has been given by relishing in what you have; with what time you have.

Because you only have so much time left.

Postscript:

Lastly, be careful with v.26. It could easily inject you with pride, and cause you to embrace some serious errors about the value of others. One can see how this text could be contorted in support of any number of injustices. Don’t think God loves you more because you have more than someone else.

Nothing Novel

Start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/2.htm

Most people outside of the upper Midwest seem to have never heard of Faygo. Then, all at once it began to show up at the convenience store a town over from home. I had never seen it outside of Michigan and Ohio, so the last time we were in Michigan we stocked up before we came home. At first this was super exciting. I’d grab a can from the fridge and sit and think about being a kid, and fishing with my dad, and other happy associations. I think that red pop tastes awesome. But, when it was so easily within reach, the novelty expired.

For Solomon, there is nothing beyond his reach. But in the quiet moments; or perhaps even in the midst of the party, where every man thinks he would be most at peace with himself and with the world everything comes into perfect focus.

Those who take to psychoanalyzing Solomon say he has a classic case of depression, perhaps a bit of anxiety. He’s just overthinking. He should just relax and enjoy what he has. But those of us who have had similar experiences know this is not true. Solomon is on to something.

Ironically, pleasure can be like guilt. It is transitory. One day you are the life of the party, not long after, people are checking the list for your name because they don’t recognize you.

I think it is important to note too that Solomon is not simply speaking about his old
“party days”, he is clear in stating that he carefully tested the limits. Furthermore, it was not only pleasure that he tested, but also prestige, and plenty. In the end, all came up short. They added nothing to his life here under the sun.

So then, what matters? We have to wait a while before we find that out, so stay tuned, and in the meantime, don’t spend your life on that which is temporary, instead invest it in the eternal.

The Cost of Knowledge

Start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/1.htm

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Ecc 1:18 ESV

Is ignorance bliss? The Preacher warns us about the dangers and limitations of wisdom and knowledge (12:12, 1:12-13&18; 2:12-15, 7:16-17, etc.). Knowing can be a burden. One symptom of our connected society is an exponentiated level of “awareness”. A few years ago many of us experienced the #Kony2012 phenomenon. Sam Sanders of NPR reported this week that Kony2012 was the video heard around the world with nearly 120,000,000 views within one week or nearly 600,000 views per day. 

Let that sink in. 

It can be overwhelming, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines… and noble as the causes may be so much of it seems out of reach. It doesn’t help that most of these initiatives are built on guilt. “Hey you! How can you just sit there playing Angry Birds when there is someone dying of bird flu!”

While we recognize that if we are unaware, we are unable to effect change, we must also recognize that awareness is not understanding. Knowledge can bring with it a sense of dysphoria, and even a sense of helplessness. What can I really do to help? I can’t catch Kony, I cannot dig enough wells, or buy enough of Tom’s shoes, mosquito nets, retroviral drugs, and so on. Sure, I can help a bit, but there is so much more to be done.

The truth is most often in the tension between truths. If we were unaware of starving children, and civil wars, life could go on in monotonous bliss; but in time, the darkness would creep over us and destroy us as well. So then, maybe we know too much? And even then, perhaps are not 

able to adequately process what we are informed about.

Go look at your kids’ soccer ball. Some years ago while in an economics class we learned that in upwards of 90% of all soccer balls come from Pakistan. No real problem there for me, global village and all. But what stuck was the news that the majority of those making these soccer balls were children, and young ones at that. Kids who from our vantage point should have been in school, reading, playing, etc. Our class was enraged. “I’m never buying a soccer ball from Pakistan again until they stop child labor!” Then, the other cleat dropped. Turns out that in Pakistan, the economy is such that all members of the household have to contribute in some way financially to survive. If these children were in school and not making soccer balls they may not have enough to eat. This naturally leads into a plethora of discussions about our unwillingness as consumers to pay more for goods, which drives prices down, which drives production costs down, which drives wages down, etc. etc. all of which is enough to keep  you up at night thinking, “How can we get these kids to school, and get cheap soccer gear?”

Perhaps it was better not to know at all?

Well, Solomon didn’t say it was better to know nothing now, did he? But we should realize that there is cost associated with knowledge. There is a spiritual cost in that if we know that good that we ought to do and do not do it, we are sinning (Jas 4:17). There is an emotional cost, in my case, it comes on me every time I step into a sporting goods store, or nearly any department store for that matter. And then, there is the cost of ignorance. Perhaps the question is this, “Which costs more in the end, knowing, or not knowing?” And for now, my answer is, “I don’t know” and Solomon’s answer seems to be not so much “do not know”, but “know that with knowledge comes sorrow.” This is the economy of knowledge. 

Good Morning, Everything is Meaningless. . .

Everything is Meaningless: Ecc 1:1-11 

Go ahead and start here: http://biblehub.com/nasb/ecclesiastes/1.htm

Vanity of vanities… All is vanity.

Imagine opening a new piece of exercise equipment and seeing a note from the manufacturer which says, “Suggested garage sale price…”So begins the book of Ecclesiastes, easily the most misunderstood and under-appreciated volume of the Wisdom literature.

At best, what drives us today is a romantic, “carpe diem” approach to life, a Hawthornean mandate to “suck the marrow” out of life. At a more mundane level, there is the desire to pay the bills, to simply survive. This can manifest itself more selfishly as raw materialism, as conspicuous consumption (perhaps the great open sin of the Western church). From the first time we tell our preschool teacher that we want to be an astronaut, we want to “be somebody”.

Yet, instead of starting with “big dreams” or “vision casting”, Quoheleth (“the preacher”, traditionally king Solomon) gives what is arguably the most de-motivational speech of all time. “Your life? It will be hard. At times it will seem to drag on forever and when you die it will feel too short. And in the end it is extremely likely that no one will even know you were here.”

Is he trying to clip our wings? Let’s get this straight; life was never about making ourselves great. It is about making God’s name great. Stated another way, we are not here to make a name for ourselves, but to make great the name of God. Life is filled with joy and wonder; but also has a droning back beat of monotony that will not be overcome until the clock ticks for us from time in to eternity.

Some cannot receive this message and so simply refuse to read Ecclesiastes, asserting it is too bleak. Yet it was written to be read. If we turn to the Bible only hoping to sip some chicken soup for our soul, we will miss the soup for the noodle. Scripture is a wonderfully diverse library delving into the spectrum of human experience. Ecclesiastes, serves as a grand leveler, admonishing us to snap out of it, to see life in all its transience, see ourselves through that lens, and ultimately see ourselves in light of the intransient and eternal God who not only gives meaning, but perhaps is best understood as meaning.

But now we are getting ahead of ourselves.

For now, get your head out of the clouds, and your feet on the ground. And if we can read this right, knowing that we are not likely to be the link between epochs, it can actually take a bit of the pressure off.