There is one word that I see repeated through the book of Ecclesiastes. As translated by the NIV the word is “meaningless”. The word meaningless, in the Hebrew, which was the language the OT was written in, means a breath, or a vapor. The writer of Ecclesiastes is saying that life is temporary. Nothing on earth is permanent.
Last week Kristi and I had a short conversation with the kids about how we perceive life. There are two basic perceptions. People choose to be optimists or pessimists. The glass is either half-full or half empty. What is interesting to me as I read through Ecclesiastes, is that this book like no other in Scripture is defined by the perception of the reader, whether they see life as optimists or pessimists.
Let’s take a look at Ecclesiastes 11 from someone who would typically perceive life as if the glass is half empty. And then we’ll take a second look from the opposite perspective. I’m hoping that as we go through this exercise you will discover a little more about yourself and how you relate to God.
Read Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. But divide your investments among many places,for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
Great. I’m going to work my butt off just to have it all taken away.
When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
Yeah, it’s always raining. If you want to plan something outside just know it’s going to rain.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
God is going to do, what God is going to do, and there aint a thing you can do about it. You can work all you want but if God wants to just take it all away from you, too bad. He gives and He takes away.
Now, we are going to re-read these 6 verses again but take a more optimistic or glass is half full approach.
Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. But divide your investments among many places,for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
I’m going to be prepared and patient.
When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
I’m going to take care of my responsibilities for today.
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
God has got this. I just have to be focused on Him.
So which perception did you feel more in tune with? I’m not going to ask you to raise your hands, but, hopefully you get the picture. Your attitude does impact the way you hear God’s Word.
For just a moment let’s take a closer look at these 6 verses of Ecclesiastes and how it relates to the truth that life is never perfect. The one thing that I took away from this passage of Scripture was that
Life is always a risk
If you struggle with fear, worry and anxiousness this probably isn’t news to you. Every parent who has a kid old enough to drive knows this. The older we get, the more risky life seems. My grandma risks more than I do just getting out of a chair and walking across a room. Her bones are old and brittle. Apparently this is why young people make great soldiers. CNN Pentagon Producer Larry Shaughnessy, says, “Scientists believe that the part of the brain called the frontal cortex isn't fully developed in young adults. And that part of the brain is partly responsible for decision making and moderating social behavior. That's why young people often make good soldiers who will follow dangerous orders to risk their lives in combat without questioning their leaders” Life is risky. There are any number of things that can happen to us to end our life, a car accident, cold blooded murder, disease, drowning, suicide, or any other kind of accident. You get the picture.
But the wisdom we learn from Ecclesiastes 11 is that even if there are risks to what we do, patience and preparedness are antidotes to worry. One of the things that I hate more in this life than just about anything else is waiting. My wife will testify. I hate to wait. Patience is a tough sell for me. The fact that there are no self check out aisles in our stores around here drive me nuts. Walmart and doctors both took the same class in college, “making people wait 101.” But the older I get the more patient I have become. I have grown in my understanding that sometimes God wants me to wait. Now if I’m in a line at Walmart I see it as an opportunity to witness for Christ. I don’t preach a sermon, but, I will engage people in conversation. Today I see waiting as God’s way of opening a door for me to bless another person. When I was younger, I just quietly seethed about the incompetence of the store manager not hiring enough employees. I hate to think how many opportunities I let pass by because of my negative, pessimistic attitude.
James 5:7-10 says, “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
I find it interesting that James says, be patient, and don’t grumble, especially against your own brothers and sisters in Jesus. The inability to be patient and the attitude of complaining are related.
The second antidote to worry is being prepared. According to this verse, if I have diversified my investments, then I’m more prepared to weather the risk of something happening. The wisdom here for business is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The New Testament teaches us that there are a few things Jesus followers should always be prepared for.
