Been There. Done That. Now What?
04/23/2006 - The Enigma of Life
One of my favorite historical characters is a man by the name of Winston Churchill. And he was a character. Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of Britain during World War II and many historians claim that he was the single most important figure responsible for saving the free world from Nazi domination.
He was a man of intense conviction, great courage, insatiable optimism, and razor sharp wit. You didn't want to get on the wrong side of Churchill. On one occasion he was in a heated discussion with a political rival named Lady Astor who had the nerve to tell Churchill, "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your coffee!" To which Churchill responded, "Madam, if I were your husband, I'd drink it!"
On another occasion, while in the House of Commons, a Member of Parliament named Bessie Braddock came upon Churchill in an elevator smelling of alcohol and said, "Winston, you're drunk!" To which he instantly shot back, "Bessie, you're ugly. And by tomorrow morning I'll be sober, but you'll still be ugly."
Churchill never seemed to be at a loss for words. He had an answer for everybody and everything, except when it came to explaining the actions of Russia.
He understood France politically and understood where America was coming from. He even figured out Hitler and his ambitious plans for Nazi Germany. But he couldn't understand the Soviet Union. Their actions and polices seemed so unpredictable and illogical that they threw him for a loop. And on one occasion when asked his opinion on Russia he simply said, "It is a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma."
Life is a lot like that too, isn't it? Life can be a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma. Think of some of the things that you're going through right now, some of the hard things, some of the trials that you're experiencing.
There are those in our church community who are out of work and are wondering, "How long is this going to go on? Aren't I worth anything to anybody?" There are others who are battling illness and chronic ailments that just won't go away. There are some going through the agonizing pain of divorce and the breakup of a marriage. There are others who are lonely and wish they were married. There are some who are experiencing grief over the recent loss of a loved one. There are those who are just downright depressed and feeling overwhelmed by the stresses of day to day life. The pace alone can be enough to grind us down.
These aren't things we want to happen or plan on happening, but they're all part of life. And often they take us completely by surprise and leave us wondering, "Why, God? Why me? Why now? Why this?" This morning we continue our series through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes called Been There. Done That. Now What? with a teaching I've called "The Enigma of Life." If you have a Bible turn with me to Ecclesiastes 8.
Remember, Ecclesiastes is the journal of King Solomon the richest, wisest, most powerful man on earth. And in it he's recording his observations about life. He's trying to make sense of the things that we all struggle with. And in Ecclesiastes 8, today's journal entry, he makes two observations. The first has to do with the value of wisdom and the second has to do with the limitations of wisdom. Wisdom, Solomon says, can't explain all the enigmas of life, but it's still wise to be wise.
Look at Ecclesiastes 8:1-9, Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens the face and changes its hard appearance.
Wisdom, he says, is a good thing. Wisdom helps us meet the challenges of life that defy easy answers and quick fixes. The Hebrew word for wisdom is the word hochmah and it literally means "skill." It's used in the Old Testament of skillful singers, skillful artists, and skillful craftsmen, but when it's applied to life it means "skillful living."
Life is hard and living life wisely takes skill. And skillful living begins with a fundamental belief in God, a belief that there is a God who made us, who loves us, who knows us, and who wants to enjoy an on going, life giving relationship with us that furthers his kingdom in this world.
In another one of his writings Solomon said in Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Reverence for God is where true knowledge and wisdom begin.
Jesus, the only man wiser than Solomon, who told us more about God than anyone else, put it this way in Matthew 7:24-25, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house (that sounds like adversity to me), yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
Adversity is bound to come. The winds will blow. The rain will fall. The creek will rise, but the wise man and the wise woman whose life is built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and his teachings will endure even past the grave. But not only will they endure, they will triumph.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, James 1:2-3. Wisdom brightens the face and changes its hard appearance.
Wisdom helps us handle the difficult people in our lives. Do you have any difficult people in your life? Look at verse 2 , Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?" 5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Solomon of course was a king. He was the King of Israel. And in his day and age the king was the most powerful person on earth. He was above the law and could say and do anything he wanted. He had the power of life and death and could use it at anytime and on anyone he wished. History reveals that there were a few good kings who ruled as benevolent dictators, but for the most part kings were ruthless tyrants who did whatever they pleased.
Not everyone, of course, would interact personally with the king. But if you did, Solomon says, you would be wise to be on your best behavior. Obey the king's command. Don't be in hurry to leave. Don't lobby for a bad cause. And don't ask any questions.
And all that may seem irrelevant to us today unless we're called into the principal's office at school or forced to stand before a judge in a court of law or an angry boss or some other person who has power over us. But then he says something that's very relevant at the end of verse 5, The wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter.
In other words, the wise man or woman knows that timing is everything. It's not enough to just know the right thing to do or the right thing to say, we need to know the right time to do or say the right thing. It's called tact. And wise people learn it over the years, often the hard way.
Right now our culture seems to applaud people who have the nerve to say whatever they want whenever they want no matter who they offend or whose feelings get hurt. But that's not wisdom. That may take guts, but it takes no skill.
Solomon may have been thinking about the confrontation that the prophet Nathan had with his father King David. After David's sin with Bathsheba in which he not only committed adultery, but also murdered Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, no one had the courage to confront David because of what could happen to them if they did. The penalty for David's sin was death by stoning, but who was going to throw the first rock at the king? Not me.
