You Never Really Know

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 60

Psalm 60 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us. You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters. You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger. You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us! God has spoken in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.” Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies. Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

Scripture Reading: James 4:13-17

James 4:13–17 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Sermon:

Well once again, and as always: Good morning Church! I was Truly glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

I have missed you all these past two Sundays, I love my church. I love being here with you. I missed you all dearly and so I'm glad to be to be able to worship and fellowship and, and be with and truly to share God's word with the church that I love and that I hope you love too. And so it's just really good to be here.

Today, we'll be turning our attention to Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verses one through six. And as a bit of preface, anyone who's been here for any amount of time... Well it'll have to be a long time, a few series, a few sermon series worth of time… but you would know that going into any book that we are preaching through I usually have in my mind one text that I I'm looking forward to. It is the text that I want to preach more than any other. And one text that I'm a little scared of, or maybe it is more right to say that it's on my “that's going to be a hard sermon… and so there is a part of me that thinks I don't know if I want to preach that one” list. And there's different ways that a text can end up on that list of texts. Some it is because of the subject matter… and I don't know if I really, really want to preach Judges 19. For those of you who are here a long time ago. Remember that one. These are Difficult texts because they have difficult subject matter. Hard to speak about. But then there are texts that are historically difficult because people disagree about what exactly is being said, in the Matthew series that was the Olivet Discourse where Jesus was talking about End times stuff… that's just hard… that's part of it. But in Ecclesiastes, this is the text. and here it is because this is most unique portion of all of Ecclesiastes.... Well, because if we read it too literally well it doesn't make sense. It is hard because it is weird… We'll read the text together, but I'm just going to warn you There's a weird phrase in here that no one really fully knows exactly what it means.

But this also has the difficulty of just being another passage in the difficult book of Ecclesiastes. and ultimately what we're talking about, and what Solomon wants us to see in this text, is there are a whole lot of things that we cannot know, that we will not know, that it's impossible for us to know, and that's what Solomon is going to wrestle with.

To get our minds thinking in the right way… Today's Father's Day. So Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there. But as fathers, we pride ourselves on our ability to have right answers. When I first became a father, when Jayden was a kid as he started growing up, I got to experience first hand the “why” portion of your child's life. And for Jayden when he did this I tried to answer his questions very literally. He would ask “why”? And I would give him like the full scientific as far as I knew it answer. “Why is it hot out today?” because it's summer. Well why is it summer? Well, because of the way that the Earth is angled towards the Sun and the way the Earth spins around the Sun. Well why does it do that? Well, because of the way gravity works. Well why does gravity work that way? Well that one its because that's how God made the world. Well why did God make it that way? Well, because he wanted to.

I would just try to answer all of his “Why” questions? But ultimately, we get to questions, we run into things where we have to say. “I don't know”. But it is not just the Why of gravity… these are real world questions… Why does this happen and not this? Why can't it be this way? Why did God choose to allow? Why doesn't God choose to allow? … I don't know.... And ultimately, we can never really know the answers to a lot of these questions.

And that is what Solomon is going to come face to face with. We've been dealing with this in Ecclesiastes through all of it and here it reaches its culmination in Ecclesiastes chapter 11. We are now at the end of Ecclesiastes we have three sermons left — including this one. SO for those of you who are counting the days until the next series (spoiler alert, New Testament book, written by Paul…) there is is not much left.

And this passage, this text, is sort of his final Throws up his hands and “You just never really know.”

Ecclesiastes chapter 11 starting in verse 1, pay attention Especially here at the beginning, because we start with the very weird passage and then we'll deal with the difficult issues.

Ecclesiastes 11, starting in verse 1

Ecclesiastes 11:1–6 ESV

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 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. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 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. 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.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open. With the word of prayer.

