THE OUTER LIMITS: ECCLESIASTES - Life Lived

 Life Lived Ecclesiastes 8:10-15 All the tension that Solomon has built is the tension of life knowing ABOUT God, but feeling so far away. Have you ever wrestled with that tension? The world is so odd, and seems like it’s spinning out of control. When you compare all that we experience in this life to God’s character of love - how are we to believe in God’s power when the world is so awful and seems almost bent to doing MORE awful, hatred, anger and strife to war and disunity - how do we find God in all of this. Our focus on wisdom as we follow along with Solomon gets sharper, today. Our focus on wisdom today may find us struggling with knowing that God is here, maybe it finds us interacting with people working to grasp a world like ours and find balance with a loving God. Our focus on wisdom today gives us grit for life that means when you as a believer in God’s goodness and grace, who by the very blood of Christ is reconciled to life with God, begins to live in a world that winks at God and participates in the hatred of good loving character that required Christ's blood, how are we to reconcile God’s patience with His reality? Today we seek to know, how can I live a life in fear of God, in wisdom, and one full of Joy - do these things even co-exist? Ecclesiastes 8:10–15 (ESV) 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. I can imagine him back from a funeral, literally having seen the wicked buried. One who went in and out of the holy place, who was at temple, living obviously loved by folks, but it was vanity. Solomon is again perplexed - he's frustrated, what does every Emmy / Grammy speech start with? “First off I just want to thank God” In 2011 God and Jesus were trending topics on twitter when the Biebs thanked them… That same year Brittany spears thanked God (and not specifically Jesus) for her award. I considered playing either of the music videos - I watched them both and decided better of that, Brittany’s we’ll, just isn't going to happen - Justin’s well I just love you guys and wouldn’t do that to you. Then I thought, we’ll maybe I’ll read some of the lyrics, and then I thought better of that too. It was at this point, this point of confusion after reading lyrics and watching their videos when I asked HOW IN THE WORLD these two are thinking God is behind these shenanigans… And so I understood verse 10, and I know Solomon is wrestling with God’s reality in a world “under the sun” and so I get why he’s vexed now, he’s back from a funeral of someone who said the right things but didn’t live it! It would be as perplexing as going to Tony Soprano’s funeral and he attended mass, and gave things to the kids in the neighborhood but EVERYONE KNOWS HE’S THE GANGSTER THAT OWNS BADDABING, the minister at the funeral says - he’s gone on to a better place, maybe you JUST watched the 2011 awards, the Brittany thanked God, the Beibs thanked Jesus AND God - and the minister just said Tony was a good guy who is now resting with God. You’re confused, why - this is dancing in my head. Isaiah 5:20 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! But, lets keep going in Ecclesiastes 8 and find fear, wisdom, and joy. Ecclesiastes 8:11-13(ESV) 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Maybe rather than saying children of man, Hebrew was just fine as it was and “man” is confusing because of a double meaning we miss in English: lets read it again and see if you catch it: 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of Adam is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13  13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. We’ll need to think through that carefully because 12 says a sinner does evil and lives a long time, 13 says it will not be will with the wicked he wont prolong his days… like a shadow because he does not fear God. When the sentence is not established immediately the children of man, or those who don’t yet know God, feel like they’re getting away with it - they go fully after their sin. Let me stick with mom - maybe you grew up in a house where mom was home or maybe you understand the concept, she’d let you know you think you’re getting away with that, but dad’s coming home. Maybe you kept going with your craziness, but when dad got home the game was up and everything changed. This is similar to how Solomon in verse 11 is explaining our behavior just because we’re not held accountable in the moment, we live as if there is no account - but we know differently. It can seem like a contradiction soup waits for us in verses 12 and 13 - when the truth of the matter is, here lies the encouragement for living in a world that one the one hand thanks God as they live against Him. The sinner does evil and prolongs his life - but it well for the one who fears God because they fear before him. Christian - knowing that the character of God includes his omniscience and omnipresence gives a guide rail for living. When you KNOW mom has eyes in the back of her head - you don't take the cookies that is a woefully inadequate comparison, but it’s all I got so work with me, in the same way when you know God’s perfect character would not do a thing, and when you understand that the very blood of the savior you love is needed as payment for the sinful attitudes of your heart you live fearing God - and ultimately it will be well for you. You’ll not be an unrepentant indignant God hating sinner - you’ll be redeemed and renewed, as opposed to the sinner who may live a long life but, remember - he’s thinking this way because he is just back from a funeral with a pretend saint who said the right stuff and went to church but - he didn’t walk the walk, he just talked the talk. When the sun goes down - the shadow cast at that last moment is longest. What Solomon says in verse 13 qualifies not contradicts verse 12 – Ecclesiastes 8:13 (ESV) 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Though their life under the sun may be long - when the sun is low and setting on their life, and the shadow of them is longest. THEN it will not be well - but the one who fears God has more to look forward to, without regard to their current life’s circumstances. In the end, justice wins, and this MUST calm us where in process it seems a through Justice has no home. When the outcomes in this life seem so overwhelming; we just find a peace knowing …God is here… God will sustain me… God is my fortress forever Ecclesiastes 8:14–15 (ESV) 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. It’s vanity, it’s vexing, it’s perplexing when the believer who loved people and loved their church family dies of cancer - and Tony Soprano drives nice cars and lives in a ridiculously gaudy house full of classy marble columns… why, who knows - but know this we must wait in faith for Justice to come - or better than that, let Justice be God’s and know He’ll exact justice perfectly in the mean time check out this edit this is refreshing news this is sustaining you can hide in this - because we’ve seen fear and wisdom, now comes joy: 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. That’s it - Solomon keeps coming back to it. Live your life, well. Live your life joyfully. Live your life to the fullest extent, live life fully in wisdom, fear, and joy. Sometimes we dwell on fairness and the lack of it in THIS life-don’t. It just makes you bitter and robs you of joy. Sometimes we think God’s repaying us for bad things and that's why bad things happen to us, don’t it’s not true and the dwelling makes you bitter and steals your joy. Sometimes we thin God is withholding from us good things - don’t it makes you bitter and negative towards God. 
Rather church, rejoice that God’s love for you sent Christ who is perfectly enough and now know that you’re called to live. Knowing about God but being so far away may a tension that steals our joy, kills our joy and destroys our joy. Solomon from all his wisdom and all his introspection - says Live. Life. Well and he send’s us out to actively pursue joy, are you? Are you? Christian And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. Christ from all His authority says - John 10:10 (ESV) 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Who will we serve, Christ the author of life and it abundantly or the thief of Joy. Solomon doesn’t ask us to be dumb, and party when things are awful - he encourages our joy as he reminds us of the shadow, at the end of life that has length - in reminding us, to fear God. Are you feeling beaten down by life, know that living fearing God, gives length to you, gives sustaining power to you - are you in a particularly good seasons, wisdom says - enjoy it, and enjoy it out loud! Here are some ways we do that at Transcend: Home Groups Youth Group Serving together down town Sunday means after service once a month Serving together in outreach Doing Sunday morning Sunday school together Cleaning the building with other believers Helping each other move This is all designed to interrupt your life and inject a pursuit of joy INTO it this is living as the church, not just coming TO church (Hebrews 10:25), this is having a love one for another that is noticeable (John 13:35) We’re to be an abundant people who love, abundantly! That will set the world on fire and sustain your life to be one lived in fear of God. Lets be that, church who lives out loud, loves out loud, and lives fearing God so that we might be wise! THE OUTER LIMITS: ECCLESIASTES – Life Lived Pastor John Weathersby Transcend Church 5 of 5 Sunday 1/29/2017