Been There. Done That. Now What?
04/30/2006 - We All Fall Down
"Ring around the roses,
Pocket full of poises,
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down."
Anyone ever hear that before? All of us know that little chorus that we learned on the playground growing up. But most of us don't know what it means or where it came from. It's actually a morbid little song that has its roots in the Black Plague, the Black Death that swept across Europe back in the 14th century.
The Black Plague or Bubonic Plague was a pandemic. A pandemic is an epidemic that spreads worldwide or across a large region. And the Black Plague did that. In fact, it's still listed as one of the worst killers in human history. At its peak it killed one-third of Europe's population. An estimated 34 million people died in a four year period. By comparison, the AIDS pandemic has killed an about 25 million people over the last 26 years.
And what made the plague so evil was that no one knew where it came from or what caused it. Now we know that it was most likely transmitted by fleas coming from infected rats. But for a long time people thought that you got the plague by breathing polluted air and so to prevent it they walked through gardens filled with fresh flowers trying to breathe cleaner air. Well meaning doctors would fill their pockets with flower petals and bring them into hospitals full of patients where they would sprinkle the petals on victims hoping that the fragrance from the flowers would cleanse their lungs of pollution. Others would blow ashes into the faces of the diseased so that they would sneeze and clear their lungs. But none of it worked. Instead, they all fell down.
And supposedly that little chorus was first heard coming from an old man pushing a cart stacked high with dead bodies. And so now it makes sense. "Ring around the roses, a pocket full of poises, ashes, ashes, we all fall down." In other words, nothing could stop the plague from claiming its victims.
And nothing will stop death from claiming our lives as well. All of us will fall down someday. All of us will die, unless Jesus comes back first. And as much as we like to ignore that fact and deny it and postpone it it's still true. And knowing that "we all fall down" should make a difference in how we live.
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 "We All Fall Down." If you have a Bible turn with me to Ecclesiastes 9. In my Bible the heading over Ecclesiastes 9 reads, "A Common Destiny for All."
Look at Ecclesiastes 9:1-3, So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but they do not know whether love or hate awaits them. 2All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. 3This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they join the dead.
Remember Solomon is looking at everything he sees under the sun and he concludes that people are crazy and do all kinds of evil deeds. And that everybody dies. The righteous die and the wicked die. The good die and the bad die. The clean die and the unclean die. Those who are religious die and those who are irreligious die. Everybody dies no matter how good or how bad they live. The ancient Greek poet, Euripides, once said, "Death is the debt we all must pay." And that's true.
Life expectancy was about 30 years of age during the Roman Empire, at the time the New Testament was written. In 1900, the average life expectancy in America was about 48 years old, when I was born it was about 68, and now it's close to 78 years of age. We've pushed death back about ten years just in my lifetime alone and life expectancy will continue to rise with advances in medicine and technology, but we will never live forever in this body.
That theme is repeated over and over again in Scripture starting all the way back in Genesis 3:19 where God says, By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.
But what Solomon can't see because he's only looking at things "under the sun" is that while death may be the common destiny for all of us, life after death will be radically different. And for that we go to the words of Jesus who takes us "above the sun" in statements like Matthew 25:40, 45-46 where he says, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me … 46And whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 46Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Everyone doesn't go to the same place. Jesus tells a story about Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus goes to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man suffers in Hades. We see the same thing in the book of Revelation.
Yet from a horizontal point of view it certainly appears like death is the common and final destiny of us of all. I've talked to people who believe that and I'm sure you have too. "When you're dead you're dead," they say, "There's nothing more." But I don't believe that's the case. There is more to life than this life and our final destiny will depend on what we've done with Jesus.
Look at verse 4, Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. 6Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
I love that phrase in verse 4, Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! In that culture, dogs were not cute little house pets named "Cuddles." They were scavengers who roamed the streets in packs eating garbage and carrying disease. Dogs were despised. The lion, on the other hand, was revered. He was considered the king of the beasts. Yet, Solomon says, its better to be a dog with a heartbeat then a lion without a pulse.
Why's that? Because as long as we're alive there is hope. There's hope for the living, not for the dead. Are you alive this morning? Do you have a heartbeat? If you do, there's hope for you in whatever it is you're struggling with. We all need hope. I said it a few weeks ago, "We can live about 40 days without food, about 3 days without water, about 8 minutes without air and about one second without hope."
I read a true story about a tough 24 year-old marine who had been held by the Viet Cong in a North Vietnamese prison camp. For two years he had survived in pretty good health and had done well because the commander of the camp promised to release him if he cooperated. But as time passed, he realized that he was being lied to. And when the full realization of that deception hit him he lost hope. He became like a zombie. He refused to do any work, rejected all offers of food and encouragement, and just lay down on his bunk sucking his thumb. And in a few weeks he was dead. What changed? He lost hope.
