What's The Point?
Sermon
Riding a bike is a very good way of discovering the multitude of
airborne insects which inhabit the countryside of East Anglia. A great variety
of minuscule insects dive bomb into the cyclist's face at regular intervals,
aiming directly and expertly for the eyes. Sometimes they make it, but very
often the eyes close automatically a split second before the insect manages to
penetrate them. This reflex action is a remarkable phenomenon of the human body
which must have saved many a cyclist's eyesight.
Since scientists tell us that the beat of a butterfly's wing on one side of the world can initiate a sequence of events which could result in a hurricane on the other side of the world, I find myself wondering how the airborne insects of East Anglia affect the rest of the world, especially when removed from human eyes by a reflexive blink.
And if something as insignificant as a the fluttering of a butterfly really can initiate an action which causes havoc on the other side of the world, what sort of havoc can the actions of bigger animals - especially humans - cause? And if a reflex action over which we have no control whatsoever can cause mayhem, what's the point of trying to do anything or to improve life in any way?
Qoheleth the Teacher, the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, reached the position of asking, "What's the point of life?" Qoheleth was something of a philosopher and wrote in the tradition of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. But he bucked the trend. Most Old Testament books subscribe to a somewhat simplistic cause and effect when considering human life and its relationship to God, but the book of Ecclesiastes questions this assumption.
The prevailing trend in the Old Testament, running through into the New Testament and even lingering in the West today, is the assumption that bad things which happen in human lives are the direct result of sinful ways. If somebody fell on hard times, people assumed that he had sinned in some terrible way and that God was punishing him.
This was seen to be particularly true of nations and there are many descriptions of massacres and wars in the Old Testament which were thought to be God's way of disciplining human beings. When the people were evicted from their own country and homes and carried off into exile in Babylon in 586 BC, it was universally accepted as God's righteous judgment on the sins of the people and the outcome of refusing to heed the warnings of numerous prophets.
Individual people who were poor or who were sick were automatically regarded as sinners and were pushed to the margins of society, and most of the Old Testament subscribes to this point of view. But two books in particular, disagree. The book of Job and the book of Ecclesiastes both argue against these ideas and the authors each use their personal circumstances to illustrate their points in different ways.
The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote under the name of "David's son" and was therefore thought to be Solomon, the purveyor of all wisdom. But this was a literary device of the time used to lend weight to the writings. The book is more likely to have been written at a much later stage, probably around three centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Qoheleth had searched out and experienced all kinds of life-styles in order to discover the best way to live life. By his own admission he worked hard and was wealthy, but he had discovered a certain ennui with life's pleasures. "Vanity," he proclaims, "all is vanity." And he goes on to explain his words. He tells his readers how hard he toiled and how much he hated his work. Then he wonders why on earth he bothered to work so hard, since the only people who will really reap the benefits of his hard work are his descendants.
Qoheleth was a man of wisdom and he used his wisdom and his knowledge to the full, yet again it will be not he himself, but those who come after him who benefit. "I gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun," he complains, " because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This is vanity and a great evil." And he adds, " What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity."
What's the point of it all, Qoheleth seems to be asking. Elsewhere in his book he goes on to challenge the widely held belief that the good prosper and the poor fail. He realises that the rain falls on both the good and the bad, just as the sun shines on both the good and the bad. He feels that there's no point in developing wisdom or in amassing wealth, for worldly pleasures eventually pall and in the end everyone dies. There is no difference in death between a rich man and a poor man, between a wise man and a fool.
Qoheleth is tapping into one of the great questions of human existence, one which has puzzled human beings down the centuries. Why are we here? What is the point of life?
Jesus asked a similar question when he told the story of the rich farmer whose land yielded such wealth that he tore down his barns and built bigger and better barns in order to store his vast yield of grain. But that very night the farmer died and all his years of work were wasted as far as he was concerned. They served only to smooth the path of his descendants, for in death worldly riches are worth nothing. What was the point of amassing all that wealth? What did the farmer gain from it?
Qoheleth failed to discover a full answer to his question. Right at the end of his book he (or a later editor) says, " The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) Qoheleth seems to be saying that human beings should respond to God because God will judge them on their every action.
But Jesus offers a much fuller answer. Jesus tells us to be on our guard against our human tendency towards greed, because storing up treasure for ourselves on this earth never brings happiness. True happiness is only to be found in the presence of God, so the nearer to God we find ourselves, the happier we shall be. We can all discover what life is really about by responding to God. And then we'll discover that we have enormous wealth, but wealth of a different kind. We shall find we have treasure in heaven.
And that, really, is a description of eternal life. Not necessarily life after death, although it will be that too, but life on this earth which is full of delight and happiness and joy and love and deep inner peace. Qoheleth never quite discovered that. But then, he didn't have the advantage of Jesus showing him how to attain eternal life, so he never quite discovered life's purpose.
