A Better Than Life
A Better Than Life
Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14
Over the last several months, leaders all over the nation have been faced with very difficult decisions. The decisions have been so challenging because the opinions have been so diverse. The opinions are not only diverse but the convictions of those opinions are strong. Leaders are having to decide which is better between two divisive options. Gathering is better than not gathering. Physical health better than financial health. No masks is better than wearing masks. Speaking out is better than not speaking out. Working from home is better than being in the office. The risk of opening the economy is better than millions of people out of work. Leaders are called to make decisions on whether option A is better the option B while the convictions for Option A and Option B are held strongly by both camps. Is option A better than option B or is option B better than option A? Or is option C better than option A and B? One expert lays out the wisdom for option A while another expert pleads for option B.
2020 has been a tough year. Most of us would say life in 2019 is better than 2020. Life before Covid19 is better than life after Covid19. And yet, if we look beyond this moment, this trial, this season of challenge, we may miss what God wants to teach us. Ecclesiastes has tried to show us again and again that God is the one who determines the times and the seasons of our lives. He is in control. Life for us under the sun is vanity or hevel. It is an enigmatic. It is ephemeral. We cannot fully grasp what happens and why it happens as it does. Ecclesiastes shows us our humanity. Life is a breath. We live, we die and we are forgotten. And in the midst of the day of adversity, Solomon offers wisdom for us to live a better than life. It may surprise us in what Solomon offers as “better than” for us but I pray we consider his words so our lives would reflect more of God’s wisdom.
The Wisdom of God is Better than All (Ecc. 6:10-12)
Repetition is the mother of learning. A good communicator repeats what he wants to be remembered. Ecclesiastes 6:10-12 is either the end of the first half of the book or the beginning of the second half of the book and right in the middle Solomon wants us to remember how fleeting man’s life is and how God is over it all.
[10] Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. [11] The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? [12] For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:10–12)
We are timebound beings. We exist in a particular point of history. The Preacher reminds us that whatever has come or whatever is happening now, has already been named, or has already been determined by God in the past. We are reminded of Ephesians 1:4 that God, “chose us in him before the foundation of world.” God has set the course of our days. We are not able to contend with him because he is stronger than us.
Solomon wants to remind us of our smallness. We are limited in our wisdom. We are limited in our knowledge. Verse 12, “For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” We do not know what will happen to us in life or what will come after us. Only God knows. There are times we may think that we understand what is happening until something happens that disrupts our life. A car accident, a cancer diagnosis, a secret disclosed, all reveal we do not really know what is coming for us and what tomorrow will bring. God’s wisdom is better than all. We must learn to trust him regardless of what comes for only he knows what will come and only he knows how it will end and only he knows its ultimate purpose. God’s wisdom is better than all.
The Wisdom of Death is Better than Laughter (Ecc. 7:1-4)
As we read Chapter 7, it will sound more like the book of Proverbs than anywhere else in the book. Ecclesiastes 7:1–4,
[1] A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.
[2] It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
[3] Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
[4] The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
When a child is born there is so many possibilities for their future, but nothing can really be said about the kind of person they are. Who knows if a child will have a good name at birth? Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” It takes a lifetime to build a good name and a moment to ruin it.
Funerals are instructive. America is a nation of luxury, opulence, pleasure and revelry. We are a nation driven by entertainment. So much of the recent American experience is designed to make us forget or escape. Naturally we would rather be at a birthday party or a wedding than a funeral. And yet, funerals teach us and have the potential to shape us more than laughter. Laughter may be good medicine but does not have the transformative power of reflection. When we have to face death and sorrow, it crystalizes what is of true importance in life. Verse 2 says, “the living will lay it to heart,” and verse 3, “by sadness of face the heart is made glad.” We want to avoid facing death at all costs, but it is only in facing our mortality than we will choose a better than life. God’s ways are better than the world’s ways. When we remember that one day we will all die and have to answer to God for what is done in life, good or evil, then we realize that a good name is better than riches. What do you want said at your funeral? She was fun at parties and loved to dance or she was a woman of compassion and untold generosity.
