Saturday, May 31, 2008

Driscoll on Dudes in the church

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA and one the leaders of the church planting organization Acts 29. Click forward to just under two minutes into the video to get past the comments on assessing church planters, which may not be very applicable to most of us. His comments on men in the church are spot on, I think.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Ecclesiastes 7:5-7

"It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:5-7, ESV)


The Preacher continues to offer up some bits of wisdom. These statements read very much like the Proverbs, which is not surprising since proverbs (Short, pithy, memorable, poetic statements of wisdom. Sort of like “a penny saved is a penny earned” or “the early bird gets the worm”) were a popular ancient genre for communicating wisdom. In these proverbs the Preacher not only says that mourning is better than laughter (as in 7:1-4) but a rebuke is better than fun. More precisely, he says the “rebuke of the wise” is far better than the “song of fools.” The fools’ laughter, he says, is like the thorns burning in the fire. James Crenshaw says of this picture that “thistles provide quick flames, little heat, and a lot of unpleasant noise.” Fools fill their moments with trivial fun and silliness, and their incessant, banal giddiness is useless and annoying.

The last verse (“Surely oppression . . .”) seems a bit out of place, but in the Hebrew it is actually given as a supporting thought to the previous two verses. “Oppression” can also mean “gain from extortion.” So the final thought here probably means something like “greedy gain from extortion makes foolish even the wise, and a bribe corrupts his heart.” I think this is a transition between 7:5-6 and the following verses which stress the folly of seeking immediate pleasure without considering the long term. Perhaps the connection is that not only is frivolity a waste, but it is also dangerous. If the wise gets caught up in the laughter of fools, he will easily be corrupted by the tastes of fools. And the fool’s delight is immediate self-gratification. Triviality breeds selfishness.

A major part of living a life that matters is intentionality. You have to intentionally avoid the fun of fools and intentionally treasure the rebuke of the wise. Naturally you will do just the opposite. You will love banality and loathe rebuke. You will kindle your fire with useless thistles rather than set it ablaze with hard truth. But if you do, you are a fool.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

" A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, ESV)


Do you prefer parties or funerals, ballads or dirges, comedies or tragedies, major key or minor key? Most of us prefer the way of mirth over the path of pain. But the Preacher says that is folly, or in his words, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” The reason for the claim: “For this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Mirth is escapist. It distracts from the questions that the “end of all mankind” bring forth. You can’t overlook those questions at a grave side like you can at a bachelor’s party. Look straight into the eyes of dying man, and you cannot help but have mortality seared into your consciousness.

Most contemporary Americans find this kind of logic a bit depressing and quite absurd. Death, sorrow, mortality are subjects we avoid and not meditate upon. It was not always this way in America. In 18th century New England children were learning the letter “T” with the phrase, “Time cuts down all, both great and small” written next to a woodcut of the grim reaper. Society thought an understanding of life’s brevity vitally important. The reason was the same as the Preacher’s. You can only grasp what life is truly about when you grasp its end. Most of us cram our lives with so much frivolity and meaningless mirth that we are utterly useless to others and the world. What is worse is that most of us can’t even understand what is wrong with that. Frivolity has become the essence of life. It’s what its all about. So celebrate, sing, laugh, party, and be a total waste of existence. Or realize death draws nearer every day, there is more to life than trivial pleasures, time is fleeting, and you have a lot to do. Such a mentality is hard to maintain, which is why the Preacher advises funerals and dirges.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Ecclesiastes 6:7-12

"All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 6:7-12, ESV)


Just as the Preacher begins to restore some significance to life, he begins to tear things down again. For life to have purpose it must have joy, but joy requires the satisfaction of the appetite. All man’s pursuits are aimed at this one goal of satisfaction. There is a major problem, though. Man’s appetites are never satisfied in all of his toil. He has already argued that wisdom is better than foolishness and the contentment of the poor over the lust of the rich, but what does any of it matter if satisfaction is not found either in wisdom or contentment. It is best just to be happy with what you see, but who can do that? It seems that there is the unyielding drive within each one of us for something more. To want and never get is vanity.

