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Three things to consider in this study
(1) How can Ecclesiastes teach us concerning our
witness to unbelievers and pagans? (2) Keep a Creation Worldview in mind (we will be reminded of this later
in the study). (3) Know that Hebrew “wisdom” is learning
discernment and these things tonight are not “dogmatic
assertions” but observations to consider, “things to think
about” concerning our lives. (4) Think about how the Book of
Ecclesiastes can help us to better interpret the arts in our culture,
particularly film.
We
have all followed too close to someone in the car in front of us only to
get close enough to examine the driver’s “life
philosophy” if you will. You
know the philosophical bumper stickers that read: “He who dies with
the most toys wins” or “Life stinks” (sometimes
articulated in a foul or explicit way but you get the picture). Or there is: “Hang in there
it’s almost Friday” or “I owe, I owe, so its off to work
I go” or “Work or live hard…then die.”
There are trained
philosophers in their field who search out and teach philosophy from Heraclitus to Sartre, but what we should consider is
that although we may not get paid for it, we are all philosophers.
Philosophy is literally “the love of wisdom” but in our
day and language it can also mean a “life philosophy”, or the
world-view of a person.
We are all philosophers in this
sense. That is, we all are
interpreters of this life, of reality, and we are “making
sense” of things by interpreting life through our “life
philosophy”. Now everyone has
a “life philosophy” or a perspective on the world, problem is,
we do not always realize it.
All human beings perceive and
interpret life from a particular perspective, examining the nitty-gritty
details of life, asking such questions as “Why am I here?” or
“What is my purpose?”
This is all part of being truly human, that is, created in the image
of God. Now some deny that they are
philosophers and they deny that they are looking for answers to
life’s difficulties and complexities, but we should know better. As those created in God’s image, we
have an interest in understand who we are and why we are here!
There is in our Bible an inspired book of such
observations, questions and perceptions on what seems to be reality under
the sun. Herman Melville the author
of the 19th century who wrote Moby Dick and admittedly hated God and the Presbyterian
theology of his youth, said it was his favorite book of the Bible! The Book is Ecclesiastes. The
Book of Ecclesiastes is part of the genre
or type of literature in the OT called “Wisdom literature”
(along with Job and Proverbs and certain Psalms).
What is Wisdom
Literature? Simply put: Wisdom Literature, or more
particularly the Book of Ecclesiastes
is not merely a collection of dogmatic-theological truths like in a
systematic theology. Rather, they
are inspired observations about life in light of the knowledge one has under the sun.
In contrast to knowledge that one can gain from say
reading an informative book, wisdom is obtained throughout life. You can never gain wisdom by merely
obtaining a “liberal arts” degree, or seminary education- - it
takes time and God’s grace to develop (see Proverbs chapters
1-9)!
Metaphorically, wisdom Literature, or more particularly
the Book of Ecclesiastes’ teaching, is a Tree of Life, planted in the
good soil of the knowledge God reveals to man here in creation. This Tree
grows through experiences and observations during our lives and this brings
wisdom and discernment! It teaches
us how to live.
Wisdom is achieved over time and progressively grows
like the tree planted next to the water in Psalm 1:3: He shall be like a tree Planted
by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose
leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
Wisdom literature is concerned about life under the sun, or every aspect of our life experience that
calls for an interpretation by our life philosophy.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes,
the main character is “The Preacher” or the one some call Qoheleth, and
some identify as King Solomon (Qoheleth is
the Hebrew word translated “teacher”). The author Qoheleth
begins his book with the sentence:
“Vanity
of vanities! All is vanity
The Hebrew word hevel translated above as
“vanity” can be translated as “futile” or
“meaninglessness” as well.
Is this true? Is all of life
merely hebel (vanity, futile,
meaninglessness)? Well, the Book of
Ecclesiastes is an inspired book, so what do we as Christians, people of
the truth, what do we do with a book that makes such claims?
We as Christians can learn a true and real
perspective of living the Christian life from the Book of
Ecclesiastes. The author paints a real
portrait of the world created by God and what the world at times
“seems” to those who are not afraid to take a look.
