Ecclesiastes...Pastor Phil Strong

Part 9

                                     3-27-11                                    

Texts: 6:10-12; 7:13-14; 9:12; 11:5

● I find a common error in our approach to Ecclesiastes, or to life in general: we tend to “rush into it” with the intention of attempting to resolve the tension without first allowing what’s before us to unsettle us; to undo us. The unsettling, while awkward and uncomfortable, actually creates the space for something else… someone else: God.

● I often find that we attach the label ‘faith’ to our own presumptions and expectations and then anticipate that God will accommodate us. When those expectations are not met, God is typically the one who suffers the most as he becomes subject to our presuppositions.

● In such circumstances, we either challenge God or challenge our expectations. If we challenge God, in our presumption (lit. ‘to overstep bounds’), we will quickly abandon him for something more predictable; more manageable. If we challenge our expectations, we might actually discover the “true God” in the process.

The story is not just about the human dilemma, but the divine dilemma as well. 

            Evil is more than just the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, but the frustration that God feels over the disruption and distortion of all of his good creation and the pain that he feels with us as we experience the inevitable consequences of such disorder.

● What we experience, along with all of creation, is the gnawing sense that things are ‘not as they ought to be’ [“evil” (Gr.) ‘not as it ought to be’].

● Within that context, I find that God faces this constant ‘quandary’: if he does act, we throw the “interference flag”; we consider him controlling and manipulative. It’s just as we expected; all this talk of freedom is just a smokescreen for God’s need to micro-manage everything.

If he doesn’t intervene, we assume he’s weak and indifferent. It’s just as we suspected; things really are spiraling out of control and God has little other recourse except to sit back and watch the devastation.

The message is that God is not content to sit idly by and watch us ‘self-destruct’. He would rather risk misunderstanding and hurting our feelings than for us to realize the effects of his indifference.

God as sovereign- (just some observations)

►Sovereignty means that, in contrast to the prevailing stories being told which offered the universe as the product of some violent, cosmic struggle between the gods, our story portrays him as a God who brings order out of chaos; putting things and people in proper relationship to each other.     

►Sovereignty means that despite some pretty conflicting evidence, the world is not a chaotic mass, spiraling out of control, but moving toward a purposed-end: ‘shalom’ (peace; wholeness; nothing broken; everything functioning and relating properly).

            The opening phrase of the story, “In the beginning”, assumes an ‘end’; it sets in motion a series of events which move toward a specific end.

►Sovereignty helps to ensure that all the parts work toward a whole. A concept not meant to instill a sense of loving partnership; of careful stewardship of all that’s been entrusted by God.

I think that we sometimes feel that we are left with no other options except CHAOS or FATE.

The Greeks believed “fate” to be this form of ‘ultimate reality’ to which even the gods were subject. Everything that happened had been pre-determined by this reality and humanity could do nothing to alter it. As you might imagine, living with the notion of this fixed, irresistible determination would inevitably produce feelings of apathy, futility and despair. We’re all just unwitting participants in some cosmic experiment and we cannot be held responsible.

● It’s easy to assume that life is simply chosen “for us” (e.g. I mean, wasn’t that the key to parenting, really? Imposing your will on your kids, but doing it in such a way as to convince them that they chose it on their own).

Maybe it’s because  we don’t think seriously enough about human freedom.

“God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Eccl.3:11).

It means that we must be willing to admit that there are evidences in the story which indicate that humanity has made decisions which have taken creation in a different direction than he had planned; that human beings have the capacity to wreak havoc on all of their relationships; we are capable of distorting and frustrating God’s intentions.

I did find this: God created people to be virtuous (right; straight; fitting; proper), but they have each turned to follow their own downward path (7:29).

● Paul refers to it as ‘grieving’ the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) ---to make sorrowful; to affect with sadness.

Or, we can ‘quench’ (suppress; extinguish; stifle) the Spirit [1 Thess.5:19]. Even that language is indicative of the way in which God chooses to interact with us: God is present with and at work within us, so our only objective is recognize it and participate with it.

Most often, God will not violate the governing principles he has established: he chooses to work “in”, “with” and “through” creation to restore creation.

God’s purposes--- this salvation, is always worked out in the context of actual events in our lives which demands much more of God because he has to commit himself to the process of working alongside flawed and often unresponsive humanity in order to re-establish order.

● If this is the way life works, then God must deal with us in such a way as to “inspire” or “compel” us without coercing us or ‘trumping us with his will’. This seems most consistent with the revelation of God’s nature and character.

God is not content with “compliance”: where he gets you to do what he wants. He desires “collaboration”: where you know what he wants- because you share his heart- and find yourself compelled to do it.         

Sovereignty kicks the door wide open for God to behave in unexpected and unpredictable ways.

Sometimes the very thing that seems to be wreaking havoc in our lives is an opportunity for God to accomplish his purposes in ways that are both unmistakable and unexplainable.

Sovereignty is best understood not by God’s ability to prevent suffering, but his capacity to redeem it.

Sovereignty means that he is not limited in the ways he can accomplish his purposes; that nothing is beyond God’s disposal.

It’s being convinced that there will never be a circumstance in my life, whether self-inflicted or unexplainable, which God cannot “reclaim” (restore) and use to accomplish something of greater value.

Sovereignty means: it means that there are no limits to God’s goodness!

Have you noticed that we most often reflect on the sovereignty of God as it relates to all of the unexplainable and disturbing life-realities, but we ignore his sovereign “grace” and “compassion”, which are also a bit unsettling!? Sovereignty is not to exclude all of God’s unprovoked acts of kindness (movements) toward his creation.

~Would there be any comfort in knowing that God actually does his best work in chaos? [that ‘out of the chaos’, God brings order]; that God’s glory is most recognizable amidst the backdrop of human brokenness?

~Would it bring any comfort to know that life is not random, fatalistic, or out of control; that God is not subject to any coercion or manipulation?                               

~Would you rather that God attempt to explain everything to you or simply work it out for your good because you love him and he loves you?

In the end, my desire for a God that can be trusted trumps my wishes for a God that can be explained. It means that even though I don’t understand, I can still trust him. 

Maybe the complexities of life and the seeming uncertainties were meant to “unsettle” us; to humble us; to posture us to trust; that in not finding meaning in everything else, we become available for God--- the perfect candidates for grace.