This is a five-week sermon series I just preached using Ecclesiastes and Hebrews. May you it both challenge you and give you hope.
Rev
Debbie Cato
Ecclesiastes
and Hebrews
Peace
Presbyterian Church
June
22 – July 20, 2014
A Series on A Faith Well Lived
Week 1: The
Question of the Ages
On Monday, rarely seen twin tornados touched down
in Pilger, Nebraska completely decimating most of the town. The survivors of the 378 resident town
hunkered down in the dairy's large cooler while the double twisters flattened
their only bank; their church; their school. Their neighborhoods and homes are
gone; their grocery store and other businesses no longer exist. Two people, including a 5 year old girl were
killed. Nineteen beloved residents were
hospitalized. The people are stunned. Everything is gone. Everything. How do they begin to rebuild?
CNN reports that in the 18 months since the
horrendous school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, there have been 16
similar shootings at schools and universities around the country. That’s one every five weeks. Parents are asking why. Why their kids? Is there no place their children are safe?
A colleague told me about a 42 year old woman he's
counseling. Her mother died of breast
cancer and two months later her husband of 17 years, a Methodist minister,
announced that he wants a divorce. She
is in crisis. Her whole life is upside
down. Nothing makes sense to her. She is questioning her faith. Why, God?
In the few months that I’ve been your pastor, I’ve
been hearing and discerning that as a family of believers you’ve faced some
losses together. It feels like there may
be some unresolved grief for some of you lingering in this church family. You’ve had people leave you; pastor's leave
you. Some have left well and some have
not. I sense there may be some leftover
hurt; maybe some anger; some sadness.
I’m not a mind reader but I would imagine that some of you may be asking
questions like; Why did this happen? Why
did they leave? Did we do something
wrong?
Many of you are facing personal crises. Difficult health problems. Family situations. Life transitions. Perhaps you are crying out to God; Where are
you? What is the meaning of this?
Crises cause hard
questions don’t they?
When life is good our grandest questions usually
revolve around how we will spend our paychecks or where our vacation will be
this year or what we’re going to eat for dinner tonight.
But when a crisis hits, the questions get a lot
harder. When we encounter the tough
tests of terminal illness or death or divorce or financial hardship or broken
relationships of any kind, suddenly our hands shoot skyward looking for
answers. Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? What is the meaning of life?
For some of us, we’ve been in crisis too many
times. Others might claim they’ve never
really been in crisis; life has been pretty smooth. But frankly, you can’t live without experiencing
the lows; you can’t love without experiencing loss and pain. Life is a roller coaster ride.
During these times of crises, when the questions
get hard and the answers don’t come easily, we demand an experienced
teacher. But our search falls short when
we turn to day-time talk shows or religious gurus or our friends or even our
parents and certainly when we rely on ourselves.
What teacher can we turn to with life’s deepest
questions?
Meet Qoheleth.
He’s been answering questions for over three thousand years. We know the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes
not by name but by the title Qoheleth;, translated as preacher or teacher. It comes as no surprise that the preacher is
not only a king but is no other than “the son of David,” King Solomon. After all, it was Solomon who, having asked
God for the gift of wisdom, received it so abundantly that he “surpassed the
wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.” It was Solomon who “composed three thousand
proverbs; his songs number a thousand
& five.” It was to hear Solomon’s
wisdom that “People came from all the nations. The Queen of Sheba was one of
his visitors who exclaimed to him, “Your wisdom and prosperity far surpass
the report that I had heard.” 1 Kings 10:7
The
book of Ecclesiastes is about the issues of life. The preacher in Ecclesiastes, is in search of
life’s meaning. But just as we do, the preacher begins by looking at it through
world eyes; limited by human knowledge; limited by human wisdom. Even though the preacher has incredible
worldly wisdom, he is still looking for the meaning of life with limited human
knowledge and he realizes that everything is meaningless – or as we read this
morning … all is vanity.
Life
on its own doesn’t have any ultimate profit.
We come into the world naked and we leave the world naked. In the end, everything we work for is gone.
We don’t get a reward for all we’ve done on earth. When it’s over, it’s over. Life doesn’t reward us. We all get old and sick and die. That’s
it. The story doesn’t change. Generations come and generations go. Humans just keep repeating the same
errors. Everything has existed for
ages. Nothing is new. The preacher asks if anyone can tell us
something that will give us meaning on earth.