Dear Lord, we do thank you for today. We thank you for your grace and your mercy. We thank you for your wisdom. We thank you, and praise you for you are The Sovereign King of Heaven. The one, who knows, the end from the beginning. And though you have created us, you have, as we read earlier, in Ecclesiastes, placed eternity in our hearts and yet made us so that we cannot see the end from the beginning we can rest in your promise that you are The Sovereign God of heaven. And, you know, all things. you are in control of all things. Help us to trust then in you. Help us to see your word clearly. speak to our hearts. May, we be conformed to the image of your son, For it's in his name that we pray, the name above all other names, the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

So what is this all about? What are we dealing with here? And ultimately, this is one of those What I like to call one point sermons. Because there's one thing that Solomon's dealing with throughout the scope of this whole text. That is that there is always Uncertainty.

There is ALWAYS uncertainty

Always, and in every situation, in every time, in every place, for every person, we cannot always have certainty. In all things there will always be things that we do not know. There will always be things that we do not understand. There will always be things that we are not certain of. Anyone who comes to you and says, I have all the answers to all things at all times is lying to you. Because there are things. We cannot know. We will not know.

This is what we've been dealing with, again as I said earlier... in all of Ecclesiastes. Life is vain. Why? I don't know. Well, what about this thing? Why is this thing vain? I don't know. Life is pointless Sometimes... why? I don't know. I'm not certain. And then we get to the painful ones. Why is life difficult and painful? Why does this happen or that? Why does this person get sick and die and this one get sick and then get better? I don’t know… We struggle to know and understand: Are we sure that God wants me to do this, or learn this, or be in this. I don't always know. We can't always... don't always know...

So here’s the point… That's life.

That's in some ways, a hard truth... but in other ways a liberating truth. Because there's always uncertainty, So it's okay to not have all the answers. As we think through this let me remind you of another time we see that we don’t always know everything… We could here think of another book in the Old Testament, that deals with a similar subject matter, the Book of Job. And there famously Job has been faithful throughout the large Book of Job, but towards the end, Job is about to say something wrong. And then God there finally appears on the scene. And he begins to correct job. And job's response… well, we would be wise to learn job's response.

He says, I'll cover my mouth for. I was about to speak of things far, too great for me to know or understand.

Job realizes he can't know or understand everything. So why would he dare speak on it? And God pushes him down that road. He makes sure Job, and then by extension all pf us, can learn this lesson…

job. Where were you? This is the way David reads it. This is sort of the David version of this. Hey, job. Where were you? When I created the world of the universe with the power of my voice job, where were you? Job. Where were you? When I divided the land from the sea, where were you job? Hey job, where were you? I'm trying to remember. I don't remember seeing you there job. Where were you? When I created life and set things up, the way they would be except the the Leviathan here and the Behemoth there and I did these things. Where were you job? That's right. You weren't there. So job, why do you think you'll understand all that I'm doing, or understand all that I'm saying, job? What's your problem?

And a Solomon wants us to get to that point. The same point that Job got to... where we realize There's uncertainty, and some things that are too big or great or mysterious for us to know… We don't know. But that's okay.

But instead of these “where were you Job” questions that God asked Job, Solomon instead begins to give us some proverbs... Some words of wisdom... to know and understand there are certain things that we cannot know and we will just have to live in uncertainty. And instead of going to like Creation in the way the universe works, solomon starts going to a place where we're very practical, somewhere tangible somewhere that we are all at least slightly familiar with.

and the first one I know that we are familar with, because we've all had to go to Walmart, or order things from amazon. He starts by saying there's even uncertainty. In Commerce.

In COMMERCE

Here verses one and two. I'm gonna have to build some bridges for you, but because this is weird.

“Cast your bread upon the waters. For you will find it after many days”

Is Solomon saying, take a loaf of bread. You throw it on the water, it floats around and gets soggy but after many days you'll walk back to the water And there it is! Your bread right there waiting for you. I wouldn't eat that bread if I found it after many days… and that's not what he's saying,

He says give portion to seven or eight for, you know, not what disaster may happen on Earth.

What in the world is Solomon talking about here? Well, it's interesting in some ways. We're talking about there's uncertainty… and even In this passage if you ask some there's uncertainty on how to read this. There's two main camps. OK, Great. And so I want to help, you know what other people say, because I think we can get to the same point, but there's a better way to read this. I think one Camp says is about being generous.

