Encouragement from Ecclesiastes Part 2

 ... We can say five things

1. Consider this leading principle for life and three balancing considerations

1 Consider this leading principle – the principle of action. Overarching principles can be very helpful. This is what Solomon gives us here – a general rule for life and for the Christian ministry in particular. 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. It doesn’t tell us everything, of course, but when it comes to practical every day living then

• If a thing isn’t worth doing thoroughly it isn’t worth doing at all. The devil tempts you to, say, commit adultery or to steal. What is his aim? He wants to take you as far in that sin as possible. But we are compromisers. We don’t want to go as far as the devil wants we just want to think about these things. Forget thinking about adultery, about stealing. Put them behind you.
• Whatever you do, do you do it with all the zeal and enthusiasm you can muster? Really pray, really study the Bible, really live it out. That’s how the commandments speak – not love God a little bit but with all your heart, etc. No pussyfooting, no half measures. Nothing lackadaisical. Throw yourself into it. Be thorough.
• Now is the time. Very soon we’ll be in the grave. There’s no planning, etc, there. Cf 6:9ff. We don’t know how long we will live but it won’t be long. Life goes by so quickly. When we’re young we have all sorts of ambitions but by my age you realise you are, more or less, what you are. Cf John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no-one can work.

Is this principle part of your thinking? How you approach ministry? When you wake up? Through the day?

2 Consider these three balancing considerations to keep in mind.

Now if this principle is going to be of any use to us we need to balance it with other considerations.

• God’s sometimes surprising providence. 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 favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. It is tempting to think that the person who does things with all his might is going to be the most successful. However, things are not quite so simple. My father was a great fan of horse racing and I remember him taking me to Chepstow racecourse once or twice and him teaching me how betting works with its system of odds long or short. It seemed to me at first that you should always bet on the favourite. But, as my father would point out, ‘Sometimes the favourite doesn’t win’. You know the story of the hare and the tortoise.  Think of boxing matches or of battles in history. Significant changes in history have come when there have been surprise turn arounds. Life is full of turnabouts. It is one of the things that makes it so unpredictable and interesting. They say that Vincent Van Gogh never sold a painting while he lived. Yet his paintings now sell for millions. The Jamaican bobsleigh team in the 1992 Olympics beat USA, Italy, France and Russia in the four man bob and were ahead of Sweden in the two man event. In 2000 they took gold at the World Push Championships in Monte Carlo. Sometimes the least likely people rise to power – Abraham Lincoln born in a log cabin for example. Time and chance happen to them all – this is not a denial of providence but an assertion of it. There are various ways of understanding this phrase but God is in control of all. In 2006 England lost to Northern Ireland (ranked 116th in the world) after 78 years of winning. If we knew that 10 in every hundred we spoke to were converted, wonderful but there is no simple formula – such as, pray for an hour a day and revival will come, etc. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says I planted the seed, etc …. But God made it grow. Parents say ‘Work hard at school and you will do well’ – but it is not always true. There is plenty of variety. It is a great mystery that we live with.
• Our general ignorance. 12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. We don’t know when we will die. Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22 1859 and died July 7 1930 – I was born exactly a hundred years later but whether I will die exactly one hundred years later I do not know. I can’t know - not yet. Think of fish caught in a net or a bird in a snare. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans last year very unexpectedly. There are always disasters - hurricanes, floods, terrorism. Everything can change in a moment. The man driving the 31 bus in London last summer couldn’t have known what would happen. Situations can change very quickly. We have to say ‘If it is God’s will …’.
• The public’s scorn and amnesia. We don’t tend to think of this. Solomon starts on what we expect to be a story of heroism but that’s not what it is about as we see. 13-15 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. You think to yourself – I wish I’d been that man. No, says Solomon, it wasn’t like that at all. But nobody remembered that poor man. After they’d got over the shock, he was forgotten. A few years passed and people couldn’t even remember his name. I read an article on Northumbrian Cuthbert Collingwood the man who fired the first shot at Trafalgar and took over command after Nelson’s death. He is forgotten. Andrew Griffin wrote ‘The history books tend to give all the glory to Nelson. In fact they were equal partners.’16 So I said, Wisdom is better than strength. But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. Wisdom is a truly great thing no question – it teaches you what to do - but it doesn’t solve every problem. It is no good thinking that if we were wise all our problems would be over. We are in God’s hands and we must look to him. People’s memories are very short – politicians bank on this. People forget. Otherwise we would all be increasingly wise but sadly things are forgotten and wisdom is scorned and despised. ‘Nobody likes a smart Alec’.

