Living Backwards

Lead Vocalist (Joel)

Welcome & Announcements (Mike L)

Good morning family!

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Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Psalm 103:1-5)

Prayer of Praise (Addi Figgers)

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near

Prayer of Confession (Ronnie Evans), Vanity

Assurance of Pardon (1 Peter 2:24–25)

Jesus Messiah

Your Will Be Done

Scripture Reading (Eccl. 11:7-12:8)—page _________ in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Mike L)

Prayer for PBC—For the older to teach the younger

Prayer for kingdom partner—Southern Baptist Convention

Prayer for US—Veterans

Prayer for the world—Bulgaria

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

Imagine it’s your funeral.

You see your whole life before you: hours you spent working, the relationships you nurtured (or neglected) the dreams you chased, the opportunities you ignored, the moments you wasted scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. You notice the small regrets: the harsh words you shouldn’t have spoken, the times you put convenience or comfort above love, the joys you never fully enjoyed.

You watch people you cared about, and you wonder if you truly loved them well. You see the gifts God gave you—your talents, your family, your home, your time—and you realize how often you either took them for granted or used them selfishly.

What would your family say about you? Would they be honest, or would they smooth over the hard truths? Would they speak first of your love and faithfulness, or would they struggle to find something kind to say?

What would your friends say? Would they remember the times you encouraged them, or would they also remember the times you let them down? Would they have to think hard to find something good, or would it flow naturally?

And if you could speak at your own funeral, what would you wish people had noticed? What moments would you regret? What joys would you wish you had truly savored?

This is the perspective the Preacher has invited us to take in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Life isn’t just a string of days moving forward; it has a guaranteed end.

If we never pause to consider that ending, we risk living as if it doesn’t exist.

In his book on Ecclesiastes, David Gibson calls this “living life backward.” He explains: “Left to our own devices, we tend to live life forward. One day follows another, and weeks turn into months and months into years. We do not know the future, but we plan and hope and dream of where we will be, and what we would like to be doing, and whom we might be with. We live forward. Ecclesiastes teaches us to live life backward. It encourages us to take the one thing in the future that is certain—our death—and work backward from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives, and to think about them from the perspective of the end.” [1]

Few passages in Ecclesiastes embody this perspective better than Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8.

If you’re Bible isn’t open to that passage, please open it there now so you can follow along as we study God’s Word together.

Here’s the Big idea I hope to communicate with God’s help this morning: Life is lived best when we start at the end.

Our passage has two main sections, which are Two Keys to Living Backwards:

First, in 11:7-10 we are commanded to Chase After Joy.

Second, in 12:1-8, we are cautioned to Consider Your Mortality.

But this will make a bit more sense if we consider these sections in reverse order. So, in keeping with our theme today, we’re going to start at the end…

2) Consider Your MORTALITY

Ecclesiastes 12:1–2—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”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain

Notice what the Preacher says about our mortality.

In verse 1b he says the “evil days” are coming for all of us. Days without pleasure.

In verse 2 he describes this day using apocalyptic imagery. The sun and the moon and the stars are darkened—that sounds a lot like the language we find in Revelation and the prophets to describe the end of the world.

And that’s fitting in a way, because as one commentator writes: “When you die, a world is ending—yours.” [2]

How often do you think about the end of your life? I know it’s uncomfortable. I know it’s painful. But if you want to live your life well, it’s essential to reckon with the reality of death.

So the Preacher takes his knife and twists it in just a bit deeper and describes what it looks like to slowly die.

If you didn’t understand 12:3-7 when we first read it, don’t feel bad.

The Preacher is writing in highly figurative, symbolic language.

And most commentators believe these verses are a symbolic depiction of old age and death.

Ecclesiastes 12:3—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,

The “keepers of the house” is probably a reference to your hands. For decades are hands are what we used to protect and provide. But, if we live long enough, those hands will begin to grow limp and tremble.

No matter how many hours you spend in the gym, you cannot stop the inevitable decay that is coming.

The “strong men [that] are bent” is probably a reference to your legs. When you’re young you’re able to get around easily, with little pain. But old age leads to creaky joints, poor posture, and the risk of falling.

Even if you never skip leg day, this is what awaits you if you live long enough.

When the Preacher says, “the grinders cease because they are few” he’s probably talking about your teeth.

All those hours you spent in a dental chair getting your teeth cleaned isn’t going to matter in the end. Your teeth will fall out and you’ll either buy dentures or eat a lot of applesauce.

When he says, “those who look through the windows are dimmed” he’s probably talking about your eyesight.

Years ago I worked for an ophthalmologist to help pay my way through seminary. Part of my job was to code the visits to insurance, and I learned that there’s a diagnosis called “Presbyopia” which affects most people right around their 40th birthday. I was curious because it sounded a lot like Presbyterian, so I asked the doctor what it meant. He reminded me that the Greek word “presbuteros” means “old.” So the diagnosis literally means “old eyes.”