We should be prepared to do good - When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Romans 12:13 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good Titus 3:1
We should be prepared to do God’s Work - If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Ephesians 6:14-15
We should be prepared for Jesus return - “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.` Matthew 24:42-44 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. 1 John 2:28
I consider being prepared to do good, to do God’s Work and to be prepared for Jesus return as investments. I want to invest myself in these areas even though it may not always be safe to do so. As a parent I want to live these goals out in my life because I want my children to adopt them as well. Investing in doing good, in God’s work and in the return of Jesus is often inconvenient. My investments in these areas almost always pan out differently than I expected. Sometimes I don’t want to invest in these things, I would rather spend my time, money and resources on myself, or even on my family. But if I want to be obedient to God, I will not be deterred by selfishness. I will refuse to sacrifice my investments in doing good, in God’s Work and in the return of Jesus on the altar of self indulgence.
A few years ago I brought up an idea for a mission trip with my youth coaches. I asked them to pray about taking a group of kids to Mexico to a Children`s home called Casa De La Esperanza, in English, A House of Hope; I`m friends with the director, Gil Sanchez. But I didn`t want this to be a youth mission trip. I`m convinced that the way most churches do youth ministry fails at connecting fathers with the mission of being their own children`s pastor. So, I didn`t want to take a group of kids to Mexico, I wanted to take a group of families to Mexico, especially dads. This was a hard sell, because most dad`s I know don`t want to take vacation time to go work their butts off in the middle of the desert in Mexico. But I had a few that said they would give it a shot. We went to Mexico every year we worked at New Hope, and several families returned to the Casa, and a few are going this year, even though I`m not there anymore. They take vacation time and they go bless the lives of kids who for the most part don`t have parents and who are desperate for love and attention. Why do they do this? Because once a person has experienced the mission of Jesus, the adventure of it, the thrill of it and the work of it, that person wants to experience it again and again.
The reason I share this story is because there were some who didn`t go. They were scared of the violence on the US, Mexico Border. We crossed into Mexico about an hour from the most dangerous city in the world, Juarez. More people die in Juarez in one year than in any other place on earth. According to BBC news 3,100 people were killed in Juarez in 2010. Just for a comparison, New York City has a population of over 8.1 million people. In 2010 there were 536 murders in NYC. Juarez is a city of 1.3 million. So there was a reason for fear. But, we asked ourselves, should we fear death? We considered the scripture Psalm 118:6 “The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” I worked with Gil on a risk assessment that I submitted to the group. We discovered it was safer for us to travel on Highway 45 in Mexico and live at the Casa than to go for a walk after dark in some places in our own town.
God doesn’t say be stupid and go to the most dangerous place you can; He blessed us with a brain to think with and He expects we’ll use it. At the same time, we are being disobedient when we don’t live out His mission on earth because of fear. 1 John 4:18 says, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
I have taken many people on mission trips and there are two kinds of people, those who love the mission, and those who hate it. I have discovered that those who hate the mission tend to be selfish people who find inconveniences to be annoying.
Life is never perfect. A few years ago on a cruise I talked with an older couple that had been married for almost 30 years but they didn’t have any kids. She said, “We wanted kids when we were younger but we thought we needed more of a nest egg before we started. Then we decided that traveling together was fun and having kids just didn’t seem to be a priority. And before we knew it we decided we were too old for them.”
They didn’t seem sad to me, they were more matter of fact about it, but, I believe that deep down they wondered what life would’ve been like with kids. There is never a perfect time other than right now. Jesus said Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:33-34
In a world of 50 Shades of Grey and Magic Mike the words of Jesus fall on deaf ears. The last thing most people want to do is seek Gods’ Kingdom first and live righteously, even people who claim to know Jesus. The most chilling words in Scripture I believe belong to Jesus when He said, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” Matthew 7:21 And in Matthew 7:13 he says, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.”
I wonder how many of those walking on the broader, wider, more traveled highway to hell are those who claim to be Christians. I hope and pray that you will weigh these words of Jesus and make the transforming change this morning if you need to Seek Him first.
We all live with risk. I pray that you are living with Jesus Christ, seeking Him first. I pray that you are investing in doing good, investing in God’s Work and fully prepared for His return. Life is a breath, a vapor, everything on earth is temporary. Don’t wait for a more perfect time, there is no better time than right now.