Casting your bread on the water is to give to those in needy and those who are living in chaos. In this idea of giving portions is like setting aside, some like when the reading of the law happened in Ezra, Because like give some to the poor around you. I I don't think that's what this passage is about.

What is Solomon saying, then?

When he says, cast your bread upon the waters, What he's literally saying. If I were to try to Modern Americanize, what he's literally saying, here it would be something like this: Be willing to ship your goods A distance that might be longer than you're comfortable with. In Domino's language: be willing to take a delivery order that is right outside of your “normal” delivery area.

What he's more saying is something all along the lines of You might have to get into to economic things. That are hard and maybe even uncertain. Water was simultaneously. Like, if you look at symbolism in Hebrew literature, Water stood for chaos and uncertainty because it's constantly changing. There's this uncertainty in chaos to water. So when he says saying your bread, hear your goods, whatever you have that, you provide, and the water is the uncertainty, but it also might be the danger that every decision has, because we can’t be certain about anything...

You may have to ship it… Understand the context here… This is in a time before sort of modern Boats and modern technology, and GPS and You know, when Amazon sends me a package They send a confirmation code and I can hop online and I can know where that package is. Right. And you'll see like, huh, that's weird. Why is my package in some random little town in the middle of Illinois? I don't know why, but that's where it is. And I know that…

But When Solomon was writing this, you would put your goods on a boat, the boat would leave and you had no idea what was happening. The boat would go travel for however, long. Get to where it's going. Sell your stuff travel all the way back. You'd have to wait for the boat to come and you don't know exactly when the boat's going to come and they couldn't call ahead and then you might get the reward from your goods. But on the other hand… Some Calamity might also happen. The boat might crash. The boat might be taken over by Pirates. You don't know what's gonna happen, but Solomon says, do it. Send out your bread, send it on the boat, and it will come back. It'll be okay, there's no certainty about this, but this is life.

So be willing to send your bread on the boat... be willing to do these things so that you can gain some reward from it. Good business knows, there's no certainty here, but I still have to operate. Give a portion to seven or eight. I don't think he's talking about being generous... though we should be generous and we'll actually get to that same point later. What I think Solomon's saying here is he's giving us the exact same advice that every financial advisor that's worth anything... that every investment strategist that's worth anything … Will tell you: Diversify your portfolio.

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. And here, if we tie to the first, don't put all your bread on one boat. Spread it out, put some on this boat some on that boat somewhere. So if this would happen so that happens to this one. You'll still get a profit from the rest. Have eight different portions of your bread going out and making you money because you don't know what disaster will happen. Some hurricane takes out one, some Pirates take out two, at least six more make you money.

Solomon here is giving us wisdom to understand. We can't be certain so, but we still have to function in life. So go ahead, cast your bread... give a portion out... diversify your portfolio move forward because you can't always be certain what's going to happen? You can't be certain in Commerce and you certainly can't be certain In the times.

In THE TIMES

Here, we're the same thought we've ben in in Ecclesiastes Since chapter 3, Since “there's a time and a season, for everything” Solomon has been harping on this thought... And you can't know the times You can't know what's gonna happen. Even if you think you can and things often work, a certain way, you have no idea what the end result will be.

Verse 3: If the clouds are full of rain they empty themselves on the earth… In other words, there is a time for rain… but verse 4 he who regards the clouds will not reap… because though there is a way that things usually work, we can’t be certain about anything...

You look at the clouds and think it's gonna rain and it might... When we were on vacation we'd look up right? We had purchased in advance tickets to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, my family loves riding roller coasters, we love theme parks and so we said on this trip, really the one thing we care the most about is that we get to spend one day here. Tickets were on sale, so three months in advance we bought our tickets. To the theme park. Why did we pick the day? We did. Well, because we we chose the week to be out there because it's supposed to be good weather that week. And we chose the day to go to the park because that's the day with the least amount of lines and that's the day that we should go. And then what happens? We pull up the first day there we pull up the extended forecast and the week that's supposed to always have good weather, guess what? It might rain the day, we're going to go to the park. And then it gets closer and then it's definitely going to rain when we go to the park and then we get even even closer and you know what? It's going to rain in the park, but only at night. And then what ends up happening, whatever God wanted to, really… and thank God for that, because it was the perfect day to go to the park...