By God’s grace, I was born with 20-20 vision. But ever since that conversation I’ve been waiting for the “old eyes” disease to catch up with me.

So old age comes with shaky hands, weak knees, missing teeth, and dim eyesight. But wait, there’s more!

Ecclesiastes 12:4—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—”

The “doors on the street [that] are shut” is probably a reference to your hearing.

When you want your ears to work well, they don’t. You can’t even hear yourself chew.

And when you’d be fine with a little deafness, your ears work all too well and a bird whistling wakes you up and you can’t fall back to sleep.

And because you can’t hear as well as you used to, you can’t sing as well as you used to either.

In our modern world there is much we can do to treat these symptoms of old age. We can get hearing aids, glasses, dentures, knee replacements, and receive medication or surgery to treat those shaky hands.

And it’s certainly not wrong to do any of those things. We should be grateful for the advances in modern medicine that make life more comfortable as we age.

But we dare not allow these advancements to distract us from the reality of aging and death…

Ecclesiastes 12:5—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

Often old age is accompanied with new fears. We’re afraid of what is high because we might fall. And falling near the end of life is much riskier than falling near the beginning of life.

The “almost tree blossom[ing]” is probably a reference to gray hair. You can dye it—and that’s not necessarily wrong—but it won’t delay the inevitable.

In your youth, you were like a grasshopper, hopping around from one thing to the next. You were filled with energy and vitality. In old age you’re dragging along. And even that makes you tired.

And often with old age your desire fails. This could be a refence to a declining libido. Or it could be much broader, describing a lack of desire to eat, drink, or do anything. Life hurts. It’s hard.

If you have experienced any of these symptoms of old age, they are intended to function like the warning lights in your automobile.

They’re reminding you that death is coming. It may be 10 days, 10 months, 10 years, or even longer, but it’s coming.

Eventually, mourners will go about the streets because you have departed this life and are now in your eternal home.

By mentioning our “eternal home” the Preacher is reminding us that all of us were made for eternity. We have desires for immortality that cannot be satisfied in this world. C.S. Lewis famously said that’s because we were made for another world!

Every single one of us will spend eternity somewhere—either in the presence of King Jesus forever in a world without suffering, sin, or death, or in a place of eternal torment and isolation.

Where will you spend eternity friend? Are you ready?

In the next few verses, the Preacher is urging us to be ready for the end...

Ecclesiastes 12:6–8—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, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Like a cord snapping or a dish snapping, eventually death will come and nobody will be able to put you back together again.

You will return to the dust from which you were made and your spirit will return to your Creator.

Your life is just a mist. Here today and gone tomorrow.

It’s no wonder the Preacher ends this section by repeating the refrain that opened the book: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

How should we respond to all this?

First, let’s start with those who are experiencing some of what the Preacher has described in these verses.

Don’t despair over the abilities you’ve lost as you’ve aged. God has told you what to expect in His Word. None of this is a surprise. Instead of seeing aging as an opportunity to complain about what you can’t do anymore, look at it as an opportunity to shift to a new kind of ministry. You can pray. You can teach those younger than you. You can remind us not to put our hope in physical health and wellness. We need you.

Don’t live in denial about your age. Our culture has a very negative view on aging. We celebrate youth, beauty, and strength. So there’s a temptation to do whatever it takes to look as if you’re not growing old. But the Bible often speaks very positively about old age.

Proverbs 20:29—The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

Often old age comes with great wisdom. Don’t be ashamed or afraid to lean into that.

I for one am very grateful to look around on a Sunday morning and see many gray-haired saints, along with many little ones and everyone in between!

How then can we apply this section to those younger people?

Don’t ignore the reality of age. Old age is much closer around the corner than you think.

It seems like just yesterday that Holly and I made our first visit to Poquoson. Ella was so little we put her to sleep in a drawer at the hotel where we stayed. Nine years has flown by.

It’s been said that "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened." [3]

How you live when you’re young will affect what life looks like when you’re old.

Over 100 years ago a Christian author named J.R. Miller wrote this: “Old age is the harvest of all the years that have gone before. It is the barn into which all the sheaves are gathered. . . . We are each, in all our earlier years, building the house in which we shall have to live when we grow old. And we may make it a prison or a palace.” [4]

What type of house are you building with your life? How are you preparing for old age now?

Don’t overemphasize things that will not last.

You might be tempted to think that the best way to prepare for old age is to be physically fit. There are some benefits to that, but there’s a far more important way to prepare.

But to do that, we need to consider the first section in our text.

Living life backwards requires us to consider our mortality.

But also we must…

1) Chase After JOY

Ecclesiastes 11:7-9a—Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 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. 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.

