vanity of vanities, all is vanity

     reading through ecclesiastes, i'm struck by how hopeless it is. obviously, if you look at the title and background of this blog, i think that christianity is largely a path to hope. so why would a book of the bible seem to communicate hopelessness, instead of the amazing hope that the rest of the bible points to?
     i think it's because ecclesiastes isn't about christianity. obviously, being an old testament book, it couldn't be; but what i mean is that it isn't talking about life in the context of faith in god. it's talking about what life is without god -- and that, my friends, is utterly hopeless. it's vain. it's a worthless, pointless, reasonless existence, and nothing matters.
     there are two theories about the writing of the book of ecclesiastes: the first, that it's written in the style of king solomon, and imitating what it might be like if king solomon had written it; and second, that kind solomon wrote it. the biggest evidence for the first theory is that the bible records that solomon became apostate before he supposedly wrote this book. there is reason, however, to believe that there are documents we don't have which might record solomon's repentance and return to faith in god. if this is the case, and the second theory is true, it seems to fit the writing of this book perfectly, and it makes the book meaningful in that the experiences it describes are real and the author really has done what the book says he has done.
     all that said, i subscribe to the second theory, and this entry will be written assuming that king solomon really was the author of ecclesiastes, as tradition affirms. i think the message is most potent given this assumption. so, without further ado, let's jump in.
     the book of ecclesiastes is in large part about the meaninglessness of life. it talks about the futility of endless cycles of processes, like the rivers running to the ocean, yet the ocean never filling; or the sun constantly going around the earth. it talks about the futility of work, and pleasure, and of happiness. it talks about futility of living and dying, and ending up with no more than when you start. yet, in the end, this book leads to a message of hope.
     the vanity of the endless processes is one familiar to everyone. it doesn't just apply to natural cycles; how often do you feel like your life is repetitive and has lost its meaning? i know i too often get settled in a process of doing things that just goes in a cycle, and i end up detached and feeling unsatisfied with things. however, the bible gives us a message of hope, and a cure to break these cycles. it tells us that god's mercy is new with every morning -- it's not the same thing everyday; it's new! god's love and mercy defy the meaningless cycle of life, and give profound purpose to every moment.
     the worthlessness of things like progress, pleasure, and happiness are also apparent. when you look at the world, and see how far humanity has supposed come in the past few millenia, you must inevitably realize that, despite technological advances and improved understanding of things, people's lives are fundamentally unchanged. people have the same problems as they did thousands of years ago, and the modern man is just as discontent with his life as solomon was in old testament times. it's apparent that no true progress has been made; there is nothing new, and nothing worth seeking after. humanity has not discovered for itself a solution to feeling discontent and purposeless. again, the gospel intervenes with a message of hope. god has offered the world a gift that transcends the shallow problems of the world. he has offered us eternal life, true fulfillment, purpose, joy, and hope!
     yet again, ecclesiastes confronts us with more meaninglessness. solomon reaches the final, inescapable truth that everyone will die. you're born, you live, and you die. regardless of how your short, hopeless life goes, it gets erased in an instant. every conqueror of men is conquered by this ultimate conquerer of men, death. it is inescapable, unavoidable, and utterly final. it's not a fun thing to think about when you see that it's hopeless. but yet again, as solomon offers us more meaninglessness, god offers us meaning. christ has conquered the grave -- conquered death -- conquered the ultimate conquerer itself! through him, death is no longer a hopeless fate, but a glorious step into the next great adventure -- the true great adventure. we no longer turn no profit from our lives; rather, the things we do have eternal consequence, and therefore have eternal meaning!
     in the end, eccelsiastes offers a very brief response to the problem of meaninglessness. the solution? fear and obey god. solomon gives us a reason, too: it is so that we might be rewarded when god brings judgement to the acts of men! without god, there is no meaning; but in christ, we have purpose, meaning, and hope!