Qoheleth speaks of labor and work, knowledge and wisdom, riches and
possessions, injustice and oppression, the righteous and the wicked, and
the times and seasons of life and death; he just about covers everything we
experience here in this life “under the sun”.
From one perspective, we must agree that
“under the sun” it does seem like the wicked and unrighteous
truly do get far ahead success-wise in this world contrasted with the
righteous. Also, hard work does not
always seem to pay off and we gather in our barns, feed our flock on the
farm, pay our bills, then we die. It
seems in this real life that even our best efforts for Christ are not
appreciated and go unnoticed.
As the author of Ecclesiastes says in
places, he says that it seems that the righteous and the unrighteous differ
little in the things they experience: debt, troubles, war, difficulties,
sufferings, then death. What are we
to make of this?
Anyone who has lived the
Christian life for more than 24 hours is bound to agree with some of what
he says. Sometimes we throw up our
own hands and say: “Meaningless, meaningless” or “Vanity
of vanities, all is vanity!”
We know Christians who have Christian bumper stickers on their cars,
they are proud of their Christianity which is not so bad unless you
consider they could be making the death of Christ a bit common and mundane,
a slice of popular culture as some critics would say.
What if on Sunday morning, I
turned into the church parking lot with my own “Christian bumper
sticker” and suppose you got close enough to read and it said:
“Meaningless, Meaningless, all is meaningless” or “Vanity
of vanities, all is vanity.” It is a scriptural passage, would
you like my new bumper sticker?
Perhaps other titles for the
Book of Ecclesiastes could be “The Book for those Who Suffer and Do
Not understand” or “The Book for the Discouraged” or
“The Book for those Whose Faith is Weak” or “Those who
forget the Sovereignty and Providence of God in this Life” or
“Those who suppress the truth and exchange the truth of God’s
redemption for a lie”! If we
identify with what Qoheleth says in this book, we
ought not to be ashamed.
Rather than the Book of
Ecclesiastes being a book we read “now and then” at best, or at
worst, not all all, perhaps we should consider
the true perspective the writer is given in the midst of his articulations
and proverbs about real life. For
ultimately this book, far from being a mere pessimistic perspective is how
all of us think when we lose our focus on the God who is sovereign over
every detail of our lives. In fact,
if we are very honest with ourselves we would probably identity with the
observations that the author makes more than we would be comfortable to
admit.
Thus, I suppose, one of the
reasons for the book in the Christian canon. Indeed, all is meaninglessness, or
vanity, if there is not a Sovereign, Almighty God who has rescued us from
the dominion of darkness.
Redemption begins with our
union with Christ, our regeneration and our being united with Christ in his
life, death, resurrection and ascension, but this conformity to
Christ-likeness is a process that will not be fully completed until glory. So it is nice to know that God in his
wisdom had Qoholeth write these observations so
that we would not “feel alone” in our own musings and
observations about the “downside” of this world.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is a
treasure trove for those who say, “Hey I never bargained for this
when I was born!” This is
indeed a divine treasury of observations that must be faced and meditated
upon like any other portion of Scripture, because it is the Word of God,
part of the “whole counsel” that he has graciously given to
us.
Do you ever wonder about
yourself in this world? Do you ever
wonder why the unrighteous prosper and you suffer? Do you ever wonder why there is war and
suffering if Christ has overcome and has already brought peace by His
Spirit? How can Satan be defeated as
Scripture teaches, yet still seek to devour and destroy?
How do we understand the
overlap between the present age (which is passing away) and the Age to Come
(that has already arrived with Christ’s Kingdom through the Spirit)? Do you ever wonder why others receive
honor and your lot is shame? Be
honest now, remember this is an inspired book of the canon and we must be
“brave” enough to face the reflections unashamed!
You see, in
Redemptive-history, in the midst of our own personal history, there are
things we just do not like to think about.
This is one reason why some well-meaning Christians try to
“escape” this world, whether through monasteries,
selfish-individualism, or to be overly expectant concerning Christ’s
return? There are questions that we
ask ourselves, and we are asked by our unbelieving friends, concerning the
reality of death, the so-called problem of evil, the question that comes up
concerning the “foreign tribesman” who has, or possibly never
will hear the gospel of Christ and we are called upon to
“testify”- - to give an
answer to why this must be so- -that
is, if our God truly exists.
