Enjoying the Mystery
Text: Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:12
It seems somehow fitting that my attempt to cover the entirety of Ecclesiastes during Lent would be in and of itself a vain pursuit. Well, maybe not entirely, but the reality is this. Next week is Palm/Passion Sunday, when we come back to walk with Jesus to the cross in readings and in music. It means that this week is my last part in the series of sermons on Ecclesiastes… Twelve Chapters, five Sundays… do the math… there is still a lot more in this book of Wisdom than I can possibly cover through a handful of sermons. That’s why any ambition to cover the entirety of the book through the season of Lent is really a vain one… if I took it that way.
Really, this effort has been less about gaining an understanding of this particular book, as opposed to simply enjoy it for what it is. The depth of thought and wisdom that the Teacher offers contrasts with the often simple observations he makes… but that’s the idea. He moves back and forth between the great nuances of theological reflection, and then balances it back with something incredibly simple. There is artistry in his writing that we really don’t give ourselves the chance to appreciate… and ironically, even with all the time that I have given this book over the past five Sundays, I still have only scratched the surface.
And I think the Teacher is giving me, and giving us a wry smile.
Closer to the end of the book, as the Teacher begins to wrap things up, he says this:
“So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.
“16When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night, 17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.”
It would seem that on the surface, the gaining wisdom is a vain pursuit as is any effort to try and gain something. After all, it is impossible for us as human beings to fully comprehend the totality of existence, and by extension the will of God. But here is a certain irony: The Teacher in Ecclesiastes is a teacher of wisdom. His whole life has been dedicated to thinking and reflecting and pondering the great mysteries of God and life. He very likely started off in the hopes to gain wisdom… and then realized that the hope of gain itself is vanity. One would think that after reading Ecclesiastes that wisdom is simply a vain pursuit, and therefore shouldn’t be bothered with!
But that’s not what the Teacher is getting at… in fact, without the teacher having done all this observing, and thinking and reflecting, we would not have the benefit of that work to help us realize what is really important in life. We would instead be going around in circles, locked in vain pursuits, attempting to gain something that in the end, mean nothing. The Teacher cuts all meaningful connection between work and profit. He makes it painfully clear that gain or hope for gain is incapable of making our work meaningful.
And yet there is also this constant message of enjoying life that we have heard repeatedly since I started preaching on this book at the beginning of March. What is that about, really? For the Teacher, there is something fundamentally valuable in the enjoyment of ones work and the enjoyment of one’s life. Rather, it is the balance between work and play, between labour and rest, that makes for a satisfying life. The joy that he proclaims, however, is more than an antidote for the daily grind, since the Teacher finds enjoyment and a built-in value in work itself.
Work as a means to an end is a vain pursuit. Work for the sake of work can be an enjoyable experience. It goes right to the heart of our calling and purpose in life. If we aren’t enjoying the work that we do, then maybe we’re in it for the wrong reasons.
Yet there is this other theme that emerges from reading the same passage again. It is another nuance that we missed the first time…
“16When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night, 17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.”
The Teacher is also very comfortable in the mystery of God. We may be able to get glimpses of eternity, but as we are not God, but limited human beings, we are not able to fully comprehend it all. For the Teacher this is okay… in fact it is more than okay… considering and living in the mystery of God is actually something to be treasured. You may have heard the saying “the Lord works in mysterious ways.” For the Teacher, this is not an empty cliché… and should never be used carelessly. Mystery is very much a part of the nature of God, and is a part of all life “under the sun.” Trying to come up with definitive answers is, after all, an exercise in vanity… because no matter how hard we try to put God in a box, God won’t fit.
I think this is why I find the recent debates between Atheist and Fundamentalist both amusing and tragic. It is amusing because these two groups push each others buttons, and the responses back and forth are entirely predictable. In some cases, it is done to see if one group can get a rise out of the other. It is tragic because really, in the end, it is vanity.
The Atheist and the Fundamentalist suffer from the same problem: that God can be placed into a box and entirely observed, defined, and comprehended. For both, there is no room for mystery. For the Atheist, God is to be considered like a lab-rat that can be properly measured and observed… and if it can’t, then God doesn’t exist. For the Fundamentalist, God’s existence is a given, but still fits entirely within a narrow set of human-defined parameters. It’s not the same box as the atheist makes, but it is a box nonetheless. In both cases, neither have any room for mystery… which grows out of understanding our limited nature as human beings. We are both a part of the universe, and yet we have a special gift to be able to for brief moments get a glimpse of the totality of the universe, and yet at the same time, because we are limited, we cannot truly understand the mind of God. In other words… Don’t get too big for your britches… and enjoy the mystery of God.
But I want you to hold that thought for a moment…
Yesterday, we had our second survey for Natural Church Development. I am curious to see how we have progressed over the past year. The results won’t be in for a little bit yet. Since this is our second time doing it, we’ve learned a thing or two over the past year. The survey is what generates a profile or a snapshot of our congregation’s health, and only needs 30 people. The focus groups, on the other hand, is when anyone and everyone in the congregation can come and discuss the ideas and issues that the profile raises. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 23rd!
When we did this survey last year, the area that we most needed to work on was “Passionate Spirituality.” It certainly wasn’t surprising… and it still might be the area that we still need to focus on for the next year… but that’s okay... because we will have still made progress… and we might find that other areas in this congregation’s life have also grown.
My reasons for choosing to move through the book of Ecclesiastes were guided by this need for us to grow Spiritually as a congregation… to try and deepen our relationship with God during the season of Lent. I hope it has been as enlightening for you as it as been for me. If we can learn anything from the Teacher, we can learn that a deep and passionate spirituality is not about having all the answers. It is about being able to enjoy the mystery of God.