In verse 12, Q0heleth says, “I, the
Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem,
13 applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all
that
is done under heaven;” I searched for
the best way to live and found that life is full of grief; it’s like striving
after the wind. You can’t fix life; it’s
painful. The more you know, the more you
shake your head. The more wisdom you
have; the more pain you feel.
At first glance, Ecclesiastes
paints a grim picture. But when crises
hit and we start asking the hard questions; when we start asking why this is happening; when we
are trying to under-standing the meaning of something tragic in our life; when
we are asking why me; in many ways we are saying much the same thing the
preacher is saying, “Vanity, vanity.
It’s all vanity.” Why, why, why?
Few of us want to admit the truth of what
Ecclesiastes has to say; maybe because we need to believe there’s more to
it. But the truth is, on its own
life is meaningless. Solomon, the man
who surpasses all human wisdom; the preacher of Ecclesiastes, is searching for
something which will have eternal value. There must be something more. To find it, we need to look beyond ourselves.
All human work and all other
things are meaningless if there is no God.
This is what the preacher discovers; that humans are powerless. Yet God has a design and purpose for all
things. He is the giver of all life.
And
that’s where we have to turn when the questions are hard; when we are faced
with things that don’t make sense; when we are experiencing pain and grief that
defies human explanation. Only in and
through God can we find meaning for the circumstances in our life. Our God is a God of compassion and grace and
hope. God does have a plan.
God
loved us so much that he became flesh and came and lived among us. He became human. He felt pain; he felt grief; he felt
disappointment and fear. He suffered
torture and was hung on a cross, suffering on our behalf. He died, was buried and three days later he rose
from the dead. And because Christ
defeated death, everyone who believes in him and calls him Lord and Savior is
saved from death and is promised eternal life – that’s our reward. This is the meaning we are looking for.
And
there’s more. Jesus ascended to heaven
where he sits at the right hand of God the Father where he intercedes on our
behalf. Jesus Christ, the Son of God
prays for us. Jesus Christ, God who took
on flesh and bones; who suffered on our behalf; who felt pain and betrayal and
wept; who knows how we feel; prays for us.
He weeps for us. This is the
meaning we are looking for.
The
preacher is right. Life without God is
meaningless. I’ve always said that I
don’t know how people who don’t know Jesus make it through the sludge of life. How do people who don’t know Jesus find hope
in times of hopelessness? Aren’t you
glad that you don’t have to find out?
We
know that this life isn’t all there is. We know it isn’t all in vain; it isn’t
all meaningless. Everything we go
through – the blessings and the tragedies; the joy and the pain; all bring us
closer to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Every part of our journey here on earth is part of the refining fire
that God uses to mold us into the person he wants us to be. And we know that we are promised that if we
are faithful, our reward will be in heaven.
May His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
Week 2: The
Problem of Life with God
A piano has 52 white keys and 46 black keys – 88
keys in total. Played together, they
make beautiful music. Gloria Patri' –
Glory to the Father has 4 flats – or for those of you who don't read music, it
uses 4 black keys to make it sound beautiful.
Let me play a bit of “Glory Be to the Father” ?
Now, imagine playing a piano – or hearing a song
played on the piano, without the black keys.
After all, the black keys are all the sharps and flats. By themselves, they sound harsh. Here….. Liz – let me play a few lines just
using the black keys.
It’s doesn’t sound like much, does it? What if we decided that since the black keys
sound harsh, we wouldn't use them. What
if we didn’t use the black keys at all? Listen to “Glory Be to The Father”
using just the white keys.
As you discovered, a song played with just the
white keys falls flat. Without a doubt,
music needs both white and black keys to make the notes into beautiful
music.
Imagine life without pain. No drunk drivers inching over the double
yellow lines. No cancer slithering
through the body. No tornadoes ripping
up homes. If life were a song, wouldn’t
that be better?
Last week, we heard Solomon’s critique of life
without God. "Meaningless. It’s all meaningless," Solomon concluded. Life is not meant to be lived without
God. Without God, there is despair. Human beings cannot find meaning in life
within themselves. Solomon, the wisest
of the wise, concludes that only in and through God, is there meaning. It is God who gives meaning to life.
So does this mean that with God there's
no despair; no pain; no heart-break?
Does this mean that with God everything that happens in our life
is good? That life with God makes sense?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I find there
are problems with life with God. My life
with God has not been without despair.
It has not been without pain. It
has not been without heartbreak. Things
have happened in my life which have not made sense. I will be the first to admit that I have had
huge crises of faith. Times when my
despair was so deep and so strong that I found myself crying out, “Where are
you God? Where are you?” No.
