Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Luke 2:22-38

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a famous experiment that has come to be known as “The Marshmallow Test.” Groups of 4-years olds were given a marshmallow and told that if they waited 20 minutes before eating it, they would receive another. If they ate it, they would not get any more marshmallows.

Some kids could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (as determined by surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on the SATs. I imagine if this were to be given today, the child would pull their phone out of their pocket and order a bag of marshmallows through UberEats (but that’s a different discussion). 

How would you have done on the marshmallow test? Are you willing to wait or do you want your marshmallow right now? I’m pretty sure I would have been sent home for not only eating my marshmallow, but taking the other kids’ marshmallows as well. I’m not really good at waiting for anything (getting better). It seems as the Christmas season approaches, I have a heightened sense of the chaos and thus I must labor for patience. All my years in retail and restaurants have helped me a little. When I have to stand in line at the busy store I feel the craziness of the world and that makes this season difficult at times. Waiting can be very stressful for me—even waiting for Christmas. How are you at waiting for Christmas? Or for peace? For joy? For quiet? I think this helps us think about our song today and the man who proclaimed it.

Simeon is a relatively obscure character in the Christmas story. The Bible says that Simeon was a righteous and devout man. He has some things to teach us about waiting, as he had been waiting for something important for a long, long time. Although he was very old, he hung in there for one reason: he believed the word that God had told him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ—the Messiah of Israel! It was a dark time in Israel. There had been no new revelation from God through his prophets in over 400 years. Not exactly the context for optimism, apart from the Holy Spirit. But although Simeon’s body was failing, his faith grew stronger, because the hope that was in him was greater than the hopelessness around him. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Simeon watched and waited. He must have known the prophecies—known what to look for OR he simply trusted the word that came from God, trusted God. I imagine he would go to the temple whenever couples brought their sons to be dedicated, and he would pray: “Is it this one, Lord? Is it that one?” He was waiting for Christmas every day, for years. In a sense – he experienced winter without Christmas for a long time.

The main takeaway is that this passage teaches us that faithful, obedient waiting is not wasted time but holy ground. God forms His people and fulfills His promises in the long, quiet spaces of patience. At Christmas we remember that God always keeps His word in His time, and the arrival of Jesus is the proof that our waiting in hope is never in vain. The main takeaway therefore is to become a people who wait well, anchored in God’s promises, obedient to His Word, and attentive to His Spirit, so that our worship, witness, and hope shine brightly in a hurried and impatient world.

Before we are introduced to Simeon, we learn that Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the temple in accordance with the Law. Remember, Mary and Joseph are Jewish and are faithful in obedience to the Law.

Since Luke is writing primarily to a Gentile audience, you will notice in verses 22-24 that he includes some clarifying details to explain what is happening and why. Luke brings in Leviticus 12 which is the Law of God that Mary and Joseph are obeying in this moment. In our churches today we may associate this presentation with the dedication of children. This may be the closest thing we can relate to concerning this event, but what is happening in this text is more involved than our traditional baby dedication here at Grace Church.

Here is a quick synopsis of Leviticus 12. The Law stated that parents were to present their child to the Lord. This presentation was to be after the mother’s purification, which would be seven days after birth. On the eight day the child would be circumcised and named. Luke tells us this in verse 21. According to the Law, following the eighth day she was to continue for thirty-three more days before she could enter the Temple or anything holy. The parents were to bring a lamb or two turtle doves or two young pigeons if they cannot afford a lamb. One sacrifice was a burnt offering and the other sacrifice was a sin offering that the priest would make in atonement for the mother. This presentation in the temple is forty-one days following the birth of Jesus.

Why is this significant? The Apostle Paul said this to the Galatians about Jesus’ birth: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, ESV). Paul tells us specifically that Jesus was born under the Law, meaning that his life on earth was bound to the details of the Law. For example, every year Jesus and his disciples would celebrate Passover in Jerusalem as prescribed by the Law. But also, Jesus will redeem those under the Law by ratifying the New Covenant through his blood, so we can be adopted as sons. Mary and Joseph are simply obeying the Law in this moment.

Interesting the note that Luke gives us: Think back to the Law.A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons: Leviticus 12 commands that at the birth of a son a lamb be offered as part of the purification and dedication ceremony. Yet it allowed for two birds to be offered if the family could not afford to present a lamb. The offering of the two pigeons instead of the lamb and the pigeon was technically called The Offering of the Poor…we see that it was into an ordinary home that Jesus was born. Isaiah 53: “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.” This also suggests that this all happened before the wise men came from the east (Matthew 2:1-12). Mary and Joseph would not have returned to Jerusalem after being warned by the angel (Matthew 2:13), and they would not have offered only two birds after receiving the rich gifts from the wise men (Matthew 2:11).

Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the Law of God is astounding. Never once do they think they are beside the Law or above the Law even though the Messiah has been born. No, they continue to obey the Law. We also must obey the standards of God as written in his Word and not waver from what he requires of his adopted children. How obedient are you to the truth of God’s Word? – Confessing faith, being baptized as a believer, becoming a member to Grace Church, evangelizing those around you, teaching/discipling those around you are all commands from God’s word in accordance with being obedient to God.

Now that we have a little background that explains the actions of Mary and Joseph in the temple as they present Jesus to the Lord, we are ready to be introduced to Simeon, a man with a very special promise from the Lord.

We are introduced to the man with the following promise “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (2:26). That is a strong promise, and who knows how long Simeon waited for this revelation. This promise was revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit. The promise made to Simeon affirms the reality of the Messiah’s coming. Just as the Old Testament spoke of the Messiah’s coming, the Holy Spirit has promised Simeon that he will see the Messiah in his lifetime. For Simeon, that time comes when Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the temple.

When studying Scripture, there is a temptation to help God with the details of a story or person that we think he left out. We spend too much time on the what some call, “the white space” that is, the space between the lines on the page of Scripture. As we seek to learn about who Simeon is, we want to understand this man from what the inspired words on the page tell us and nothing else.

First, we learn that Simeon was a righteous and devout man. He was one that lived his life according to the Law of God. We might say that Simeon was a good guy. But his goodness is not what secured this promise. Second, Simeon was a man that was waiting for the coming Messiah, the comfort of Israel (Isaiah 4:1-2). Third, we learn that the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon, the one who is waiting for the Messiah. The Scriptures do not tell us Simeon was a priest or what party or sect he belonged to—that information is not important to the story. This is the first and last time we see Simeon mentioned in the pages of Scripture.

I cannot help but think about the patience of Simeon as he waits for the fulfillment of the promise that he will see the Messiah. This point is important—that long before the Messiah is born, the Holy Spirit makes a promise to Simeon that he will see the Messiah in his lifetime. Imagine if we had the same promise today?

Yes, we know that Scripture teaches us that Jesus will return, as promised by the angels. If you are like me and know Jesus as your Savior, you cannot wait for this moment. But what if you knew that he would return in your lifetime? Well, I guess he could, but we don’t know the exact time of his return. You see, Simeon was promised that he would see the Messiah in his lifetime. The only thing Simeon did not know, was when. Today as we live for the Lord, we have a promise that one day we will see Jesus face-to-face (1 John 3:2). Until that time, may we continue to walk with him fulfilling the mission he has called us to complete (Matthew 28).

Next, we see Simeon in a very powerful and intimate moment. The providence of God, through the Holy Spirit’s presence in Simeon’s life, brings Simeon into the temple as Mary and Joseph present Jesus, his Messiah! There is no indication that others are present at this moment, but with Simeon’s own eyes he finally sees the promised Messiah.

Well, what does one do in that moment? Simeon takes his Messiah in his arms (imagine this, the Son of God cradled in another’s arms) and blesses God. Simeon then utters a powerful psalm. The psalm and what Simeon says to Mary are truly profound (vss. 34-35).

First, Simeon says that he is ready to die since the Lord’s promise has been fulfilled. The term “now” speaks to the truth that the Messiah has come. Second, Simeon offers praise to God that salvation is now available for all people, both Jew and Gentile because the Messiah has come. Third, Simeon tells Mary that Jesus will suffer, and she will suffer because of him, but this is necessary for the redemption of sin.

After Simeon speaks these words his voice goes silent. We hear nothing more from Simeon following his contact with the Messiah in the temple on that day. Scripture does not reveal how old Simeon was or when he died, what the Scripture tells us is that Simeon sees the Messiah in his lifetime which is proof the Messiah had come to redeem us from our sin.

It was an odd assignment to preach on Zechariah’s song, because though his story began before the songs that were preached over the last two weeks (Elizabeth’s Song and Mary’s Song, Luke 1:39-56), his own song comes after. Aside from the grand moment of Mary’s visit, the narrative of Zechariah’s life has been in suspended animation since Gabriel’s final words were left ringing in his ears, “these things… will be fulfilled in their time” (v. 20). 

The amazing thing about Simeon’s prophecy is that it shows that this light is for the Gentiles also. The salvation of Jesus began with Israel but was always to be extended beyond Israel.

I read a poet’s expression of Simeon’s heart: “I fear no sin, I dread no death; I have lived long enough, I have my life; I have longed enough, I have my love; I have seen long enough, I have my light; I have served enough, I have my saint; I have sorrowed enough, I have my joy;
Sweet babe, let this psalm serve as a lullaby to thee, and for a funeral for me. Oh, sleep in my arms, and let me sleep in thy peace.”

(33-35) A promise and a warning from Simeon. “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

We can imagine their combination of joy and surprise to see how God has touched the hearts of others with an understanding of their Son. No matter how well you know Jesus, there is something special about seeing someone else come to know Him. Simeon proclaims that this child is called “For the fall and rising of many.” This would be shown in the way that Peter repented, but Judas despaired; in that one thief blasphemed, the other believed. Jesus is like a magnet that is attractive to some, but others are repelled from Him. “And a sign which will be spoken against.” Sign is literally “a target that people shoot at.” Jesus would be the target of great evil. “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.” It was important for Mary to know that mothering the Messiah would not be all sweetness and light. It was both a great privilege and a great burden. Possibly no other human agonized as much over Jesus’ rejection and suffering as His mother did. This was not only because of the natural love of a mother, but also because His rejection was her rejection. Wonderfully, His vindication was hers also as we heard a couple weeks ago in her song: God was Savior for Mary, just like us, by faith.

Side note: This is not Simeon’s song, but I want to point out another character here. In verses 36-38, we read – “36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

We don’t know in what capacity Anna was a prophetess. Perhaps it was in the way that she brought forth this specific word about Jesus – giving thanks to God and speaking about the redemption that was found in the Messiah to all who looked for it. She did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayer night and day. This godly woman served God with total devotion. Anna’s close walk with God was shown by her love for Jesus, and her desire to tell others about Jesus. In these short verses, we can see Anna was a remarkable woman. As a widow she knew pain and loss but had not become bitter toward God. As an elderly woman she had not lost hope in His promises. Perhaps it was because she was a woman of worship and a woman of prayer. May we also be people known for our worship and prayer.

We all have things we want so badly we can hardly stand it—things like healthy relationships, the end of pain and suffering, a restoration of normal—whatever that is for you. The waiting seems like torture. And the question we all ask is, Is it worth the wait? OR Is Jesus worthy of your waiting? 

We fail to comprehend how much joyful obedience, hope, perseverance, and trust with the Holy Spirit count with God as an act of faith. Have hope that God is at work, in spite of the circumstances, God will reward you, and it will be worth the wait, whether the thing you wait for is actually a part of God’s loving, wisdom-filled plan for you. The wait is a means of grace to draw you closer to your greatest need and treasure – Christ. The question is what will you do while you’re waiting?

Simeon was faithful, while waiting – God was worth it. As he sees God move and fulfill the promise in his life, Simeon responds with a beautiful song to highlight the work of Christ, the comfort of Christ, and the eternal impact of Christ for all peoples. Waiting on the Lord brought Simeon joy in the fulfillment, but Simeon had peace in his waiting and worship of God – would this describe you as you wait upon the Lord?

Let me close with this, Simeon held Jesus and thanked God for allowing him to see the child that would reveal God’s true nature to his people. Simeon’s attitude was, “I’m ready to die. You can take me home now. It’s been worth the wait.” Simeon made some prophetic statements, both good news and bad, in verses 34–35. The Bible says that Joseph and Mary “marveled at what was said.”

This morning, I know that some of you have come because it is tradition to come sit in church, sing some songs, and treasure the nostalgia in your heart. Some of you love Jesus and know that this gathering realigns your affections to Christ. Some of you were dragged here, you have no interest in Jesus (He has interest in you…)

As we respond to God’s word in song as we close, I pray that each of us can pause for a moment and think on our motivation for celebrating Christmas. May Jesus be at the center. From our delight in Him, may we enjoy every good gift from our Heavenly Father. Good food, good desserts, good drinks, good music, laughter, tears, an increase in trust in our Good God…from His work in our hearts, would we continue to serve Him with joy and peace that comes from Jesus our King. This is for our good and the glory of God.

Luke 1:67-79

67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has visited and redeemed his people

69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,

70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71 that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;

72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,

73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
75     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us[a] from on high

79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

This is the third Sunday of Advent, a season thick with anticipation. Advent is an extended time of savoring the story and meditating on the meaning of Christ’s first coming. We are looking to stir our affections for Christ, heightening the sense of anticipation, in the hope that when we reach Christmas, our soul magnifies the Lord and we rejoice in God our Savior as we ought. 

One biblically-endorsed and reliable way to provoke godly affections is through song. That’s why we sing in corporate worship. True, there is a certain kind of affection-stirring that happens when we recite the Apostles Creed during our communion liturgy. But both our hearts and our minds can be deeply moved when melodies are joined together with truth, with words carefully crafted and ordered. 

When words follow a rhythmic meter and are arranged for beauty, we call it poetry. The aim of poetry is different from that of daily speech. The goal of most of our speech is thorough and precise information transmission. (True, prose can be delightfully articulate.) But, as Dave said in his sermon on Elizabeth’s song two weeks ago, “[P]oetry is designed by God with a unique ability to drive truth deep into our hearts.  Poems are often meant to be narrower in scope, but greater in impact” (David VanAcker, Elizabeth’s Song: The Baby In My Womb Leapt for Joy). 

To that end, we have been unpacking the songs of Luke’s gospel for three weeks now. Elizabeth’s song was first, then Mary’s, called the Magnificat because of the Latin translation of “magnifies”, the first word in her song. Our text for today, Zechariah’s song, is traditionally called the Benedictus, or “blessed”, for a similar reason. 

The big idea of this sermon is that the God who can be trusted to fulfill age-old promises can also be trusted with the grand hopes and the minute details of our lives. The main takeaway, therefore, is to rejoice that God has remembered his people in the advent of our King and relish all that means for us.

Let’s pray. Father, sustain us in this hour, to attend to your Word. Nourish our souls, strengthen our faith, unite our hearts and our minds, and increase our savor of this season. Amen

In his opening chapters, Luke, in no uncertain terms, presents his gospel as a manifesto that Jesus is the Christ, that offspring of David through whom God promised to bring peace and an everlasting kingdom. He presents Jesus to us as the One through whom the loose threads of Scripture’s grand promises tie together. Thereby he overwhelms us with rich, densely packed biblical theology in these early passages, of which there is no more intense example than Zechariah’s song. Just as surely as Elizabeth and Mary were pregnant with God’s promise-fulfillers, so Zechariah’s heart would be pregnant with wonder at the anticipation of the promises about to be fulfilled.  

But before we dig into Zechariah’s song we need to ask: Where did it come from? A song like this doesn’t just spring up from thin air. To understand the inspiration for his exuberant reaction, we need to consider how he arrived at this day: Who is he, where does he come from, and how does that inform his response to the birth of his son? To answer these, let’s flip back a page and consider chapter 1:5-25.

Beginning in verses 5-7, we meet Zechariah and Elizabeth and Luke gives us three distinguishing features of the couple. 

First, he tells us both are from the bloodline of Moses’ brother Aaron the priest. Luke tells us generically that Elizabeth is “from the daughters of Aaron”. Her name is a Greek translation of the Hebrew name Elisheba, Aaron’s wife. Of Zechariah, he tells us that he is a priest of the division of Abijah, which we’ll look at more in a minute. 

Second, he says that they were both “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (v. 6). (Walking blamelessly doesn’t mean that they were without sin, but that they were above reproach. Like the prophet Daniel, no one would be able to “find any ground for complaint against [them] unless [they found] it in connection with the law of [their] God” (Daniel 6:5). They kept the law, and if they sinned, they made it right according to the law.) By calling them righteous and blameless, Luke is making clear that there’s no fault in them that anyone could point to as a reason for this next distinguishing feature.

Third, and finally, Luke says Zechariah and Elizabeth “had no child”. Why? “[B]ecause Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years” (v. 7). The adjective barren is a synonym for emptiness and desolation – a painful and insensitive way to describe childlessness. That Elizabeth is barren means that they had tried for years to conceive without success. Further, Elizabeth is post-menopausal. She’s no longer ovulating. That she is barren and they are too old anyway is a double-whammy reason why, humanly speaking, conception is impossible. 

