Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 Life TogetherI
Teaching Pastor: Rob Sweet
*Part 6 is coming* We were out of town visiting family last weekend/traveling on Sunday. While I have listed to the 6th message on Ecclesiastes, I listened to it while running, so very little retention happened. I have every intention to get still, during naptime, to listen and take notes in a meaningful way, SO...Part 6 is coming.
This week:
Studies have been done, from 1975-2000 that show we as a society have lost community. This is a huge loss of our capital as a society. We have friends over for dinner less, do not get to know one another and live highly isolated, individualistic lives. This can be attributed to many technological advances, but it can also be a sign that we live in a fallen world.
At the end of the book, Solomon leaves us here :
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
We are to walk in hope even though we live in a fallen world. THIS IS FOR ALL HUMANITY. We are to follow his commands.
There are two ways we can live our lives, inward or outward. We can live for "we" or "me"; live for others or ourselves.
4:1 We are called not only to "not oppress others," but to be on the side of the oppressed. This brings up so many feelings in my heart regarding current news on immigration, etc...but I won't go there here, instead I will strive to be on the side of the oppressed.
4:2-3 Solomon says it is better to have never existed than to live, or even to live and have died. Our world is so full of evil and atrocity. I must remind myself that things are not necessarily worse than they were in times past, but we have unbelievable access to headlines on the internet and social media. The news articles about atrocities committed by parents, leaders, those in authority etc. that show up on my Facebook newsfeed makes me want to live in a time when I did not see the most sensationalized headlines on my phone screen on a regular basis. We live in a black hole of terrible. There is more evil than good in the world and more oppression than comfort. The ledger does not balance out. Solomon's conclusion is that it is better to not exist.
4:4 I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person's jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Comparison kills our joy and steals our contentment with what we have. Sometimes this can lead us to work harder, etc. but someone will always have more. In the game of keeping up with the Jones', we will always find more Jones'. Working hard is not a bad thing...It can lead to abounding blessings. Working hard to keep up with neighbors is a complete waste of time.
4:5 The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh. Going passive and ceasing to work is not the answer, we must still work hard...
4:6 Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.
We must strive for balance. We are to hold our rest in one hand and our work in another. Both are gifts from God, neither to be hoarded or held with a clenched fist. Sabbath is for rest, it was made for man.
Work is a gift.
Rest is a gift.
You only benefit if you can hold both.
4:7-8 Again, I saw futility under the sun: There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. 'Who am I struggling for,' he asks, 'and depriving myself of good things?' This too is futile and a miserable task.
One without a dependent, companion, friend or family. This person is a work-a-holic and has no meaningful community. No one to share the fruits of his labor with. Without meaningful community there is no value in accumulation or accomplishment. Life is about more than our material gains.
Community is key to our existence.
How much is enough?
Often the very thing that allows us to be successful (work), is often the thing eroding our relationships, making the fruit of our labor worthless.
4:9-12 Solomon spells out all of the ways humans are better together..
9 - good reward for efforts
10 - companion can lift the fallen friend
11 - warmth when lying down
12 - a cord of 3 strands not easily broken
Community is a common grace God gives to everyone, but we must accept the gift.
With no community surrounding us, we may reach the pinnacle and find ourselves stranded.
God sees our needs so beautifully. My hearts desire is that we would all grasp the gifts that are freely and generously given to us.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Ecclesiastes Part 5
A Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
Teaching Pastor: Rob Sweet
3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
God has put eternity in the hearts of all of man. We were created for an eternal world, and while we are all confined to time, we were made for eternity. God created time. He created the now, the days, nights, and the ways they all work together. It is mind blowing to think of limitless time because we all live, in our earthly bodies, in a world confined by time. 100% of us will die an earthly death. We all believe that. Atheist, Christian, Agnostic; we cannot agree on much, but we all now death is what befalls us.
Solomon pushes boundaries, seeking what we can and cannot control, and he learns that there is no long term meaning in substance.
In verses 1-8 the word time is mentioned 30 times. Time is not necessarily referring to what we see on the clock (i.e. 1 o'clock) but rather an ordained season or moment in time.
Verse 1 is the theme::
Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:"
Verses 2-8 is a poem:
Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 "a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and at time for peace."