So the Preacher seems to conclude chp. 6 by throwing up his arms. We know nothing, we invent nothing, and we cannot debate our existence with God. The “one stronger” I take as God. Here the Preacher does not stress the rightful authority of God over man, but rather the utter stupidity of debating a being so far superior to man. This is a good piece of advice for us all to keep in mind. Human beings seem naturally inclined to pronounce themselves as the proper judge of God. We say things like, “If God exists, then he cannot be a fair and just God because of all the suffering, oppression, etc. Therefore, since I cannot believe in an unjust God, I don’t think he exists.” Suggesting God doesn’t exist, because you cannot find Him just is a bit like suggesting summer squash isn’t real because I don’t like it. If God is truly God, then it is absurdity to debate the reality of his existence based upon personal dislikes of his character. It is even more absurd, I think, to determine the rightfulness of His character from so pathetically, infinitesimal a perspective as ours is. Whether or not you like the world as it is, or whether or not you like the lot given to you, you have no grounds for debate with an infinitely great God. I am not suggesting that we don’t think about issues of theodicy, or God’s relation to evil, suffering, and oppression. But with intellectual honesty and humility, we must see that if God is real, then our judgments are not the ultimate standard. He is the Potter, we’re just pots.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Ecclesiastes 5:18-6:6

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?" (Ecclesiastes 5:18-6:6, ESV)


Enjoyment of life, both its basic pleasures and its toil, is the one good that the Preacher continues to put forward. If there is meaning, then it must be found in sincere joy. The truth is so obvious that we often miss it. What we are searching for in life is not meaning and significance, but rather the joy that comes with meaning and significance. All human activities, choices, endeavors, accomplishments are ultimately quests for joy. The oppression, evil, and suffering encountered in life is endurable, and only endurable, in the presence of joy (5:20).

When the Preacher states that man will not remember his days because God keeps him occupied with joy, it may sound like he speaks of diversion. The friends of the great atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell kidded that Russell had the “morals of a goat.” In all seriousness, Russell suggested that his promiscuity was a necessary diversion in order to cope with life’s despair. Sensual pleasure distracted his mind from reality. I don’t think the Preacher is speaking of such diversions, for that would seem to contradict 2:1-11. Rather, I think the Preacher speaks of a real, existential, and sincere joy.

The problem of course is how does one experience real joy. To this issue the Preacher immediately turns. A man who cannot enjoy the life he is given is worse off than a still born child. It matters little if the man lacks nothing of his heart’s desire, or to quote Jesus: “If he gains the whole world,” and yet lacks the capacity to enjoy it. The prosperous man’s end is the same as the still born, but the still born baby never had to endure the oppressing despair of a meaningless existence. So, though the Preacher has not yet given the answers necessary for living in real joy, he has revealed the absurdity of living without it. And that in itself is a call to us to ponder whether we are merely diverting our attention with triviality, seeking to endure a life of vanity, or striving with all our might for real joy.

Sermon of the Week

At the beginning of each week I have decided to post one of my favorite sermons. This week is Tim Keller's sermon on the Prodigal Sons. Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York, NY. As is the case with most of Keller's sermons, there is so much here that it deserves multiple hearings.