What do you think that felt like? Some of you know what infertility is like. Alena and I have been there. It’s painful seeing everyone else around you with their happy, full home and their busy schedule of activities. You feel your powerlessness. What’s more, you depended on children to care for you in your old age. How much more then, when there was no pension, no social security, no Medicaid? They might have wondered what they’d done to deserve it. Elizabeth called it her “reproach among people” in verse 25. When talking with Mary, the angel Gabriel referred to Elizabeth as she who was “called barren” (v. 36). 

People likely assumed they deserved it. Think about the book of Job – wasn’t that assumption behind his three friends’ accusations the very heart of the dialogue? Luke later recounts a conversation where Jesus rebuked his disciples for assuming bad things happen only to bad people. Jesus’ response was essentially, “there are no good people” (Luke 13:3, 5). No one deserves the good that they get, nor should we assume bad things happen only because people deserve it. (Maybe you’ve noticed, there are plenty of bad people who have kids!) But as Luke has already assured us, there’s nothing in who they are or how they’ve lived that explains why they have no child. 

The background Luke includes here is not arbitrary. And the language he uses signals something else that would raise flags for anyone comfortable with the Old Testament. First, with reference to conception, being “advanced in years” was only applied elsewhere to Abraham and Sarah. Further, as one commentator says, “Whenever Scripture pronounced a woman ‘barren’, God later gave her the holy son for whom she longed” (J. Edwards, The Gospel According to Luke, p. 34, Eerdmans). 

Seeing the label of “barren” in Scripture should cue you in that grand moments in the history of redemption are about to unfold. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s wives were all once called barren, only to conceive by the conspicuous intervention of God. Later Samson was conceived after an angel appeared to his mother. Then Hannah, of whom it was said that “the LORD closed her womb”, conceived in answer to her prayer. Luke is cueing us in here that this is more than just a story about Zechariah and Elizabeth.   

In verses 8-10, Luke then relates about a very special day that had come for Zechariah. The division of Abijah was one of 24 priestly divisions that took turns in Temple service. There were upwards of 18-24,000 priests. Huge numbers were needed at times, such as during the Passover slaughter of tens of thousands of lambs. But generally speaking, their division served in the Temple routinely twice a year. And with maybe a thousand priests in his division, it would have been entirely possible for Zechariah to finish out his years of service and never once enter the Temple. 

But, he was chosen by lot. By chance, so to speak. So Zechariah entered the Holy Place, the room outside the curtain before the Holy of Holies. There stood the Lampstand, the Table of the Showbread, and the Altar where he would offer incense. This incense was prescribed to be offered morning and evening in Exodus chapter 30. Later in Scripture (Psalm 141:2; Daniel 9 v. 21; Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4) incense is closely associated with the prayers of the saints, mingling together as a sweet aroma to arise before God. 

What do you suppose the multitude of the people outside were praying while Zechariah was in the Temple? Maybe the next verses will give us some clues. 

While the people were outside praying and Zechariah was inside offering the incense, something extraordinary happened.

 [11] … an angel of the Lord [appeared] standing on the right side of the altar… [12] And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him… [13] But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. [14] And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, [15] for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. [16] And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, [17] and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

The angel’s appearance was a dramatic moment. After 400 years, the famine of hearing God’s words had finally broken (Amos 8:11). Interestingly, the last person to actually see an angel was also named Zechariah, one of the Minor Prophets. Zechariah responds with a dread of the uncanny characteristic of many in Scripture. But the angel reassures him, saying his prayers have been heard (Cf. Daniel 10:21). Then he foretells that their son John will fulfill Malachi’s prophecy as the one who prepares the way for the Lord to come to His people. John would be the forerunner of the long-expected Anointed One. 

The name Zechariah means Yahweh has Remembered. When the angel told Zechariah, “your prayer has been heard”, he was telling him, “Yahweh has remembered you”. Consider some other examples: “But God remembered Noah…and the waters receded” (Genesis 8:1); “God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow” (Genesis 19:29); “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb” (Genesis 30:22). When Scripture talks about God remembering, it doesn’t mean that he had forgotten. It means he is keeping his promise of mercy. 

Yahweh has remembered not only this elderly couple but the whole nation. So what do I think the people outside were praying? I imagine it was something like what Moses tells us Exodus 2:

[23] … the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. [24] And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. [25] God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. (Exodus 2:23–25)

Just as the incense and the prayers of the saints mingled together and rose before God, so the answer to the prayer of the elderly couple and the multitude gathered outside were intertwined in the providence of God. 

But Zechariah was not prepared to receive this. 

[18] [he] said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” [19] And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. [20] And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” [21] And… when he came out, he was unable to speak to [the people], and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them and remained mute. [23] And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

Things had been going great. The opportunity of a lifetime came. But in the finest hour his life, Zechariah muffed it. He fumbled the ball. He doubted not only the miraculous conception God had promised him, but thereby he doubted God’s power to keep his covenant with Abraham and David. He came out deaf (so it seems) and dumb. It was over, so he went home. One commentator called this “a rather anticlimactic conclusion to what had been a phenomenal week” (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 1-5, p. 30). 

But would it be the end of the story? 

Luke writes,
[24] After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived

What happened in Zechariah’s heart during the nine months of silence between Gabriel’s appearance and John’s birth? Clearly, the Zechariah who met Gabriel in the temple was a different man from the Zechariah who burst into song. What heart work happened between his statement of unbelief and his overflow of praise? 

It seems he went from eyes focused on his navel (i.e., unmet expectations of fatherhood), to gladness in the grander purposes of God without regard to his own station. Gabriel’s visit occasioned the revelation of long-entrenched, perhaps unconscious attitudes regarding their barrenness. It seems he was convicted by this after he was made dumb, and then processed it in the coming months. Regarding all of these things we can only speculate. 

But we do know he went home, he knew Elizabeth, and she conceived (v. 24). Later Mary showed up at their door when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the baby leapt in her womb at Mary’s greeting, and his wife was filled with the Spirit and with song. Then he heard Mary’s song. And lastly of course, John was born (vs. 57-66). 

Zechariah had been sentenced to silence because of his unbelief. But it wasn’t merely punishment. One author says: 

“The purpose of Gabriel’s judgment is not to annul the choice of Zechariah, nor does it… halt the fulfillment of God’s promise. It is a remedial work of the Spirit – a severe mercy – that will enable faith” (Edwards, p. 39). 

Have you experienced that kind of mercy? Last week Dave said that “kids… seem to be continually moving from anticipation to anticipation”. But how often we adults tend instead to move from vexation to vexation, from anxiety to anxiety. Before he was struck dumb, Zechariah was like that. Despite our religious devotion or a profound depth of biblical knowledge, we sometimes respond to God’s mysterious providence with unbelief. Thus, like Zechariah, we reveal our own need for heart work. 

Listen! In Christ, all severity is mercy. I came down with a cold this week. Blessed be God, because it gave me a sick day from work or this sermon might not have gotten done. Do I think you all got sick too just so I could have an extra day to work on the sermon? Probably not. The minute details and grand hopes of our lives are weaved together to work the ultimate good for God’s purposes. Our lives may be just a few passes or knots or however needlework or tapestry works, but they do fit together perfectly with the grandest moments of redemption that God is also weaving – just like they did for Zechariah.

God’s hand of discipline was upon him during those silent months that followed. Under that severe mercy, he went from not believing God was capable of managing a single conception, to recognizing that God was capable of fulfilling hundreds- and thousands-year-old promises to a nation, that the bloodline of the patriarchs had been built on so-called barren couples. “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). 

Like new wine, faith began to ferment and grow, bubbling within Zechariah, ready to burst forth at John’s birth.  

It was an odd assignment to preach on Zechariah’s song, because though his story began before the songs that were preached over the last two weeks (Elizabeth’s Song and Mary’s Song, Luke 1:39-56), his own song comes after. Aside from the grand moment of Mary’s visit, the narrative of Zechariah’s life has been in suspended animation since Gabriel’s final words were left ringing in his ears, “these things… will be fulfilled in their time” (v. 20). 

But in v. 57 Luke picks the story back up with the words, “Now the time came…”. The promised forerunner was born. At his circumcision, Zechariah’s statement, “His name is John” (v. 63) is his unequivocal declaration of faith – his former unbelief has dissolved. “Immediately his tongue was loosed” (v. 64) and the mute man poured forth a flood of Scripture-saturated lyric in praise to God. 

And so, finally, the song. I won’t elaborate on the poetic form of Zechariah’s song, because I don’t know how. And I’m not sure dissecting the poem like a biology project will help you appreciate its beauty. But I do want to help you see its Old Testament roots and unpack what it celebrates.

Zechariah’s song seamlessly weaves together a treasury of Old Testament narrative, psalm, and prophecy. The language of the song cues us into what God is doing through the arrival of John, the Preparer, and Jesus, the Promise-Fulfiller, who will usher in the ultimate moment in History. 

The song begins, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” (v. 68), a phrase uniquely coined by David and carried forward only by his son Solomon. It’s David’s response when his future wife Abigail keeps him from bloodguilt with regard to that fool Nabal (1 Samuel 25:32). And it’s David’s response at the end of his life when he knows that his son will inherit his throne (1 Kings 1:48). Solomon echoes back this blessing at the dedication of the Temple, saying, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised to David my father” (1 Kings 8:15). 

In all these responses, David and Solomon rejoice not in immediate personal deliverance, but in Yahweh’s intervention to secure His promise to David and to his offspring, guaranteeing the persistence and inevitable dominion of the Kingdom of God. 

In the Bible, visiting means more than stopping in for a chat or for a holiday. It even means more than Mary coming to stay with Zechariah and Elizabeth for three months. 

Visitation can be bad. More often than not, in Scripture God is visiting people’s iniquities on their heads or upon their offspring – meting out justice. 

Visitation can be good for some and bad for others. Zechariah’s enthusiasm would not be celebrated by all. Thus, Luke later recounts (19:44) how Jesus wept over Jerusalem and pronounced her destruction because she “did not know the day of [her] visitation”.  

But in places where it is used in a desirable sense, God is coming to save his people. Those instances where God visits his people are significant waypoints in the road to redemption, God preserving Abraham’s line at critical moments. For example, he visited Sarah and she conceived Isaac (Genesis 21:1). He also visited Hannah and she conceived and bore Samuel (1 Samuel 2:21). In Egypt he promised through Joseph to visit Israel in 400 years and bring them home to Abraham’s inheritance. And during the Babylonian exile he promised through the prophet Jeremiah to visit them after 70 years and bring them back home (Jeremiah 29:10). We see in Luke’s gospel sequel, the book of Acts, that Peter “recounted how God visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name” (15:14). And Peter himself refers to that Day when Christ will return as “the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). 

However, Zechariah poetically describes God’s visitation not primarily as an event, but a person. He points us to Malachi 4 (vs. 1-2) – “the day is breaking [and] the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings”. The arrival of Jesus Christ is the sunrise, Christ himself being the Sun, or “The Dawning One” in vs. 78 (translation per Edwards, p. 64) who shall visit us. As Balaam prophesied long before, “A Star shall arise out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17), so Jesus would later declare in John’s Revelation, “I am… the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16). 

He it is who “gives light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death”, “salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins”, and “[guidance of] their feet into the pathway of peace” (vs. 77, 79). 

“[T]o remember His holy covenant” (v. 72) is the reason for His visitation. Most fundamentally Zachariah has in view God’s promise to Abraham (v. 73), that his offspring would be God’s heir, bringing His blessing to all the peoples (Genesis 22:16-18). But what of His covenant with David to set an heir on his throne, forever over an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:8-13)? God’s covenant with David both rests within His covenant with Abraham and is the guarantee of its fulfillment.

In fact, the promises of both are realized through the person of Jesus Christ. God’s raising up of “a horn of salvation from the house of David” (v. 69) is the decisive act of faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham. Paul made this connection quite clearly in Galatians chapter 3 (7-9, 29), saying, all who are Christ’s by faith are heirs of all that God promised Abraham. 

What motivates Yahweh to do all this for us? Zechariah says he is showing “the mercy promised to our fathers” (v. 72). The same word translated “mercy” here is elsewhere translated “compassion” and “steadfast love”. More than a feeling, it’s covenant love in action. God is viscerally moved with compassion for his people. As Zechariah says in verse 78, it is “the tender mercy of our God” that moves Him. The Greek word for tender (splágchna) is where we get the name for the splanchnic nerve, which innervates our visceral organs and acts on them whenever our emotions are deeply moved. Numerous places in Scripture use it to compare the depth of feeling God has for his people to that which a father has for his children. For example, 

To what end does God save us? Once light dawns upon us, the sins are forgiven, we are delivered from our enemies, and we enter the pathway of peace – what then? Zechariah says we will “serve him without fear” (vs. 74). Here serving means “priestly service in worship” (Edwards, p. 63). The goal of redemption is that God’s people would be freed to worship him “in holiness and righteousness” forever (v. 75). Wasn’t that God’s repeated command to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron? “Let my people go, that they may serve me”? And God promised that the redeemed would be his “treasured possession… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Peter applies this passage to the New Testament church, saying you and I are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession”, saved so that we “might proclaim the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). 

Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, God’s visitation on them, and the resulting exodus image forth the visitation of Christ on we who are enslaved to sin. Luke later tells us (9:31) that at his transfiguration, Jesus discussed with Moses and Elijah the “exodus that he was about to accomplish”. Through Jesus, God has visited us and redeemed us out of our bondage to sin, to bring us home that we may serve him. True freedom, as I recently heard said (Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Tedd Tripp), is not found in autonomy, but in obedience. 

Listen to the Apostle Paul, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness… [since] having been set free from sin [you] have become slaves of righteousness… [no longer to] present your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness… [Instead,] present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification… now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God” (Romans 6:13, 18, 19, 22). 

Mary’s Magnificat, apart from her statement that “from now on all generations will call me blessed”, is an expression of joy in who God is and what he has done. Zechariah’s song though is more than poetry. As we see in verse 67, Luke says Zechariah “prophesied”. True, there is still a cross to be borne and much battling remains to be done, but the Champion has arrived, and the decisive victory in the war for our very souls was at hand. He has come to rescue His Bride. And that is cause for celebrating all that the coming of Messiah will mean for us. 

As I said at the outset of my sermon, Luke set forth from the first pages of his Gospel a treatise on the Old Testament roots of the Advent. While they fit handily in the pocket, those who live only by Gideon’s New Testament are missing much of the story – like having the answer without knowing the question. John’s birth narrative is not the birth of God’s “Plan B”. It’s been said that, “The incarnation of Jesus Christ is not a random and unprecedented innovation of God, but the fulfillment of a purposeful chain of saving events in Israel, of which the birth of John is the penultimate link” (Edwards, p. 63). 

God is not caught off guard. Yahweh doesn’t realize; Yahweh remembers. 

He remembers nations and he remembers barren couples. Our God is not capable only of managing the big moments in redemptive history. He is working in the minutest details of your daily life, aware of your hopes and dreams, and seeking your best good. His intervention on your behalf is inevitable. So, when severe mercy comes, lean into it. May your faith in the first advent of Christ and his return be matched by your faith in the benevolence interest of Yahweh for you, his child. 

Closing prayer:
(Isaiah 9:2–7)

Father, we who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
On us who dwelt in a land of deep darkness has the Dawning One shone.
You have multiplied the nation; 
you have increased its joy;
we rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, 
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. Amen

Luke 1:39-45

46 And Mary said, 
“My soul magnifies the Lord, 

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. 
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, 
and holy is his name. 

50 And his mercy is for those who fear him 
from generation to generation. 

51 He has shown strength with his arm; 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 

52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones 
and exalted those of humble estate; 

53 he has filled the hungry with good things, 
and the rich he has sent away empty. 

54 He has helped his servant Israel, 
in remembrance of his mercy, 

55 as he spoke to our fathers, 
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

What comes to mind when I say the word “anticipation”?  Maybe you immediately think of a definition.  Maybe the first thing you think of is a time in which you or someone near you was filled with it.  I usually think of kids who seem to be continually moving from anticipation to anticipation.    

We’ve all experienced it, but what is it, exactly?  What does it look like?  Why is it so strong some times?  Where does it come from?  Is it good or bad?  Those are some of the questions I hope to answer today as we consider Mary’s song in Luke.  

More importantly, though, I hope that after this sermon you will have a clearer understanding of the nature of your own anticipation, a crystal-clear picture of what it looks like to anticipate in a manner that pleases the Lord, and a heightened sense of anticipation surrounding Christmas.

All of that brings us to our passage for this morning, which is a means of God’s grace to all those ends.  Mary’s song, often called the Magnificat, is a beautiful song of anticipation.  It is a sweet lesson in anticipation.  It is, perhaps, the best picture of the best anticipation there is.  In those ways, it offers significant help in developing right kinds of anticipation, about the right things of Christmas, in the right amounts.  And because of that, I hope that after spending some time in this passage it is what comes to mind when we think of anticipation from now on.

The big ideas of this sermon are that (1) God’s great promises require great anticipation and (2) great anticipation regarding God’s promises requires God’s great help.  The main takeaway, therefore, is to prayerfully consider Mary’s song and turn it into greater anticipation for and celebration of Jesus’ birth and return.  