And so for months nothing happened and life in the court went on as usual. But David was miserable inside. His guilt was eating him alive. In Psalm 32, he writes that he couldn't sleep at night, he couldn't eat, he lost weight. But thank God for a wise man named Nathan who had both the guts and the skill to approach David at the risk of his own life and confront him with his sin.
And he did it by telling David a story about a rich man who had lots of sheep and cattle and yet took advantage of a poor man by taking his only lamb, which was like a daughter to him, and killed it to feed a friend for dinner. And when David heard the story he was incensed at the rich man who would do such a thing and demanded that he be killed. And at the height of David's anger Nathan took a deep breath and said, "You're the man! You're the rich man, David, with a harem full of wives who took the only wife and the only life of Uriah the Hittite." And David was broken and for the first time he publicly confessed his sin so that he could receive forgiveness and healing could begin.
We all need wise people in our lives, someone who is not afraid to tell us the truth, who knows what to say and when to say it. And we need to be those kinds of people to others as well. That's one of the benefits of being part of a community of Christ followers where we are encouraged to speak the truth in love to one another. Sensitivity is a huge part of wisdom living. If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. Timing is everything as you try to impart wisdom into the life of your kids. Family meetings don't always cut it. We have to carefully and skillfully pick our spots and it can get more difficult and delicate as our children get older. The wise heart will knowthe proper time and procedure. 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter.
Wisdom is a good thing. Wisdom is needed to handle people and maintain healthy relationships. But wisdom has its limitations. Look at verse 7, Since no one knows the future, who can say what is to come? 8No one has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over when death comes. As noone is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 9All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when people lord it over others to their own hurt.
Wisdom can't tell us the future, nor can it help us avoid all the evil in this world. Just as no one can control the wind or postpone the day of death or be discharged in the midst of a battle, so no one can escape the consequences of wickedness. Living wisely does not mean our life will be problem free. In fact, sometimes it seems like the righteous get what the wicked deserve and the wicked get what the righteous deserve.
Look at verse 10, Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. 11When the sentence for a crime isnot quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12Although a wicked person commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better withGod-fearing people, who are reverent before God. 13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. 14There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
A number of years ago Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book called "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." He wrote it out of his own pain suffered from the loss of a child. The book quickly became a number one national best seller. And although I don't agree with all his conclusions I certainly resonate with the questions he raises.
In it he writes, "There is only one question which really matters: why do bad things happen to good people? Virtually every meaningful conversation I have ever had with people on the subject of God and religion has either started with this question, or gotten around to it before long … The misfortunes of good people are not only a problem to the people who suffer and to their families. They are a problem to everyone who wants to believe in a just and fair and livable world. They inevitably raise questions about the goodness, the kindness, even the existence of God."
"Like every reader of this book, I pick up the daily newspaper and fresh challenges to the idea of the world's goodness assault my eyes: senseless murders, fatal practical jokes, young people killed in automobile accidents on the way to their wedding or coming home from their high school prom."
Rabbi Kushner observed the same things that Solomon observed 3,000 years earlier. And yet with all his wisdom he still couldn't figure it out. God is just and loving and kind, but life isn't. Yet God is not life. And life is not God.
Solomon says, "I've seen bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. I've seen justice delayed and evil flourish. I've seen the wicked commit a hundred crimes and live a long time, yet I still believe it's better to fear God. And I've been to funerals where evil men are eulogized in glowing terms. And I've wondered, 'Am I at the right funeral? Are we talking about the same person?'" Life indeed is a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma.
Look at verse 16, When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe people's labor on earth - their eyes not seeing sleep day or night - then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite every effort to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
Beware of people who think they have life all figured out and package it together in some kind of self-help book or slick infomercial. No one can figure it out. Not even the wisest person who ever lived. And knowing the limitations of wisdom is a big part of living a skillful life.
I don't know why justice is so often delayed. But sometimes I wonder if delayed justice is God's merciful way of giving us all time to repent and come to know him. Instead of wringing our hands at the inequities and mysteries of life, perhaps we would do better to be thankful to a sovereign God whose kindness buys us time and space to discover him.
After all, he is the God who says in Isaiah 55:8-9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God is at work in all the things that we don't understand. And so instead of spending our lives angry and upset with God over things that are beyond our control or suffering from the paralysis of analysis Solomon says in verse 15, So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their work all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
This is the fourth time Solomon's encouraged us to enjoy life. He's said it in chapter two, three, five and now again in chapter eight. It's one of the two convictions that he reaches in his journey. And joy is a choice we all have to make.
We can drive ourselves nuts trying to figure life out. We can live for years angry and upset with God for all the hurt we've experienced. Or we can choose to be thankful and to enjoy all the good things that God has given to us. The choice is yours. And the choice is mine.
There are just some things we will never understand about the way God works. But we do have a book that tells us the things that are above the sun. God has revealed his heart and his will to us through the Scripture. I don't know about you, but I have enough trouble with the things I already do know. In fact, I'm still trying to figure out why God loves me and why Jesus would die for me. That makes no sense. But I believe it's true. And I accept it. And I'm grateful for it. And that's the kind of loving, just, and good God that I want to serve. How about you?