It is a pleasure to hear your personal thoughts and memories of Ms. Olean. I must admit, I did not know her well. I only became acquainted with her on the few Sundays that she has attended church here with her daughter, Yvette.
She was already older, and had lost much of the vitality of her youth. Her body was well into the process of failing her. Given her situation, I believe she could have related to this text.
Ecclesiastes 11:8-10 (NLT)
8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.
9 Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, 13-14 (NLT)
1 Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” 2 Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. 3 Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. 4 Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. 5 Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.
6 Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. 7 For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
I do not plan to speak long. I have just a couple of points to make. But I would guess that they would express what Ms. Olean would want us to hear from this text. She would want us to hear it because it was some wisdom that she discovered when it was getting late, and she would like us to get it right early on.
Ecclesiastes is written through the eyes of a young man receiving instruction from his teachers. Solomon is the pen of the teacher as he reflects back on his life, a life that many would say was blessed ... attributed with the title of the “Wisest Man In All the World” … a life of riches, position, popularity and pleasure. Yet, his assessment of it all was that it was meaningless. He had spent his life chasing vanishing dreams, and paper moons, only to realize they did not fill the hunger that continued within him.
Why? … Because as he is getting older, his body has begun to fail him. His arms and legs are no longer as strong as they once were. His eye sight had begun to fade, and his hearing was not as sharp as it once was. As he sees his body failing , he remembers that through it all he had forgotten an important lesson from his youth. “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”
Ms. Olean knew about her Creator in the days of her youth. She, also, wanted to make sure that her daughters knew about him too because she made sure that they got to church, with or without her. Yet, mostly without because cultivating that relationship was not a priority for her at the time. She had dreams, and goals, and ambitions that had a greater priority for her in the moment.
We all, throughout our lives, feel that pull to chase our youthful dreams. They may be fantasies of prosperity, popularity, power, prestige, property and possessions, or, even more plainly, pleasure, and we fill our thoughts, our days, our energy, our jobs, our families, or even our beds with those pursuits … those things which we feel will make us more complete. But an uncertain hollowness remains.
Yes, and by most measures, people would say that Ms. Olean had a full life ... photogenic beauty, a good career, two lovely daughters, friends and family who cared deeply for her. She was fun. She was engaging and engaged in the world around her.
Yet, as her body began to fade, it is almost as if she steps into this text, and becomes the teacher.
As her health declined, she became agitated and anxious. The fun-loving and comedic was awash in disquiet. All of her successes and accomplishments, didn’t bring her peace. Something was missing.
Yvette took the opportunity to remind her in those anxious hours of the Creator she had known in her youth. She brought her to church, and we found out it was the first time she ever liked a church. Yvette talked with her about her relationship with Jesus, and Ms. Olean acknowledged accepting Jesus as her Savior. As Ms. Olean remembered her Redeemer, the Creater of her youth, the episodes of agitation and irritability reduced, as she found a peace of soul. She died with the assurance of eternity in God’s arms because she remembered Him who gave his life for her.
But now with her body broken, and her spirit’s gone, she is unable to tell us personally “Remember the Creator in the days of your youth.” Yet, I believe, as one who in retrospect can look back on all she accomplished, would we hear her whisper, “It was meaningless. Apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ, apart from the grace of his forgiveness, apart from the assurance of eternity in his presence, it was all worthless. Don’t wait like I did. Rediscover a life changing relationship with Jesus now. Don’t put off to tomorrow that which really matters, a loving relationship with your Redeemer, because you never know if the plans you have made to get around to it later will ever happen.”
Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.
But to remember your Creator doesn’t mean giving a head nod to God that acknowledges his existence. It doesn’t mean getting dressed up on Sunday to go to church where you put your praise on so that you can continue to live like hell.
To remember our Creator, according to the text means fearing him and obeying his commands. The term fear means carrying a sense of awe and respect. Then that respect is reflected through a life reflects his character by living transformed according to his will. It is first of all a life of loving him:
The first and greatest command is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Matt 22:38)
And then it is letting God’s love flow through you into loving others:
And the second is like it: “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:39)
To miss out on that relationship with Jesus, to forget the Redeemer/Creator, is to place ourselves into the hands of the Judge. While the Redeemer is gracious, forgiving, and loving, the Judge will pass judgment on the merits of our lives, the good and the bad … but don’t think that any of us will be able to slip through on our own merits because this same judge has already pronounced, “There is none righteous. No, not one.” According to another scripture in Isaiah, the best that we will ever accomplish amounts to nothing more than a pile of dirty diapers.
The specter of judgment at the hands of the Almighty is not a thing to take lightly. The pictures of fire and brimstone, or screams of terror, and cries of regret, are meant to impress upon us the sheer horror of an eternity apart from God.
But the eternal grace of the Redeemer, the one who once created the world, knitted together our bodies in our mother’s wombs, and the one who one day will redeem and recreate will soothe our souls with a picture of comfort and peace.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).
It is in this picture of God’s recreation … a time and a place when all of the heartbreak, all the irritations and agitations of this life are swept away by the newness of God’s work, first in your life here, but ultimately in his final work of creation that soothed Ms. Olean disquieted soul. It is this peace that she also wishes for you.
Join me in prayer:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