The Prodigal Sons

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Piper on Prosperity

Okay, so this isn't just Bible. But I think it is a very accurate statement about a very dangerous theological trend that continues to gain a larger and larger audience under the preaching of guys like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Creflow Dollar, Joyce Meyer, and many others.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Ecclesiastes 5:8-17

" If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger." (Ecclesiastes 5:8-17, ESV)


As the Preacher slowly sows together various strands of meaning and significance, he also continues to tear down all false hopes for meaning in life. One such false hope, and one he has already dealt with in some measure, is that of wealth. He has three complaints with the pursuit of wealth. First, oppression and injustice are children of wealth mongering (vs.8-9). You should not be surprised, says the Preacher, to see oppression of the poor, because there are officials over them, and officials over the officials, and eventually a king over them all, and every last one of them is out to get as much out of the land as they can. The lower official extracts everything he can out of the poor, for the official over him will do the same to him, and so on to the very top of the ladder. Everyone is looking for greater wealth, which means no one is looking out for justice and compassion. When money becomes your passion, people just become a means to an end, and oppression is soon born.

Secondly, wealth offers nothing but sleepless nights(vs.10-12). As the bank account grows and possessions increase, so do the anxiety, stress, indigestion, and sleepless nights that accompany the maintenance of that wealth. You may have a full stomach and more stuff to look at, but you also have a massive world of new responsibility. The greater attachment you have to the stuff of this world, the more work you have to keep it going. Great wealth doesn’t set you free; it binds you.

Thirdly, the greatest evil that great wealth brings is the fear of loosing it (vs.13-17). After all, what good is the accumulation of riches if you loose it? Thus, all his days the rich man “eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger”(vs.17).

These musings cannot but make you question whether the American dream is really such a great dream. Our constant drive for more leads to oppression and personal anxiety, stress, fear, and bondage. Sounds like an awesome dream. Sign me up.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

" Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear." (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, ESV)


As I wrote in previous post (May 20th), the Preacher is slowing building up a structure of significance after dismantling all popular views of purpose and meaning. Thus far he has noted the importance of toil and community. Here he adds another brick, and a very significant one in Israelite culture: the sacred practices of worship. He does not argue for worship over against non-worship. I’m not sure the ancient reader would have even grasped a life void of worship. Rather, he points to the difference between sincere, reverential worship and pretense.

His basic argument is simply that worship is about God and not about what man does for God. Devote worshippers are not necessarily true worshippers. It is so easy for us to become more impressed with our acts of devotion than we are with God. We pile up the prayers, fill our services with songs, listen to a good bit of preaching, and think we’ve done a pretty good job of it. But hasty words, says the Preacher, are foolishness. Acts done simply out of habit or without sincerity are better to have never been done. It is better to keep silent than to offer a wordy, insincere prayer. It is better to never make a vow, than to make one and never keep it. Let your words and acts be proportional to your sincerity.

Why such care in worshipping God? Because, says the Preacher, “God is heaven and you are on earth” and “God is the one you must fear.” God is too great to trifle with. He is not someone you pretend to worship. God detests sham worship. One only has to give a cursory reading to Jesus dealings with the Pharisees to see that. Worship is serious business, because God is seriously awesome. A hint of sham trivializes the One being about whom nothing is trivial.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

"Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 4:13-16, ESV)


There are few things worse than an unwillingness to receive advice. This tidbit from the Preacher connects directly with his previous observation in 4:7-12 (see yesterday’s post). Life has no meaning if you do not have someone to give joy to or share your life with. To reject the benefits of relationships for private benefits is both a dangerous and unhappy choice. The Preacher provides an example of such foolishness. A poor, wise boy is better than the old, foolish king he becomes. The reason is because as king he “no longer knew how to take advice.” Though his power, fame, wealth, health, security, pleasure increased innumerably, no one will care when he is dead or give thanks for his life.