I’d like you to consider some of the questions I posed in the introduction.  What is anticipation?  What does it look like?  Why is it so strong some times?  Where does it come from?  Is it good or bad?  

In that vein, before we get to Mary’s song, I’d like to share a small handful of thoughts on the nature of anticipation in order to help us best grasp and apply it.    

First, a definition.  There is a way in which anticipation is neutral (the expectation of something either desirable or undesirable), but that’s not how I’m using the term here.  I’m using it as the opposite of dread (since I don’t think there really is a word that is precisely the opposite of dread in English, and we need one for things like Christmas).  We need a word that both expects and desires a thing to come.  That’s how I’m using anticipation.

In that way, where dread is the desire to avoid something we believe is coming, anticipation is the desire to have something we believe is coming.   

Similarly, where our dread-level is determined by how much we don’t want something combined with how likely we believe it is that we’ll get it, the level of our anticipation is determined by how much we want something combined with how likely we believe it is that we’ll get it.  The less you want something and the more likely it is that you’ll get it, the more the dread.  And the more you want something and the more likely it is that you’ll get it, the more the anticipation.  Dread and anticipation come from opposite ends of likely-fulfilled desire.    

Anticipation is something we all experience on some level because it is from God.  That is, like most experiences common to mankind, anticipation is a part of our lives because God gave it to us.  Anticipation exists because God made it when He created time and gave promises.  Anticipation is a gift from God.  

A third thought on anticipation, is that like all of God’s gifts, the gift of anticipation is meant to be used and enjoyed properly.  That is to say, God cares about what and how we anticipate.  Not all anticipation is good.  Anticipating sin or sinfully anticipating are both misuses of God’s gift and do not honor God.  Good anticipation longs for good things in good ways.   Properly calibrated, therefore, it is a great gift.  What a blessing it is to have hope and longing and excitement concerning some good thing of God.  What a gift it is when we can rightly look forward to something in eager expectation.  God didn’t have to create anticipation and He certainly didn’t have to gift it to us, but He did, as a blessing for us, because He loves us.

Next thought (two more): God gives us the gift of anticipation ultimately for the purpose of drawing our attention to His great promises.  He wants us to love His promises and long for them to be fulfilled.  Therefore, anticipation (a growing longing for the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lives) is from God, for the time between His promises coming to us and their fulfillment.  It is the right and God-honoring disposition for all of us, continually, until Jesus returns.  We should never not be in a state of anticipation. 

To live as God intends means experiencing constant and, at times, very intense anticipation.  In that way, you cannot be a Christian if you have no anticipation (since God has made promises to all Christians).  And in that way, you cannot be a mature Christian if you only have small amounts of anticipation (since God has promised many awesome things to Christians).

This means, then, that God created and gifted anticipation for things like Christmas—the promise of Jesus having come and coming again.  As I mentioned last week, that’s what Advent is.  Advent is a season intended to help us grow in our anticipation of celebrating the past promise of God fulfilled (Jesus’ birth) and of His return to restore and reign over all things forever!  

As we’ve already seen, although anticipation is common to us all, rightly anticipating right things in right amounts is not.  Finally, then, the issue we all face is not whether we will anticipate, but whether we will do so in a manner pleasing to God?  

Having God’s promises, understanding them, believing them, and longing for them in confidence (the necessary ingredients of anticipation), all require God’s help.  We simply can’t get or grow in any of them on our own.  

To that end, it is good news indeed that two of the most beautiful and significant aspects of Mary’s song are its thoroughly godly anticipation and the lessons it gives us for godly anticipation (the example it is for us of living out the things we just considered).  

The kind of anticipation God made us for, the kind that pleases Him, the kind we need for rightly celebrating Christmas, is the kind of anticipation that is firmly rooted in God’s promises.  That was as true for Mary in her day as it is for us in ours.  

In that way, Mary’s song of anticipation in Luke 1:46-55 was in response to the promises she was given shortly before (in 1:26-30).   Before we can understand and appreciate her song, then, we need to consider the promises that inspired it.  As I read through these few verses, see how many promises you can identify.  

Luke 1:26-38  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.  28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.  30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,  33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.  36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”  38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Through the angel, Gabriel, God promised Mary that: 

She was favored by God (twice) (28, 30).

The Lord was with her (28).

She need not fear what was to come because it was from God and God would empower her for it (30, 35).

By the Spirit of God, she would conceive a son as a virgin (31, 34, 35).

Her son would be great and would be called the holy Son of God (32, 35).

Her son would be given the throne of David and would reign from it forever (32-33).

Her barren relative had conceived six months prior (36).

Nothing is impossible with God (37).

My wife, Gerri, used to get really, really excited in anticipation of $2 burritos at Chipotle on Halloween.  Imagine what Mary must have felt like.  Our passage says that at first, she was “greatly troubled” (1:29).  And then she was confused (1:34).  And then, finally, she accepted the promises and the anticipation began, “Let it be to me according to your word” (1:38)!  

If we are to rightly anticipate Christmas, therefore Grace, our anticipation must begin with a promise that Christmas is good news for us.  Are you aware of any promises that God has made to us in Christmas?  

In Christmas we are promised a Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).

In Christmas we are promised limitless peace in the never-ending kingdom of Jesus (Isaiah 9:7).

In Christmas we are promised eternal justice and righteousness in the God-Man (Isaiah 9:7).

In Christmas we are promised a Savior for all mankind (Luke 2:11).

In Christmas we are promised a Great Redeemer (Romans 3:24).

In Christmas we are promised One who would reconcile us to God (2 Corinthians 5:18).

In Christmas we are promised a Glorious Restorer of all things (Acts 3:19-21).

In Christmas we are promised new birth (1Peter 1:23-25)

In Christmas we are promised eternal life (John 3:14-16).  

In Christmas we are promised adoption into God’s family (Romans 8:12-17).

In Christmas we are promised that God will be with us forever (Matthew 1:23).

And these are just the beginning.  Like Mary, what great promises we have!   If we are to rightly anticipate Christmas, then, we must know, reflect on, and learn to love and trust and expect the promises of Christmas.  And this leads us to Mary’s song for more help.  

All oGod-glorifying Christmas anticipation and celebration begins with the receiving of God’s Christmas promises and then grows as we come to value and expect them to be fulfilled.  

But let’s be honest…none of us are moved like we should be by the promises that I just listed.  We don’t anticipate Christmas well—at times—because we don’t value God and his promises rightly at times.  Or, perhaps, we value the promises, but we don’t believe they will really come to pass in a meaningful way.  

Once again, I don’t know of a more beautiful picture of someone who had, believed, loved, and fully trusted God’s promises than we find in Mary’s song.  This is what it looks like to believe without a doubt that God will do what He has said.  Our hearts ought to love God like this, trust God’s promises like this, and be filled with the joy of the Spirit like this.  We ought to anticipate like this.  And when we do, there will be a flood of peace and warmth and sweetness and rest that comes and grows and sings whenever we have promises this good and believe them this much.  

Consider with me the song of Mary and ask the Lord to make you believe like her, treasure like her, and sing like her (anticipate like her) this Christmas.   

Luke 1:46-55  “My soul magnifies the Lord,  47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;  49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;  52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;  53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.  54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,  55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 

Mary is overwhelmed with gladness and the promises of God she’s just heard.  Her response is a jubilant, celebration in poetry and song.  To help us all learn to respond like this, I’d like to draw your attention to three poetic aspects of Mary’s song: (1) It celebrates God’s glory above all, (2) It celebrates God’s promises for all people, and (3) It celebrates God’s promises for all times.

The main theme of this poem is the reality that God is greater than Mary had ever and could ever imagine.  She got a greater taste of it than most, but she was beginning to understand that it she was only scratching the surface.  And it is because of God’s unending greatness that His promises are supremely valuable and certain to come to pass.  

As Mary contemplated God’s salvation (47), omniscience (48), might (49), benevolence (49), holiness (49), mercy (50, 52-54), eternality (50, 55), strength, even omnipotence (51), kindness (52-53), justice (52-53), help (53-54), and imminence (55), how could she not be filled with wonder and joy and hope and gratitude (anticipation) that God would certainly be faithful to all His promises.

Because of these things, Mary couldn’t help but to sing from the depths of her being (her soul and spirit) to her God of infinite glory, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

We find help in anticipating Christmas rightly when appreciate God’s promises appropriately.  And we will grow to appreciate God’s promises appropriately when we see that God Himself is the greatest promise and treasure of all.  The best news of Christmas is Immanuel, the God of all glory with us!

If we are to rightly anticipate Christmas, we must appreciate the promises and, infinitely more significantly, the Promiser with our whole being.  Grace, allow your Christmas anticipation to grow as you recognize that this is still our God.  

The second remarkable feature of Mary’s song is that it celebrates God’s promises that are both near and far.  

For Mary, they are as near as they get.  They are for her.  She marveled at the fact that a God like God would even think of her, much less set the full measure of His kindness upon her.  

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;  49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  

God looked on Mary in her humble estate and promised to make her estate anything but humble.  Imagine being a young, poor, uneducated, vulnerable, small-town girl with next to nothing to offer, coming from a poor uneducated, vulnerable, small-town family with next to nothing to offer, and being given the promise to be exalted to the point that all generations, forever would acknowledge the blessing given to you at the mighty hand of God?!  

Mary’s life was full of the exact kinds of things that tend to make the faithless sad and discouraged.  But her God-given anticipation, flowing from her God-given promises completely overshadowed that, even as those things can and ought to for you and I as well.  

As awesome as that is, God’s promises of amazing blessing were not for Mary alone.  She also sang of God’s gracious promises and perfect faithfulness for all the children of Abraham, God’s covenant people.  

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 

God’s promises of blessing spread out from Mary to her people, Israel; from near to further.  But they do not end there, she sang.  They go from near to further, to far—to everyone, everywhere who will trust in God.  

50 And his mercy is for those who fear him …

God always shows mercy to all those who fear him because of his Son who was born on Christmas (50).  God gives His protective strength to all who trust in Him for our rest and delight because of his Son who was born on Christmas (51).  God lays low the proud (leaving them hungry and wanting) because of his Son who was born on Christmas (51-52).  And God exalts all the truly humble in the world to esteemed places (with food and all good things) because of his Son who was born through Marry, according to His promise to her, on Christmas (52-53).  

We find help in anticipating Christmas rightly when we appreciate and trust God’s promises for what they are—great and awesome and more certain than anything else.  And we will grow to appreciate and trust God’s promises for what they are when we begin see ourselves in Mary–lowly, poor, uneducated, vulnerable, small-town, bringing nothing of significance to God, and entirely undeserving, but given the unstoppable promises of God in Jesus nonetheless.  

God’s promises are rooted in His infinite glory, are given to all people, and, finally, are for all time!

Mary sang of God’s past promises and perfect faithfulness to them.

In fulfillment of His promises, God has shown undefeatable strength (51), He has scattered the proud (51), He has brought down rich men and kings (52, 53), He has lifted up the weak to places of wealth and power (52), He has fed the hungry (53), He has helped Abraham’s offspring (54), and He has spoken to His people (55).  

God’s unwavering faithfulness to these past promises made her soul full and full of song.  

Mary also sang of God’s present promises and certain faithfulness to them.

She sang, as we’ve seen, in the midst of God having promised that the Holy Spirit would conceive the very Son of God in her womb to save the world from sin.  How’s that for a present promise?!

Mary sang of God’s promise-keeping past, present, and future.

48 … from now on all generations will call me blessed 

50 …his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 

55 … he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Mary knew that God will be faithful to His promises forever, without end and that made her sing.  

God’s infinite glory, mixed with His perfect past faithfulness, is why we can trust His present and future promises.  It is why we can rightly anticipate all of God’s promised blessings. And all of that is because of Christmas.

Finally, if we are to rightly anticipate Christmas, Christmas must come.  In other words, all of that sounds great as Mary sang it, but what if it never happened?  We’ve all known someone who was supremely excited about something that never ended up happening (a championship, a new job or a promotion, etc.). 

In Luke 2:15-20 we read that God’s promises to Mary were all “Yes” in Jesus’ birth.  

Luke 2:15-20  “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

Mary’s song of anticipation found its mark in the birth of her Son, God in the flesh.

Likewise, in Revelation 22:20 we read that this Jesus who was born is going to return one day.

“He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Only a fool keeps hoping in things that have been repeatedly promised but not delivered.  We are no fools, though, who anticipate in perfect confidence every promise of the never-failing, promise-keeping God who was born in a manger, suffered, died, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and who will return. 

All of God’s promises are “yes” in the Jesus who was born on Christmas day.  Mary sang of this in joyful anticipation.  We must join her song in joyful anticipation.

We’ll find great help, then, in growing the right kind of Christmas anticipation if we recognize that what we’re anticipating in Christmas is a celebration of what’s already happened, to demonstrate that God can be trusted for all that is yet to come.  Our anticipation, then, is fully assured and our help is great.

Let’s not waste our Advent and Christmas by being content with numb souls or misplaced excitement or half-hearted trust.  Let’s not get caught up in the current of our culture and waste this season by placing anything above God.  If we magnify family and friends and food and festivities above God, we really do miss out on the best of the family and friends and food and festivities and, disastrously, we miss out altogether on the God of Christmas.  Which means we’d be singing a different song than Mary.  

On the other hand, if we delight first and above all in God, we get God and family and friends and food and festivities.  

Of course, we need God’s Holy Spirit to work in us to awaken us to the precarious, dangerous position that so many of us are in and to apply the help that God has given us in The Magnificat and so many other passages of scripture.  

So, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to take a moment right now to pray.  Confess your poor or misplaced anticipation to God, receive the forgiveness that is yours by grace through faith in Jesus who was born on Christmas day, and commit to changing in the power of the Spirit.

Now, consider reclaiming at least one aspect of your anticipation and celebration.  Think about one thing that you’re going to stop doing because it is inconsistent with God-glorifying anticipation and celebration and one thing that you’re going to start doing to grow in God-glorifying anticipation and celebration.

May we all, in increasing truthfulness and zeal, echo Mary’s words this Christmas season, “My soul magnifies the Lord,  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

Luke 1:39-45

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 

This is, as you know, the first Sunday of Advent.  Advent, as you know, refers to the four weeks leading up to Christmas, set aside to help us prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth and anticipate His return.  

We want to help you with those things—preparation, celebration, and anticipation.  One of the ways we plan to do so this year is with Advent readings to start each service (like we had earlier).  Another way is by singing songs celebrating the significance of the birth of Jesus (like we did earlier and will).  And another way still, is by preaching through the poetry in Luke’s Gospel concerning the coming and glory of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.  

Why the poetry?  As I mentioned in a recent sermon, poetry is designed by God with a unique ability to drive truth deep into our hearts.  Poems are often meant to be narrower in scope, but greater in impact, which makes them ideally suited to help us experience the familiar claims of Christmas more fully—more as we ought.  

It’s one thing to factually or conceptually know that in love, God became man to save the world from sin.  It’s something else entirely to be truly moved—to worship or repentance or obedience—by it.  The Gospels are largely meant to give us the facts.  The poetry within the Gospels is largely meant to stir awe and wonder and amazement in us in response to the facts.  

With that, this week I’ll be preaching on Elizabeth’s poetic reply to Mary’s visit.  And next week I’ll be preaching on Mary’s song, the Magnificat, in the following verses (Luke 1:46-56).  

Then, the following week, December 14th, Matt will preach on the song of Zechariah in Luke 1:67-79.

On December 21st, the fourth Sunday of Advent, Pastor Colin will preach on the song of Simeon in Luke 2:25-35.  And finally, on the 28th, the Sunday after Christmas, Pastor Colin will preach on songs from Psalm 40 and Revelation 5 concerning the second coming of Jesus.  

Christmas is, objectively, a time of significant grace from God.  At the very least, it is an annual reminder of the greatest act of love ever and its profound meaning for us.  Therefore, even if this ends up being another “normal” Christmas, it is a gift to be cherished.  At the same time, Grace, we are (and invite you to join us in being) prayerfully hopeful, even expectant, that God will be pleased to do something special in and among us this year.  

With that, the big idea of this sermon is that experiencing the true significance of the incarnation is a miraculous gift from God.  The main takeaways, therefore, are to immerse ourselves in the truths concerning Jesus’ birth and the poetry that celebrates it, and with those things, to prayerfully seek God’s help (for us and the whole world) to respond as we ought.     

Our passage opens with the time-anchoring line, “In those days…”.  But, before we can understand what Luke meant by “those days,” we need to get our heads around the days leading up to them.  That is, before getting to the days of our passage, and the poetry within it, we need a bit of background.  And the background we need goes all the way back to the beginning.  

In the very first chapters of the Bible, in Genesis 1-2, we read of God’s creation of the universe.  There was nothing outside of the godhead, God spoke, and with the power of His Word, He made all that has been made.  With His Word, He set everything in its proper place, ordering everything according to His design.  And with His Word, He commissioned the man and the woman He’d made, who were the crown of His creation, who were alone fashioned in His image, who alone possessed both body and spirit, to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28).  