Life with God is not without problems.
But Qoheleth, the preacher,
reminds us that our God is sovereign.
God ordains even the times. He
has appointed a time for everything. Qoheleth
says: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven.” “2 A time to be
born and a time to die... 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh
… a time to mourn and a time to dance …”
God is sovereign over all things;
even time. He is in control. And life with God means that life will have
ups and downs; it will have twists and turns.
On August 17, 1985 I had a
miscarriage. I was 13 weeks pregnant and
I lost my baby. My husband and I had
tried to get pregnant for 2 years. I still remember the day in early June when
we learned we were pregnant. We immediately
called my parents to tell them the news.
I was so excited. We told Paul’s
parents. We told our friends. We had wanted a baby for two years and
finally we were going to have one. And
by the end of my first trimester I knew how the baby’s room was going to be
decorated; the colors we would use; I had bought the material to make my baby’s
crib bumper and blanket; and I was in love.
I was in love with my baby. And
then, suddenly, with no warning, I lost the baby. It was a time of great mourning; a time of
tremendous grief for me. I experienced a
kind of emotional pain I had never experienced before. It was one of the lowest points in my life. It forever changed me.
A year later, God used the loss
of my baby to draw me back into a relationship with him. I had become disillusioned with my faith in high school and hadn’t been to
church in 10 years. I had walked away from God. But God found me in the
wilderness of my grief and drew me back to him.
It transformed me.
“There is 4 a time to weep and
a time to laugh … a time to mourn and a
time to dance …”
What are the things that have shaped you? That have drawn you closer to Christ? Are they the good times; or the pain?
I am not glad that I lost my baby. I would never want to go through that
again. Nor would I want to relive the
terror and abuse my daughters – born after my miscarriage - and I lived through
years later at the hands of my husband.
Or any of the other difficult, painful times I’ve experienced. I will never be glad these things
happened. But these are the things that
have shaped me and transformed me into who I am today. Because of the
experiences that I’ve had, I’m equipped to be used by God in unique situations. That’s life with God. God uses the hard times; the bad things for
good. As Paul wrote to the church in
Rome:
Romans
8:28 28
And we know that in all things God works
for
the good of those who love him, who have been called
according
to his purpose.
None of us want to go through the bad things;
the hard times. But they are the things
that shape us. We wonder how they fit
into eternity. Our hearts cry, out,
“Why, Lord, why?” But he doesn’t tell
us. There are things in our life with
God that we can’t and won’t understand. Our life with God will have twists and
turns in it. The worst things can
sometimes turn out to be the best things.
The worst event in history was Christ’s
crucifixion on the cross and yet Christ’s crucifixion was also the most
wonderful event in history. God, by his
own hand, predestined that this would take place. It was his way to save a world that was – and
continues to be overcome with sin. God
has the last chapter in mind from the very beginning. We are supposed to trust and know that God
has compassion.
For as
we read in Hebrews: “ 13 Nothing in all creation is
hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes
of him to whom we must give account. 14
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”
God sees all and God knows all. God is sovereign. He is in control – even when it doesn’t seem
like it. And Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior is our high priest, sitting at the right hand of God intercessing on our
behalf. This is our comfort. This is our hope. This is what we can hold onto when there
isn’t anything else to hold onto.
What we don’t understand isn’t
meant to alienate us from God but to
help us understand just how sovereign God is. It is meant to help us be in awe of the God
of the universe who ordains even time.
For as the preacher tells us, “14 everything God does will
endure forever.”
So what are we supposed to do? Verse 12 tells us that there is something
that people can do right now. No matter
what is going on in our life, Qoheleth tells us that
“12there is nothing better for
people than to be happy and
do
good while they live. 13 That
everyone may find satisfaction
in all
his work-- this is the gift of God.
You may not understand what is
happening in your life, but you can still enjoy life; it is a gift from God. There is nothing better to do than to rejoice
and to do good in one’s lifetime. There is nothing better to do than to be
grateful for what is good – for even when things are bad, there is still good
in our life and for that we must rejoice.
My
blessing journal -
Why can’t the Master Conductor just leave out
the harsh notes? God has a symphony
planned for us. He knows that only white
keys are boring. Only black keys are
troublesome. But when He masterfully
intermingles the black and the white, ah…. Then the music really starts. The music of our life with God. And God has a finale planned that will exceed
our expectations.
May His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in
heaven. Amen.