There is a presupposition here working in the Preacher’s logic. He assumes, it seems to me, that an unadvisable king is a tyrannical king. That is, without the constraint of social pressure and the aid of various perspectives, the king’s decisions will often benefit himself but be oppressive to others. There is a natural bent toward evil within the man that is so severe that when given great power without the restraints of community he will willingly oppress others. Here is yet another reason why living apart from community is vanity. Apart from the aid and restraints of sharing life with others, your selfish heart will make you tyrant.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

"Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, ESV)


This book is quite complex and certainly does not follow modern standards of philosophical writings. It feels more like a list of philosophical musings compiled together. That is not to say that there is no order to the compilation, but one argument does not necessarily flow immediately into the next. Often it seems that the Preacher throws thoughts out to spark the reader’s interest, or even to shock the reader, and then changes course only to pick up the same idea later. Such is the case with this musing. I think perhaps the Preacher is slowing building back the house of meaning one small brick at a time. This would explain why he seems on occasion to contradict himself, as he seems to do here. He assumes there is meaning behind relationships, but one would have guessed he would consider relationships vanity. Get close to others, endure the hurt and humility that such vulnerability requires, and then loose them in death. Sounds like vanity. But that is not where the Preacher goes.

So, it seems the Preacher is building the case for significance in the rubble of meaninglessness, and he begins his construction with community. His case is two-fold. First, what point is there to one’s toil, to depriving yourself of pleasure, if you have no one beside yourself to work for? Seeking private pleasure does not bring satisfaction. Joy is found in bringing joy to others and receiving joy from others. When their joy is our joy and our joy is their joy, toil means something. Secondly, people together are able to accomplish much more than what they can do alone. Toil or rest is better if done with another. “Woe to him who is alone when he falls;” solitude is a dangerous business.

It is not mere coincidence that Western world’s struggle with significance is coupled with individualism and narcissism. Our culture instructs us that to find meaning one must search within oneself. “Discover who you are,” we are told, for it is in self-discovery that life gains purpose. But if the Preacher is right, that is exactly the opposite course that we should take. Looking inward is not the solution. It is the problem. Don’t spend your days figuring out who you are and what you want, as if all meaning is found within your being. Spend you days looking outward at what you can give to others. Toil is only enjoyable and significant if done for and with others.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6

" Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 4:1-6, ESV)


As if the despair of meaninglessness were not enough. The Preacher observes that this life is also racked with pervasive oppression. In his day, as in most of the world today, the majority of people fell into the category of oppressed. It was only the elite and wealthy few who could escape it, and most of them were the oppressors. The average person did not have the opportunity to pine away hours meditating on the vanity of life. They were too exhausted and broken to consider anything but personal and family survival. Pondering the questions of life, for this very reason, tends to be a middle to upper class privilege. If you are reading this and thinking about it, chances are you have escaped much of life’s oppression. A futile life that is an oppressed life. Who has the stomach for that? John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” is the modern equivalent of Preacher’s observations.

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so ***** crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still ****** peasents as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.

If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.


So the Preacher says, it would be better than if you had never been born. In vs. 4-6, I think the Preacher provides an answer for what is driving the oppression. Within the heart of men is a passion to be better than other men. Hard work and long hours are fatally driven by a lust for more. I don’t think its a stretch to connect this “envy” to the oppression of vs. 1-3. As Lennon says, “You must learn how to smile as you kill, If you want to be like the folks on the hill.” Of course, the opposite extreme is just as foolish. The sluggard “eats his own flesh.” That is, his laziness is his worst enemy. So the Preacher advocates a middle of the road approach. Work for what you need and be content with it. To not work is self-destruction. To toil out of greed and dissatisfaction leads to communal destruction. Work for what you need and be satisfied with it.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

" Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 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?" (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22, ESV)


Uncertainty breeds cynicism. This passage reflects a very cold look at the world. This broken world, says the Preacher, is crippled by wickedness. Where justice is needed one finds only corruption. What is more is that both the wicked and the just, the good and the bad will receive judgment from God. That’s not a happy thought. Why forsake evil for the good? Why promote ethics and morality and good citizenship? The criminal, the gangster, the rapists, they all have the same end as the pastor, the social worker, the judge. Death is not only the great nullifier between classes, as the Preacher already observed, it is the great nullifier in ethics as well. There is no real difference between man and beast let alone a murderer and a priest.