Having done all that, God looked down upon His creation and “saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Then, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).  

Everything was just as it ought to be; that is, until the next chapter, Genesis 3.  We’re not sure how long the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were in the Garden before the serpent, overcome by the Evil One and “more crafty than any other beast of the field” (Genesis 3:1), crawled up to them and whispered his lies.  What we are sure of, however, is that when he did, it changed everything in dramatic and devastating fashion.  

Eve first, and then Adam soon after, in an attempt to be like God, succumbed to the serpent’s treachery and ate of the one tree in the Garden that God had withheld from them.  Having done so, they brought upon themselves and all their offspring the death of God (Genesis 2:16-17).  Their sinful choice made them at enmity with God, causing their spirits to die at once and their bodies to inevitably follow.  

Worse yet, in the interim (in the time between their spiritual and physical deaths), God put a curse on them and the land He’d made for them; one shared by all their offspring as well, all the way down to us today.  The woman was made to suffer in childbearing and feel opposition toward her husband, while the man’s work was made harder, less productive, and less efficient (3:15-19).  Mankind was corrupted and caused waves of corruption so spread throughout all the earth.  

To be left in this cursed state would be unimaginably devastating.  But God did not leave man without hope.  Right in the midst of His curse, God promised a Deliverer.  In condemning the deceiving serpent, the LORD God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). 

God promised to one day send one of Eve’s sons to crush the Deceiver.  In that, through poetic language, God promised to rescue mankind from his fall and defeat his enemies (sin and corruption and disorder and death).  

The centuries that followed were filled with God continuing to provide mankind with every manner of mercy and grace.  God made promises to be present with and bless His people.  He gave His people human leaders to speak on His behalf and guide them (individuals like Abraham, Moses, and Joshua, as well as offices like judges, prophets, priests, and kings).  He gave them laws to flourish under.  He gave them prosperity when they trusted and obeyed Him.  He provided loving correction when they veered from the path of wisdom and blessing.  He miraculously delivered them from slavery and exile.  He provided means of atoning for their sins and restoring the damage they caused.  He filled their lives with reminders of His perfect past faithfulness and of His perfect promises of grace still to come.  He gave them a land and an identity.  Most importantly, He gave them Himself.  

In spite God’s unwavering kindness and faithfulness, however, the centuries that followed were also filled every manner of mankind futilely attempting to find joy, meaning, and even rescue in things other than God.  In short, human history leading up to our passage was filled with mankind rejecting God and His offer of redemption (to greater and lesser degrees) as they awaited the Deliverer.  

Zooming in a bit, the 400 years immediately prior to the “those days” of Luke 1:39, were filled with silence from God.  In judgment, God did not speak to His people and they were left wondering if God’s promises had failed.  Would the promised Serpent Crusher, (Savior, Christ, Messiah) ever come?

Zooming further in brings us to Luke’s Gospel.  Helpfully, it opens with the straightforward explanation of His aim.

1:1-4 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account … 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Luke stated that he was joining some untold number of other people who had already written down a story, a story of things that had been accomplished among them, things that they were eyewitnesses and messengers of, and all of that so that whoever read his story might know for sure that it was true.  

The question is, of course: What story?  What was it that Luke and others found so important that they needed to write it down and share it?

Curiously, Luke doesn’t say right away.  He doesn’t say anything about the content of the story in his introduction and then jumps straight into a bit of background of his own.  He sets the beginning of his story “in the days of Herod, king of Judea”.  He also focuses in on an Israelite priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.  The three main points of Luke’s emphasis concerning this couple are their old age, their righteousness, and their childlessness (1:5-10).  

Specifically, Luke records a time in which Zacheriah was performing his priestly duties and an “angel of the Lord” appeared to him.  The angel announced that Elizabeth would bear a son, that they were to name him John, that he would be the source of much gladness on account of his greatness “before the Lord,” that he would be “filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb,” and that he would minister in the “power of Elijah,” bringing about revival, preparing a people for the Lord.  

And just as the angel promised, Luke wrote, Elizabeth soon conceived and gave thanks to God (1:11-25).  

We might wonder if that’s what Luke was talking about.  Is that the story he and others were taking care to tell?  It’s certainly remarkable in its own right, isn’t it? But even as we’re wondering that, Luke quickly moved right into another, even more amazing story.  

A short time later, God sent the same angel to a young woman named Mary.  The angel made the same promise to Mary as he made to Elizabeth—that she would “conceive … and bear a son.”  The angel also told Mary what He she was to name Him (Jesus) and that God had really big plans for Him (that “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign…forever…”).  Just as Elizabeth’s conception was miraculous, so too would be Mary’s (Elizabeth because she was barren and past the age of conception and Mary because she was a virgin).  And all of this would take place, once again, in the power of the Holy Spirit (1:26-38).  

As we come to the “those days” of our passage, then, the heart of Luke’s story begins to take shape: God determined to miraculously bring about the birth of John so, that he would announce the miraculous birth of the Serpent Crusher, the Savior, the Christ, the Deliverer that God had long promised to send.  Soon, Mary would conceive by the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb, Jesus, would fulfill God’s promises.  Great promises had been made and the days of their fulfillment (“those days”) had finally come.

All of that brings us back to our passage with proper context.  Luke continued his story…

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 

More broadly, “those days” refers to the time of the imminent fulfillment of God’s promises.  More specifically, it refers to the time the two women met, Elizabeth miraculously pregnant with the messenger and Mary miraculously pregnant with the Savior of the world.  Both broadly and specifically, therefore, “those days” represented no small thing.  Indeed, Grace, it is not an overstatement to say that all history had been working toward “those days.”  

So the question is put before us: How do we come to truly appreciate all that “those days” represents?  How do we receive and respond to this news as we ought?  And the answer, once again, is through the God-given mingling of the facts concerning the meeting, their significance, and the poetic utterances they produced.  

The facts, as we just saw, were that God had promised to send as Savior into the world ever since the fall of mankind and that the time had now come.  Embedded in the rest of our passage are more critical facts still.  Let me quickly name four.

The facts of the matter are that the events described in our passage were planned by God, given through entirely unexpected and miraculous means, and are received only as a gift from God.

The question before us, once again, then, is how we get these facts deep into our hearts and down into our bones?  How do these facts move from familiar facets of the Christmas story to the life-changing, life-shaping realities they truly are within us?  

Ultimately, as we just saw, that can only happen by the power of the Spirit as a gift from God.  But, as is often the case, the Spirit brings God’s gifts to God’s people through certain means.  And one of God’s common means of imparting that kind of grace to His people is through—believe it or not—poetry.  It really is a tool designed by God to take us further up and further in to the facts God gives.  It is a tool uniquely suited to reach places in our heart and mind that facts alone often can’t penetrate.  

The songs that we’ll examine in the coming weeks have more poetry than this passage, but it’s in this passage as well.  The beginning of v.41 represents this kind of heart-piercing, grace-infused mingling of fact and poetic utterance perfectly.  

41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb…  

This is further unpacked in Elizabeth’s explanation of what happened in v.44.

…when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

These two women were well-aware of the things I shared in the way of background and facts.  They’d heard and believed them their whole lives.  What’s more, they were becoming increasingly aware of and shocked by the role they were playing in it all.  

How do you process something like that?  How do you contain it?  All by itself, the news that the long-promised Christ is coming ought to be overwhelming.  How in the world, then, do you possibly make sense of the fact that He and His God-appointed way-preparer are in the wombs of you and your relative?!

Elizabeth had to resort to poetic imagery to express it.  The preparer “leapt” (bounded, jumped for joy) in his mom’s belly at the sound of the voice of one carrying the Son of God in her belly.  There’s no doubt that there is a literal truth to this account—that John really did move in Elizabeth’s womb.  But there’s also no doubt that Elizabeth’s response was fundamentally poetic—that it was as if John was dancing inside her.  

The result, with the Spirit’s help, was that Elizabeth couldn’t contain herself.  Therefore, she continued to cry out in more poetic language still.

41  … And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry (a “redundancy of unrestrained joy” one commentator called it), “I am overwhelmed by all that is happening.  I knew it was special when my husband told me of the angel’s message to us.  I knew that even more fully when in my old age, I conceived according to the Lord’s promise.  But I’ve never known it as fully as I do now in the very presence of my Lord.”

And in the midst of recognizing the awesome blessing bestowed upon her (“why is this granted to me…”), Elizabeth also recognized the even greater blessing this was for Mary and Jesus (“blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!).  

Again, how do you describe this kind of thing?  Ordinary language just isn’t enough.  We, like Elizabeth, instinctively know that we need something different, something more.  And so, we end up with one womb containing a baby so filled with understanding and joy that it can’t help but to dance and another womb carrying happy fruit.  We end up with all women of earth gathered together and recognizing that Mary is the most blessed of them.  We end up with poetry.  And that poetry is meant to help snap us out of our numbness to the glory of these claims.  It’s meant to snap us into a fuller appreciation of what they are.  It’s meant to force us to take the good news all the way to its appropriate ends—whole-hearted devotion to the Son of God, born in the flesh (hail the incarnate Deity!).

Grace, in fulfillment of His millennia-old promise, God took on flesh in the womb of a virgin, dwelt among us, lived as a perfect example, died as a substitute sacrifice, and rose as the first born of many brothers.  And all of that to rescue us from our sins, reconcile us to God and others, and restore all that sin has broken in us and in creation.  To understand this is to sing.  And to hear the singing of others is one way God grants further understanding.  

Let us give ourselves, therefore to the facts of Christmas in increasing measure this year, Grace.  And let us add to it the best poetry and music as the God-appointed means they are for driving the facts all the way home.  

And with that, let’s pray for God to fill us with greater understanding of the truth, glory, and grace of Christmas.  Let’s pray that He’d fill us with a greater eagerness to share it with others.  And let’s pray that He’d combine those things to help us sing now with added hope and joy of He who came in yonder stall, thanking God that the long expected Jesus has come and will come again.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

1A 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.

Well, this is finally it.  The last sermon in Ecclesiastes.  It seems like a significant understatement to say that God has used this book in my life over the past year.  I know many of you have experienced similar measures of God’s grace through our time in it as well.  

In simplest terms, I think the main way God has worked in me through Ecclesiastes is in giving me a renewed and significantly deepened appreciation for the nature of His work in this world.  I’ve long-believed that God is working good in all the mysteries of life, but Ecclesiastes has helped me grow significantly in my love for the mystery and trust in God’s plan for it.  

Another way He’s used this book to sanctify me is in kindling a renewed evangelistic burden and giving a more helpful way to engage in evangelism.  More specifically, I don’t know of a clearer example of what it looks/feels/is like to process life under the sun than Ecclesiastes.  It is the mindset of everyone apart from Christ.  Spending so much time in Ecclesiastes has given me perspective on and compassion for those who still think like that—who are trying to make sense of things and find joy in things apart from the ability to see many of the most important things.  

I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking and praying about how to capture as much of that as possible in a summary sermon.  As I did, two approaches kept coming to mind.  The first is a higher-level look at the two big gifts God gives through Ecclesiastes (honesty about life under the sun and a profound awareness of the need for something more).  And the second is a more down-to-earth example of how those things come together in real life.  

According to my calculations, each has certain advantages in capturing the kindness of God in and through Ecclesiastes.  But at the same time, each also seems to have certain disadvantages as well.  Consequently, I spent much of the past couple of weeks feeling torn between the two approaches as they rattled around in my head and prayers.  And then it dawned on me that I don’t have to pick.  I can give you both.  

With that, this sermon has two parts.  In part one, we’ll consider the two main gifts of Ecclesiastes by taking a quick look at the whole book.  And in part two, we’ll consider one particular passage in order to see the gifts combined and applied. In a sense, then, I’m going to give you two mini-sermons instead of one normal one. 

The main idea of it all is the main idea of Ecclesiastes: Living life as God intends means living by wisdom and faith.  Because life is under the sun, we need wisdom to know how the world ordinarily works and what it means to live in light of it.  And because life is also above the sun, we need faith in God’s promises to live the full lives God made us for.  The main takeaways are to God’s learn wisdom and live by it and learn God’s promises and live by them.   

The first mini-sermon—an overview of the whole book and the two main gifts within it. As we’ve seen, there’s a lot in Ecclesiastes.  It covers a lot of ground in a number of different ways.  It’s one of the most unique books in the entire Bible.  Some of its content is easy to understand and apply.  Much, however, is not.  

When all is said and done, two things rise to the top.  That is, once we’ve worked through it all, it seems to me that the key to Ecclesiastes is in recognizing the two main gifts God gives His people in it.  The first—which we’ll consider first—is the most honest look I’ve ever come across concerning the nature of life under the sun; that is, what it is really like to live in God’s world.  

So what is the world really like according to this ancient text?  In an attempt to answer that question, throughout this past week I spent a good deal of time drawing to mind the various aspects of the honesty of Ecclesiastes that stood out to me (and you).  And then I reread Ecclesiastes several times to the same end.  Having done so, there are five primary aspects of Ecclesiastes’ take on life under the sun that God most seemed to impress upon us.

As we briefly reconsider each of these, Grace, I urge you to take this wisdom and find ways to live more fully in light of it.  The world really is like this and taking these things into account is the only way to live as God intends.

All of this to help us understand what the world is really like so that we can live in the world as it truly is.  A failure to understand or apply the Preacher’s wisdom in these matters always makes life harder.  In this way, Ecclesiastes really is a call to get and live by wisdom it contains.  

However, as helpful as that is, that’s not the main gift of Ecclesiastes.  Despite having more wisdom and more power to live in light of it than anyone, the Preacher’s constant vexation is a reminder that we still need something more.  Under the sun wisdom is necessary, but never enough.  And that leads to the second gift of Ecclesiastes.

Vexation, confusion, and dissatisfaction drip off of nearly every paragraph in Ecclesiastes.  There is joy to be found in this world, the Preacher knew, but it is temporary and fleeting.  For the Preacher, as we saw, it is meant to drive us to fear God, keep His commandments, and find whatever joy God gives.  But with God’s help, it is really easy to see that this solution ultimately falls short.  And that’s the second gift of Ecclesiastes—one the Preacher gave without (seemingly) fully realizing it.

The second gift of Ecclesiastes is its power to drive our gaze upward.  It’s meant by God to show us the complete inadequacy of life under the sun to provide lasting joy, in order to stir our souls for something more.  Like the OT Law, it is meant to force us to look outside of ourselves and above the sun.  

In that way, truly heeding the under the sun wisdom of the Preacher—wisdom acquirable through ordinary means, through the use of our senses and reason—necessarily results in recognizing that there must be a different kind of wisdom, a fuller perspective, and something entirely different if we are to be satisfied.  God has made us with eternity in our hearts, which means having an innate understanding of the something-still-to-be-desiredness of the Preacher’s conclusions andan innate understanding that there really, truly is something more. 

The Preacher got very little of this, but he did get some.  He knew through God’s supernatural revelation that God is sovereign (3:14; 6:10; 7:13, 14; 9:1), that God makes everything (10:5), that God put eternity into our hearts (3:11), that God made mankind good (7:29), but all have fallen into sin (7:20, 29; 8:11; 9:3-6), that stuff and ability to enjoy stuff are two, separate gifts (2:24-25; 5:19; 6:1-5), that God judges everyone (3:17; 11:9; 12:14), that it will be well for those who fear God (8:12) but not for those who don’t (8:13), and that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments (12:13).

That’s not a lot, but it is important stuff—all of which combined, conspires to get our eyes above the sun. 

All of that has made my soul sing over the past year.  It’s so obviously true.  It resonates deep in my bones.  Not to sound melodramatic, but it has been one of the most significant spiritual gifts God has given since my conversion.  I’ve always thought of C.S. Lewis as uniquely able to describe the things we’ve always experienced, but never known—like the taste of air.  Ecclesiastes has been that for me in the way of why life is as it is.  

And in all of that, we are made restless until we come to rest in Jesus.  Ecclesiastes, more than anything I’ve encountered in some time, has helped me know the unique necessity, supremacy, and sufficiency of Jesus by showing me the utter inadequacy of everything else.   Thanks be to God.

I mentioned at the beginning that I’ve felt torn between which of two approaches to take in summarizing Ecclesiastes.  That was the first—looking at all of Ecclesiastes in order to see the two big gifts God gives through it (honesty about life under the sun and a profound awareness of the need for something more).  Now, briefly, we’ll turn to the second—a more text-specific example of how those things come together in real life—much of the same stuff, but from a different angle.  

The second mini-sermon—a closer look at a particular passage (7:1-4) and the way it points to the two main gifts.

I saw the power of this approach in a funeral message I gave not long ago.  Honestly, I was somewhat surprised by how much it resonated with me (and, I think, those at the funeral).  It’s rooted in 7:1-4, but what I do with this passage—by God’s supernatural design—can be done with just about every other one.  By “what I do,” I mean taking a specific claim in Ecclesiastes and working it out to its natural conclusions.  Every time you do that, with the Lord’s help, you’ll end up amazed by the wisdom, wondering how you missed it initially, and eager to live more fully in light of it.  

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 … 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.