Week
3: When Bad is Better
There are a lot of misconceptions
about Christians. One of them is that being a Christian is easy. After all, if
you are a Christian, you have God on your side – right? We just pray for what
we want and we get it! Christians must
always be happy; never have problems; never go through hard times! When
something bad happens, we can just pray, and God fixes it – doesn’t He?
When I prayed and thought about how
to help you think about and recognize that you may have some left-over grief
and anger and other feelings from pastoral relationships that ended, I turned
to Ecclesiastes because Ecclesiastes is about the issues of life and it doesn’t
beat around the bush. Qoheleth, the preacher, is in search of the meaning of
life and I’m guessing that like me, you are trying to understand the meaning of
situations in your life– past and present that don't make sense.
The wisdom of Ecclesiastes has
already reminded us that without God there is no meaning. Meaningless,
meaningless … life without God is absolutely meaningless. Or like the preacher of Ecclesiastees says -
“Vanity, vanity. All is just vanity.” And yet while it is only through God that we
find meaning in life, we were reminded last week that even life with God is not
without problems! Life with God is not without despair. Even with God in our lives, good things and
bad things happen. We can find comfort
in the reminder that God has appointed “a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under heaven. “A time to be born and a time to die... a time
to weep and a time to laugh … a time to mourn and a time to dance”
We can find comfort in the reminder
that God is sovereign over all things; even time. He is in control. Life with
God means that life will still have ups and downs; it will have twists and
turns; it will have hardships; but eventually we will find some meaning to even
the hard times, the difficulties in our life.
Hardship is inevitable and today, in Ecclesiastes
7, the preacher teaches us that we need to get the right perspective on our
hardships – hardship is not the worst thing for us. Great! Just what we want to hear! Hardship is not
the worst thing for us!
Certainly no one signs up for classes in pain and
suffering. Few of us add trials to our to-do lists; to our bucket lists. Even
though no one campaigns looking for adversities, we also should not run away
from our problems. When we run from our struggles we may end up running from
the very thing God wants to use to shape us into His image. As the preacher
says in verse 14:
“When times are good, be happy; but when times
are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”
Think about how you raised your children. What
happened if you gave them everything they wanted when they wanted it – besides
making them really like you?! First, they expect that they will always get what
they want. Right?! Second, they don’t learn to work for what they want. Third,
they don’t learn to appreciate anything. They become spoiled and self-centered
and materialistic and the list goes on.
But most importantly, they don't learn how to work through problems;
they don't learn what to do when things go wrong; when things don't work out;
when the unexpected happens. They don't
learn coping skills and they miss out on opportunities to grow and learn.
We know that children need chores and discipline
and consequences. This is what teaches children responsibility. These are the
things that shape children. This is what builds character. God our Father is
wiser than any of the rest of us parents. He wants what’s best for His
children. He knows that we have to struggle. He knows that it’s the struggles
that make us learn and grow; it’s the things in life that threaten to beat us
up, that are also the things that strengthen us and give us wisdom. C.S. Lewis
said that pain makes us grow up. Pain
makes us grow up. Isn’t that the truth.
Qoheleth
says, don’t get mad when things happen that you don’t like!
These are the things that shape you. Trials drive
us to our knees. When do you pray more often then when you are in need? Trials reveal that God is God and we are not.
Trials make you trust. Trials prove you. They purify you. They perfect you. Trials
bring you to the end of yourself and to the beginning of the Almighty God. Let
me say that again: Trials bring you to
the end of yourself and to the beginning of the Almighty God.
Our life journey is about knowing God and that’s
what our struggles do. They bring us closer to God. They may seem break us. But they can be the
turning point of our life. And that’s why sometimes, bad is better.
You see, we want happiness but God wants
greatness in us. He wants us to become closer to who He created us to be – and
He created us in His image. Without the searing heat from the Potter’s kiln
we’re only a useless lump of clay. But through the fire of our trials God molds
us and shapes us and transforms us. And so, as the preacher says: 14 “When times are good, be happy; but when times
are bad, consider that God has made the one as well as the other.”
I do not believe that God causes our pain. But God doesn’t remove our pain when it
comes. He doesn’t stop our struggles,
because just as we know our own children must struggle to learn and grow and
mature and become all that they can be, God knows that sometimes bad is better.
But here’s the beauty of it all. Not only is God sovereign, but God is a God of
grace and we don’t have to manage the bad times on our own. We are not alone.
