1 INTRODUCTION This last Thursday Joanne and I, with a couple of friends went to listen to a band called Simon and the bande a parte. One of the songs was called Suffer Well. The chorus went like this: And each of us must learn in our own way To silently relate To everything we hate Cause sure enough for everyone The time will come For suffering to be done And when it casts its spell I hope you suffer well Is this true? Do we just have to silently relate to hardship and suffering and pain in this life? Or does God offer us hope that extends beyond this? 1. HARDSHIP: REALITY IN THIS LIFE (1-3) Read Eccl 4:1-3 The thing that I really like about the teacher is that he is not afraid to present the tensions and difficulties of life and not try to give quick, superficial, or trite answers. That is what we see here as he starts out in this passage. The Teacher starts by opening up the sensitive subject of oppression and hardship and suffering. The grimness of the world is cruelty and brutality and harshness that many of us have faced at the hands of other people. It could have been your parents, school teachers, the church leaders, a family member, a boss against employees, husband against wife, wife against husband, a government (not just SA) against its people. The damage that has been done by those in power is vast and deep. It may not always have been intended to cause damage but the fact is it did. For some of us what I have said is just words. For others this is your life. The Teacher is speaking about those of us who were abused (physically, mentally, or emotionally) or mock or shamed and ever since you have struggled to believe in yourself; those who were raped and the fire of anger and unforgiveness still burns; those who were made to feel inadequate because you never quite measured up (skin colour or school marks or looks or work output). In the passage he talks about power power is not just because of superior position, it is also a function of trust and love. What I mean is that the person who can possibly hurt you most
2 deeply is the person you love and trust the most. The closer you are to a person the more vulnerable you are! I want us each to see what he DOES and DOES NOT do. He DOES NOT answer this weighty question of how to makes sense of the hardship you or I face in this life. That does not mean that the Bible will not help us in this area in other places but as many of you know, battling through hurt and hardship far more than hearing a rational answer for suffering in this world (if that doesn t make sense to you it will one day). In fact all he does is say some almost unbelievable things: the dead and the unborn are better off than us. For those of you who have been here over the last three week you will know that this is in keeping with the deep frustration of the Teacher in his search for meaning in this life. He observes the evil in this world (remember this is a under the sun view of life) and is frustrated by the seemingly senseless presence of evil in this world and maybe you feel just like that! You may not like this face to face confrontation but you have got to respect his honesty! What he DOES do is give us a context in which we can process life s difficulties. The Teacher is going to say: there are no easy answers to the reality of life. I ve looked around and found meaninglessness all over the place but here is something that kindles hope. 2. MEANINGLESS RESPONSES TO HARDSHIP But first the Teacher observes how some people deal with reality. And it is really instructive! So the Teacher gives us three responses that people have: a. THE PERSON WHO NEVER SUCCEEDS Read verse 4. How do I get that? The Teacher says that there is a basic motivation that permeates mankind more that we even realise: envy. People have been beat up by the world, they have been trod on and disregarded and over looked and spat on. So they say, I am going to make, It, I am going to be someone, I am going to achieve. What does it mean to do that get ahead of everyone else. At the centre of our lives is our hearts cry, I want to be noticed, I want to be central, I want to know that I fit and I count. And so the Teacher is saying that people s clothing and car and house and cellphone and drink of choice. The only reason that you can have pop-culture is if envy exists right! And even the negative feeling of failure is linked directly to envy! I was thinking how to illustrate this: picture of my Dad with a beard.