We do have that advantage, if we wish to make use of it. And so we can discover the purpose of life for ourselves. It's to glorify and God and through that, to discover eternal life for ourselves. And we won't find that through greed, but through sharing. We won't find it through meanness, but through generosity. We won't find it through hatred, but through love. We won't find it through human means, but through God.
God is waiting to pour his riches upon us. Let us receive them with open arms.
Since scientists tell us that the beat of a butterfly's wing on one side of the world can initiate a sequence of events which could result in a hurricane on the other side of the world, I find myself wondering how the airborne insects of East Anglia affect the rest of the world, especially when removed from human eyes by a reflexive blink.
And if something as insignificant as a the fluttering of a butterfly really can initiate an action which causes havoc on the other side of the world, what sort of havoc can the actions of bigger animals - especially humans - cause? And if a reflex action over which we have no control whatsoever can cause mayhem, what's the point of trying to do anything or to improve life in any way?
Qoheleth the Teacher, the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, reached the position of asking, "What's the point of life?" Qoheleth was something of a philosopher and wrote in the tradition of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. But he bucked the trend. Most Old Testament books subscribe to a somewhat simplistic cause and effect when considering human life and its relationship to God, but the book of Ecclesiastes questions this assumption.
The prevailing trend in the Old Testament, running through into the New Testament and even lingering in the West today, is the assumption that bad things which happen in human lives are the direct result of sinful ways. If somebody fell on hard times, people assumed that he had sinned in some terrible way and that God was punishing him.
This was seen to be particularly true of nations and there are many descriptions of massacres and wars in the Old Testament which were thought to be God's way of disciplining human beings. When the people were evicted from their own country and homes and carried off into exile in Babylon in 586 BC, it was universally accepted as God's righteous judgment on the sins of the people and the outcome of refusing to heed the warnings of numerous prophets.
Individual people who were poor or who were sick were automatically regarded as sinners and were pushed to the margins of society, and most of the Old Testament subscribes to this point of view. But two books in particular, disagree. The book of Job and the book of Ecclesiastes both argue against these ideas and the authors each use their personal circumstances to illustrate their points in different ways.
The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote under the name of "David's son" and was therefore thought to be Solomon, the purveyor of all wisdom. But this was a literary device of the time used to lend weight to the writings. The book is more likely to have been written at a much later stage, probably around three centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Qoheleth had searched out and experienced all kinds of life-styles in order to discover the best way to live life. By his own admission he worked hard and was wealthy, but he had discovered a certain ennui with life's pleasures. "Vanity," he proclaims, "all is vanity." And he goes on to explain his words. He tells his readers how hard he toiled and how much he hated his work. Then he wonders why on earth he bothered to work so hard, since the only people who will really reap the benefits of his hard work are his descendants.
Qoheleth was a man of wisdom and he used his wisdom and his knowledge to the full, yet again it will be not he himself, but those who come after him who benefit. "I gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun," he complains, " because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This is vanity and a great evil." And he adds, " What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity."
What's the point of it all, Qoheleth seems to be asking. Elsewhere in his book he goes on to challenge the widely held belief that the good prosper and the poor fail. He realises that the rain falls on both the good and the bad, just as the sun shines on both the good and the bad. He feels that there's no point in developing wisdom or in amassing wealth, for worldly pleasures eventually pall and in the end everyone dies. There is no difference in death between a rich man and a poor man, between a wise man and a fool.
Qoheleth is tapping into one of the great questions of human existence, one which has puzzled human beings down the centuries. Why are we here? What is the point of life?
Jesus asked a similar question when he told the story of the rich farmer whose land yielded such wealth that he tore down his barns and built bigger and better barns in order to store his vast yield of grain. But that very night the farmer died and all his years of work were wasted as far as he was concerned. They served only to smooth the path of his descendants, for in death worldly riches are worth nothing. What was the point of amassing all that wealth? What did the farmer gain from it?
Qoheleth failed to discover a full answer to his question. Right at the end of his book he (or a later editor) says, " The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) Qoheleth seems to be saying that human beings should respond to God because God will judge them on their every action.
But Jesus offers a much fuller answer. Jesus tells us to be on our guard against our human tendency towards greed, because storing up treasure for ourselves on this earth never brings happiness. True happiness is only to be found in the presence of God, so the nearer to God we find ourselves, the happier we shall be. We can all discover what life is really about by responding to God. And then we'll discover that we have enormous wealth, but wealth of a different kind. We shall find we have treasure in heaven.
And that, really, is a description of eternal life. Not necessarily life after death, although it will be that too, but life on this earth which is full of delight and happiness and joy and love and deep inner peace. Qoheleth never quite discovered that. But then, he didn't have the advantage of Jesus showing him how to attain eternal life, so he never quite discovered life's purpose.
We do have that advantage, if we wish to make use of it. And so we can discover the purpose of life for ourselves. It's to glorify and God and through that, to discover eternal life for ourselves. And we won't find that through greed, but through sharing. We won't find it through meanness, but through generosity. We won't find it through hatred, but through love. We won't find it through human means, but through God.
God is waiting to pour his riches upon us. Let us receive them with open arms.