Like many passages in Ecclesiastes, the meaning of this passage might not be immediately obvious.  In fact, it probably not only seems a bit confusing, but also exactly the opposite of what we’d expect.    

“The day of death is better than the day of birth.”  No one really thinks that, do they?

“It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.”  How could that be the case?

“Sorrow is better than laughter.”  Why is that?

“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”  What kind of wisdom would lead someone to conclude this?

To understand what the author of Ecclesiastes is getting at, to be amazed by it, and to get out of it all that God means us to, we need to wrestle with these questions until they yield.  And to do that here, we need to remember who the Preacher is and what he did.  

He was a king in Jerusalem.  He had an unimaginable amount of money and tremendous wisdom to go with it.  And the key to the whole book is that God directed him to use all of his power, money, and wisdom to try to make sense of the world and to find lasting joy in it.  

With that, the Preacher set about trying to find meaning and lasting pleasure in all kinds of things familiar to us.

2:1-11 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” … 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine… 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves … I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. 

10 … And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them …

He used all his power, money, and wisdom to get whatever he wanted, hoping to find lasting satisfaction in those things.  Pleasure, wine, houses, vineyards, gardens, parks, fruit, pools, servants, great possessions, all kinds of animals, silver, gold, and other treasures, entertainment, and endless companions.  And insodoing, by God’s design, he forces us to recognize this same pursuit in ourselves—albeit to a lesser degree.   

The Preacher got all and more of what so many of us are trying to find happiness in.  If we hadn’t spent the past year in Ecclesiastes, you might be surprised by what he found once he got it all.

 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 

He found that nothing on earth could satisfy him.  To say it another way, he found that all of everything still wasn’t enough to satisfy him for more than a short while or to provide any real sense of purpose.

He wasn’t quick to give up though.  He tried something else.  He wanted to see if people who were wise faired any better than those who were foolish, if those who studies a lot had better lives than those who didn’t, so he paid careful attention to everyone around him.

His conclusion: There’s a little bit to gain from wisdom, but “the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, ‘What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise’” (2:14-15)?

The Preacher didn’t find what he was looking for in pleasure or wisdom.  

Still not willing to give up, he threw himself into his work.  He wondered if there was lasting satisfaction to be found in his job—accomplishments and promotions and recognition and raises.  The result was, once again, very much the same, “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool” (2:18-19)?

True joy and meaning weren’t in pleasure, wisdom, or career. 

Still not done, the Preacher considered the idea that the meaning of things and lasting joy might not be found in his own individual pursuits, but in being part of a larger society.  But the closer he looked, the worse it got.  

3:16 … I saw … that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

And

4:1 I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

In courtrooms and churches, places that should have been marked by justice and goodness, there was wickedness.  And where people ought to have been fighting for those being mistreated, he found that they were left alone in their oppression.  Government and institutional religion couldn’t satisfy him either.

The Preacher saw that there was no discernable meaning or lasting satisfaction in wine, building, planting, playing, harvesting, acquiring, money, entertainment, or sex.  Neither were they found in wisdom, work, or the institutions of men.

After all of that, the Preacher was left with just one more area to explore.  What about righteousness, he wondered?  Those who are good must be better off than those who are evil, right?  They must be happier and they must have greater purpose.  That’s what God wants, after all, isn’t it?  

In other words, the Preacher wondered if there is meaning and happiness in being a good person.  What he found is, for those unfamiliar with Ecclesiastes, often surprising as well.  

7:15In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

What’s more, he wrote, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (7:20).

The Preacher found that there really isn’t anyone who is truly good and on top of that, people who are more good often die early and people who are more bad often live longer because of the evil things they do.  

The Preacher looked and looked and looked for meaning and satisfaction on earth.  He looked under every rock and behind every tree, but he could not find true meaning or lasting satisfaction anywhere.  And so he concluded…

9:2-3It is the same for all, since the same event [death] happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all… and after that they go to the dead.

In the end, his conclusions were that life “under the sun” is filled with hardships, lasting joy is impossible to find, meaning is elusive, everything is wrapped in mystery, and then, no matter what you do, you die.  

All of that makes us wonder how to make sense of all of this.  Is this all there is; you live and die and do your best in-between but with no real gain?  Is there any real meaning in any of it?  Is there any hope for after it?

And all of that brings us back to the Scripture passage, now able to answer the questions we asked.  

Death and funerals and sorrow and mourning are better than birth and parties and laughter because they open us up in ways that times of worldly comfort and ease never can to the reality that if there is meaning, hope, joy, and significance to be found, it must be found somewhere else.  Times of hardship provide for us, by God’s design, a unique chance to be honest with ourselves (about our fears and emptiness and need for God’s help) and open to things that matter.  Suffering and death reveal to us what we already know, but work really hard to ignore: that we need something outside of ourselves and even outside of this world if we are ever going to be made whole.  

And in one of the more dramatic ways I’ve ever experienced, I saw that at the funeral.  I know that I can’t perfectly read people’s hearts and minds, but in a truly noticeable and unusual way, from what I could tell, the people at the funeral were listening to these ideas exactly as the Preacher described.  It seemed clear that being in a house of mourning really did crack open the blinds to things above the sun for them.  They could see that their earthly pursuits were ultimately empty, that there was something more, that there is a God who is near and will judge.  And that opportunity is worth a thousand hollow laughters and well-cooked steaks and silly jokes and Amazon deals and secular relationships.  

And then, just like that, like a puff of smoke, it was gone.  The service ended, a meal began, and the window closed—back to being distracted and blinded by the things of earth.  

Again, Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 doesn’t give us the full answer to the meaning of life, but it does show us where to look to find it.  It is a blind-parter.  It gives truths that open up cracks, making above the sun realities visible if we’ll look through them.  And in those few verses, we find one of the many ways Ecclesiastes points us to our need for Jesus and His unique ability to provide for us what we usually seek in everything but Him.   

Many years after the Preacher wrote Ecclesiastes, one of his distant relatives wrote another letter.  In it, he spoke of trying to find meaning and hope and joy in many of the same things the Preacher did and finding them equally hollow.  But unlike the Preacher, this man, the Apostle Paul, did find what he was looking for.

Philippians 3:7-11  But whatever gain I had [all the things the Preacher had], I counted as loss [he too found them entirely lacking] for the sake of [Jesus] Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [Paul found in Jesus what neither he nor the Preacher could find in anything else]. 

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, [he gave up all of the money and prestige and power and worldly wisdom that he once held onto so tightly, because he recognized that they were like trash compared to Jesus…and here’s the key…],  

not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law [from perfectly obeying God’s commands], but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection…

After trying most of the same things the Preacher did and finding them lacking just as the Preacher had, Paul found true hope and joy and meaning in Jesus.  Even more, he found salvation from his sins and everlasting life in Jesus who continues to offer Himself and all of those things in Him to all who will receive Him in faith.  Again, that’s what Ecclesiastes is ultimately given to us by God to do—to drive us to Jesus, the one place that our greatest longings—true meaning, purpose, joy, and reconciliation with God—can be found.  

May we continue to learn from Ecclesiastes and turn to Jesus, therefore, Grace Church.  May we learn and live in light of all of its under the sun wisdom and may that drive us to faith in the above the sun promises of God in Jesus.  

James 1:19-27

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

I want to begin my exposition of this passage by sharing two anecdotes that I think setup the points I want to draw out to you today about this text, true religion, and orphan care. Over the years, I’ve had opportunities with many churches to share about Eagles Wings Children’s Village. A response I’ve heard from several churches is that while orphan care is a good thing, they wish to focus their resources on the gospel. This suggests a concept that the gospel is somehow disconnected entirely from the church’s compassionate response to the needs people have. They may say “that’s nice” but it is not as important as preaching the gospel. On the extreme other side of the spectrum, in my first experience living in Uganda, I met an American man who was in the process of adopting a boy from Uganda. Some years later, I happened to run into the man again in Uganda and he told me that he had written a book about adopting his son which he had titled, “The Gospel Sits At My Breakfast Table.” That description and philosophy would imply that the work of adoption is the gospel itself. But we know that the work of adoption neither saves the parent nor the orphan from their sin, nor even addresses the spiritual need of all people God explains in the gospel. We see there’s imbalance to both these sides, and I want to explain this passage to show you why God says genuine religion is demonstrated in ministering to orphans and widows in their affliction, and a life that is unstained by the world. 

Though this passage is incredibly well-known and used in regard to the church’s call to orphan care, that’s really not what James is directly exhorting us about. The context is setup in V26 where James warns us of an empty profession of religion, which flows from V22 where James warns us to be “doers of the Word and not hearers only.” Martin Luther once described James as “an epistle of straw.” I’m sure Luther’s hesitations about the letter of James were due to the battle Luther fought over the correct doctrine of a believer’s justification through faith in the work of Christ alone for salvation. But a correct reading of James will show that while Paul’s treatise on salvation in Romans makes abundantly clear God’s method of salvation, James’ elaboration clearly defines the results of genuine salvation. 

James uses a word for worship or religion that is only used in the NT in this passage, and then once by Paul in Colossians 2:18, when Paul is describing the doctrines of false teachers, and again by Paul in Acts 26 where he was describing his life in the Jewish religious system. It has to do with ceremonial piety or worship. There is the form or appearance of belief, but James explains what betrays the external form is not an internal reality. He says that if I don’t have control of my tongue, I’m deceiving myself, and my external form of religion is worthless. No passage in scripture gives a more vivid description of disproving false professions of faith than what James writes in the following chapter – James 2 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. In other words, if what we claim to believe doesn’t produce action in us, how can we say we really believe it? Rather than our actions proving we do believe, they are the very evidence that prove we don’t. That’s the context of V27 where James says “pure and undefiled religion before God is visiting orphans and widows in their affliction.” 

So, I next want to ask, what is it about orphan and widow care (along with spiritual purity) that define true religion, and how does that inform the church about why orphan care is an assumed concern for the church? 

What is the source of our understanding of our responsibility towards an orphan? We know that God makes especial mention of provision and concern for orphans. There are over 40 references to orphans in the OT, and many of them include God demonstrating concern for how people should relate to them. For example – 

Exodus 22 22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Proverbs 23:10-11 Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. 

We can see God cares for the orphan, but we must still ask “why” if we are to get to the foundation of why I say it is assumed that we will care for the orphan. God tells us this of himself in scripture – 1 John 4:8 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. This leads us to a further question – what is love? 1 John 3 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? True love is the essential ethic that informs all genuine Christian practice. The Bible tells us “Let all that you do be done in love.” Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Love is selfless. Love is others-oriented. God says this is how we, his people, can understand love, that Christ Jesus our Lord laid down his life for us, and then he adds, “and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” That is the foundation not only of why we should care for orphans, but why we MUST care for orphans. For how can we say that the love of Christ has been shed abroad in our hearts when it doesn’t overflow into a pouring out of ourselves on behalf of others just as our Lord demonstrated in his love for us? God’s description of the purpose of the Christian life centers around this transformation. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. God says the purpose of our salvation was so that we would go from selfishness to selflessness – from considering ourselves first, to considering Christ first. Jesus said in John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Why is this the greatest demonstration of love? Because what personal benefit can an individual derive from the sacrifice of his own life? He will no longer be alive to reap any benefit. Therefore, it is the greatest demonstration of what love truly is. Love gives itself on behalf of others. We see then how fitting a description orphan and widow care are as definitions of true religion. These are people who can’t make a return to you for your assistance. You are not going to benefit from your service. Therefore, it is an example of God’s true love. What I claim to possess has taken over me to the point of giving myself away in true sacrifice. 

The only correct response to truth received is truth applied. There are those of us who can well pass the “faith exam” if that exam were only a written test. But the Bible’s faith exam is not a theoretical, chalkboard exam. It’s a practical one in the laboratory of real life. The scribe who was able to accurately tell the 3 kings where Messiah would be born showed he had the written knowledge, but betrayed his bankruptcy of faith when he didn’t go himself to see “he who was born King of the Jews.” I hope I have made this point clear to you and you are examining your heart according to this litmus test God gives us. But here, we must turn our attention to James’ last phrase in V27. I have met some people who can quote the first part of V27 about orphan care, but can’t finish the verse – and to keep oneself unstained from the world. The word translated unstained in the ESV is the Greek ἄσπιλος (aspilos). It is used 4 times in the NT and each time it is conveying the idea of perfect obedience. For example, in 1 Timothy 6:14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. The idea is that our obedience is completely uncompromised. Without this foundation, the ”sacrifice” of orphan care, or any other sacrificial ministry, is actually corrupted before God and unacceptable to him. Let me give you a couple of statements from Jesus to explain what I mean – 

Luke 6:46 Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? And perhaps the scariest passage in scripture – Matthew 7 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ How can what we would describe as good works be described as works of “lawlessness” by Jesus? It is because everything that doesn’t proceed from the obedience of faith is sin. There are many people who do things under the misconception of earning God’s favor, or even of making up for areas in life where they are disobedient. Some of them like to point to the legalist who fails to even lift with his finger the heavy burdens he ties on others as proof that their version of religion is acceptable to God. After all, does God care more about my impurities and failures in some areas, or that I’m generous and kind towards others? James makes clear that one of these is not acceptable to God without the other. True submissive obedience will lead to the right sacrifices of love, and sacrifices of love without true obedience are not given in true love and are, therefore, unacceptable to God. Let me illustrate that to you like this. If you ask a Muslim how he can go to heaven, he will tell you he must observe the 5 pillars of the faith. One of these pillars include giving to the poor. Now, if I believe that I won’t go to heaven unless I give to the poor, who am I actually concerned about when I give to the poor? Am I showing I love the poor person, that I love God, or that I love myself? This undermines every manmade religion, which all invariably rely on a covenant between God and man dependent on what man does. If I must do good to go to heaven, I am ultimately doing good for myself. If I’m ultimately doing good for myself, am I really doing it selflessly or selfishly? The gospel is the only covenant where love between God and mankind is actually possible. We love him because he first loved us. And this qualitative demand of obedience for true acts of love is defined by Jesus this way – John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Many people have asked me over the years about Muslims and others who seem to have a zeal for God but are deceived about what pleases God. Many have asked me; won’t God accept their worship? The question is, who are they truly worshipping if they fail to submit to what pleases God? The Bible answers the question like this in Romans 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. If you have not submitted to approaching God as he demands, even when you adopt an orphan, you are seeking to establish your own way. Ultimately, you are setting up your own god. Your sacrifice is empty. Keith Green wrote about God like this in one song – 

“I desire obedience, not sacrifice.
I don’t want your money; I want your life”

How can we say we really love God if we don’t obey his commands? And how can we say we really possess the love of God if when God presents us with a person in need, we have no compassion that moves us to action? Is that true religion? Is that the power of this gospel we affirm? What do my actions tell me about my professed faith? 

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Well, here we have it, the final words of Ecclesiastes.  As I mentioned last week, the Preacher’s words probably ended with 12:7.  Vs.8-the end are likely the words of the man who complied the writings/sayings of the Preacher.  They contain his God-ordained summation of the Preacher’s teaching, preaching, and publishing ministry.  

Interestingly, but consistently with the idea that the whole thing was written in the voice of King Solomon, in vs.9-10 the narrator lets us know that in (and probably beyond) the under the sun wisdom communicated in Ecclesiastes, the Preacher taught knowledge.  He wasn’t merely a wise person who kept his wisdom to himself, he determined to share it with others.  

How did he come upon that wisdom?  As far as it depended on him, he did so through great care and hard work.  He did extensive research and experimentation.  He studied what he found thoroughly.  And compiled his findings and conclusions systematically.  He wasn’t sloppy or lazy.  He understood that this is God’s world and it matters how we live in it, both for ourselves and for God.  Therefore, he gave himself to understanding as much of it as he could.  

What’s more, the Preacher, we’re told, not only sought to discover and commend wisdom and knowledge, but he purposefully aimed to do so with integrity and an engaging eloquence.  He was honest and winsome.

In many ways, all of that is the goal of every good preacher and teacher.  I certainly aspire to teach truths about God’s Word and world after carefully studying them, to record my teaching for ongoing edification and scrutiny, and to do all of that with integrity, eloquence, and out of a desire to see you all filled with joy.  

In these final verses (11-14), the narrator shares his thoughts on the Preacher’s thoughts on wisdom’s nature, origin, protection, and end (getting us above the sun in a significant way with this last one).  From those things, we’ll see the big idea of this passage: The whole duty of man is to walk in wisdom.  Doing so means fearing and obeying God in light of the certain judgment of God.  The main takeaway, then, is to learn to walk in the fullness of wisdom with God’s help.  

Before I pray, just to give you a heads up…Next week is Orphan Sunday (no Ecclesiastes) and then the following week I’ll give one final, summary sermon on Ecclesiastes before we begin an advent series on the songs of Luke.   

Once again, vs.11-14 contain the narrator’s thoughts on the Preacher’s thoughts on wisdom’s nature, origin, protection, and end. 

To begin, then, what does he say about the nature of wisdom?  As we’ve seen, wisdom has limits, wisdom can’t predict results with 100% certainty, and there is a profound difference between under and above the sun wisdom.  But as we’ve also seen, it’s impossible to live well without the kind of wisdom mentioned throughout Ecclesiastes.  

