Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jun 19 2019 - Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14 – The end of it all

We have skipped to the end of Ecclesiastes to see what conclusions the Teacher has come to in his search to understand the meaning of life.

Firstly, he concludes that there is much in life to be enjoyed. Death may be coming and will reduce everything to vanity or meaninglessness (11:8), but that provides all the more reason to enjoy life while it lasts. In particular, the young should enjoy life while they have the ability to enjoy it.

But the Teacher is well aware that all life comes from God and that every human being remains accountable to God, so he counsels, "Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." (11:9). So, secondly, the Teacher calls for young people to: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come  and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them'" (12:1).

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 is a moving and poetic piece of writing about the increasing frailties of old age: one's vision begins to fail; arms tremble and legs become bowed; teeth fall out; one becomes housebound and incapable of working; hearing fails and one is filled with all manner of fears – justifiable and imagined; one's hair goes white – if you have any of it left; one can no longer take pleasure in anything. And all of this is just the precursor to death itself when, "the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (12:7).

This analysis of the brief span of human life concludes, "'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Everything is meaningless!'" (12:8). The Teacher has ended his book just where he started it. His investigations have not helped him find any answer to the meaning of life.

But 12:8 is not quite the end; 12:9-14 form a kind of appendix to the book. It's a strange appendix, commending the Teacher for his wisdom while at the same time warning of the dangers of the multitude of books and of the wearisome nature of study. These verses then conclude:

Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil. (12:13-14)

There is much about the world, human life in general and your own life in particular which you may not understand. The best advice in such a situation is to "fear God and keep his commandments" – to trust and obey.

That was the best advice that Old Testament wisdom could come up with, but we have Christ. Ecclesiastes encourages us to feel the burden of a world that is not what it ought to be and prompts us to look with renewed longing for the day when our Lord Jesus shall return from heaven and our bodies, and this world, at present subject to vanity, corruption and death, shall at last be changed, renewed and decked with glory. Perhaps this is a longing we feel more keenly with the advance of old age and loss of the faculties we enjoyed in the years of our youth. We long for their return.

Father God, we thank you that the revelation of your redemptive purposes in the Lord Jesus exceeds all that human wisdom could imagine or the human heart desire. Your Spirit has taught our hearts to groan along with a groaning creation. Help us by your Spirit to tell others of the Lord Jesus, the answer to this world's longings and hope. Help us to serve you gladly until all our faculties fail and our breath ceases and then to serve you with renewed strength in glory.

Jun 19 2020 - Romans 14:1-23 – The kingdom of God is ...

What are those things that cause divisions among Christians in your own experience? With the Christians in Rome to whom Paul was writing there were divisions over food and drink and divisions concerning whether one day was to be considered more sacred than another. Paul reminds them that each person must give account for themselves before God. If we live – if we make use of certain gifts – we are to do so with conscious thanksgiving to God. If we die – if we deliberately deprive ourselves of certain things – we are to do so in conscious dedication to God. What each does or does not do is to be done in conscious dedication to the Lord and in a spirit of thanksgiving. Be careful, then, not to judge a Christian brother or sister or to look down upon them as not quite as mature or spiritual as you are.

Paul concludes this section by saying that the kingdom of God is not about food or drink but about righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is about righteousness: seeking to live moment by moment in the way we believe to be pleasing to God; doing all things for him and to him and not living to and for ourselves. It is about peace: we are to do all we can to live in fellowship with one another, valuing one another and putting the other person before ourselves (“practice playing second fiddle” as The Message wonderfully translates Romans 12:9); we are to encourage one another rather than judging and discouraging fellow Christians. It is about joy: it is living in a spirit of thankfulness and praise as we recognise the goodness of our God and the wonder of all that he has done for us in Christ. Above all, it is living by the Holy Spirit: righteousness, peace and joy in the kingdom are the fruit of his work within. We are to live by the Spirit and to walk by the Spirit; that’s what kingdom living is all about.

What are those things that cause divisions among Christians in your own experience? What are those things that tempt you to judge a fellow Christian or that lead you to consider that they are not quite like you, not up to your standard? Are they really matters that are central to the kingdom of God? Or would Paul say to us that the kingdom of God is not about such things, it is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

My conversion was amongst English Evangelicals. Later I went to study theology at Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids. There I was confronted by Dutch Reformed Christians. It came as quite a culture shock – many of them smoked. It’s good to be confronted with Christians from other backgrounds whose cultural behaviour is very different from your own. It helps you to see through cultural prejudices to what it truly important – allegiance to Christ and love for him. And love for him must extend to love for and acceptance of his people in all their peculiarity. After all, we seek the same for ourselves.

We are called to enjoy the life of the kingdom; to enjoy it in fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus, by your death upon the cross and glorious resurrection you have broken down the wall that divides one people from another. We delight in your purpose to embrace people from every background language and race and to make them your own. By your Spirit, break down our prejudices and enable us to accept one another as you have accepted us. Help us to delight in one another’s experience of you and to encourage one another in the life of discipleship. May your kingdom be made visible in our lives.

Peter Misselbrook