Reading through the poem and thinking of life, there is beauty in the rhythm of life.
God invented time, man has just learned to manage it. God gave us days, life, time etc...we assigned names (hours, times, days, weeks etc.) and learned to delegate and manage that time.
God's rhythms shape our lives.
As beautiful as the rhythms of life are, there is also much pain and heartache in the ebb and flow. reading the poem it is easy to see the pain: death, weeping, tearing down, silence, hatred, war, etc. ALL of these things are a result of the fall. Thankfully I/we live in the world post-resurrection. So unlike Solomon, I know there is a promise of an eternity that is rid of the pain, where all is restored and made right.
One important lesson for all of us, that I have learned/am still learning, is that NO SEASON of life is in my control. I had my life all planned out, things were going well, and tragedy struck. The tragedy looked horrifying and seemed to promise to mess up my life. But in addition to not being in control of the seasons of life, I also cannot anticipate how the Lord will use them to bring good. God promises good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. It was hard to see how God was going to make good after a life altering car accident in 2014, but it has turned into the biggest blessing. I now know the Lord more fully and am in a place where I find myself with an abundance of time and an overwhelming desire to study the Word, and sit in the presence of the Lord more often. Perfection is unattainable, but I am thankful to live in His grace.
I am excited to learn and grow through the knowledge that I am apart of God's creation, I am not dictating the narrative, but I am living it and am a part of it. There is freedom in living, but not dictation the narrative.
The poem notes our connectedness as human beings. We live in a world where we are all connected. We thrive on and in community. Relationships are where we experience the beautiful and bitter in life. Our relationships define many of the seasons in which we walk.
3:9 What does the worker gain from his struggles?
Toe poem in 3:2-8 lists 28 statements. 14 are positives and 14 are negative...they all add up to nothing at all. Our earthly life is only a striving to reach eternity, life on earth adds up to nothing.
in 3:11 we see that God has made everything appropriate in its time, and has set eternity in our hearts.
Making everything appropriate in its time, is just a restatement of the thesis from 3:1"there is a occasion for everything"
God set eternity in our hearts. The heart is the center of life. the core or our person. Eternity is life with no regard for time. A life where God lives. We all have an instinctive desire to transcend time.
We all have a fear, on some level, of dying. Jeff Besos recently created a 10,000 year clock. We instinctually assume life will be going on in 10,000 years. The truth is, we have no idea.
3:11 "...but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end."
With eternity in our hearts, the desire to live in light of eternity is there, Solomon could not see past death. As far as he was concerned there was no way out of the cycle. Solomon did not know the resurrection. He knew there was one God over everything and he knew God was sovereign. Life after death was only a vague notion and did not include the resurrection. Solomon was perplexed by the riddle of death, because he, like us, was confined by time, but unlike us, he did not know the truth of the resurrection.
God is good, He created all things, He is Sovereign.
The above statement is as far as religion can go without Jesus.
As wise as Solomon was, he could not see past his own place in history, and he lived BEFORE Jesus.
PAUL lived on the other side of the resurrection. In Galatians 4:3he speaks of the bondage of elemental things, this was the bondage Solomon lived under.
In 4:4-6 he discusses the longing we all have for eternity, but he tells how it is to be filled by faith in the Son.
Jesus is the only one who can fill the void for eternity. Only one outside of time can fill it, and He is outside of time.
God gave us a longing for eternity so He could fill it. Because of Jesus, I know the end. I see the ebb and flow of life, but I know that what comes in the end is permanently satisfying.
Because of the gift of God's word, I can see the beginning and the end, but I live in the middle.
Believing the gospel and trusting God with eternity, assures that I can trust him when the pendulum of my life swings. God controls it all, by faith, the God who has secured my eternity, can and does secure me now.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
Teaching Pastor: Rob Sweet
3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
God has put eternity in the hearts of all of man. We were created for an eternal world, and while we are all confined to time, we were made for eternity. God created time. He created the now, the days, nights, and the ways they all work together. It is mind blowing to think of limitless time because we all live, in our earthly bodies, in a world confined by time. 100% of us will die an earthly death. We all believe that. Atheist, Christian, Agnostic; we cannot agree on much, but we all now death is what befalls us.