3 And so this person seems to win but never wins because you never get there... b. THE PERSON WHO IS NEVER DEFEATED Read verse 5-6. Another way the people deal is by checking out. They drop out of the frantic rivalry and go to the other end. They drop out, fold their arms and pull out, give in and give up. And in the end that is just as bad. The result of this complacency or laziness is an unwitting self destruction. And this person never loses because they never tried. Verse 6 is a brief respite from this barrage of these hard truths: the Teacher says that you need to learn that finding the secret of contentment is good because too much is too much. c. THE PERSON WHO ACTUALLY SUCCEEDS Read verse 7-8. Thirdly he points out people who actually do win but there is a cost. This is a distressing portrait of a man s life not only because of what it is, but doubly so because it is so true and prevalent. This is a picture of a man who has been dehumanised by his striving after wealth. After a life time of work he is left asking the questions: who is all this for? This could be a man who had no family and so invested his whole life in work and finally found that money is not a good companion; or it could be a man who made money and empire his life s goal (all the while telling himself that he is working for their benefit) but in the end lost his family either way it is miserable to have no one with whom you can share life. And in fact I would suggest to you that this is the turning point of this chapter. Community is the place where we can grow to find resolution and healing for the harshness and hardships of life. 3. COMMUNITY: AN OASIS IN A HARD LIFE Read verse 9-12. So sorrow and hardship is a real thing in this life. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who have not been wounded in life. You can t solve it with success (apparent or not) or with defeatism. The Teacher says, In the middle of this we need each other in a Christ-at-the centre way, we deeply need each other. Now we had verse 12 on the outside of our wedding invitation on and on the service booklet we handed out at our wedding. It is a favourite for wedding and generally among Christians. But I am certain convinced that he is not just talking about wedding here. Actually I think the picture is travellers on a road. He is saying life is a journey and here are the kinds of things that befall travellers.
4 Look at what he says the benefits of community are the ways in which community helps in the hard times: In verse 10 the traveller falls maybe over something or into something. But he falls in such a way that he can t get up alone he needs help up or out! This describes the accidents that happen in life unexpected tragedy or trouble. In verse 11 the traveller is bed down for a nights rest. He is basically saying that if there are two you can share body heat (this is not a biblical pick up line). History tells us that some travellers would get cosy with their donkey to stop from freezing to death. This describes the inadequacy or the lack of a human being alone in life. In verse 12 the traveller is attacked by bandits. The Good Samaritan was overcome on his but two can defend themselves better. This describes the attacks that happen in life. Illustration of life together Travel the road of life together that is his message. You need to know others deeply and be known deeply so that when the tragedy of an accident or a mistake or a calamity hits you have someone to help you up; so when you come to the end of yourself and you cannot carry on and you are felling hopeless and empty there is someone who can come and fill your tank and keep the flames burning.; so that when you are attacked (work, home, spiritual) you can go to prayer with others, you can hear their godly counsel, you can know you are not in this alone and I think you can take verse 12b to mean: the more in the community the better. Surely 4 is better than 3; 5 better than 4; 10 better than 5! Surely! Until God speaks with an audible voice and tells me it is time to leave ECCC for another ministry opportunity (otherwise I think I ll be here a while), or until you fire me I will shamelessly and continually plug community. I do not believe that you are can reach the depth and beauty of what Christ has called you to be, partly because you are not accessing the resource he has give you to get there. Have you ever felt stuck? Have you ever tried to heal the deep places? The part of you that misfires (or backfires) and you seem to be stuck in that same stuff over and over again. Maybe you got there by accident, maybe by attack but you need some people to come alongside you.
5 4. CHRIST: CREATOR OF COMMUNITY The best part about this is that I didn t just make it up. It is cool and helpful and nourishing! You know why? It is firmly and powerfully founded on who God is. God is a community Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Human beings, created in the image of God have the need for community deeply stamped in their souls. We need to be united with God again. Sin is overcome at the cross through Christ s death. And we are adopted into his family of other believers. I have a challenge for two types of people: a. If you are not in a group and this sermon has resonated with you, I challenge you to get into one. If you are looking for healing and wholeness and restoration and depth get into a group. [stand up group leaders] b. If you are in a group I challenge you to take a deeper step. You know what that means for YOU. Where do you feel inadequate? Where has there been unexpected trouble or tragedy in your life? How have you been under attack spiritually or physically? CONCLUSION The Teacher has presented the question here and in 3:16-17, What about injustice? When will it be judged? We all know by experience that it is not under the sun! But God has judge sin. He did it in Christ when Jesus took the right wrath of God towards sin to cleanse us from the sin taht we have committed AND the sin that has been committed against us!. So on day we will not be judge but accepted.