Most of us human beings are, at least in theory, for the promotion of good ethical behavior. We want to be better people, and we want others to be better people (we’re generally more concerned with the later than the former). Granted the way we define morality differs between class, ethnicity, culture, etc. But we still seek for better ways of living, regardless of how we define what “better” is. The question raised by the Preacher, though, is why do we seek to be better? Upon what grounds do we pursue goodness? What real difference does pursuing “badness” make? It should seem strange to us to want to be good without really having a reason for why we want to be good. There is an answer, the Preacher will com to it in time, but it is not as obvious as it might seem. For the moment, it is worth pondering deeply what exactly it is that provides the line between right and wrong, and further what exactly provides for us the reason to seek the right. Not having an answer is not acceptable.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

" For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, ESV)


Life is full of variety. I think that is the point of the Preacher. There is a time to do or not do just about everything. The weariness of life does not come about because we have to monotonously travel the same identical pathways. God has provided various avenues to enjoy. This thought, however, discomforts the Preacher, because a diverse life does not entail a meaningful one And meaning is what men are after. “God has put eternity in their hearts.” That is, although we are all mortal, we still long for immortality and long to know how everything fits into the big picture. But can man ever know the big picture? In all his wisdom, his scholarship, his institutions, his technology, is man able to step one certain step forward into the meaning of it all? The Preacher doesn’t think so. The modern confidence in education, government, politics, and technological advancement is groundless. Man does not have the power in himself to find or make life mean something.

Furthermore, says the Preacher, we want to make a contribution and add something to this world. But if God has made everything, and so everything comes from Him, then nothing can actually be added to what he has already made and planned. In other words, you cannot actually add to God or to His creation. All you can do is participate in it. So the Preacher reluctantly concludes that all the better you can do is enjoy what life you have. I don’t think he says this, at least at his point, with a lot of enthusiasm. His tone is likely more conciliatory, “There nothing else to be done but make the best of this vain, meaningless existence.” This lack of certainty may seem in vogue in these postmodern days. But there is a large difference between the Preacher conclusions and many thinkers today. To the Preacher uncertainty is a weariness to be endured, and not, as many postmoderns seem to think, a joy to be relished

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

"There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, ESV)


At first glance, this little bit of text might sound like a pamphlet advocating hedonism or pleasure-seeking: there is nothing better than to eat, drink, and enjoy. But this hedonism, if it is that, is quite abnormal. Eat, drink, and enjoy your “toil.” A vocational hedonism? A working-class hero hedonism? The picture muddies even more, for God gives “wisdom and knowledge and joy” to the one “who pleases him.” A religious hedonism. So we have here a vocational, religious hedonism, which sounds a bit like a double shot vanilla mocha latte. Eat, drink, and be merry, and work your tail off. Do you what you want to do (sounds great), AND what God wants you to do (am I missing something?).

It would be impossible at this point to explain exactly how the Preacher puts all this together, for he going to take ten more chapters to do that. What is essential to see now is that he thinks all these things can and should be brought together. And it isn’t so hard to see where he is coming from. If you can’t enjoy your toil, let’s face it, you’re not going to find joy. Vocational hedonism is the only hedonism that is going to fly. And the only way you’re going to enjoy your toil is if that toil is placed squarely in the realm of God, for he is source of life, toil, and joy. Take him out of the picture, and all you have is vanity (i.e. no real pleasure). Vocational, religious hedonism.

So maybe there is nothing wrong with pleasure seeking. Maybe the problem is not the pleasure that we seek, but where we seek it. Of course these thoughts are hardly original to me. Augustine, Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, John Piper, and others have much to say about these things. (If you don’t know these names, then you credit me the thought.) Maybe we don’t have to reform our passion for pleasure. Maybe we just have to alter the direction of its pursuit.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

" I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, ESV)


Again with transparent honesty, the Preacher reveals a great sorrow that torments his heart. How can it be that he can work skillfully, carefully, wisely, and diligently, and then leave all he has worked for to a fool? Or at least there is a potential that he will leave it all to a fool. He will never have the opportunity to enjoy all that he has amassed and possibly be tormented with the realization that his heir will squander it all. This, says the Preacher, is a great evil. A great evil? What else do you call it? What kind of justice is this? So much for the conviction that hard work pays off. It pays, but not to you. It pays your irresponsible heir who has never worked a day in his life.