We got to spend the whole day in beautiful weather, and it was clouds, and everyone else was scared of the rain. So there were no lines. And then that night it rained and they had to close down the roller coasters and we had a great time. But you can't know. We can look and think the clouds are full of water. It's going to rain but we can't know for certain...

And then Solomon asked the philosopher's favorite question. If a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear. It doesn't make a sound... But his question is phrased a little differently, if a tree falls, it's going to point some direction, north south east or west and you know what direction the tree is pointing in? whichever one it falls, This isn't some deep profound statement about if a tree points North we have to do this he's saying we don't know. Events happen that we can't control it rains. And it doesn't rain, we don't know. And so if we spend our time trying to observe, the wind will never get to work, And if we spend our time just estimating and looking and trying to read the clouds, we will never get to do stuff because we can never understand with certainty. All of the times we just can't do it. a tree falls and it fell and it sits there, because that is life.... So, stop trying Again, we're here at the same message that I feel like I've been harping on through all of Ecclesiastes. You can't have certainty in the times. And it's okay. When the times don't go the way, we want them to, It's okay.

For us at the amusement park, it might rain the day we bought a non-refundable, ticket to the amusement park. It's okay. It'll be okay. It might rain when you go on vacation. It's okay. It might be a difficult time. It's okay. That's the point, Solomon has Been trying to get us to see because ultimately these culminate in one thought. There's uncertainty In God's work.

in GOD’S WORK

Ecclesiastes 11:5 ESV

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.

Here's a rather bold, but very important point… Just like there's a lot of things we know that we can’t know, because God is God We cannot know all the works of God.

And here's the bigger Point. God's Sovereign over all things. Here's the theological Point, built off the Commerce Point built off the understanding of the times Point. Here's the Deep theological point: God is Sovereign.

He makes everything... controls Everything… rules everything. And we cannot and will not understand all the work of his hands. We can't.

And he gives a very beautiful and important picture. God is the one who knits together human life in the womb of the mother. And how does... to get biological for a second… how does One sperm plus one egg come together to create a human with a soul? I don't know. And I would like to emphasize this right now... science can never answer that. How can the biological processes that are occurring Create a human soul? No idea. No one can can know.

That is a fact.... We need to hear this and understand this clearly... that is a fact that science can NEVER answer. So when we're out there debating and talking about the evils of abortion, as we're dealing through all of those things. We have got to get to the point where we understand that science can't answer the most important question here which has to do with personhood, being created in the image of God and God's sovereignty. Those are the real issues in that debate.

And Solomon's saying you don't know the way the spirit comes into the bones, you don't understand how God can take this and make a soul. We can't understand that. Why would be able to understand anything that God's doing? We can't, there will always be uncertainty. There will always be things, we don't know. There will always be things we don't understand... and praise God for that.

As I've gotten older. This is a Biblical word and I've become much more familiar. And grateful for,and willing to rest in this word... It's the word “mystery”.

Paul talks about it often. Talks about the mystery of the gospel, and this great mystery and we see parts and we see portions, but we cannot know, and understand all of it. and the mystery is great and wonderful and should cause us to praise all the more.

But, how does? God himself enter into Creation in the person of Jesus Christ. There's mystery And it's beautiful.

How can God exist in Trinity, where we worship the Trinity in unity. But never once confounding or confusing, the persons such that God the father is God, the son is God, and the spirit is God, but the father is not the son, the son is not the spirit, and the spirit is not the father. How does that work? It's a mystery, I don't know. But praise be to God that he has shown us at least that it exists.

There is a mystery to how God created, why God loves, how God moves and works.... We cannot have certainty.... and That's a good thing. Because God does works in the world. He makes everything he's Sovereign over everything, and we won't always know. The answer.