Stated more positively, God designed the world to work in certain ways and we simply cannot thrive when are unaware of it or go against it.  That’s the heart of wisdom’s nature in v.11.   

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings…

To explain certain aspects of wisdom’s nature as well as the futility of trying to live contrary to it, we’re given two images in this verse: Goads and nails.

Of goads, the ESV Study Bible says this: “Goads were long, sharpened sticks used to prod oxen when they were hitched to yokes. Not wanting to be jabbed again with the stick, the ox would kick against it. It would soon learn that it was better to accept the direction of the farmer than to ‘kick against the goad.’”

This is similar to the idea of “banging your head against the wall.”  Nothing is gained.  The goads and the wall always win.  The basic lesson is that it hurts far more to go against wisdom than it does to conform to it.  

You might not like the idea of gravity.  You might even genuinely and passionately disagree that there is such a thing as gravity.  But every time you jump off of your roof, reality holds.  

I remember gravity causing a log splitter to accelerate towards my thumb at -9.8m/s/s—a hundred pounds of steel barreling down towards a hundred pounds of steel with my thumb in between.  In the split second before the smash, wisdom flooded into me and I thought, “this steel doesn’t care about me at all.”

There are so many examples of this happening today that it’s fairly mind-blowing.  I imagine that things were very similar when the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1 of mankind’s conscious and intentional suppression of the truth.  

Any effort to get around the world as God made it is to kick against the goads; it is to bang your head against the wall.  It is unwisdom.  Like gravity, no degree of difficulty or sincerity can change that.  

In that kind of way, Ecclesiastes is a constant prodding toward wisdom.  We can, of course, ignore the Preacher’s prodding, but it will always be to our pain.  We can live as if there is lasting pleasure to be found in the things of this earth, but if we do, we will always be left disappointed and wanting.  Likewise, we can go against wisdom and live as if our health will hold forever or as if we won’t die eventually, but if we do, that folly will inevitably catch up to us in especially painful ways.  

Again, the nature of the wisdom of Ecclesiastes (and wisdom in general) is such that it continually goads us toward properly ordered lives and away from the unnecessary hardships of living foolishly.  

The other image, “nails firmly fixed,” points to the other aspect of wisdom’s nature highlighted in this passage.  Like nails holding two boards together, once wisdom is grasped, it usually holds.  Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.  Once you’ve felt its effect, you can’t unfeel it.  

In speaking of the recent NYC mayoral election results, World News commentators pointed out that with very little variation, those under 40 voted for the socialist candidate and those over 40 did not.  The reason, they suggested, was that those over 40 were more likely to have experienced the painful failure of socialism around the world.

Similarly, it is often those who have fought in war that are the least likely to advocate for another war.  They know that the cost almost always significantly outweighs the benefit.

Those who have fallen through thin ice will almost certainly avoid walking on it ever again.  

Sunscreen and flossing make a lot more sense once you’ve dealt with skin cancer and rotten teeth.  

And more to the point of Ecclesiastes, the wisdom that comes from having experienced enough failed promises of the things of this earth, of vocation, of worldly philosophies, of wealth, of honor, of novelty, of human justice, of friendships, of sex, of health and even of life itself, tends to stick.

Wisdom gained is like that.  It’s in its God-given nature.  When something about the way things truly are resonates in us (which is the essence of wisdom), the reverberations hold fast like two boards firmly fixed by nails.  In a very real way, that kind of wisdom gets nailed to our heart.

And in that way, Ecclesiastes helps us to see that the nature of wisdom is that it is increasingly binding.  It may be hard won, but it is also hard-lost.  It may be difficult to come by, but it is also difficult to break from.  And the more wisdom we gain (“the collected sayings”), the more this is the case.  

The nature of wisdom is such that it prods us toward wisdom and holds us to wisdom.  Seek it, therefore, Grace.  With God’s help, learn to walk in the fullness of wisdom.  

The second aspect of wisdom addressed in our passage, the second summary of the Preacher’s teaching on wisdom, concerns its origin.  We just saw a bit about what wisdom is.  Now we’ll consider where it came from.  Look at the end of v.11.

11 The words of the wise … they are given by one Shepherd. 

As is often the case in Ecclesiastes, which is also often the case in all poetry, we cannot be certain of the exact meaning of this clause (“one Shepherd”).  However, although we’re lacking absolute certainty, it is exceedingly likely that the narrator was speaking of God as the “one Shepherd” (which is indicated by the ESV translating it with a capital “S”).  

In that way, all wisdom is given by God.  Grace, let me say that again: All wisdom is given by God.  If it is not given by God, it is not wisdom.  

This is true of all under the sun wisdom since the sun and everything under it were made by God.  He created all that has been created.  He designed it.  He knows it and how it works perfectly.    

Wherever we can grasp things as they truly are in the world around us, then, we are merely grasping that aspect of the mind of God by using the instruments given to us by God (our eyes, ears, and minds).  That’s a remarkable realization, isn’t it?  It means that when we grasp math concepts, or bug hatch patterns, or the earth’s rotation, or the differences in the way men and women tend to think, we are gaining wisdom from God.

While the Preacher’s wisdom was largely relegated to the under the sun variety, this is also true of above the sun wisdom as well.  

It is a wonderful, mysterious, poetic aspect of the nature of Ecclesiastes that the Preacher shared under the sun wisdom given to him by God, as a part of the above the sun wisdom of God (which he didn’t really seem to grasp).  In other words, in sharing the wisdom God gave him regarding the way the world ordinarily works, the Preacher was contributing to the wisdom God gave concerning His plan to save the world from our sin and restore all that sin had broken.  

In that way, yet again, there is more in Ecclesiastes than its first authors understood.  The words of the wise are indeed given by God; not merely the under the sun, proverbial words complied by the Preacher, but the entire cannon of Scripture.

When we combine this with what we saw in vs.9-10 (that the Preacher’s wisdom came largely through careful, disciplined observation, study, and work), we are reminded of an important truth concerning how God ordinarily works.  He uses our faithful effort to accomplish His purposes.  Ecclesiastes is the Word by God, but it was formed both by the guiding work of the Spirit and the conscious choices and discipline of the Preacher.  

May we learn to function in the world with this mindset.  May we work hard at the things God has given us—whether school work, babysitting, house-building, code-writing, teaching, etc.  May we do so with care, prayer, and excellence.  And may we trust that God is working in all of it to bear the good fruit He intends to come from it.

Again, then, under the sun wisdom is available to all who will, like the Preacher, observe, think about, and study God’s creation with care.  But above the sun wisdom comes from God’s revelation alone and can be understood by God’s Spirit alone.  It cannot be found out through any ordinary means.  

Wisdom’s nature is goading and binding.  Wisdom’s origin is God.  

The third aspect of wisdom revealed in this passage is its protection.  The simplest way I know how to state the point is this: Since wisdom is the ability to live in this world as it truly is, living with anything “more” or less than wisdom is always dangerous.  And in that way, wisdom protects us from the pains of folly.  That’s the heart of v.12.

12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

I’d like to share three observations from this verse.  

It is not an accident or a mere cultural expression that v.12 opens with the words, “My son.”  Parents in general, but especially fathers, must be earnest in passing on wisdom and warning of folly.  

In fact, and please don’t miss this, because all wisdom is from God the Father, giving wisdom is an inseparable aspect of human fatherhood.  It is part of the definition of fatherhood.  And in that way, fathers can’t not pass on their understanding of what it means to live in this world as it really is.  Of course, fathers can be right or wrong about their understanding, but they can’t help from passing it on, whatever it is.  

Fathers of Grace, do not take this lightly.  And if you have, repent now.  God’s grace in Christ is sufficient to forgive you all your sins and restore all that they have damaged.  You can have a fresh vertical start right now, so that you can begin working on the horizontal implications in hope.  

With that, settle on the fact that you are passing on your version of wisdom, so: (1) Make sure it is wisdom given by the one Shepherd (and not by anyone or anything else), and (2) Intentionally share it with your kids in both what you say and how you live.  

To accomplish (1), making sure your wisdom is from God, you need to be thoughtful men as you go about life.  You need to learn to think observe, study, and reason carefully.  You need to pay attention to the world around you.  The Preacher is a great example of this.  Consider again vs.9-10 and do likewise.  

Even more importantly, accomplishing (1) means being men of the Word.  Read your Bibles every day.  Memorize Scripture.  Get the good tools you need (good study Bible, a good book on reading the Bible as you ought, etc).  Put yourself under the elders God has given to help you with this.  Come to Berea.  Listen carefully to the sermons and ask good questions of them.  Continually ask the Spirit to give you insight.  

And to accomplish (2), passing it on in word and deed, you need to surround yourself with wise men and women who you will eagerly allow to teach you and hold you accountable.  Become a member of Grace Church.  Offer yourself up for correction to those in your DG.  Ask God and His people to continually reveal your folly.

And then, take all of that and share it freely with your kids.  Make sure you help them understand why you do (and don’t do) what you do, day in and day out.  And make sure you have consistent times of formal instruction with your kids.  Find the balance between using your wisdom to keep them from the consequences of their folly and allowing them to experience its pain.  

The first observation on v.12 is that fathers are given to give wisdom.  

The second observation ought to flow pretty straightforwardly out of what we saw concerning wisdom’s origin.  It is the fact that all wisdom is ancient.  Indeed, it is, as the Preacher observed, an acknowledgement that “there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9).  Ultimately, wisdom is as ancient as God Himself because all wisdom is rooted in His eternal nature.  

The sooner we can settle on this, the better all things will go for us, Grace.

The third observation I’d like to make from this verse is that it is because all wisdom is from God that we’re warned to “Beware of anything beyond these”—beyond the wisdom given by the one Shepherd.  That is, since there is no wisdom outside of God, going beyond that which God has given us is always dangerous. 

At best, “new wisdom” is simply a new way to describe old wisdom or a way to apply old wisdom to a new situation.  This can be a good thing, but we need to beware of failing to recognize that it is still from God.  

And at worst, “new wisdom” is a rejection of God as the giver of wisdom.  Nearly my entire time in college was spent seeking this kind of “new wisdom.”  The whole point of modern political philosophy is an attempt to rethink everything in light of the fact that “God is dead.”  It is a conscious rejection of God as wisdom’s giver.  And, of course, in this way we need to beware of going “beyond these” in that this kind of “beyond” is straight off a cliff.

Even in the Preacher’s day, thousands of years ago, there was a virtual ocean of non-wisdom posing as wisdom.  Therefore, the warning is made even more specific.  Where are we most vulnerable to going beyond the wisdom of God?  In books and study.  

12 … Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 

I remember walking into Wilson library at the UM one day and being absolutely humbled by the knowledge that if I read non-stop for years, at most, I’d be able to read all the books on one of their shelves—one shelf of a dozen shelves in a row, out of dozens of rows, out of several floors of rows, out of one of many libraries on campus, out of countless libraries around the world.  And in all those vast volumes, everything worth reading, is simply a restatement of the ancient wisdom of God.  

As we saw earlier, this is not to say that we don’t study God’s world.  But it is to say that we must always do so in light of His Word and in the humility and caution that comes from the knowledge that all wisdom is from God.  

When fathers give themselves to passing on God’s wisdom, when we settle on the fact that all wisdom is ancient, and when we’re properly cautious of “new wisdom,” then we’ll find the protection God means us to have in wisdom.

We’ve seen wisdom’s nature (it prods us toward wisdom and holds us to wisdom), it’s origin (from the one Shepherd, God Himself), and its protection (a warning against new claims).  Finally, then, in the end, we see its end—its aim, its goal, its purpose.  

The final verses of this book are among the clearest of the above the sun passages in all of Ecclesiastes.  Much of the book, as we’ve seen, contains under the sun wisdom.  The wisdom of 12:13-14, however, cannot be discerned by ordinary means.  It cannot be observed in nature.  It requires a special revelation from God.  What is that wisdom?

The narrator of Ecclesiastes introduces it by revealing the simple fact that the Preacher had rested his case.  He was done offering witnesses and evidence.  Having come to “The end of the matter;” he declared that, “all has been heard.”  And, therefore, he was ready to render his final verdict.  

Having considered it all, having studied carefully, having tested all matters, having seen and tried it all, having felt the profound the mystery of life, what are we to make of the Preacher’s observations and conclusions?  Taking all of the first 220 verses of Ecclesiastes into account, what do the last two verses tell us about mankind and our place and purpose in God’s world?

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

In short, they tell us that three things rise to the surface.  Living in this world in wisdom means living continually in light of judgment, fear, and obedience.  

The two “for”s (one in the middle of v.13 and one at the beginning of v.14) tell us that it is good to work backward through these verses.  Each one grounds the previous claim.  Fear God and keep His commandments “for” (because) that is the whole duty of man.  And it is the whole duty of man “for” (because) God will bring everything into judgment.  

Working backwards, then, we begin with God’s judgment.  

There are just wo things I think we need to hear about it.  First, it is total.  It will come to everyone for everything.  Grace, the end of the matter is this: Every single thing you’ve ever said/not said, thought/not thought, felt/not felt, loved/not loved, done/not done will be judged by God and determined to be either good or evil.  No one and nothing will escape that judgment.  

“God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

The second thing we need to hear is that God’s standard of judgment is His holy name.  We’ll come to that in the next point (fear), but for now let me simply say this: As a young man, before I became a Christian, I really did know (although I’m not sure how) that God would judge me.  But the problem I had (without knowing it) was that I thought God’s standard of judgment was other people.  I knew I was a jerk in a lot of ways, but I also knew that I wasn’t Hitler or Stalin.  Those men were evil.  I was basically a good person in my mind.  

For that reason, because I was comparing myself to others rather than the Holy God, I did not fear the coming judgment.  I assumed I would be judged among the good.   

If you are going to live in wisdom, if you are going to live in this world as it truly is, you must begin with the idea that all you do in life will be placed before God and judged by God.  Judgment is coming and it is impossible to live a life of rationality and reason in this life without a continual consciousness of that.

The second key of Ecclesiastes is the first aspect of mankind’s purpose on earth.  The whole “duty of man” (literally, “the whole of man”) begins with the fear of God.  This is not unique to Ecclesiastes.  More than 300 times this idea echoes throughout the Bible.

We saw this idea back in chapter 8.  There, the Preacher helps us to see that the fear of the Lord means: (1) Standing in awe of His absolute power, majesty, and splendor (1 Chronicles 29:11-13), and (2) falling down in terror at His fierce and holy wrath (Psalm 68:1-2).  

It means recognizing that God is God, perfect and holy, majestic and just, all knowing and all powerful.  Compared to Him, we all fall short of His glory.  And with eyes to see, we know that we are ruined.

This kind of fear of God was entirely missing from my tragically naïve consideration of God’s coming judgment.  

Finally, then, the second aspect of the whole duty of man is obedience to God—to know and do all that He requires.  To live entirely in light of his wisdom.  To neglect none of it and to fully do all of it with the right heart and for the right reasons.  

With that, much comes into focus.  If judgment at the hand of a holy God looms for us all and if His standard for judgment is perfect obedience to all His commands, then my youthful folly becomes even more clear and the certainty of God’s judgment (rightly) becomes more terrifying.  

Unless…

Grace, the mystery revealed in the NT is that God’s chief command to all the world is to trust in Jesus.  To live in this world as it truly is, to have wisdom, will always lead us to recognize our need for a Savior and our inability to provide one for ourselves.  Therefore, the whole of Ecclesiastes, the whole of man, and true wisdom always points us to Jesus.  

1 John 4:14-18 … the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Our whole duty is to consider the just judgment of God, that we might fear God, that we might obey God, by turning to Jesus in faith and therein being freed from judgment according to the love of God, and then we may walk entirely in light of the wisdom of God, for the glory of God, the good of the world, and our highest joy.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Our passage for this morning most likely contains the last words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes.  As you can tell with even a quick glance at v.9, the perspective changes from first person (“I”) to third person (“he,” the Preacher).  You may remember that the sayings of the Preacher were likely compiled by someone (frame narrator) who wrote the very beginning (1:1-11) and the very end (12:9-14), along with a brief interjection in the middle (7:27).  

It’s hard to imagine a more fitting way to end a book like Ecclesiastes than this.  After eleven chapters of describing life “under the sun” in all its mystery and confusion and frustration and beauty, the Preacher closes with a truly exceptional poem on the nature, certainty, and proper preparation for the hardships that come with aging and death.  

What is it like to get old?  Which aspects of life are harder?  Is there any way to prepare for the trials of age?  What can I do now to help me finish life well later? Those are the kinds of questions the Preacher has in mind in our passage.  

The big idea of this passage is that learning to trust in and follow God when we are younger is the best way to faithfully endure the many challenges typically associated with getting older.   In other words, the main point of this passage is to equip us to finish well in life by calling us to hope in God early in life.  The main takeaway, then, is to learn who God is and live as He calls us to while we still can.  