Whether or not you are tracking with the Preacher here, at least you must commend his willingness to speak directly and transparently. How many people are willing to ask these hard questions? The vogue today is simply to ignore such thoughts. Read lazy. I realize I risk the charge of being over critical, but I don’t know what else to call it. It’s only the entire significance of the universe. How can we not care? And the only answer I have is that it takes too much work to care. Here I could slip into bemoaning the intellectual erosion facilitated by a culture obsessed with entertainment, but I’ll spare you the diatribe. Too much work, and I want to check out a Brian Reagan video on You Tube.

Another way to avoid these difficult questions is with the ever so popular reply - “mystery.” I like mystery, and I think there is a lot of it. Even in this book that asks tough questions in attempt to answer them, eventually much is left in mystery. But mystery can be a cop out and often is. It can become the blanket statement for all and every difficult question. What is the meaning of life? Mystery. Who is God? Mystery. Why should I care about anything? Mystery. Why should I seek to live virtuously? Mystery. Sometimes I wonder whether this default to mystery does nothing more than manifest a modern plague. What C.S. Lewis called “men without chests.” A refusal to answer or even face the despairing questions of our own existence, or at least to face them with any conviction. Nietzsche may have been mad and Camus may be depressing, but at least they had guts. So does this Preacher. And I think so should we.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Ecclesiastes 2:12-17

" So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:12-17, ESV)


The Preacher found pleasure-seeking and success to be futile in his search for significance. He now considers a further option, wisdom. It is an unmistakable experiential law that some people ruin their own lives with foolish choices. The quality of life between those who make wise choices and those who make foolish ones is obvious to all. Thus, it may seem logical to conclude that meaning is found in living wisely. Be a decent citizen, don’t ruin yourself with addictions, care for your family, be a hard worker; act wisely. And the wiser you are with your time, resources, talents, opportunities, etc., the better. This thought, however, is curbed by the one great and ultimate nullifier - death. The fool and the wise encounter the same ultimate fate.

It has become somewhat popular to look for meaning without bothering with immortality. Living for immortality or in light of immortality is often seen as escapist or even selfish. Those who hold to immortality, it is said, are moral only for some prize in the great beyond. They act in love not because they love, but for their own private eternal good. Indeed, the hope of immortality is often characterized as irrelevant, disconnected from the here and now. But the Preacher’s observation runs precisely opposite. Without immortality you only have mortality. No brainer, I know, but no matter how you look at it you’re going to die. The great end is coming to you whether you’ve wasted your life or lived it to the fullest. Therefore, it isn’t immortality that makes a person irrelevant. On the contrary, it’s mortality that makes the universe irrelevant.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11

" I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11, ESV)


The Preacher now describes his unhappy pursuit of wisdom. Not unhappy because he failed to get wisdom, but unhappy because of the final result. With wisdom does not come joy but vexation and with knowledge sorrow. The ignorant, unthinking people may fill their days with trivial joy, but that is what it is. It is the bliss of soap bubbles. It pops and is gone in a moment and amounts to nothing. He who sees reality also sees the despair.

But it is not as if the Preacher didn’t go down without a fight. He took all that wisdom and used it to find meaning. He looked for it in pleasure, which he did not pursue like some reckless fool. He used the greatness of his knowledge and brilliance to perfect his hedonism. First, he sought for it in drink and laughter, but what are they to compete with the despair of life. He gave himself to career. He would build great towers and homes, construct vast and plentiful vineyards, create parks of lavish beauty, and dig sparkling pools. To this he added possessions: slaves, herds and flocks, precious metals. And to top it all off, he acquired the best entertainment. All his efforts were a success. That is, except for the small detail of producing significance.