As a pastor There's one bit of advice that you hear a lot of pastors, say that I have always steered away from. And I Endeavor to never say. It comes about like this. You will face some trial some trouble. Some difficulty in your life. Usually a big one. And you'll say something like, why would God allow this? Some pastors will say.... And I'm not, this is not a Character judgment upon them. This is a difference in personality style and heart. So hear me on that, not trying to judge anyone who does this. I'm trying to share my experience. Some pastors will say. God allowed this into your life, so that You could minister to others who will face the same thing.

Why do I have to face… I'll use myself as an example.... Why in my life did both of my children end up in the neonatal ICU? And pastors will come say. It's so that you... right and I'll make it personal... it's so that I as a pastor Can show sympathy and care and love to those in my congregation who may have their child in the neonatal ICU. Okay. Couldn't you have taught me that lesson a different way? I just always found that a very unsatisfactory answer.

So instead I've landed on this answer, why does God allow these things? I don't know.

But I know this: He did it for His glory. And your good.

What that looks like and how he gets there. I don't always know and I will never stand here and tell you that I can or will know But I know that, he who gave us his own son, will he not with him graciously? Give us all things. I do know this. That greater love has no other than this. That one would lay down his life for his friend. I do know this that God. So loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, and whoever believes in him, will not perish, but have everlasting life. And so in that, I can rest…

The things that I AM certain of give me Grace and Faith to live through the things I'm uncertain of

That's the point.

There's always uncertainty. There's always difficulty in Commerce... We don't know what the future will hold. As we try to read the times, we cannot do it perfectly. And when we try to understand what God's doing, we cannot and will not fully understand all of this. So what do we do? Well, there's always uncertainty. So, just get to work.

So just GET TO WORK

What Solomon wants us to see. Is that the uncertainty does not remove our responsibility to live and work and operate in this world. So, he says, in verse 6,

Ecclesiastes 11:6 ESV

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.

This is what Solomon's saying. In the morning, do the work you have to do. But it might rain and wash the seed away. That's okay. You don't know what will prosper and what won’t?

But but what if the wind comes and blows away the seat, it's okay. In the morning, sow your sead. Why? Because you sow seed in the morning, And usually that works. And there's no certainty and there's no promise and there's no guarantee but you still do it. And within your evening, with hold not your hand, he's saying be willing to give with what you have. Don't be so afraid of the future that you're not willing to live life now. this is where we get to the being generous portion of this passage… You don't know, maybe your generosity and your willingness to work. Now will end up paying off in the end. You don't know. You don't know which will Prosper. You don't know whether both will be good or neither will be good. So just do the work set before you

By way of practical example, I like to listen to Dave Ramsey, he helped me at Desiree out a lot in our life and getting our life together... not personally I wish... But one of the things he talks about is how we are all naturally. Either Spenders or Savers. We just get money and goes out: Spenders— guilty is charged. Or we're Savers where we use get money and we get money and we get money and we never enjoy and take advantage of that money. And both of these unchecked can be a problem...

If you meet with Desiree do premarital counseling, we say, If? As you look at Spenders and Savers, you have to look at the husband and the wife, if both the husband and wife are Spenders, that's a problem. If both the husband or wife are Savers, that's also can be a problem. And if both the husband and wife, But one is each right? One's a spender and one's a saver that will also lead to problems. Because you'll figure out how to right? Money leads to problems in marriage. That's part of what we teach here. But understanding that it's okay to spend and it's right to save It's what Solomon's saying.

Do the work? That's the saving part. Go in the morning, do what you need to do, but this idea of opening your hand in the evening, but it's also. Okay, to enjoy the fruit of your labor. You don't know what the future will hold. So, just get to work. And live the life that is set before you. Do those things that are set before you that God has called you to do? And glorify him as we do so.

We don't always know what God's doing. What our lives are headed towards How our lives are moving. What plan God has. We don't know, a lot of things. So we should walk in the completed work of Christ.

To hjelp you out one more time: What work should I get to? What work should I do? I'll keep this simple. Matthew. Chapter 28.

You don't know what the future will hold. You don't know what business adventures will succeed or fail. You don't know what times we live in. We don't know what God's doing, so what should I do?

Preach… the… gospel

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What work do we do we share and teach not knowing how God will use it all… We don't know. God does. Trust in him.

Let's pray.