If you spend time with the older folks at Grace Church, they will definitely tell you that there are many ways that life is harder for them now than it was when they were young.  They’ll probably also tell you that because of that, if they aren’t careful, they’re prone to allow the increased physical, emotional, and mental challenges to draw their eyes off of Jesus and onto merely minimizing and managing the difficulties.  And if they’re being really honest, they’ll even tell you that if they’re not continually on guard, they’re in danger of moving from looking to Jesus > to looking only at their suffering > to looking only at their suffering while being frustrated with Jesus for it.  

The question is: What can be done about that temptation which is common to us all in our old age?  

The Preacher’s final words to us are a two-part answer to that question.  The first part of the answer is to remember God before the challenges of age begin to set in.  And the second part of the answer is to describe how hard it can get (when we’re older) as a motivation to take the first part seriously.  

What we have, then, is primarily a charge to young people to consider where life is going in order to best prepare themselves for what’s to come.  But it’s also a charge to older people to take care to rightly “remember God” in their old age.  

Because I think it will help us appreciate this passage most fully, I’m going to treat the Preacher’s points in reverse order; his description of the trials of old age before his solution to navigating them in a manner pleasing to God.

The Preacher opens our passage with these words, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’.”

We don’t like to think about such things, but as a result of getting older in a fallen world, there will likely come a day when life is so challenging that it will be hard to find any pleasure in it.  “Evil days” (not morally evil, but evil in the sense of being characterized by extreme, age-induced hardship) will almost certainly come to us all some point.  Our first Father, Adam, made sure of that when he sinned against God and brought a curse upon us himself, his offspring, and even the earth he was charged to fill and subdue.

Before we get into some of the specific hardships the Preacher has in mind, let me simply say that this is one way in which God designed the church to be uniquely positioned to help us live as He intends.  The healthiest churches have new babies being born, faithful saints being buried, and people at every stage in between.  That’s because in order to be truly healthy, we need to live alongside brothers and sisters in Christ so that we might see the blessings and struggles that God has built into the whole of life.  

In that way, we can’t be as healthy as God intends when we’re missing age groups or when they huddle together or isolate.  Older folks, we need you to continue to live alongside us even when it’s hard.  We need to see what’s to come and what it looks like to fight the fight of faith when it does.  But that also means that we need you younger members to pay attention and to show appropriate honor to them so they can, and when they do.  We’ll see some specific ways to do so as we move through the text.

The first thing to see concerning the trials of getting older is that the hardships that sometimes came, but always quickly went when we were young, tend to stick around when we are old.  Look at v.2.

With that, what kinds of things mark the years of no pleasure?  In vs.2-7, the Preacher poetically describes various aspects of the “evil days” to come in our old age.   

2 … before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain…

When we are young, our lives are usually characterized by physical health.  In fact, most young people don’t think about their health at all.  That’s part of what makes a kid a kid.  And even when things do get hard (an ear infection or a bad cold or a broken bone), they almost never last long.

But the first images the Preacher gives paint a different picture for the suffering of the aged.  Rather than a short summer night or a brief spring rain, suffering in old age is often like an unending night and an incessant storm.  It can be a darkness that never lifts and a storm that never stops.  

Let us be a people who visit those who are shut in and pray with those who are weak.  Let’s be a people who seek to know one another well enough to be able to bear each another’s burdens at every stage of life.  

The next three verses describe in a somber tone the deterioration of the whole body, limb by limb.

Because much of the Preacher’s meaning is lost to us in unfamiliar poetic language, I explained the details in a way that risks taking the poetry out of the poem.  Having done so, I want to back up for just a moment.  

The power of these few verses is not in teasing out every detail.  The power of the poetry is in its emotive and comprehensive description of the trials of age throughout the whole person.  Arms, legs, teeth, eyes, ears, sleep, voice, mind, hair, our whole bodies and hearts, our whole being, fails as we get older.  It is a challenge none can imagine and all struggle to endure in joy.  The Preacher is describing the worst of things, of course, but elements of it are common to all who make it to a certain age. 

We’re meant to feel the difficulty such that we long for help with it.  

The Preacher ends v.5 with an explicit answer to the question of why is all of this happening.

… because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets…

Our bodies fail like this because that’s what death is.   And all of us will die.

The nature of getting old means that hardships won’t let up, our whole bodies wear out, and (now, third) our bodies eventually fail in irreparable ways.  

6 … before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern…

V.6 gives four vivid descriptions of death.  The thing they all have in common is the irreversibility of the action.  Once a silver cord is snapped, a golden bowl is broken, a water pitcher is shatter or a cistern wheel is broken, they are no longer useful for their purpose.  They have come to an end.  That’s the case with our bodies as well.  Once we die, our bodies are functionally finished.  

There are things we can (and should) do to take care of ourselves and prolong our health, but eventually, unless Jesus returns, every one of our bodies will experience catastrophic failure one day.  And, once again, the Preacher is letting us know so we can be prepared for when that day comes.  

The final description of the end of things for all mankind is found in v.7.

7… and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

This is an echo and undoing of something the Preacher said in the previous chapter.  

Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

But even more importantly, it is an echo of God’s promised punishment for sin way back in Genesis 3.

Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

As has often been the case, the Preacher seems to have known more than he knew.  The final aspect of physical death is that our bodies go to the ground even as our souls live on.  

If all of that sounds rough, it should.  That’s the Preacher’s point.  Death was not part of God’s original creation.  It came into the world as part of the curse of man’s sinful rebellion against God and His good design.  It is staggeringly harsh and it is entirely inevitable for us all.  

The fact that this problem gets seven-and-a-half of the eight verses and the solution only gets one half is on purpose.  It is not until we are stirred by the trial, that the solution will find its proper place in our heads and hearts.  To live in this world as it is, to live with wisdom, means being aware of the cursedness of the curse as we age.  And to really be aware of this necessitates figuring out what is to be done about it.  

The Preacher’s answer is helpful.  The New Testament’s answer is infinitely more helpful still.  But before coming to either, I want to make something of critical importance crystal clear.  

It is an unassailable fact that when we enter the suffering of the evil days to come (old age), we will interpret our suffering inside of a larger story we believe.  We can’t not.  

For some, the larger story is that they are basically good people who deserve good things.  When the suffering of old age comes to those who live inside of that story, suffering is angering injustice.

For others, their story is one of worthlessness.  Therefore, when the suffering of old age comes into their story, they believe it’s exactly what they deserve.  

Some live inside of a charmed story.  That is, they’ve been largely insulated from any real suffering.  Their story isn’t as much that they are good and deserve good things as it is that the world itself is basically good.  Therefore, when suffering does come, it’s a shock and a decidedly disorienting thing.  

Still others live in a story of perpetual victimhood.  For them all their suffering (maybe especially related to old age) is someone else’s fault.  

The first point of the Preacher’s answer is that the story we believe about getting older—whatever that story is—and the suffering that goes with it—whatever form it takes—will have everything to do with how we respond to it.  

And that principle leads straight to the Preacher’s charge regarding the suffering that’s certain to come: Get your story right before it comes.

With each of the Preacher’s descriptions of a failing body and mind, I suggested a few ways in which we as a church could care well for those in that place.  The Preacher’s main concern, however, was to offer a simple, yet profound charge to help ourselves navigate these challenges well.  

1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come…

How do we prepare for the trials of getting old?  Once again, the main way we do so is by getting our story right before it happens.  What is the right story?  The right story centers around our Creator.  Suffering well is always God-centered.  But what does it mean to “remember your Creator?”

For the Preacher, it means two main things: (1) Learning who God truly is, and (2) Living in light of that at all times.

In the end, in light of all of this, the Preacher’s conclusion was what it had been: 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.”  Mystery of mysteries, it’s all mystery.  

While God inspired the Preacher with significant understanding concerning His sovereign nature and its prominent place in the story of all who will finish life well through suffering, the Preacher’s understanding ended there.

But where the Preacher’s knowledge of the solution ended, God’s continued.  There is much that could be said, but chief among it all is the simple fact that God loved the world in such a way that He sent His Son that whoever believes in Him will never perish.  Jesus endured all of this for us so that our endurance of it is the doorway to the death of death for us.  Our help in dying comes ultimately from the knowledge that in Jesus (though not through old age) it is not death to die.  Remember, above all, this great and eternal promise of God in Jesus.  Trust in Him.    

What’s more, God gave us two brilliant pictures of this.  The first we saw in the baptisms.  The second we will see now in the Lord’s Supper.  

Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

We have a game of sorts that we like to play in our home. We call it the question box. Creatively named, it consists of a box of questions that we pass around and ask one another. The questions range from “Which Lord of the Rings character are you most like?” to “Which passage in the Bible have you found most convicting lately?”

Another question in the box is “If you had to drink only one thing for the rest of your life, what would you want it be?” In that vein, if you had to pick one state of being to experience most consistently, what would you choose? Think about that for a moment. Excitement? Anticipation? Contentment? Satisfaction? Peace?

Let me suggest one more state for contention: serious joy, the focus of our passage for this morning. What if you could spend the rest of your days experiencing uninterrupted serious joy? Not a bad thought, is it?

As we wrap up chapter eleven and near the end of the book, the Preacher returns us to familiar ground with another loop on the Ecclesiastes slinky. God is sovereign and life in His world is often unpredictable and challenging, but there is always joy to be found. In our passage, the Preacher gets a bit more specific regarding the challenges of life and the joys that are available. Regarding the challenges, he explains that they are many, including aging, judgment, and death. Regarding the joys, he speaks specifically to the old and the young.

In all of this, we see the big idea is that even in this fallen, mysterious, often painful world, by God’s design and at God’s hand, there is serious joy for us to experience throughout all life. Experiencing that joy looks a bit different when we’re old than when we’re young, but it’s there for us all, all along. The main takeaway, then, is to rejoice in whatever good things God gives us, throughout whatever life God gives us.

Again, the big idea of this passage relates to the serious joy that God has made available to us throughout our lives. In a somewhat oversimplified way, vs.7-8 address serious joy for those who are older (“a person [who] lives many years”), while vs.9-10 focus on serious joy for those who are younger (“O young man, in your youth…in the days of your youth”).

Look with me at v.7 as we dive in.

7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

This is a beautiful, poetic description of a healthy disposition that we all ought to cultivate.

As you leave here this afternoon, the Preacher and I invite you to slow down, take a deep breath, and look around, Grace Church. Watch the sun set tonight or the sunrise tomorrow and be amazed at its sweetness. Hike up to the top of the hill at the back entrance of William O’Brien State Park and be amazed by the pleasantness of the sunlight on the changing color of the leaves throughout the St. Croix valley. Go to a lake (not Lake Alice) and look at the sun or moon reflect off the water and joyfully ponder the 10 billion lines of code God programed into creation to make it work like that, every time. Remember the God-given sense of relief you felt when you were camping in a scary storm, unable to sleep for much of the night, and then the first hint of morning sunlight awoke the dawn. Similarly, recall the gladness you felt the last time the sun came out after days and days of gloomy, cloudy, rainy weather.

Can you think of a time when the power was out in your house and you gathered around a candle or fireplace and the simple joy that brought?

The other morning, it was pitch black and 24 degrees outside as I walked to my truck. The sky was clear and the stars were brighter than I’ve seen in a long time. It was amazing and humbling and awesome all at the same time—serious joy.

7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

All around us, continually, are caches of light-joy for all to receive. And that’s just a few simple examples of a very particular kind of sweet, pleasantness.

Now add to that the piles upon piles upon piles of similar joy embedded in the rest of creation. I can’t think of a better example of this than the commendation Paul Tripp gave to parents in his parenting seminar (“Getting to the Heart of Parenting”). I first heard this talk well over a decade ago and it impacted me so much that it’s still the first thing I think of when I come to passages like this.

“Think about this, everywhere you look you see the glory of God. God made soft and God made hard. God made cold and God made hot. God made water that boils on one end and freezes on the other. You probably used both ends today.

God made the amazing muscles of the human face that can create such expression just by flexing.

The lens of the human eye that focuses this close and all the way to infinity.

God made the endless timber of the human voice. Every human voice has a different timber to it, [such] that somebody can call you on the phone and they don’t even need to tell you their name because you recognize that timber of that individual voice. How awesome is that?

God made the delicacy of a human kiss and the endless variety of human hair.

Think just of the engineering of the nose. How many billion noses has God created and He hasn’t repeated a model? And the engineering is great. Can you imagine if your nose was upside down? Not only would it look weird, you couldn’t go out in the rain. Can you imagine if your nose was closer to your armpit?

Just look at your finger for a moment. The finger is an amazing design. It’s got this thin layer of skin on the end of it and this hyper constellation of nerve endings. On the other side is this ever-replenishing hard surface that you need to pick things up. Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory. You don’t have to go any further than the end of your finger to see the glory of God.”

Tripp’s main point is the Preacher’s main point: God designed the world such that there truly are joy-caches everywhere we look. Our bouts of joylessness, then, are not due to a lack of available joy, but because we’re so busy and self-focused and narrow-minded that we miss what’s right in front of us. All around us, always, are things that have been placed by God for serious joy under the sun for all who will look.

Look, Grace Church. Look. Get your eyes off of your phone and TV and game system and yourself, and look at the joy-producing evidences of God’s grace that are everywhere, for everyone, continually. Of this, the Preacher concludes…

8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all…

While that’s true for all of us, you’ll notice that the Preacher is specifically addressing older folks here. I’ve noticed the temptations in myself as I get older, and I’ve seen it in the older people I’ve known and pastored over the years, to complain a bit more, to focus on the negative, to grumble about health issues and weather issues and noise issues and young-people issues, to pine for the good old days (Ecclesiastes 7:10).

There’s a reason the “old man yelling at clouds” meme exists.

The longer you live, the more sin and disfunction and brokenness you see. The older you get, the more (emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual) pain you experience. As the Preacher has made clear throughout Ecclesiastes, and as he will make clear again in the second half of v.8, he’s not unaware of these things. But no matter what or how many hardships you endure, none of them are able to take away the joy that’s available to you in each and every season of life.

You will witness and experience more hardship the older you get, but you will also witness far more of God’s work, you will also have had far more access to the blessings of God, far more chances to serve God, far more experiences of the grace of God, and far more joy-caches presented to you by God.

There are always fountains of joy. And the longer we live, the more we have access to them. Let us hear the words of the Preacher and rejoice in them all.

Once again, however, the Preacher wasn’t commending a flippant or naïve joy, but a serious joy—one with eyes wide open to the continual presence of darkness as well as the light under the sun.

8 … but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

If you want a more serious joy, in your joy, in the light, you must remain sober-minded by the memory of darkness past and knowledge of the darkness that is certain still to come. This is not cynicism, it is realism. This is not a call to lesser joy, but more mature and informed joy. This is not a wet-blanket, it is a stabilizing ballast. It is not the promise of melancholy, it is an escape from naivete. It is not a declaration that nothing is certain, it is an honest acknowledgement of the mysterious nature of life under the sun. It is not only a way out of flippant joy, it is the pathway to serious joy.

Older folks, we need you for this. We need you to help us see this. We need you to be joyful people in spite of all the hardship—the loss of friends, loved ones, hearing, and memory, creaky knees and sore backs, wavering bodies and energy, unanswered prayers and dreams.

We need you to point us to the joy-caches you collect when life is hard. We need you to prepare us for what is to come by being honest about it, while still tasting the sweetness, pleasantness, and the serious joy that God gives through it all.

Above all, older saints, point us to Jesus who, for the joy set before Him, entered the darkness that we might behold the True Light of the World. Point us to Jesus as your treasure that far surpasses every hardship that comes. Point us to the promises of Jesus which you have found to be your unshakable joy throughout all your days. Rejoice in Jesus all your days and let us see you do so. Show us the serous joy that is in Christ alone and which cannot be taken no matter what.

SERIOUS JOY FOR THE YOUNG (9-10)

As we just saw, the Preacher has a word concerning serious joy for the older men and women among us. And, as we’re about to see, he has a word concerning serious joy for the younger men and women among us as well.

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth…

The fact that young people are inescapably naïve does not mean that wisdom calls them to postpone joy until they’re less so. Youthful, under the sun joy isn’t as full as it will be one day, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real joy.

In fact, it is often being naïve that allows for much of the joy of our youth.

We don’t/can’t really believe that one day falling won’t be funny and so there’s real joy in watching friends biff.

We don’t/can’t really believe that being married will be a challenge and so there’s real joy in living with a less-than-fully revealed version of our spouse.

We don’t/can’t really believe that we will be betrayed by a friend and so there’s real joy in unquestioned trust.

We don’t/can’t really believe that we will one day feel completely crushed by financial stress and that sleep will be hard to come by and so there’s real joy in spending our last few dollars on Taco Bell at 1am.

We don’t/can’t really believe that we’ll get cancer and so there’s real joy in not worrying about it at all.

We don’t/can’t really believe that we’ll have to burry a spouse or sibling or child and so there’s real joy in being with whoever we’re with, whenever we’re with them, without another care.

We don’t/can’t really believe that one day we’ll be on our deathbed and so there’s real joy in simple, silly things like trying to fit as many marshmallows in our mouth as possible or eating pudding through panty hose or rolling like a log down a big hill or playing guitar on the roof of a garage.

