The Strength Of Weakness

Good morning!

If you would, open up to Ecclesiastes chapter 8.

We will pick up where we left off last week with verse two.

I was scrolling through my YouTube feed this week and saw an interview that intrigued me.

I want to share some of it with you this morning.

In an interview on the post Covid-19 world, Malcolm Gladwell references a study done by two economist on the best way to improve a soccer team.

The question is, which will improve a team more, improving your worst player or your best player?

After looking at the data they came to the overwhelming conclusion that improving the worst player had exponentially more impact on team performance.

This phenomenon is called weak link theory.

Soccer is a weak link sport which means that the team can only be as good as the worst player.

The whole team can be playing really well, but if one person makes a bad pass, it can cause the team to loose the game.

In comparison, a strong link sport, works the opposite way.

In basketball for example, the performance of the team can be altered by bringing just one elite athlete

A team can be on a losing streak and you trade Steph Curry or Lebron James and the whole season can turn around.

Gladwell makes the point that in Canada, were he is from, and in America, we have focused on a strong link system for decades.

We spend the vast amount of resources on building incredible hospital facilities.

But a pandemic appears and that system nearly collapses.

He makes the point that at the height of Covid in New York, they had 20,000 beds available for Covid patients.

In actuality, there were 60,000 beds, but they only had staff and resources to run 20,000 of them.

Things as simple as PPE and staffing crippled this mammoth system we have built.

I bring this up because when I listened to this interview on Monday, the Spirit immediately spoke.

The church has done the same thing.

We put the vast majority of focus and capital on building big churches and pack them full of people, but we are not creating a healthy, sustainable system.

As soon as our normal routine is interrupted, the system crumbles.

I shared with you guys when we first went into lockdown how many churches were frantically trying to navigate this new world.

They weren’t equipped to do ministry in an organic way because all their ministry was based around facilities and key leaders.

You may think that at TGP we are immune to this.

We aren’t a mega or even a large church.

I would like to let you know that we are not immune, but in fact, we are not only affected, but we are active participants.

Think about this for a moment.

While our focus and ministry may look different in a lot of ways, we still tend to lean on key people more than we should.

We spent a year studying the early church and what it looks like to live in a community.

One of the defining characteristics of a community is that all the people involved in the community are fulfilling their roles.

In a small setting, if even one person isn’t doing what God has told them it affects the group and is very quickly recognized.

Last week God gave a message through Coby, myself, and then Glen.

God is speaking that we need to understand the gift of grace that we have been given, live an abiding life in the wisdom of God, and let those things send us to the throne in authentic worship.

God is revealing that many of us are not where we need to be in our relationship with God.

He hasn’t gone anywhere, but we are not making it a priority.

We are taking for granted the amazing gift of grace and understanding that God has given us by spending our time on ourselves.

Rather than seeking the Lord on how we spend our time and resources, we are just living life and missing the opportunities that God has for us.

We are living like we are on a strong link team...

We look at the elders, staff, or life group leaders and depend on them to do the work of ministry.

That is not how the church is supposed to work.

If you will remember from our study of the early church, there were leaders for different areas of ministry, but there was also a very clear understanding that every person was in ministry because every person had the Holy Spirit in them.

The church a weak link team.

We are only as effective as our weakest link.

By weak, I am referring to our daily reliance on the Holy Spirit.

If you aren’t making it a priority to do life in concert with the HS, you are a weak link.

I’m not saying this to embarrass or call anyone out, but rather to show the reality that exists in our body.

If you are wondering if I’m talking about you, don’t ask me, ask God.

I’m not saying these things because I’m judging what I think I see in your life.

I’m sharing the word that God has put on my heart and it is your responsibility to apply that word.

As we look at our passage today we are going to see God’s command that we listen to and obey those in leadership above us.

Going into this, God wants us to be reminded of what He has already told us.

We cannot go deeper with God until we obey what He has already told us.

Let’s look together at our passage today.