Could one of the reasons the Lord has allowed Covid19 to devastate our nation be to force us to face death and our own mortality? The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. As Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Do you have a heart of wisdom? Are you ready for death? As David Gibson says, “Ecclesiastes is an invitation to be a person who realizes that living a good life means preparing to die a good death.” The Lord Jesus lived a good life because he was prepared to die a good death. It was his good death on our behalf that should lead us to live a good life with a good name as a reflection of our good God.
The Wisdom of Rebuke is Better than Folly (Ecc. 7:5-7)
Would you rather hear all that you are doing well or areas of growth? No one, naturally, desires to hear rebuke, it is through rebuke we become more like Jesus. Ecclesiastes 7:5–7,
[5] It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
[6] For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
[7] Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
I love campfires with my family. The warm glow and the crackling of the fire is soothing and relaxing. One of the challenges of a campfire is finding good wood to burn so you are not constantly having to get up and put more sticks into the fire. There are certain materials that are good to create a quick burst of flame but terrible to sustain a fire. This is Solomon’s point in verse 6, “For the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.” It burns up quickly and doesn’t last. Laughter and folly may be fine for a momentary escape from life’s worries but they do nothing to transform your character.
It is better to hear a rebuke and grow in righteousness than to rejoice in the praise of fools. This is a repeated theme of Solomon in Proverbs as well,
Proverbs 13:1, “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
Proverbs 17:10, “ A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
Proverbs 27:5, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.”
Proverbs 28:23, “Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.”
When was the last time, you went to a friend and invited a rebuke? It is hard to give rebukes because most people do not want to hear them. And yet, we all need to hear rebukes if we are going to become the people God wants us to be. The goal of the Christian life is to be transformed into the image of the Son. We want our lives to be like Jesus Christ. We should desire to have his patience and joy and gentleness and kindness and compassion and generosity and love. We do not become like Jesus by osmosis. We need sharpening. As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another. We need rebuke to grow.
I am thankful for a conversation I had over the weekend when a member of the church called and asked for prayer and if they were thinking rightly about something. They were inviting me to speak into their life and correct them if they were not in line with Scripture. It is a sign of righteous character to ask for a rebuke. If we want to be a righteous people and a spiritually mature church, we must invite people into our lives not to praise us, but to help refine our character. A godly rebuke is God’s kindness to us. In our day when opinions are so strong, we have to be even more willing to ask people who love us to speak a kind and gentle rebuke if and when we need to hear it. Inviting rebuke trains us in humility which is a mark of godly character. The wisdom of rebuke is better than folly.
The Wisdom of Finishing is Better than Beginning (Ecc 7:8-9)
It is better to be the kind of person who follows through on their tasks than those who start things and never finish. Solomon writes, Ecclesiastes 7:8
[8] Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
It takes patience of spirit to start and complete a task. And it is wisdom not to finally judge until the end. It may be easy to question a construction project halfway through, but it is best to wait to the finished project. Many were condemning Jesus while he hung on the cross, questioning why he could not save himself. And yet Jesus did not come to save himself, but to save the world from their sin. It would be a terrible mistake to judge Jesus on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon when Sunday morning was coming. Beloved, there are too many times we miss what God is doing in our lives because we are not patient in allowing God to work out his plans in our lives. It is better to be patient in spirit than proud in spirit.
A proud spirit often shows itself in anger. Anger does not produce the righteous life that God requires. Solomon challenges his readers that patience is better than anger. Ecclesiastes 7:9
[9] Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
Do you really want to be known as an angry person? An angry person is a fool. How can you train your heart to overcome your anger? According to Solomon, he would encourage you to face your frustrations with life by thinking about death. One day you will die and what will your name mean? In death, do you want people to speak of your anger or your patience?