God is always with us. He weeps with us because He loves us. For as we read in
Hebrews this morning, even Jesus, the Son of God, learned obedience from what
he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)
There was a man who found a cocoon of a rare
butterfly. It was quite the find because the butterfly that would come out of
the cocoon would be larger than most butterflies and multi-colored – beautiful
colors: red and orange and yellow; even a bit of purple and some brilliant
blues.
The man was so excited! He waited and waited for
the cocoon to hatch and finally one day he saw the butterfly begin to emerge
from the cocoon. Ever so slowly he watched as the butterfly began eating away
at the cocoon – just one small corner to start. The next morning a little bit
more was eaten away and the man began to get impatient. By afternoon he just
couldn’t wait any longer for that beautiful butterfly to emerge, he was so
excited. He couldn’t bear to watch the butterfly struggling to get out of the
cocoon. So he decided to help. Very carefully so that he wouldn’t hurt the
butterfly, he broke open the cocoon and to his excitement, the butterfly
emerged. But he was shocked to see that the butterfly was covered in mucous and
was unable to fly. Before he knew what was happening, a mocking bird swooped
down and ate the butterfly.
What the man didn’t understand is that the way
God created the butterfly, it has to struggle to get out of the cocoon so that
all the mucous rubs off in the process.
Then, when the butterfly emerges, it's wings are dry and it can immediately
fly and be protected from predators like birds. When the man took away the
struggle, he took away the butterflies ability to survive.
Like the butterfly, struggles are necessary for
our survival. They are part of life. None of us is above bad times. And when
they do come, we aren’t righteous enough to criticize God; to question why. And
we certainly aren’t righteous enough to get angry at God. Even Solomon, the
wisest of them all could not figure out the Almighty; could not understand all
that God does and why. For only God is righteous. Only God is sovereign.
So when it comes down to it, I think we just have
to trust that sometimes bad is better, knowing that God loves us and God is in
control. God is with us in the good and
in the bad.
May His Kingdom come
on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
Week 4: Do
the Right Thing
I found a theme song to go with Ecclesiastes! I don’t know what Qoheleth the preacher would
think about this but I think it’s perfect!
How many of you like country music?
I mean – really old country music? Do you remember Lynn Anderson? Lynn was often on the Lawrence Welk show and
growing up, we watched the Lawrence Welk show every Sunday night. I have formed a quartet to do this little
number for you. We will be putting out
our first CD very soon so we will just be doing a little teaser for you. Come on, up!
We call ourselves, “The Four Gals”
I
beg your pardon,
I never promised you a
rose garden.
Along with the
sunshine,
There’s gotta be a
little rain sometimes.
When you take you
gotta give so
Live and let live or
let go
I beg your pardon
I never promised you a
rose garden…..
What do you think?!
Sounds like Ecclesiastes?! Along
with the sunshine, there’s gotta be a little rain sometimes… yah?
Qoheleth’s been teaching us that life is
meaningless without God and even with God there are problems. None of us
is protected from times of struggle; times of pain; times of difficulty. But,
we aren’t supposed to let the hard times separate us from God; we shouldn’t try
to make deals with God or change God. We
must trust God no matter what; we should rest in God; find comfort in God. In fact, last week we learned that it’s our
perspective on hard times that needs to change; that sometimes bad is actually
better. We were reminded that it is the
hard times, the struggles and challenges that shape us and transform us into
who God created us to be. 14 “When times are good, be happy; but when
times are bad, consider that God has made the one as well as the other.”
“I beg your pardon, I never promised you a
rose garden.
Along with the
sunshine, There’s gotta be a little rain
sometimes.”
Today we come to the part in
Ecclesiastes that begins to answer the question: “How do we live in a world that we can’t
control?” How do we live in a world that
we can’t control?
Knowing that hardship happens;
that struggles and crises are a part of life, how do we live? Qoheleth says that no matter what life is
handing us; whether it’s good or bad, we are to do the right thing. Do the
right thing. That’s today’s lesson from
Ecclesiastes. Another easy lesson, my
friends!
Watergate. Lewinsky.
Enron. BP Oil. Ever notice how one mistake can define a
legacy? One mistake can define who or
what we are forever. One mistake can
undo a whole lot of good. But the truly
wise person recognizes that if you are really honest, it’s seldom ever just one
mistake. Just as the tip of an iceberg
is actually sitting on a huge under-water mountain, public scandals are built
on a mountain of private sins. One
person wisely noted: “Sow a thought and
you reap a deed. Sow a deed and you reap
a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a
lifestyle. Sow a lifestyle and you reap
a destiny.” Another words, if you think
about something long enough, you’ll do it.