Ecclesiastes 8:2–9 CSB

2 Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. 4 For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him. 7 Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? 8 No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

One of my favorite hymns is Come Thou Fount.

At first, I loved it because of the melody and it was easy to play on the guitar.

But after really digesting the lyrics it began to speak truth into my life.

The third verse or I believe it’s the third, stood out more than the others.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let that goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above

It wasn’t until someone helped me to really see the words that I saw the truth and the great need there is in my life.

Have you ever thought about that word at the end of the third line?

I had not, but I, more than most would have understood.

A fetter is a tool used to bind the feet of an animal together to keep them from wandering off.

It makes them standstill.

The author is asking God to bind his heart so that he won’t stray from God.

But look at what the fetter is made of… God’s goodness.

God’s desire is not that he would tie us down so that we can’t leave, but rather, it is His desire that we should be kept close because we are drawn to His goodness.

Our wandering isn’t always intentional, but it is wandering none the less.

All of us need a regular reminder that God has placed us where we are for our own good as well as the good of others.

God gives us earthly leadership so that we can grow.

It doesn’t matter if you like or agree with those in leadership over you.

As long as they aren’t asking you to do something that is morally, ethically, or spiritually wrong, you are to follow their lead.

God’s people have a rich history of not following this directives.

Look at the trouble that Isreal faced and you will see people doing the opposite of what they are told.

A great example is the reign of King Saul.

They hated him from the very beginning.

But the thing is, Isreal specifically asked for a King.

This is what the preacher is referring too.

We want and need leadership in our lives, yet when we get it, we hate it.

Isreal asks for a King, Samuel ask God about it and God responds.

Look with me at the warning from Samuel.

1 Samuel 8:11–18 CSB

11 He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. 12 He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. 16 He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.”

The people refused to listen and demanded a King so God gave them what they asked for.

1 Samuel 10:18–19 CSB

18 and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You must set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

God appointed Saul and even when the people didn’t like his commands, taxes, leadership, etc., it didn’t matter.

They were under his leadership.

Often we find ourselves under leadership that we don’t agree with, but we are commanded by God to follow their lead.

Often we don’t agree because we see things differently from the person in leadership.

This is okay, but we need to realize that if we are under their authority, there is something to be learned.

If we don’t submit to the authority God has given us, we won’t learn what He has for us.

We are obligated to obey because God has us under their leadership, not because we agree.

The preacher continues this thought.

Ecclesiastes 8:4–6 CSB

4 For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him.

In our passage, the preacher is talking about an earthly king, but obviously the parallel is with God.

God is the ultimate authority.

Not only does God place us under earthly leadership so that we can grow in our relationship with Him, but He also leads us Himself.

As soon as His public ministry began, Jesus began leading people to know Him and therefore to know God.

Of all the things that Jesus taught His followers, there is one overarching thing we need to focus on today.

There was a specific command that Jesus gave His followers right before returning to heaven.

Jesus told the disciples to go into the world and make disciples.

Matthew 28:18–20 CSB

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus reminds them of the place of authority that He has been given.

With that authority, He tells them what they are to do, lead people the way He led them.

Jesus commands us to lead them to know God.

I want to specifically point to verse twenty, “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.”

That word observe means to conform to.

This is a command from Jesus, that they are to make disciples and to teach their new disciples to make disciples.

This may seem like a duh statement, but put this in the perspective of weak link theory.

Every believer has this directive to make disciples, yet in church culture, we have delegated that to only a few.

That was not what Jesus commanded.

Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to hire a Rabbi to do ministry on their behalf.

Every believer is to be a disciple-maker and if you aren’t actively building relationships to that end, you are not obeying the authority of Christ.

This is a command, but not one that we are to take in our own power and try to accomplish.

We wait for the Holy Spirit to tell us the proper time and procedure.

In doing so, we are simply willing vessels for the work of the Holy Spirit.

In relying on others to do that for us (professional ministers) we are missing the blessing of leading people to know God AND we are disobeying a direct command of Jesus.