The world is angry. We should be angry at injustice and sin, but we should not be angry people. We should trust that God will work out all things for his good purposes in our lives and in the lives of others. God knows the end of the story and he is asking us to trust him. Joseph didn’t remain in prison but saved his family from the famine as Pharaoh’s second in command. David didn’t remain in the caves but led Israel to become a great nation. Jesus didn’t remain in the tomb, but defeated death and freed us from the fear of death making a way for eternal life. Beloved, do not let your anger blind you from what God is doing and will do in and through you.
The Wisdom of Today is Better than Yesterday (Ecc 7:10-12)
Nostalgia is dangerous in denying God’s presence today. In recent days, how often have you heard statements like, “Things have never been this bad.” “I wish we could go back to the way things use to be.” “I am sure glad I don’t have to raise kids in this world today.” “Why were the former days better than these?” When we look back to the “way things used to be,” we are often choosing to deny wrestling with what is happening in the present. God brought these circumstances at a particular time for a particular reason. We cannot escape to our nostalgia but trust God’s sovereignty and his providence today.
God never makes mistakes. His timing is always perfect. God is not absent. Regardless of what we feel, we have to believe that God is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has promised to be with us…always. Do not deny God’s presence today. He is working. God wants us to live to today and THAT DAY. We cannot live in the past but press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. There is no such thing as past or future obedience. We obey and trust God today as we long for the final day when we will receive our reward. Ecclesiastes 7:11–12,
[11] Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.
[12] For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
There is value in wisdom. It is an advantage for us today as we prepare for that day. Are we ready for that final day?
The Wisdom of God is Better than All (Ecc 7:13-14)
All of Ecclesiastes is meant to help us consider God and his work in the world. We will never fully understand our lives but we must always look to what God wants to teach us today. Ecclesiastes 7:13–14,
[13] Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
[14] In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Prosperity and adversity. We will face both in our lives. When the Lord gives us prosperity, we should be joyful. And when the Lord gives us adversity, we should consider what he wants to teach us. Adversity and prosperity both come from the hand of God. We do not know why the Lord orders the times and seasons as he does and yet he does it all for his good purposes. He works all things together for the good, for those who are called according to his purposes.
If you are a not follower of Jesus, have you ever considered death? Have you ever considered what will happen when you die? Have you considered that God has ordained you to be here today to make consider life and death and adversity? Maybe the circumstances in your life today have been designed by a good God to lead you to this place so you would find true joy and peace. Friend, the Bible is clear. All will die, because all have sinned. Sin separates us from God and places us under condemnation. God promised after the fall that he was going to send a Redeemer into the world to rescue us from our sin. God sent Jesus Christ, his son, our Redeemer, into the world to save us. Jesus was born as a man and lived a perfect life before God and man. He lived without sin. Jesus laid down his innocent life on the cross paying for sins of all who would repent and trust in him. He was raised on the third day conquering the grave offering living eternal hope to all who would consider God and humble themselves before him and serving him as Lord and Savior. Friend, have you considered God? Have you considered your sin? Have you asked yourself what does God want to teach you with everything going on in your life and the word? Oh, friend, consider God. Consider Jesus Christ who died and was raised to give you hope. Do not leave today without truly considering Jesus Christ.
Beloved, we always live in under of the gospel. We never move out of its shade. Jesus died for us and was raised for us. He has proven himself trustworthy again and again in our lives. We may be living in the day of adversity. We may be experiencing intense trials, but we know that God is working and moving for our good. We don’t live in the shadow of Good Friday, but in the light of that Resurrection morning. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is our hope. It is our promise that all will be well. God will bring all things to a good conclusion for his people. God gives prosperity and God gives adversity. We will never understand why he does either, but we rest that he knows best and can be trusted.
In our day, it can be hard to know if option A is better than option B, but according to the Holy Scripture, God’s wisdom is better than all. God is always option A and is better than all.