‘They might hate this book.’ I thought as I began preparing our new teaching series on the book of Ecclesiastes. It is true that I have been asked by mature Christian people in the past why is this film noir book, this existential pessimism about life is in our Bibles at all? It is so negative, so downbeat. I have had people ask me in the past to please cut to the answer and side line the painful questions the book insists on asking and illustrating. And I agree, reading Ecclesiastes can be more depressing than reading a news feed from the BBC!

The opposing voice in my head comes from the people I have met who began their conversion to Christ through Ecclesiastes. In fact, in our secular context, a book that begins: ‘Meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher. Everything is meaningless!’, will find many non-Christians agreeing with it. Then they will be shocked to think that they are agreeing with something in the Bible, then they will wonder and want to read more about this gritty realism because if the Bible can face our essential meaninglessness so boldly then perhaps it knows what to do with it.

Of course, Ecclesiastes is part of the ancient Hebrew school of wisdom training. If Proverbs will seek by every means to bribe, plea, seduce, mock, encourage and warn us into wisdom then the task of Ecclesiastes is to disillusion us into wisdom. Why? To cause us to despair? No. To protect us from it. To cause us to lose motivation? No. To motivate us with the joys God actually holds out to every human being. To take away our purpose for living? No. To teach us the humble purpose we have before us but often neglect because we are pursuing grander schemes.

I think the days ahead will require more wisdom to navigate than what we are normally capable of. I am glad we have these ancient resources to call upon both for the days of plenty and the days we may need to face.

Shalom,

Mike Flynn - Vicar