The preacher even makes the point at the end of verse six that there is still a time and procedure, even when a person’s life is heavy on them.

We don’t get a pass from Jesus’ command just because life is hard.

We put things off until the “right” time, but we don’t know when that is and therefore we are just putting it off.

I would even challenge you to consider the people that you know that have made significant impacts for the Kingdom.

Their lives aren’t perfect and they weren’t “ready”.

They were just willing to say yes.

When we pursue Christ and obey His call to live for others, especially in the midst of hardships, the truth of the Gospel is more clear than any other time.

It’s clear because we are living and doing what we see Jesus doing.

He knew that He was on the way to the cross, but He didn’t take time off to get ready.

He continued to obey God.

We can’t wait for the “right” time, we have to trust God that when He says go, it is the right time.

Ecclesiastes 8:7–9 CSB

7 Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? 8 No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

The time to say yes to God’s leadership is now.

There is so much we don’t know.

What we do know is that God is in control of everything and if He has given you a command, it is because it is time.

We don’t have the foresight or knowledge to question God’s timing.

We must trust in His wisdom and His power to accomplish the goals He has for us.

No longer can we rely on others to do the work that we are called to do.

That is not who we are and not who God wants us to be.

God has given us an incredible gift.

We understand, much more than most, the grace of God, how to hear his voice, and the incredible results of God’s exclusive activity.

We don’t have the authority to say no to God and He isn’t pulling us out of battle.

We have been directed by Jesus to make disciples, and specifically, God has spoken through the Holy Spirit that we are to abide, live in community, join Him in setting people free, and being His love in a broken world.

These are not truths that God has given us for one day in the future.

God has given us these gifts of wisdom, these experiences in life under the leadership of the Holy Spirit so that we can share them with others.

Central Louisiana is full of people that don’t know God, His Grace, and how active He desires to be in their lives.

Now is the time for us to stop making excuses and follow through with our call to lead people to know God.

Unfortunately, the church has been misled about its purpose and the purpose of God’s people.

The preacher addresses this in verse nine when he makes the statement “at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.”

The church was not instituted and we were not saved from sin to have a carefree life.

Ecclesiastes & the Song of Songs Explanation

Furthermore, there is a rampant entitlement mentality in the church. There is the presumption based on arrogance and greed that preaches and teaches that God owes us a trouble-free life under the sun—because he has allegedly promised it. Regardless of the examples of Job, Jeremiah, Christ and Paul, not to speak of the countless martyrs through the millennia, the church has teachers within it that blind their sheep to the realities of both Scripture and the devout Christians who suffer not for their sin or that of their parents, but for the glory of God.

We have not only the image of God, but also His Spirit through salvation.

This means we share in His character and purpose.

God works, sacrifices, and loves for the sake of His people.

As believers, with the Spirit in us, we have this in us.

Our lives are not about us.

We gave up the rights to our life when we knelt before the cross and gave ourselves to Christ.

If you have been struggling because your life has not measured up to the level of “success” that you expected.

I would encourage you to let the Holy Spirit re-calibrate your heart.

Make no mistake, we will experience joy.

We will have peace.

But we will also experience loss, suffering, heartache, and sorrow.

We will not go through that because of some sin, but for the glory of God.

In that suffering, we will find joy.

In that suffering we will experience the beauty of the gospel as our lives and the lives of those we love are brought into fulness by the truth of the gospel.

We cannot continue to preach a gospel with our lives that contradict the life of Jesus.

Our lives should reflect the life of Jesus and it never will if we avoid the hard things in life.

Hiding the difficult from one another isn’t biblical.

Sharing our burdens is sharing our lives.

Sharing our burdens and how Jesus is there with us shows the world the true nature of the suffering servant.

Jesus healed the broken through his ministry and he said that we would do even greater things than he did.

We bring healing to this broken world by obeying the directives and the leadership that God has given us.

This world is not kind and we have the gift of Life.

We must stop hoarding it.

We have been commanded to share all that we have learned and are learning.

It’s time.

Say yes to God.