Have you ever been in a
conversation with a non-Christian friend, sometimes educated, sometimes
not, and you find yourself in desperation trying to find the right answers
that will satisfy their thoughtful inquiries? You know, all the Scripture you thought
you had memorized seems to disappear when this formidable foe makes his confession. You begin to shake a little and your
mouth goes dry and you cannot for the life of yourself understand why a
professional philosopher and apologist cannot just appear out of thin air
and come to your aid!
Or you might wonder why the
Holy Spirit is not doing his job and bringing to your remembrance exactly
what you ought to say (or what you think you ought to say). What if you told your unbelieving friend
just once, that such questions concerning reality have already been
observed, such questions are very observant and even insightful of them and
they should read the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Let me ask you to consider a
pointed question. When is the last
time you tried to make friends with an unbeliever, not merely to witness to
them (that’s good), but to befriend them in spite of all the
differences in belief, just because they are made in God’s
image? Think about it.
In the midst of the radical
1960s in America,
there was a group called the Byrds who recorded a
song based on chapter three of Ecclesiastes…
“In
everything turn, turn, turn…”
You know it, it’s found
in chapter 3, verses 1-8. Well, what
attracted them to this book, particularly this poem of contrast found in
the third chapter? The Byrds, as human beings, were interested in
communicating the contrast between hate and love, war and peace, birth and
death, mourning and dancing, killing and healing, silence and speaking,
etc. It seems to me that these pop
musicians along with the other millions that bought this disc could identify
with the words of this book, particularly when our world seemed turned
upside down!
I once said that if there was
one “worldly” philosophy I would buy into (this was before I
was Christian), it was Jean Paul Sartre’s meaninglessness (sometimes
known as nihilism meaning
literally “nothingness” (Read The Plague by Sartre and you will see what I mean. If you do not have time to read, then
rent Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange for a brilliant, visual portrayal of
nihilism or meaninglessness…be warned of this movie for the weak at
heart)!
I always said before I
was a Christian concerning Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism, If
you want to play fairly in the game of philosophy, then at least be
logical. If there is no God, no
salvation, and this fleeting life like a vapor, a mist, a wind, is all
there is, then give me a pistol so that I can remove myself from the
pain…many feel this way!
All seems
meaninglessness if we all were honest enough to admit it. In reality, there should be no optimism
about society or anything in this world if there is no Sovereign,
transcendent, Almighty God who is control of the least molecule and the
greatest mass of space known to us as the heavens!
So philosophers of the world
do not stand a chance against reality, thus the reasons for their elusive
and manufactured idols of their own making which are the product of the
idol factories in their fallen hearts.
For these with false idols, there is really no hope no matter how
hard they try to escape death, it will get them even if they live the
happiest, most prosperous life known to man. Thus as Christians, the reason the
Apostle Peter counsels us to “Always be ready to give an answer to
the hope that lies within us, but with gentleness and respect.”
The hope, the true and only
hope regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what shame we may
experience or the lack of outward glory that we may achieve in this world
is ultimately found in redemption.
So perhaps we could say that the
Book of Ecclesiastes sets our perspective in much the same way. Under the sun, at times everything does
seem like vanity and meaninglessness.
Would this book not communicate to our current culture in a more
subtle and powerful way if they saw Christians not as Stoics resurrected in
the 21st century, or hyper-spiritual fanatics that never seem to
be walking with both feet firmly planted on the ground? Do you not hear what they are saying in
their music and films today? Or have
you told them all to “keep a stiff upper lip”, or perhaps you
have just disregarded their cries altogether claiming the music as
“worldly” and therefore you do not even know of the music or
films that I am speaking about!
Apologetics
and witnessing to the reality of our Great God and Savior’s existence
can be done without all the pretentious and cloaked unrighteousness of our
own self-righteousness and so-called piety.
Our witness can help those to
whom we are called to serve and proclaim the good news of Christ in the
world, whether in the home, marketplace, business, the military, or the
classroom.
The
path of wisdom and the narrow road is not a highway that is escalated above
reality, but it is a path following Christ in the real world.