If you do something often enough, it will become a habit. If you cultivate a habit, pretty soon it
becomes your lifestyle; it becomes who
you are. So whether you are thinking
good things or thinking bad things; think them often enough and they become who
you are. Think positive things or
negative things; they become who you are.
What kind of thoughts are you cultivating?
Little choices will define a
long-term legacy for good or for evil.
C.S. Lewis once said, “With every choice you make, you are either
becoming more of a heaven-like creature or more of a hell-like creature.” The great Green Bay Packer coach Vice
Lombardi said, “The quality of a persons’s life is in direct
proportion to their excellent choices.”
It’s when no one is looking; when
there is no one to impress that our true character comes out. When nobody will know if we do the right
thing or whether we’re honest or kind or godly or just. When nobody will know if you choose good or
evil; right or wrong, is when the real you and the real me comes out. So it begs the question, who are we when no
one is looking? Who are you when no one
is looking? Who are you behind closed
doors When you aren’t trying to impress
anyone? What thoughts are you
sowing? What habits are you
forming? What destiny are you
building? Are you one person when others
are around and someone else when you’re in private? (of course, God is always watching!) Are you one person when times are good and
another person when times are bad?
Ecclesiastes teaches us that when
bad times come – as they surely will, it doesn’t give us an excuse to violate
the Word of God; to sin. After all, God
will ultimately prevail. No matter what
is going on in our lives we must hold fast.
We must say, “I will do the right thing because God is still God. I will do the right thing because it is what
God would have me do. I am going to
trust that God will be about His purposes.”
For verse six says, 6
“There is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person's
misery weighs heavily upon them.”
When evil is out there, you do the right thing – always. God will deal with what God needs to deal
with. Chuck Swindoll once said, “God created
time, man created watches.” We must
trust God for His timing. We are in
God’s hands. We have to take life as it
comes, the good and the bad and no matter
what, we must do the right thing.
Do you think you would live
differently today if you knew for certain that you were going to die next
week? In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, bitter old Scrooge
needed a glimpse of his death before he changed his miserable ways. What will it take before we start living the
life God intended for us? What will it
take before we start doing the right things?
Death is not up for
discussion. It is on our calendar. But only God knows what day is circled. The irony is we all know we’re going to die,
so we must ask: will that fact change the way we live today? Should it matter if I’m going to die tomorrow
or in 20 years? How can I move toward
living well now rather than later? The
truth is, later never lasts as long as we think it will.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon shows us
that one key to a life well lived is simply doing the right thing over a long
period of time. We hurt fewer people
that way; we have fewer regrets that way; we feel more fulfilled that way; and
we live more like God intended us to live because we are better witnesses to
the good news of Jesus Christ each and every day.
The truth is, even when we don’t
do the right things, because of the grace and mercy of the Almighty God, we are
forgiven. As we read in Hebrews this
morning, because
21 “we
have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us
draw
near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of
faith,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience ...
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the
hope we profess, for he
who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may
spur
one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:21-24)
There is great encouragement and
hope in that passage. In this life, we
will never always do the right thing. We
are human and we will make mistakes. We will sin. We will do the wrong
thing. And when we do, the grace and
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ will wash over us and we will be forgiven.
For He who promised is faithful. God is always faithful. We can count on that. Thanks Be to God. That is our encouragement and our hope.
But there is also tremendous
responsibility. Verse 24 says, “let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds.” As
brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a level of responsibility to help one
another. To be good examples. Good role models. Good witnesses. Good friends.
There is tremendous responsibility to treat one another well. To show
love and respect and kindness to one another in a world that isn’t always
loving and kind and respectful. To
forgive first. To reach out first. To do the right thing.
For as Qoheleth teaches, we don’t
know what awaits us. We don’t know what
tomorrow will bring or even if tomorrow will come. So today, we must appreciate today. We must take advantage of the gift of each
day and do the right thing. It may be
all we have.
Each day is a new day, a gift
from God. A new opportunity to live for
God. As A.A. Milne wrote in the great
classic Winnie the Pooh:
“What day is
it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.
May His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in
heaven. Amen.
Week 5: A
Faith Well Lived
We have spent the last four weeks
in the Book of Ecclesiastes; four weeks gleaning wisdom about the issues of
life. My hope was that Solomon’s wisdom
and honesty about the trials and challenges of life would help us as we
navigate some of the historical challenges and conflict and grief and patterns
that I’ve observed in my short time here at Peace. I hoped that perhaps the teachings in
Ecclesiastes would help us examine our own hearts and our own part in the
things that are holding this church hostage.