2. Further principles to keep in mind

• A Proportion principle. Keep in mind foolishness’s disproportionate influence. 9:17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. All around us the world is shouting at us – media, advertising, etc. It’s loud and brash. We hear a noise – we are drawn. What’s going on? It’s very easy to be drawn after foolishness. But, Solomon says, don’t listen to the noisy man raging at the front but to the quiet man at the back speaking words of wisdom. See 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war. It’s not a matter of these things. But one sinner destroys much good. He uses a proverb to illustrate (10:1) As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour. You buy Chanel No 5 for your wife and it is a great hit. She loves the smell. Then it starts to lose its attraction and stinks. You look and you see that a fly has got in and is putrefying.

The point is not so much that one foolish act can spoil a life of wisdom but rather that one fool or just a few can undo all the good that wise men have brought about. Make no mistake – at all levels there is a struggle going on between the wise and the foolish. Verse 2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. The right stands for strength. There’s strength in wisdom but the heart of the fool is all in the wrong place. What a mess it makes. Verse 3 Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is. You only have to look at a fool – but so often we don’t and we don’t see. So fools can be very influential indeed. No matter how many wise you have one fool can make a terrible mess – in a company, a government, a family, a church. What a disproportionate impact a fool can have. In a nation. It is clear from Scripture that it is wrong. Only a tiny number are actually homosexual and yet what a disproportionate influence they have. or think of how movements like Saddleback or Toronto can so influence the churches. 

• A Patience principle. Keep in mind wisdom’s power to strengthen. Solomon goes on with an example of wisdom in action. Verse 4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, you’re in trouble with someone further up the chain do not leave your post; calmness can lay great errors to rest. Again we are being called to heavenly wisdom. Wisdom demands diligence, demands that we are faithful, that we press on. We mustn’t panic. Paul says to Timothy Keep your head in every situation. Here calmness can lay great errors to rest. If we panic every time the truth is under attack we’re not going to make much progress. Think of all the things that have been thrown at the gospel – Modernism, Marxism, Freudianism, WCC ecumenism. They have come and they have gone. Cf Marxism, psychiatry. It is so easy to panic – some did. They ran around like headless chickens. We need to stay calm. When people attack - stay calm. However, at the other extreme, we mustn’t become complacent. Charles Hodge was famous for the boast that nothing new was ever taught at Princeton Seminary – that can have a good meaning or a bad one. How many Carey Conference Ministers to change a light bulb? Change?

• A Perversity principle. Then in verses 5-7 we read There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves. Let’s be patient and faithful but realise that patience and faithfulness isn’t going to solve all our problems. We must be realistic – patience and faithfulness doesn’t guarantee success in this world. Cf 1 Cor 7:16 and Paul’s comment How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, …. How realistic Paul is. All sorts of anomalies will exist. When Jesus came – think of those in leadership then. Or think of the way the media turn to the Archbishop of Canterbury for religious comment, etc. A sense of reality is so important. Be soberly faithful and cry out to God. We feel so powerless and frustrated sometimes. We want a revolution. But we must stay calm.

• Proportion principle. Keep in mind the need for a balanced approach. In verses 8, 9 we have a series of activities where a danger is involved. Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. The wise person doesn’t say I’m never going to dig a pit, etc, because it is too dangerous. Rather he recognises that there is danger in these activities and so he takes care. An example would be spending time with unbelievers. Somehow we need a balance between telling them and yet not being influenced by them so that we go astray. Or think of local church/wider church; public/private; work/leisure balance. Praying, reading the Bible/Everything else. Bringing up children – not ramming it down their throats. Giving – physical/ spiritual.

• A Preparation principle. Keep in mind the advantage of thorough preparation. Verse 10 If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success. ‘Do it with all your might’ it says so he hacks and hacks. He would be wiser to stop and sharpen the axe. Doing it with all your might involves preparation not just rushing into things. Examples include preparation for ministry or sermon preparation.

• A Procrastination principle. Keep in mind the dangers of procrastination. The other side of it. 11 If a snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. ‘I’m going to ...’. Think of perpetual students for the ministry, pastoral problems.