We must learn to engage our
culture in realistic dialogue as Christians, not being embarrassed about
the realities of pain and suffering that our God allows (yes, I said
“allows”) in his world, but allowing the truth we profess to be
considered honestly by those inquiring.
So, perhaps by the grace of God, these might understand that any
hope without Christ is no hope at all.
We ought to engage our
friends and those to whom we act as lights in the world by showing them
that their own positions, whatever philosophy, are inconsistent and illogical,
even inconceivable just because they are living in our God’s world.
Contrary to some beliefs, there are not two worlds, but rather one
world, created good by God…one world even being renewed in Christ and
therefore we can be confident that those who oppose us are not being
consistent and we can show them the better and more consistent way.
If Christians would just get
over their shyness and fear of somehow being swallowed up by the evil in
the world and begin to realize that Christ not only is ruler of our sinful
hearts but also of all of his fallen creation, then we could walk upon the
path of righteousness before us with a true and biblical philosophy that
would not seem conjured up and artificial to our non-believing friends. Our witness to the sinful and
disillusioned philosophers in this world, whatever their age, would have
more substance and meaning than the plastic fishes we have stuck on the
back of our cars!
The reason why all is not
meaninglessness and vanity is what the author of Ecclesiastes points us
toward at the end of his book of observations and proverbs. Christ has overcome sin and death on our
behalf and called us to be real people in a real world, not becoming
tainted by the unbelievers, not seeing the unbelievers as enemies (you
know, the “us and them” conflict that some well-meaning
Christians fall into), but looking to them as they are- - those created in
the image of our Creator God.
As well as those who need to
know of the Sovereign God who rules his creation providentially for the
good of those who love Christ. This
is why the Apostle Paul can charge the Corinthians in 1 Cor.
15, the chapter on the resurrection, that all is not vain in this world just because Christ has been raised
from death and overcome sin and the devil.
He says:
“Stand
firm; let nothing move you. Always
give yourselves to the work of the Lord for you know that your labor in the
Lord is not in vain”.
Our labor, our labor of love and light
because Christ has empowered us as witnesses and promised he would never
leave us nor forsake us, our labor is never
in vain! Our labor in Christ is
not hebel! This is good news! Even the Apostle Paul’s heritage as
a Jew before seeing the resurrected Christ was hebel. Listen to his remarks in Philippians
chapter 3. It seems as if he might
have recently been reading the Book of Ecclesiastes:
3 For
we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have
confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in
the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for
Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them as rubbish [dung, skubala- -refuse, he counted them as
“nothing”], that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not
having my own righteousness, which is
from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead.
I encourage you who are
mature to take a view of such things as these. I encourage you to pick up a recent
magazine that your unbelieving friend reads without being scared to become
“contaminated” by it. I
encourage you to see a good film and read a recent novel that is being
cherished by the unbelieving world so that you might consider the
philosophy being taught in it.
Remember, as Paul teaches us
in Romans 1, it is not that the unbelievers’ idols and philosophy are
real in the sense of being true, but the truth is suppressed by them
because as fallen men they do not like the knowledge of God that surrounds
them in the creation and within them as those created in his image.
We must recover a true
doctrine of the creation as well as have a doctrine of redemption, for it
is in the realm of creation that redemption occurs, they are not in
conflict one with the other.
If we
begin with the Book of Ecclesiastes perhaps we can be so spiritually minded
and REAL that we can be a world of earthly good.
Our hope as well as all those
to whom God has called us to witness is in the Sovereign God who sent Jesus
Christ and paid the penalty for our sins, propitiated God’s wrath and
reconciled us to God. We are redeemed
because of Christ, and we are being redeemed and renewed in his image, but
we are not wholly there yet! But no
one- - nothing (including culture and the ways of this world), can snatch
us out of his hand, nor separate us from the love of God in Christ! We who are mature, let us take a true
view of these things so as to be more effective in the way God has called
us to live. Let us be sanctified,
but mediocre, that is, let us be
balanced!