Knowledge and pleasure, career and entertainment. These are things that men live for. These are the things that we give our lives to. And for what? That is Preacher’s dilemma. What end do they bring that makes all the toil worth while? He has already eliminated two possible answers. Toil to make a difference. That is the first option. But there is nothing new under the sun. We simply live in one unending cycle of futility. Satisfaction is the second option, but the eye nor the ear are ever satisfied.

You get smart to teach and write smart things to help others be smart and do smart things, but it makes no difference. Career, you decide, is what you will devote yourself to, so that you can give people good products, better homes, food to eat, or whatever. But it makes no difference. You’re just apart of the meaningless cycle of life and so are they. All that you do is perpetuate an illusion of meaning. You perpetuate a lie swallowed only by the foolish.

So you turn to pleasure. Maybe meaning is not found in thought or work but in fun. It’s a risky venture, for we all know that fun has little chance of making a real difference. Our only hope is if the pleasure would so take us, so satisfy us, that we would be utterly consumed by it. If the indulgence was so intense that it would drive us to embrace the despair as a fair exchange for the jolt of bliss. Many have taken this path, and they all have found the trade to be lacking.

So what are you doing with your life? That is the Preacher’s question. There aren’t really that many options when you get right down to it. And there are even fewer good ones

Monday, May 5, 2008

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

" The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after."


He calls himself “the Preacher.” “The Philosopher” is perhaps more fitting, for this book reads like a piece of modern existentialist philosophy. In this book all the despair of life that a human mind can fathom is heaped together in seeming defiance to any one who desires meaning and hope. Yet hope is exactly what the “Preacher” is up to.

“Vanity of vanities” - the term “vanity” means “soap bubble” and thus gives a picture of life that is illusive, trivial, short-lived and empty. All that life is, all that we hold dear is nothing more than soap bubbles. And not just soap bubbles but soap bubbles of soap bubbles. It is the lowest, most trivial and empty soap bubble imaginable.

To bolster his argument the Preacher highlights the endless repetition of life. A generation comes, a generation goes. Life goes on, but so does death. Nothing changes. Each day the sun rises. There is hope. But each day it sets again. Even the wind runs in cycles. A cool breeze, a warm breeze, a easterly wind, westerly wind, it’s all the same wind. It’s just coming about for another pass. All the streams run into the sea, he observes, and yet the sea never grows full. Why? Because it’s just the same water flowing in an endless cycle.

“All things are full of weariness,” he continues. Endless, wearying repetitions. Nothing new, nothing unique, just the same weariness that has been cycling for ages and ages. Then the Preacher switches gears here from the cycles of nature to the futility of pleasure. Why is it that no matter how much beauty you see, you only want to see more? Or why do you never hear a song and stop and think that you shall never have to hear a song again? “The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” Your desire for more drives you on, but you must realize, says the Preacher, you will never find what you are looking for (or hearing for as the case may be). Mic Jagger was right, “Can’t get no satisfaction.” “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

The despair continues. Our entire existence is nothing more than a wearying cycle. There is nothing new, not really. “What has been is what will be.” The moment you think that something is new, you discover that it has already been ages before. Here I think the Preacher does not speak of technology, which even an ancient would know is advancing, but of ideas. There are no new ideas. What makes man’s state even more tragic, though more tolerable, is that he doesn’t even get it. He thinks these things are new, but it is only because the past has been forgotten. The great ideas of the past are gone, but really they are simply the great ideas of the present. And the logic, though depressing, is clear. The new will one day be the forgotten. All that you toil to build will fade from memory only to be repeated as something new. And so life goes on and on and on in futility.

If these thoughts depress you, then you get it. The Preacher is going somewhere through all of this, but to get to the end one must “feel” the beginning. Hope is found only when the despair is fully grasped.