I hoped that perhaps the bitterness and blame that I’ve witnessed would
be freed so that we might move forward into the future that God is calling us
to move into. I also know that many of
you are facing personal challenges and crises that are causing you to ask
difficult questions. My prayer was that
Qoheleth’s teaching that God is sovereign and in control during both the good
and the bad times would encourage us and bring us hope and cause us to respond
to the challenges we face with dignity and faithfulness and love. That continues to be my prayer.
Today, we finish this series on
Ecclesiastes. We skipped some
chapters and I encourage you to read
those on your own. Like the rest of Ecclesiastes,
they too are filled with nuggets of wisdom.
This morning in Chapter 12, we get to the last words from Qoheleth. The preacher is starting his final speech. What does he say is the key to a faith well
lived?
Imagine paying an expert about
your financial situation and after four intense sessions, you go back home and
decide your shoebox is still the best place for your money.
Imagine going to cooking classes
by Paula Dean and the first meal you fix when you get home is Kraft Macaroni
and Cheese.
Imagine taking golf lessons from
Tiger Woods and when you go back to the driving range you mutter to yourself, “I think my
backswing is just fine.”
For the four weeks, we’ve been
meeting with the wisest man in all of human history. He has taught us the principles for a faith
well lived. Yet if all we do is go back
to our regular routines, our old habits, and perspectives, or old ways of
being, we will have traded timeless wisdom for temporary folly.
Our time here on earth and our
walk with God will only be fruitful if we apply the wisdom found in these pages
of scripture. It may require changing
our attitudes and patterns of behavior.
It may require adjusting old habits and ways of thinking and being. If we want, we can make it through life
without much work, but living well; being healthy; living a faith-filled life
takes work; it takes intentionality.
How will you leave our study of
Ecclesiastes? Will it stay buried in
your Bible never to be thought of again?
Or will you have the courage to pin the principles on the mirror of your
heart so you see them daily? It won’t
happen without God’s Spirit working through you. As we approach this last session, be praying
for those one or two key nuggets that you will treasure and immediately apply
to your life; to our life together. As
we listen to Qoheleth for the last time, grab onto whatever teachings – however
hard, your heart is telling you that you need to incorporate to change your
attitude or your behavior to end unhealthy patterns and conflict in this church. What needs to change to move forward into
health and hopefulness?
After searching far and wide,
after studying and contemplating all the knowledge of the lands, Solomon came
to appreciate that all of life is completely meaningless without God. King Solomon had wealth. He had notoriety. He had power and influence. And King Solomon had wisdom – he was the
wisest person in the world. God gave
him wisdom because Solomon asked for it.
And it was this wisdom, that caused Solomon to come to realize that life
on its' own is meaningless. “Vanity.
It's all vanity,” Solomon proclaimed. Only God gives meaning to life.
Yet we learned that life with God
is not without problems either! Life
with God is full of twists and turns; hardships and crises. But God is sovereign and God is in control.
God uses the difficult times; the crises in our lives to shape us, to drive us
to our knees and draw us closer to him.
When we look back and examine our lives, we realize that it is the
struggles that transform us, not the easy times. We can find comfort knowing that God ordains
even the time… “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven: 2 a time to be born
and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot… 4 a time to weep and a time to
laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 )
Ecclesiastes teaches us that
whether we are weeping or laughing, mourning or dancing we must trust God and
do the right thing; act the right way; behave the right way; treat one another
the right way. Isn’t that what faith is
all about? Trusting and believing when
the odds say otherwise. It’s easy to have
faith when things are going well; when the answers are right in front of us;
when the road is smooth; when we're getting our way. But when we hit a fork in the road; when life
slaps us in the face; when we get the rug pulled from under us; that’s when the
true strength of our faith shows through.
We read from Hebrews 11 this
morning – sometimes called “The Faith Hall of Fame that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Sure of what we hope for and certain what we
do not see. Qoheleth would add to that definition and say
that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
– no matter what our circumstances are; whether times are good or times are
bad.
The author of Hebrews gives us
example after example of the great heroes of faith – names we recognize. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses.
David, Samuel, the prophets.
Heroes because they believed God without seeing what He promised. Heroes because they obeyed God out of sheer
trust. Let’s look at Abraham.
One day the Lord said to Abram,
‘Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I
will show you.’ (Gen 12:1)
What exactly was God asking of
him? Did Abram know his
destination? Did he realize he was
beginning a journey to the Holy Land or was he walking without any specific
destination? Notice that God did not
give Abram any information about where he was going besides to the ‘land that I
will show you’ yet Abram obeyed God.