We are sinners who have been
redeemed, but are being redeemed from the sins with which we truly
struggle. May the Lord make us real,
so that what the world sees in the church as synthetic and unrealistic may
call them as well out of darkness and into His marvelous light! Remember, we who make up the church if we
are not doing all of our labors unto the Lord just because we want to “glorify God and enjoy him
forever,” our service is also hebel. This is
where the ecclesiastical “rubber” meets the road of serving
Christ.
This means, if you are doing
your work for God to “please him”- -be careful, it is Christ
who ultimately “pleased him” and you have been created in
Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared beforehand for you to
do! The labors of Christ on our behalf
are the only labors for God that are not hebel!
All is indeed hebel or
meaninglessness if we are not serving Christ by the power of his spirit in
gratitude for our salvation in response to his great love for us, even our
service “for Christ” is in vain if we are doing it in order to
earn something; if we are serving Christ in order to “get on his good
side,” or to “achieve or merit salvation,” or even to
look more religious than others in, or outside the church, and not ultimately for God’s glory, we
too are living a hebel-ous,
or meaningless, or vain, or fleeting existence…even in the church.
Perhaps the next time we are considering
ourselves as better than the “sinners in the world” we will not
only remember our Lord’s parable about the Pharisee and the
tax-collector, but we will remember the last words of Ecclesiastes- - the
hope for all who believe: “The conclusion, when all has been heard,
is: fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every
person. For God will bring every act
to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether good or evil.”
The next time you’re tempted to turn
the other way or act self-righteously, hyper-spiritual, or unsympathetic to
the sinner lost in a world that is meaningless, serving gods who are not
truly gods, may your remember to “beat your breast” and say to
God: “Have mercy on me, a sinner” for this is the one who will
“go down” justified.
Perhaps you will escape the scathing rebuke of our Lord to the
Pharisee who said: “I thank you God that I am not like this man, I do
this and that for you Lord…”
May you pray for compassion and practice
compassion and love toward those whose only hope “under the
sun” is fleeting and after hard work and toil, their end is
death. One word of warning however,
if you “eat and drink with sinners,” you may be called a glutton
and a drunkard “under the sun”, but then you are in good
company!
I.
WORD must remain sovereign and rule over
IMAGE. IMAGE is to be interpreted by
WORD.
a. Neil
Postman
b. Jacques
Ellul
c. Daniel
Boorstin
II.
Image should be understood as the dominant conversation
today and therefore the Christian has a responsibility to try and
understand the “language” of film (“cinematax”)
as well as the interpretation of the conversation in an effort to bring the
gospel to minds that are not full of WORD, but instructed primarily by
IMAGE.
a. Acts
17- Apostle Paul brings WORD to interpret IMAGE, but
starts with the IMAGE (and by implication the conversation about the IMAGE)
to bring the WORD of truth to bear.
III.
Philippians 4:8-
Finally, brothers, whatever
is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
TRUTH is revealed in all
it’s “ugliness” and Non-redeemed-ness in the Bible
(Genesis 37-50; Judges 18-20).
a. Film
can reveal REALITY, but shouldn’t necessarily be sought to reveal
TRUTH. In other words, how a film
communicates reality is a good question, how a film communicates truth
might be a wrong question.
IV.
A Christian perspective and criticism of the
arts and film is to go beyond asking merely if it had violence, sex, and
foul language (why don’t we ever judge films on materialism and
individualism?). In fact, the Bible
reveals the REALITY of violence, sex and foul language (at least blasphemy
the worst of the foul languages!).
V.
Rather, we should have a REALISTIC worldview
from the Book of Ecclesiastes. An
understanding of the way things truly are
and an understanding by God’s grace of how things will one day be!
a. As
one writer put it: “Things are NOT the way they are supposed to
be!”
b. Culture
and criticism of what is created by man is part of our common human pursuit
as those made in God’s image (that means we are to rule out drastic
dichotomies between secular and sacred).
c. Is
this a Christian artist-director?
Wrong question- -they are Human
artist-directors who is taking a REAL VIEW or UNREALISTIC VIEW of
REALITY and observing “Life under the sun”.
Ecclesiastes as a book to assist Christians
in film criticism- Life under the sun: materialistic, selfish, unfair,
violent, oppressed, wasted time, boredom, greed, etc.
CRB
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