It is precisely because we don’t/can’t really know the hardships to come that the Preacher admonishes you to…

9 … let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth…

Young people, be happy. Find as many of God’s joy-caches as you can. As we’ll see in a moment, God isn’t indifferent to where you find your joy, but that doesn’t diminish the call to have a happy heart in the things God gives you. There is a deeper joy available to you as you age, but real joy is easier to come by when you’re young, so let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

The final two sentences of v.9 are a bit tricky to interpret. Nevertheless, I think the gist is clear: Seek the joy of youth, but be careful about where you find it, for God will hold you accountable for it.

9 … Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

The ways of the heart and the sight of the eyes are the sources of our desire. In that way, we can’t help but to walk in light of them. But again, not all desires of the heart or eyes are equal. Not all joy is equal. Not all desires and joy found in them are good. Some desires are sinful and some joy is deadly.

The end of v.9 is, therefore, young people, an echo of what the Preacher said in 3:17 and a stern warning.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

Joy comes easier in youth, but so does sin. The lack of brain development, the lack of wisdom, the lack of walking through the trials of darkness, and the lack of sanctification, along with the lack of brain-developed, wise, holy, and tested friends all conspire to make the path of lust and sin wider and more welcoming than ever in our youth.

And so, young people of Grace, test the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes against the Word of God before you walk in them. Consider them carefully before you act on their promises of joy. Choose to be around older people (and not just people your age) to learn to test your desires and a more serious joy from them.

Test and consider all of your desires in the certain knowledge that God sees them in your very heart even before He sees them in your actions. God knows your thoughts better than you do. He sees everything you do with even greater clarity than you have. You have never and will never act in secret—every internet search, every dishonoring word to your parents, everything you do with your friends, every messaging thread. You might be able to keep your thoughts and deeds hidden from other people, but you can never, not even for a single moment, keep them from God.

More than simply knowing about the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes, though, God judges every one of them against His holy nature. And He is not indifferent to any of it. There is no inclination you have or action you take that God will fail to judge justly.

Although the Preacher seemed well aware of the fact of God’s judgment, we really aren’t sure what he understood concerning the nature of God’s judgment.

But we know what the Preacher didn’t—at least not fully. We know that for all who walk in the sinful ways of their heart and according to the lustful sight of their eyes, for all who find joy apart from God, God’s holy, just, and perfect judgment will be poured out with infinite wrath. The wages of sin is indeed death.

And we know something else the Preacher didn’t—at least not fully. We know that God’s holy, just, and perfect judgment will be poured out with infinite wrath in one of two (and only two) ways. Either it will be poured out on us in hell, in a place of “eternal conscious punishment” or it has already been poured out in full on Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

But how is it determined which it will be for us. Matthew 25 gives us a window into the answer.

Matthew 25:31-41 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [That is, He will judge everyone as the Preacher promised, but did not fully understand, in v.9.] 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

But again, what is the basis for King Jesus’ distinguishing between sheep and goats? Within the context of Matthew 25 it is the love we have for Jesus, expressed in our love for those around us. Those who love Jesus in such a way as to be driven by it to love others are the sheep. Those who do not love Jesus and do not, therefore, love others are the goats.

More broadly speaking, and in Ecclesiastes’ terms, the sheep are those who find their joy in trusting in Jesus and the goats are those who find their joy in anything else. The sheep are those who are filled with joy in the knowledge that Jesus died to pay for their sins and rose from the dead for their justification, while the goats don’t see a need for forgiveness or are looking for it anywhere other than Jesus.

There is lots and lots and lots of joy available to you from the hand of God, young people, but it is, as I hope you’re seeing with greater clarity, serious joy. Under the sun, it is serious because, while it is everywhere, it is not just anywhere and God will judge it all. And it is serious because it is always mingled with trials. Above the sun, it is serious because it cost Jesus His life and is received only by wholly surrendering ours. And it is serious because it is eternal and in the very presence of the Triune God who judges all.

The Preacher concludes with these words…

10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

We first encountered the Preacher’s vexation in chapter 1. There I explained it as “an irritation, a frustration of the soul verging on anger” (Ryken, PTWC, 43). His command here is to put all of that away. And his command is rooted in the familiar refrain that we are born, we live lives that are filled with things that are hard and hard to make sense of, and then we die. That’s just how it is, the Preacher reasons, and so there’s no need to let it vex you. Take an aspirin for a headache. See the doctor for a broken bone or fever. Pray with a friend about a struggle. (Put away pain from your body.) And then focus on the joy, not the vanity.

As Christians, as those who have seen above the sun, we add to this the command and promise of our Lord,

Matthew 6:25-33 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life [do not be “vexed” as the Preacher said]…. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…

There, and only there, will you find perfect, pure, uninterrupted, undiminished, and unending joy.

The big idea, as I hope was clear, is that even in this fallen, mysterious, often painful world, by God’s design and at God’s hand, there is serious joy for us to experience throughout all life. Experiencing that joy looks a bit different when we’re old than when we’re young, but it’s there for us all.

But we, having received the fuller revelation of God, add to that the very good news that a type and magnitude of joy available to us in Jesus is immeasurably greater and longer than the Preacher could have imagined.

And the main takeaway, then, is to rejoice in whatever good things God gives us, throughout whatever life God gives us. But above all, it is to look through all of those things to the greatest treasure, Jesus Christ—who is lighter and sweeter and pleasanter and joyfuller and cheerfuller than all else; in whom there is only light and no darkness; who is the mystery (the vanity) of God revealed; who is the true desire of our hearts and the true beauty our eyes long to behold; who is the one means by which we can escape all pain and find all joy.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
      for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
      for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
      they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
      in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
      and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Before we jump into the text for today I would like to ask a couple questions. First off, kids, as Pastor Dave has been preaching through Ecclesiastes what have your thoughts been? Prior to hearing this book preached through, what had your engagement been with Ecclesiastes? Had you read it much before or not?

Adults, I would pose those same questions to you, was it confusing to you or were you able to easily grasp the proverbs and teaching in the book? As a kid, I’ll be honest Ecclesiastes was not a book that I easily understood. I am someone who learns best by seeing things done or having a very good picture illustration given to me so that I can grasp what I am being taught. It’s ironic that I’m preaching in this passage as I when I was a kid this passage seemed quite confusing to me. Verse 1 cast your bread upon the waters? Really?? In my head all I could picture was going down to the lake and tossing in a loaf of white bread, only to watch it quickly disintegrate and melt away. What good did that do?

I failed to grasp who the audience that the preacher was speaking to was. They were farmers, merchants, fishermen, their food did not come from the local Aldi or Costco that we get our food from. They lived in a totally different context than us and for us to fully understand the illustrations that the preacher is using in this passage we must be able to put ourselves in their shoes to fully grasp the proverbs being given to them. We must remove our American hats that are used to having all of our daily needs met quite easily and put on the hat of the Israelite of this day who lived totally relying on the weather of that growing season providing adequate harvest in order for there to be food on their plates and whether they would have enough seed to plant the following year.

Alright kids, adults too, so if you can, picture your home being very small, your mattress is maybe some straw with a blanket thrown over it, each morning you’re sent by your mom to go fetch water so she can begin cooking breakfast, you need to go make sure the goats and sheep have water and their needs are attended to as well before you get to eat your breakfast. This is the audience that the preacher is speaking to, I hope picturing this will make it easier for you to grasp the proverbs being given. Ok now that we have our Israelite hats on let’s dig into the text.

The big idea of the sermon is this: God’s word is the guide for life. The preacher follows up the proverbs from chapter 10 with a few more to begin chapter 11. These proverbs highlight the systems God created for us to function in and his sovereignty over them. God encourages us to act, to plant seed, but we also must recognize his sovereignty over what will come of our sowing seed. The phrase “Do your best and let God do the rest” comes to my mind as I read and study these verses.

Verse 1 says “Cast your bead upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Verse 4 says “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

The command in verse one seems simple enough, cast your bread upon the waters but the image seems difficult to define. What is actually happening here? As a child the image I thought of was like I said earlier: a loaf of white bread just floating in the waves, melting and disintegrating away. Even if you were fortunate enough for that loaf to somehow return to you, how in the world is that going to be edible? I had to chuckle as one of the commentators I read stated that as a child this was the image that came to his mind as well. I wasn’t alone in the way I imagined this and maybe you picture something similar in your mind.

Ok, so what do we do with this? How do we make sense of this verse? Let’s make sure we’re listening to this through the ears of the original audience. That will hopefully help us make sense of the instruction being given. All the commentators I read view this illustration as either speaking of a farmer or of a merchantman. Either way the principle given would remain the same. So if we’re going to look at it as how this applies to a farmer, here’s some background on seeding practices. Often farmers would sow their crops in a floodplain and as the rains came the floodplain would be irrigated and their grain would be watered providing germination, and then sustenance for the crops to grow. The reason the term bread is being used is because instead of making bread out of all of your prior years grain you had to set some of it aside as an investment into next year’s crop so that you may eat the following year. So in casting your seed upon the waters you were casting bread you technically could have eaten out on the waters of the floodplain, and you had to rely on the Lord to provide the rain so that you may eat that year.

If we’re to view this from the perspective of a merchantman the principle remains the same. You would go to a sea captain and send your grain out for international trade. You would then wait for the ships to return with fine goods from foreign lands. To “find it after many days” is to receive the reward for your patience in waiting and for your wise investment to begin with. The principle is the same in either illustration, the farmer or merchantman had to act and plant their grain or send their grain out to sea and then trust that God would give the appropriate weather for bountiful harvest or pleasant winds for a safe and prosperous voyage.

Alright, what’s verse 4 have to do with this? If the farmer was someone who was constantly waiting for that just oh so perfect weather before he planted he would never plant, and if you never plant you’ll never reap and if you don’t reap well you don’t eat. Grace, what’s the answer for this farmer? Trust in the sovereignty of God! Trust that God is sovereign over the weather, trust that He will give bountifully what is good for His children. I’m not advocating here that we should willy nilly do things. No act upon the wisdom that God has given and then decisively obey. We can’t control the germination of seed, but we can do our best and put the seed in the ground at the right time and then trust God to do the rest. Another way to say this may be that a wise man makes plans and then allows the Lord to direct his steps. It is good to act upon wisdom that God has given but don’t allow this knowledge and wisdom you’ve been given keep you from trusting in almighty God and allowing Him to direct your actions. One of my favorite passages of scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths. That is all He asks of us Grace is obedience and trust that He will do what is best for us and our families.

Verse 2, Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

Verse 6, In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

In verse 2, instruction is given for investment. The phrase don’t put all your eggs in one basket comes to mind. Kids, who here has chickens or ducks? Your mom sends you out to pick up the eggs. Why would it be wise not to put all your eggs in one basket as you carry them back to the house? Have you ever tripped and fallen carrying the eggs? If you’re carrying them all in at one time and you trip and fall it’s one of those ruh roh moments in life. Man, I just made scrambled eggs in the driveway. This proverb is giving instruction for wisdom in business. That we should be diverse in our investments. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket because if that basket takes a tumble you may be left with nothing. We do not know what disaster may come, be it war, pestilence, famine or financial collapse, rather than simply taking our chances. Godly wisdom tells us to plan for an uncertain and possibly an unfortunate future. A wise investor is someone who invests widely, if one investment does poorly it will hopefully be counterbalanced by another source that is doing somewhat better.

If we look at this from another area in life we can take a look at cities and their habits in planting trees. In history monostands, which means only one variety, have been planted along boulevards or in parks. What’s the issue with this? Well say a pest comes along that there is no cure for and is introduced into that monostand, what happens? All the trees eventually die, this happened in the US starting around 1928 Dutch Elm Disease was introduced into the eastern US and it had devastating effects on these majestic Elm trees that lined our city blocks and parks. It took until about the 1970’s for it to fully reach Minnesota and then we too lost all of our Elm trees. What was the response to this? Did cities learn their lesson? Not really, all these Elm trees that died were replaced with Green Ash trees, obviously a different species so they were not susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease but again a monostand had been planted. In the early 2000’s along came the Emerald Ash Borer, this time not a disease but an insect that devours and destroys Ash trees. Again it has slowly made its way across the US. I remember learning about the devastation that the Borer had wreaked on the state of Ohio when I was in college and taking woody plants class and our professor telling us that it was coming for Minnesota and the same thing would happen here. It is here now and wiping out Ash trees in our state as well. The answer to combat this is to plant diverse stands of trees, that way if one is attacked you will still have some left over, but planting multiple varieties will also make the spread of a pest harder as the susceptible host will not be as close to the infection site making it difficult for the pest to infect another host.

Grace, God’s word is practical for everyday life. If we had no other books from which to read but we had the Bible we would be fine. God’s Word truly is our guide for life. Don’t forget this Grace, be faithful to studying God’s Word. Kids, when you run into something you don’t understand, keep reading, ask your parents to help you understand, but I will also share with you that some of the things you read will just make more sense the more you mature and grow as a Christian. So don’t let your lack of understanding keep you from continuing to pursue studying God’s Word. You are forming a base of knowledge for the Lord to use in your future.

Let’s look at verse 6, the command is to sow our seed in the morning and at evening withhold not your hand. We’ve already touched on sowing seed earlier and that the audience wouldn’t be eating if they didn’t do that so is this just a reiteration of that concept or is something being added here? Sowing seed was usually a one time act done at the beginning of the growing season, but was the farmer then supposed to just sit back and relax on his porch and just watch the grain grow? No I think not, the command to at evening not withhold your hand implies that there’s more work to be done. Crops need to be tended to, weeds need to be pulled, some spreading of compost for fertilization of the crops needs to be done. All these things are tasks that the wise farmer has been given insight into and in obeying the Lord he should be diligent and faithful in them. Obviously we also know that no matter how talented a farmer is it is God who gives the bountiful harvest or does not and both we must trust are for our good. In that trusting in God’s sovereignty though we cannot cease from doing the tasks that we know can assist in the bountifulness of the harvest. Whether we eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. Pull weeds to God’s glory, fertilize for God’s glory and then wait on Him to do a mighty work.

I’d like to share from my past work experience in relation to this. The farmer makes wise choices but still God is in control of the harvest. The farmer can do everything right and still devastation can come. I used to be a golf course superintendent working for the PGA Tour. I think for the most part I was a fairly smart superintendent who had experienced a lot of different weather events be it hard winters, hot humid summers etc. These experiences had given me some wisdom and insight into what kind’ve decisions should be made to ensure the health of the plants in a given situation. However, God is still the one who provides optimum growing conditions and no matter my skill I still rest in the hands of God and what He wills. The first summer I was superintendent I had taken over at the end of June, God sent a devastating hail storm that wiped out over 240 trees and did quite a bit of damage to the greens. This was quite discouraging to have happen right after taking over, God granted favor though and we had perfect weather over the month going into the Champions Tour event we hosted and we had a successful event and I was given some kudos for being a young guy and handling a hard situation well and producing results. The thing is Grace it wasn’t me who produced those results, it was God granting perfect weather allowing for rapid recovery from all the scars from the hail storm. I could’ve done the same exact things leading up to the event but if the weather had been super hot the plants may not have had the ability to heal as they did. God in His sovereignty granted favor for recovery, just as in His sovereignty He sent the storm in the first place.

Verse 3, If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

Verse 5, As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

The phrase “it is what it is” comes to mind when I read verse 3. It is such a simple truth, when the clouds are filled with the right amount of moisture they will spit it out back on this earth. It’s part of the rules of nature that God created. The farmer has no control over when rain will come on his crops, again he must simply act upon the knowledge and wisdom he has gained to tend his crops in the right way and then prepare for God to do a mighty work in granting a bountiful harvest to him. The second part of the verse is again such a simple thing. Do you sit around and contemplate why a tree fell to the north or to the south? I would guess probably not, at least not when it falls in the woods. Maybe if it falls south and misses our house we say thank you Lord! There’s some contemplation there or at least thankfulness but honestly if the tree falls north and drills our house our heart should have the same thankfulness because we know in God’s sovereignty nothing happens to us that is not in some way for our good. We may not understand it at the time and it may take years to see why it was but we can be assured it was indeed for our good. That hail storm I experienced at the golf course was miserable to go through but through having to replace all those trees I met the gentleman who I now work for. Through a couple months of, at the time, work hardship I have been given a job that has been a real blessing for my family. God is in control of all Grace, even the minutia in our lives that we don’t think about. I don’t consciously tell my diaphragm to move to inflate and deflate my lungs, it’s involuntary muscle control that God created that governs that. I don’t have to consciously think about digesting my food, again its involuntary muscle control that God governs and keeps my body moving along.

Verse 5 I think really is the crux of this passage showing us how little knowledge we have compared to God. I can’t comprehend how an egg cell and a sperm cell come together to form new life, and how that life is knitted together in the womb of the mother. Grace we know more about the conception of life than the preacher did. We’ve seen ultrasounds, we understand cells and more about biology than they did in the time of the preacher but I would say this greater knowledge should put in us an even greater awareness and wonder at the God who created all, and now sovereignly controls and sustains all. The more aware we become of the world that our God created the more humbled and compelled to worship we should become.