He left his extended family and his life behind. What
motivated him to make that leap?
Did Abram receive some sort of guarantee that the life he would lead
would be more fulfilling than what he was leaving? What inspired Abram to not only hear God’s
command, but respond?
Abram was human. I’m sure he had
misgivings. I'm sure he had fears; doubts. But Abram didn’t let his fears and
doubts outweigh his trust in God. He
still obeyed. He took his memories of
his homeland and the life he left behind with him and he left. He trusted God. He stepped out and went. He had faith.
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see.”
I see parallels between Abraham’s
story and what’s happening in the life of this church. God is asking us to step out without knowing
where we are going.
You had a pastor who was here for
a long time and he was beloved by you. You had a history together. You shared your lives with him. His departure was sudden and unexpected. Some of you were deeply saddened. Some of you felt betrayed. Some felt angry. All these feelings are normal – normal
expressions of grief.
You had an interim pastor who was
here for two years. She brought energy
and life. You did some new things. New
members joined the church. Liz left to
serve another church and you were sad to see her go. Some felt betrayed. Some felt angry. You loved her. These are all normal expressions of grief.
The Scottish Festival has a long
history here at Peace. Some people are
passionate that the festival is an important part of the ministry of this
church. Some people are equally
passionate that it should not be a part of this church. Emotions on both sides are strong. This event
caused incredible conflict and inappropriate, hurtful behavior – from people on
both sides! Emotions are high. There is
years of unresolved conflict.
Some of you are holding onto
other hurts; other conflicts from years ago – not wanting to let go. It's like a cancer coursing through the life
blood of this church. Unhealthy patterns
of being in community that need to be changed if we are truly going to be a
place of shalom for all people.
Here we are today. God called me here to this place to journey
with you now. He is calling us to follow
him together. It's hard to move forward
when the pain and grief and conflict of the past sucks out the joy of the
future. My hope in preaching this series
is to begin the working through; to get past the past; to begin to
intentionally think about what is important and what isn’t important; to
intentionally think about how to live right; how to do the right thing; how to
disagree in ways that are loving and respectful rather than hurtful and
shameful. Only then, can we put the past
behind and move forward.
And then we have a week like this
week. Images of young children lying on
concrete floors, packed like sardines in detention
centers, being sent back to horrors we can't imagine. “Bring the children to me,” Jesus said. “Whatever you do to the least of these, you
do to me,” Jesus said. Fighting in the
Gaza Strip takes on new propotions.
There are 41 wars around the world, I read. An airplane is shot down by a missile,
killing 295 innocent people, including 81 children. My heart is breaking. What are we to do in times like this? What is the meaning of all this?
God is calling us to trust him –
in the good and the bad times; the easy and the hard days. God is calling us to faith – “to be sure of what you hope for and certain
of what you do not see.”
As for the final words from
Qoheleth and what he says is the key to a faith well lived? He tells us, 13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the
matter: Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of humans.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including
every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
You see, Solomon with all his
wisdom, discovered that a meaningful life is all about life with God – a faith
well lived. No matter what's happening – in our personal lives; in our church;
in the world – we are to focus on God.
We are to have faith. We are to
fear God & keep his commandments.
Simply put: obey God. Simply put
but certainly a challenge to do.
Hundreds of years after Qoheleth,
when the author wrote Hebrews to encourage the growing Christian community, he
made a list of the great ancestors of faith who trusted God and stepped out in
faith “being sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they
did not see.” Heroes not because
they were perfect, but heroes because they were human and still managed to have
incredible faith in spite of their fears and doubts and mis-steps. Heroes, because in the midst of their
circumstances, they remembered to praise the Lord.
There’s a story that I think
Qoheleth would like that goes like this:
A young man goes to see
his rabbi. “Rabbi,” he asks, “you told
us a story – something to do with praise?”
The rabbi responds, “Yes, it is thus:
when you get some good news, you thank the Lord, and when you get some
bad news, you praise the Lord.” “Of
course,” replies the man, “I should have remembered. But Rabbi, how do you actually know which is
the good news and which is the bad news?”
The rabbi smiled. “You are wise,
my son. So just to be on the safe side,
always thank the Lord.”
May each of you praise the Lord in all
circumstances, may you be faithful and trust the LORD – for He is sovereign and
He is good. I pray that you look forward
to the journey as much as I do. May we
have a faith well lived.
And May His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