Amen.
It seems somehow fitting that my attempt to cover the entirety of Ecclesiastes during Lent would be in and of itself a vain pursuit. Well, maybe not entirely, but the reality is this. Next week is Palm/Passion Sunday, when we come back to walk with Jesus to the cross in readings and in music. It means that this week is my last part in the series of sermons on Ecclesiastes… Twelve Chapters, five Sundays… do the math… there is still a lot more in this book of Wisdom than I can possibly cover through a handful of sermons. That’s why any ambition to cover the entirety of the book through the season of Lent is really a vain one… if I took it that way.
Really, this effort has been less about gaining an understanding of this particular book, as opposed to simply enjoy it for what it is. The depth of thought and wisdom that the Teacher offers contrasts with the often simple observations he makes… but that’s the idea. He moves back and forth between the great nuances of theological reflection, and then balances it back with something incredibly simple. There is artistry in his writing that we really don’t give ourselves the chance to appreciate… and ironically, even with all the time that I have given this book over the past five Sundays, I still have only scratched the surface.
And I think the Teacher is giving me, and giving us a wry smile.
Closer to the end of the book, as the Teacher begins to wrap things up, he says this:
“So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.
“16When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night, 17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.”
It would seem that on the surface, the gaining wisdom is a vain pursuit as is any effort to try and gain something. After all, it is impossible for us as human beings to fully comprehend the totality of existence, and by extension the will of God. But here is a certain irony: The Teacher in Ecclesiastes is a teacher of wisdom. His whole life has been dedicated to thinking and reflecting and pondering the great mysteries of God and life. He very likely started off in the hopes to gain wisdom… and then realized that the hope of gain itself is vanity. One would think that after reading Ecclesiastes that wisdom is simply a vain pursuit, and therefore shouldn’t be bothered with!
But that’s not what the Teacher is getting at… in fact, without the teacher having done all this observing, and thinking and reflecting, we would not have the benefit of that work to help us realize what is really important in life. We would instead be going around in circles, locked in vain pursuits, attempting to gain something that in the end, mean nothing. The Teacher cuts all meaningful connection between work and profit. He makes it painfully clear that gain or hope for gain is incapable of making our work meaningful.
And yet there is also this constant message of enjoying life that we have heard repeatedly since I started preaching on this book at the beginning of March. What is that about, really? For the Teacher, there is something fundamentally valuable in the enjoyment of ones work and the enjoyment of one’s life. Rather, it is the balance between work and play, between labour and rest, that makes for a satisfying life. The joy that he proclaims, however, is more than an antidote for the daily grind, since the Teacher finds enjoyment and a built-in value in work itself.
Work as a means to an end is a vain pursuit. Work for the sake of work can be an enjoyable experience. It goes right to the heart of our calling and purpose in life. If we aren’t enjoying the work that we do, then maybe we’re in it for the wrong reasons.
Yet there is this other theme that emerges from reading the same passage again. It is another nuance that we missed the first time…
“16When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night, 17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.”
The Teacher is also very comfortable in the mystery of God. We may be able to get glimpses of eternity, but as we are not God, but limited human beings, we are not able to fully comprehend it all. For the Teacher this is okay… in fact it is more than okay… considering and living in the mystery of God is actually something to be treasured. You may have heard the saying “the Lord works in mysterious ways.” For the Teacher, this is not an empty cliché… and should never be used carelessly. Mystery is very much a part of the nature of God, and is a part of all life “under the sun.” Trying to come up with definitive answers is, after all, an exercise in vanity… because no matter how hard we try to put God in a box, God won’t fit.
I think this is why I find the recent debates between Atheist and Fundamentalist both amusing and tragic. It is amusing because these two groups push each others buttons, and the responses back and forth are entirely predictable. In some cases, it is done to see if one group can get a rise out of the other. It is tragic because really, in the end, it is vanity.
The Atheist and the Fundamentalist suffer from the same problem: that God can be placed into a box and entirely observed, defined, and comprehended. For both, there is no room for mystery. For the Atheist, God is to be considered like a lab-rat that can be properly measured and observed… and if it can’t, then God doesn’t exist. For the Fundamentalist, God’s existence is a given, but still fits entirely within a narrow set of human-defined parameters. It’s not the same box as the atheist makes, but it is a box nonetheless. In both cases, neither have any room for mystery… which grows out of understanding our limited nature as human beings. We are both a part of the universe, and yet we have a special gift to be able to for brief moments get a glimpse of the totality of the universe, and yet at the same time, because we are limited, we cannot truly understand the mind of God. In other words… Don’t get too big for your britches… and enjoy the mystery of God.
But I want you to hold that thought for a moment…
Yesterday, we had our second survey for Natural Church Development. I am curious to see how we have progressed over the past year. The results won’t be in for a little bit yet. Since this is our second time doing it, we’ve learned a thing or two over the past year. The survey is what generates a profile or a snapshot of our congregation’s health, and only needs 30 people. The focus groups, on the other hand, is when anyone and everyone in the congregation can come and discuss the ideas and issues that the profile raises. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 23rd!
When we did this survey last year, the area that we most needed to work on was “Passionate Spirituality.” It certainly wasn’t surprising… and it still might be the area that we still need to focus on for the next year… but that’s okay... because we will have still made progress… and we might find that other areas in this congregation’s life have also grown.
My reasons for choosing to move through the book of Ecclesiastes were guided by this need for us to grow Spiritually as a congregation… to try and deepen our relationship with God during the season of Lent. I hope it has been as enlightening for you as it as been for me. If we can learn anything from the Teacher, we can learn that a deep and passionate spirituality is not about having all the answers. It is about being able to enjoy the mystery of God.
Amen.
Comments