Blessed are the Sick, for They Shall Seek a Healer

     Ok, so that's not exactly one of the beatitudes, but I thought it would be a good phrase to jump this entry off. I’ve been looking around me and seeing a lot of Christians who are doing very well. Everyone’s life seems to be fine, nobody has any real problems, and we all seem amazingly content with the state of things. This, I think, is a serious problem.
     You see, the people around me (heck, even me!) don't look sick, and nobody is anything like broken. Some people might just think we've somehow mastered living properly and learned how to not make any serious mistakes. I have another perspective, though. As one of these people who don't appear sick, I’m pretty sure everyone is just ignoring their symptoms.
     As a Christian, I know perfectly well that everyone sins, and that everyone is poisoned by the sinful flesh they live in. if this is the case, we're all sick -- so why don't we look sick? Perhaps we've merely forgotten to see the symptoms. Our sickness is so common, we hardly notice it. We know there's no real cure except death and glorification, so why continue to take notice of sin? It seems old fashioned to live a life of penitent confession. It seems depressing, don't you think? Wouldn’t you much rather just focus on the joy, and peace, and love that Christ brought us? Who cares about sin when you've got Jesus?
     I think that, while focusing only on the happier aspects of life in Christ may be a reasonable, attractive, and even honest approach, it lacks some degree of reality. Sin is still just as real and just as serious for saved people as it is for unsaved people -- and it should be treated accordingly. I was listening to Derek Webb’s podcast recently, and Derek was talking about music. He said that Christian music often talks all about the happy, joyful things about being a follower of Christ, but leaves out the difficulty and hardships. He says that it's only a half-truth, and that a half-truth is just as good as a lie. Half-truths are misleading, and have the same effects as lies would.
     There’s another reason we as Christians should look seriously at our sins: it's that people don't like self-righteous people. People can't relate to people that look like they're perfect. What kind of witness are you to people who know they're fallen and broken if you don't look anything like them? In my experience, people listen to people who are like them. They don't listen to the advice of people who have never been where they are. A self-righteous person doesn't seem like the kind of person who could possibly understand what the broken person is going through, so whatever solution they offer will likely be disregarded.
On the other hand, someone who really sees their sin for what it is -- a terrible offense against the Almighty, worthy of eternal damnation -- will be a more humble person, and the kind of person that real people can relate to. We’ll be able to level with people completely, because we know that we're in the same boat as they are without Christ’s propitiation.
     Have you ever noticed how salespeople aren't always the most likeable people? You know they're just there to sell you something and tally up their earnings. They’re professionals who were hired to sell you a product, and consequently, they might have a hard time being convincing. This is how a lot of people see Christian evangelists -- as salespeople for Jesus. They see us as some brainwashed hypocrites reading a script, and it doesn't seem to them that we really care about the product. Sometimes, Christians just want to make a sale, and that's how they act.
     Now, have you ever had a friend tell you about some product they used (not that I advocate the treatment of god's gift of salvation as a "product" -- this illustration shouldn't be over-applied)? They’re not on the payroll of general mills; they're just telling you about the cereal they really liked. They’re not being coerced to tell you where to get cheap clothes; they're telling you because they discovered this great outlet mall when they had trouble paying for clothes like you do. They’re telling you about this Jesus character because they know what it's like to be guilty, drowning in your sin -- they're not trying to sell a product; they're trying to offer a solution that works!
     Last but not least, I’d like to point out the reality of the law. God gave the law to people for a specific reason: so they'd know what they're supposed to do, and what they're not supposed to do -- and then that they'd realize how totally screwed up they are. Realizing the state we're in ought to motivate us to seek god. If we were ok people who could make it through life just fine on our own, we wouldn't need saving. However, if we see ourselves as hopeless on our own -- which we are -- we'll be compelled to seek the cure for the disease that consumes our hearts.
     If you don't realize how horribly evil you are, how can you understand how much you've been forgiven? If you don't think you're sick, you'll never appreciate what the medicine does for you. I used to take medication for depression, and after taking the medication for a while I started to think I didn't need it anymore. I was doing fine, so i might as well not take it. See, I didn't think I was sick anymore, so I didn't think I needed medicine anymore -- that's a problem!
     In reality, our sickness is never quite healed -- not in this life, anyway. So if we ever feel as if we're healed, we're obviously not seeing things properly. Indeed, having been ultimately saved from our disease often causes us to forget we have a disease at all, but we must remember that without the cure -- without Christ -- we're hopeless and as good as dead already. We cannot let ourselves be lulled into a false sense of wellness!
     I suppose I'd like to conclude this with a sort of phrase of summary: if you don't constantly understand the extent and severity of your sin, you surely won't begin understand the extent and severity of God's grace! It is for this reason, then, that we must see our sin: that we might be better worshippers of our heavenly Father!