3. Common errors to avoid

As Solomon develops this idea of doing everything with all your might he goes on to warn against five particular errors.

• Inaction. Wise words are kind words. Back in Chapter 4 Solomon has a great deal to say about the wise and the foolish. In 12a he says Words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious. As one writer says we never go very far reading about wisdom before the subject of how we use our tongues comes up. If you are wise you will take care how you speak. What you say will be gracious, pleasant and kind. There is something attractive about wise speech. By commending action, doing things with all your might, Solomon is not speaking against words altogether. Endeavour always to speak graciously. However, some people are all talk. The full verse is Words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious but a fool is consumed by his own lips. There is such a thing as favourable speech but there is also harmful speech and the fool is one who is all talk and no action. 13, 14 At the beginning his words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness – and the fool multiplies words.
• There is something destructive about the fool’s words a fool is consumed by his own lips. Unlike the wise man the fool speaks not in a way that builds up and edifies but one that tears down and consumes. You remember how James calls the tongue a fire. That fire destroys people’s reputations and in the end burns up the fool himself. Think of the way a fool will lie and lie and in the end he says something that incriminates him and he is found out.
• There is something unreasonable about the fool’s words. At the beginning his words are folly. If you listen to what a fool says you will see how unreasonable and stupid he is. It can sound pretty impressive if you don’t know any better but it’s not.
• There is something wild about the fool’s words at the end they are wicked madness and the fool multiplies words. The fool doesn’t know when to stop. On and on and on he goes causing more and more problems. He makes great boasts but he never does anything. Oh what dangers there are in letting our tongues run away with us. Words can be a great blessing to others but we must act not merely talk. Are you all talk and no action? Let me quote Spurgeon

‘Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stop, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

Surely it is an intolerable disgrace to anyone to profess to be a Christian, and have no concern about the souls of others, while they are perishing by millions.

Etiquette nowadays often demands of a Christian that he should not ‘intrude’ his religion on company. Out with such etiquette! It is the etiquette of hell! True courtesy to my fellow’s soul makes me speak to him, if I believe that his soul is in danger.

Brethren, DO something, DO something, DO something! While societies and unions make constitutions, let us win souls. I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men. Old Suvarov’s idea of war is mine: ‘Forward and strike! No theory! Attack! Form a column! Charge bayonets! Plunge into the centre of the enemy!’ Our one aim is to win souls; and this we are not to talk about, but do in the power of God!

We must school and train ourselves to deal personally with the unconverted. We must not excuse ourselves, but force ourselves to the irksome task until it becomes easy.

• Ignoring your ignorance. It is difficult to be sure how what comes next should be taken. The note is again sounded, however, that we are ignorant. No-one knows what is coming - who can tell him what will happen after him? Even a wise person has to admit his ignorance. Indeed, it is part of wisdom to do so. Nevertheless, just because we do not know certain things that is no excuse for simply sitting down and doing nothing or not trying to do something. Rather we need to get ourselves organised.
• Indolence and incompetence 15 A fool’s work wearies him; he does not know the way to town. There are some people who have a distaste for all hard work. Sometimes it is because they are very intelligent and because some things come easy to them they want everything to be like that. For whatever reason we have a disinclination towards hard work we need to turn from it. We need to be ready to work hard and serve the Lord in whatever way he requires. Some are simply incompetent. They do not know the way to town as it were. It is well signposted but they get lost anyway. Again there are some who find the simplest things difficult. Their mind is really not on the job in hand. Such a person needs to buy a map or to walk out the route for himself until he does know it. There can be no excuses. Is your incompetence letting you down? Get it sorted out.
• Immaturity and indulgence 16, 17 Woe to you, O land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time - for strength and not for drunkenness. Here we see a situation where a country is going to rack and ruin. Why? In one case it is because the person on the throne has not been trained up for the task. He lacks maturity. Sometimes this can be the problem with someone who is unwilling to work hard. Certain jobs are for those who are up to it. If we try and press ourselves into something beyond our capabilities then it will not work. Parkinson’s Law speaks of everyone rising to their own level of incompetence. Better that we work hard and successfully at some task that we can handle than that we take on something and then make a mess of it. Others are simply indulgent. Instead of hard work they throw themselves into every indulgence. It’s a constant round of parties and festivities. This is not how it should be. Is that what is letting you down? Is that why you are not more competent in the Lord’s service?
• Idleness. 18 If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks. ILL Here is a house with sagging rafters and a leaky roof. Why? Because the owner is too lazy to do anything about fixing it. Here is a small church with little activity. Why? Are the people simply lazy? How many problems, how many things are not done just because people are too lazy.