The Preacher invites us to feel the sweetness of life. It’s like the brightness and warmth of sunlight on a spring day.

Life is a glorious gift, intended to be enjoyed.

But the Preacher doesn’t merely invite us to enjoy life. He commands us to enjoy life.

Verse 8 commands us to rejoice every day that we’re given. Because life also is filled with days of darkness—with hard things, like death and aging—we should rejoice as often as we can!

Verse 9 commands us to rejoice again. He commands our hearts to be cheerful. He commands us to “walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes,” which is a poetic way of telling us to do what we want!

Does this sound strange to you? Does God really command us to pursue joy?

Philippians 4:4—Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Psalm 118:24—This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

God is not a cosmic killjoy, trying to keep you from enjoying life. He’s a good Father who knows what is best for His children. He only says “no” to our desires in order to say “yes” to something better.

In his essay, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis famously wrote:

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.” [5]

Lewis is not saying we should stop enjoying earthly joys like drink and sex and ambition. He is inviting us to enjoy those joys truly by remembering the One to whom these earthly joys are pointing.

This means we cannot adopt the world’s motto that says, “If it feels good, do it!” That’s the path of hedonism, and the Preacher has already told us it’s a dead-end.

Life’s joys are meant to be enjoyed with our eyes on Judgment Day.

Ecclesiastes 11:9b—But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

On the surface this is bad news. And it doesn’t seem to make sense in a section that’s all about chasing joy.

If judgment is coming, how can we enjoy anything?

Only if you know the Good News that comes 500 years after Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.

One of Solomon’s great-great-great grandsons was born in the little town of Bethlehem.

But that little baby was no ordinary child. He was conceived by a virgin. He was the eternal Son of God.

And in a wondrous mystery that defies our comprehension, the immortal Son of God gladly became mortal.

He took upon Himself a human body with all its frailty and flaws.

But He never made it to old age. At age 33, He was crucified by His enemies.

But on the third day He rose from the dead, proving that His death was no accident.

He died as a substitute for everyone who turns from their sins and trusts in Him.

If your faith is in Jesus, Judgment Day has already lost its sting. You’ve already been declared righteous because Jesus was righteous in your place.

Will you turn from your sins and trust in Him today?

If you’ve done that, you can truly chase after joy.

Life is filled with beautiful gifts to enjoy: soul-strengthening relationships, tasty food and drink, fine clothing, good music, quality entertainment, a nice vehicle, a beautiful and spacious home, and more.

If you’ve been forgiven for your sins, you can actually enjoy these things because you’re not looking for them for ultimate meaning. You can hold these things with an open hand, because you know this life isn’t your only opportunity to experience these joys.

If you understand the gospel, you know what you actually deserve. You won’t have an entitled attitude that leads to bitterness and grumpiness. You’ll know that, no matter how tough things are, you’re always doing better than you deserve.

The Preacher puts it this way in…

Ecclesiastes 11:10—Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Sure, hard things will still happen. Things will trouble your heart. And pain will at times afflict your body. But you’ll enjoy the good things in life while you can because you know it’s all more than you deserve.

If you understand the gospel, you’ll fight to enjoy God’s gifts in God’s way. You’ve committed your life to follow Jesus, so you’ll fight to enjoy His gifts without making idols out of them.

In his book Strangely Bright, Joe Rigney says we make idols out of God’s gifts when we separate these gifts from the Giver and elevate them above the Giver. [6]

If you enjoy one of these gifts but never stop to thank the God who created it and gave it to you to enjoy, you have separated the gift from the Giver.

And if you’re willing to disobey God in order to enjoy that gift, you have elevated the gift above the Giver.

But if you understand the gospel, you know that there couldn’t possibly be anything better than what God has already given you in Jesus.

Imagine again that it’s your funeral.

The mourners gather. The songs are sung. The stories are told. Your body returns to the dust, and your spirit returns to God who gave it.

But for those who belong to Christ, that’s not the end of the story—it’s only the beginning. The immortal Son of God entered our mortality, took on our frailty, and faced death head-on so that death would never have the final word.

Jesus lived life backward better than anyone. He came into this world knowing exactly how His life would end. Every step He took, every word He spoke, every act of love He performed was shaped by the shadow of the cross. He lived to die—so that through His death, we might truly live.

Because of His broken body and shed blood, you can face your own funeral without fear, and you can chase after joy without guilt. The bread and the cup remind us that Jesus has already taken our judgment, that every good thing we enjoy comes through His grace, and that one day our joy will be made complete in His presence.

So as we come to the Lord’s Table, let’s live life backward—remembering our death, rejoicing in our redemption, and receiving with gratitude the joy that can never die.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Keep the Feast

LORD’S SUPPER

Doxology

Benediction (Psalm 67:1-2)