I have a friend who tells me that he prays for me every single day. I can't believe that, but that's what he says. And at the end of everyone of his letters or notes he always writes Romans 15:13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
To be alive is to have hope. That doesn't mean everything is always going to work out the way we want it to. There is a time to give up. Solomon has already told us that. I love the way Martin Luther King, Jr., put it one time when he said, "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." Life is full of finite disappointments, but that can't rob us of the infinite hope we have as Christ followers. The best is yet to be for those who know Jesus.
To be alive in Christ is to have hope overflowing by the power of the Holy Spirit. And since we are alive here is how we can live 365 days a year.
Look at verse 7, Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
In verses 7-10, Solomon says that since there is hope for the living then live life to the max! And for him that means three things. First, live life joyfully. He's said this before and he'll say it again. Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love all the days of your meaningless life.
Last Sunday afternoon Jordan and I went fishing. We drove down to the Northeast River in Maryland with a friend who invited us to go striper fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. Now I'm no fisherman. I don't like to touch the worms and all that stuff, but he guaranteed us that we would catch fish. And catch fish we did. We caught them and then released back into the bay.
Jordan and I pulled in five stripers each some weighing close to 20 pounds. And another guy pulled in one that was 32 pounds. It was a ball. But I think the best part for me was just being out on the water with my son. The sky had cleared, the sun was shining, the bay was like a lake, and as evening approached the sunset was breathtaking. And I couldn't help but think, "This is what God wants us to do more of. Enjoy life. Enjoy the beauty of what he has created." It was spectacular.
It seemed like in the space of less than a two hour drive we were in another world. And as we were cruising back to the dock at dusk we watched a huge thunderhead form and lighting flash across the sky as a thunderstorm came rolling in. It was magnificent.
Are you living life joyfully? Are you taking time to get refreshed? Are making room in your life for recreation, to recreate yourself, to enjoy a good meal, and good friends, and time with your spouse if you're married? Enjoy life with your wife or your husband whom you love. Too many couples stop having fun together and laughing together and romancing.
We pray every week for the marriages at Valley View to stay fresh and vibrant and alive. And taking time to enjoy your spouse in all kinds of ways is such a big part of that. But it won't just happen. There are too many stresses and too many pressures and too many demands on our time. We have to make a conscious choice to stop and say, "Enough! It's time to get refreshed." And God smiles when we do. Life is not a puzzle to be solved, but a gift to be enjoyed.
Live life joyfully. Second, live life purely. Look at verse 8, Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.
I don't think Solomon is suggesting that we only wear white clothes and put moose on our hair. Instead, I think he's speaking symbolically here. White in the Bible is often a symbol of purity and oil is frequently a symbol of the Holy Spirit. I think he's saying, "Live life with purity."
I know from my own experience when I'm not living in obedience to God and I have unconfessed sin in my life that I'm hiding from God and hiding from others I'm miserable. My soul is heavy and I'm not able to live life joyfully.
Solomon learned that lesson the hard way and it caused him a lot of heartache and grief that he wants to spare us from. Ask God each morning for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and make it your goal each day to live life in a way that pleases him. And when you mess up confess it to him as quickly as possible and accept his forgiveness and cleansing and move on. Living life joyfully can't be done without living life purely.
And third, live life mightily. Live life with all your might. Look at verse 10, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
This is exactly what the apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:23,Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
God wants us to work hard at what we do, but not as workaholics. Instead, he wants us to work hard as servants of his. I was talking to a guy this week who was telling me how difficult that can be in the workplace. Often the culture in the office is to do just what's expected. And if you go beyond that then you can make others in the office look bad and you become the target of office chatter and gossip and can find yourself on the outside of the social circle because of it. It's not easy in environments like that to work with all your might. But God knows that and he will give us grace.
Charles Colson just came out with a new book called The Good Life: Seeking Purpose, Meaning and Truth in Your Life. And in it he writes, "Living a meaningful life consists simply in embracing the responsibilities and work given to us, whatever they are. There is intrinsic meaning to work well done and when we fail to grasp this we become hollow persons. When people are idle they lack purpose and begin to corrode like an unused piece of equipment. We are indeed 'hardwired' for work and we find great satisfaction in it."
We will all fall down sometime. But while we're alive and still standing Solomon says, "Live life joyfully. Live life purely. Live life mightily."
Now look at verse 11, I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12Moreover, people do not know when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
As we saw last week, Solomon again talks about the enigma of life. There is a lot about life that we don't understand and that seems to make no sense. It's good to live wisely, but wisdom doesn't always get rewarded in this life as he says in verse 13, I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. 17The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Remember Solomon didn't have the whole picture when he wrote Ecclesiastes. His perspective was limited to what he saw "under the sun." And in this life it may appear that the wise go unrewarded, like the poor man in the story. But not according to Jesus. He had the whole picture and he assured us that not even a cup of cold water given in his name would go unrewarded.
Someone has said, "In nature we see only the back of God. Scripture reveals the mouth of God. But in Jesus we see the face of God. Ecclesiastes is but a silhouette and the face of Jesus Christ fills its shadowed form."
Life is uncertain. But death is certain. We all fall down. But while we're alive we have hope. And while we're alive we can choose to live joyfully, to live purely, and to live mightily. Let's make that choice.