4. Important approaches to cultivate

Further cautions come in verses 19, 20. Again there is some dispute over their meaning.

• Cultivate a practical approach. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything. It sounds a strange verse to be in the Bible. Some are convinced it must be the sentiment of an unbeliever or spoken with heavy sarcasm. It is much more likely that this is simply Solomon getting us to face up to reality once again. You can imagine some people getting hold of verses like this Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle and really pushing for the most active and vigorous sort of Christian program imaginable. Great plans could be hatched for leafleting the whole of London, etc. When people come back to you and say ‘Yes, but who’s going to pay for all this?’ you dismiss them as unspiritual and lacking in vision. But no, says Solomon, we must be practical about things. He gives two examples and then his third over-arching point.
• A feast is made for laughter. That is the point of a feast. It is to be enjoyed.
• Similarly wine makes life merry. That is a fact of life, as it were.
• But money is the answer for everything. Without money there will be no feast and no wine either. Some people would describe such an attitude as unspiritual but Solomon would not agree. We need to be practical about things. Be diligent but be practical. I recall my own attitude as a youngster – what shall we do with the harvest offering? ‘give it all to missionaries’. That’s one of the great things about William Carey. Yes, a real dreamer with his ideas for bringing the gospel to India but very practical too. Being zealous for God is not a matter of being impractical.
• Cultivate a respectful approach. 20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say. Here is a warning too against being disrespectful. Again Carey is a model. You know how for very many years he spoke to other ministers about the needs of the heathen and was largely ignored. There is the story of the man who said to him ‘When God decides to save the heathen he will do so without your help or mine’. It is probably not accurate but it sums up the sort of attitudes that did exist. In such a situation it is easy to show disrespect for those who are holding things back. Here we are warned not to say anything even in the privacy of our own rooms against such people. Be full of respect. Again I recall my won lack as a youngster. I wrote a letter to my minister complaining about fellow members. He reminded me it is Christ's church.
• Cultivate an enterprising approach.
• Be enterprising despite your ignorance. 6:1, 2 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. This verse makes you think of throwing bread on a pond for ducks, perhaps. You may think of doling out portions to people around a table. It is much more likely that we are thinking of trading ships here, something Solomon knew all about. Whatever we do we must enter into with an enterprising attitude. A certain amount of risk taking is involved. You knock people’s doors to tell them about Jesus. They may be nasty to you but you will see results eventually it may be. You want to pass on the good news to others. Don’t stick to just one or two. Give to many. Whatever you do, do it with this spirit, a generous open-hearted and hopeful one.
• Do not make providence an excuse for inactivity. 3,4 If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. Think first of a gathering storm. You see the rain clouds gather and then down comes the rain. Then think of a very strong wind. It is so strong it brings down a tree. Where that tree lands it lands. Now if you think to yourself ‘I want to plant my seeds where the trees will not fall’ and so you try and figure out which way one might fall in a storm then you will never get around to sowing. Or if at harvest time you keep looking at the clouds and thinking it’s no good harvesting now as it might rain after I’ve started then you may never get the harvest in! God’s providence must not be made an excuse for inactivity, for not doing anything. If you say we can’t try and plant a church here it might not work, it might never be planted. If you say we may not be able to afford to pay a pastor so we can’t go ahead with trying – you may never get one. It’s no good thinking ‘I won’t speak to him/her they might not be converted’.
• Recognise life’s mystery but still be active in doing good. Verse 5 follows on As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Yes, we are in tremendous ignorance as we have said several times. As competent as weather forecasters are they cannot get it exactly right. We cannot be sure which way the wind will be blowing tomorrow. We now have photographs of babies in the womb and we understand better than ever what happens but we don’t understand it. In a similar way we cannot predict the work of the Spirit or who will be born again when or how. And so Solomon exhorts (6) Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. We have no way of knowing the future. We do not, therefore, simply forget about doing anything. Rather we pray and we witness and we work with all our might at sharing the truth and in everything else we do we work with great fervour knowing that we are entirely in God’s hands. 2 Cor 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.