Solomon pushes boundaries, seeking what we can and cannot control, and he learns that there is no long term meaning in substance.
In verses 1-8 the word time is mentioned 30 times. Time is not necessarily referring to what we see on the clock (i.e. 1 o'clock) but rather an ordained season or moment in time.
Verse 1 is the theme::
Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:"
Verses 2-8 is a poem:
Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 "a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and at time for peace."
Reading through the poem and thinking of life, there is beauty in the rhythm of life.
God invented time, man has just learned to manage it. God gave us days, life, time etc...we assigned names (hours, times, days, weeks etc.) and learned to delegate and manage that time.
God's rhythms shape our lives.
As beautiful as the rhythms of life are, there is also much pain and heartache in the ebb and flow. reading the poem it is easy to see the pain: death, weeping, tearing down, silence, hatred, war, etc. ALL of these things are a result of the fall. Thankfully I/we live in the world post-resurrection. So unlike Solomon, I know there is a promise of an eternity that is rid of the pain, where all is restored and made right.
One important lesson for all of us, that I have learned/am still learning, is that NO SEASON of life is in my control. I had my life all planned out, things were going well, and tragedy struck. The tragedy looked horrifying and seemed to promise to mess up my life. But in addition to not being in control of the seasons of life, I also cannot anticipate how the Lord will use them to bring good. God promises good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. It was hard to see how God was going to make good after a life altering car accident in 2014, but it has turned into the biggest blessing. I now know the Lord more fully and am in a place where I find myself with an abundance of time and an overwhelming desire to study the Word, and sit in the presence of the Lord more often. Perfection is unattainable, but I am thankful to live in His grace.
I am excited to learn and grow through the knowledge that I am apart of God's creation, I am not dictating the narrative, but I am living it and am a part of it. There is freedom in living, but not dictation the narrative.
The poem notes our connectedness as human beings. We live in a world where we are all connected. We thrive on and in community. Relationships are where we experience the beautiful and bitter in life. Our relationships define many of the seasons in which we walk.
3:9 What does the worker gain from his struggles?
Toe poem in 3:2-8 lists 28 statements. 14 are positives and 14 are negative...they all add up to nothing at all. Our earthly life is only a striving to reach eternity, life on earth adds up to nothing.
in 3:11 we see that God has made everything appropriate in its time, and has set eternity in our hearts.
Making everything appropriate in its time, is just a restatement of the thesis from 3:1"there is a occasion for everything"
God set eternity in our hearts. The heart is the center of life. the core or our person. Eternity is life with no regard for time. A life where God lives. We all have an instinctive desire to transcend time.
We all have a fear, on some level, of dying. Jeff Besos recently created a 10,000 year clock. We instinctually assume life will be going on in 10,000 years. The truth is, we have no idea.
3:11 "...but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end."
With eternity in our hearts, the desire to live in light of eternity is there, Solomon could not see past death. As far as he was concerned there was no way out of the cycle. Solomon did not know the resurrection. He knew there was one God over everything and he knew God was sovereign. Life after death was only a vague notion and did not include the resurrection. Solomon was perplexed by the riddle of death, because he, like us, was confined by time, but unlike us, he did not know the truth of the resurrection.
God is good, He created all things, He is Sovereign.
The above statement is as far as religion can go without Jesus.
As wise as Solomon was, he could not see past his own place in history, and he lived BEFORE Jesus.
PAUL lived on the other side of the resurrection. In Galatians 4:3he speaks of the bondage of elemental things, this was the bondage Solomon lived under.
In 4:4-6 he discusses the longing we all have for eternity, but he tells how it is to be filled by faith in the Son.
Jesus is the only one who can fill the void for eternity. Only one outside of time can fill it, and He is outside of time.
God gave us a longing for eternity so He could fill it. Because of Jesus, I know the end. I see the ebb and flow of life, but I know that what comes in the end is permanently satisfying.
Because of the gift of God's word, I can see the beginning and the end, but I live in the middle.
Believing the gospel and trusting God with eternity, assures that I can trust him when the pendulum of my life swings. God controls it all, by faith, the God who has secured my eternity, can and does secure me now.
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