Bikes, Cookies, and Ecclesiastes

It was one of those days with totally messed up timing. All I wanted to do was go for a run. The morning limped by, then the afternoon – interruption upon interruption, with no opportunity to get away. Finally, when my 7 year old got home from school, I could escape, and, to my delight, he wanted to ride his bike while I ran. As we left the house together I thought of how thankful I should be that the day went as it did. Now, I could have my run and spend some one-on-one time with my oldest son. But then, with the front yard still in view, his bike chain popped off. This wouldn’t normally be a deal breaker, except that this chain has been popping off with increasing frequency. It was time to tinker with the bike, or I’d be stopping every 20 yards to put the chain back on. I had to give up on the day’s run once and for all. What did I do then? Well, what do you do when your exercise gets interrupted? I ate a cookie.

You have your own versions of this story, each ranging between funny and heart breaking. These experiences are the materials used in Solomon’s construction of the book of Ecclesiastes. He begins with those words made famous by the old KJV, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” We find other offerings in various translations like, empty, futile, or meaningless, to name a few. My Hebrew Professor told us the best translation is the phrase, “frustratingly enigmatic,” which is kind of funny to me because trying to understand what that means is frustratingly enigmatic. In reality though, whichever rendering you prefer we’ve all experienced it and know exactly what Solomon is talking about.

Solomon’s conclusion to this journal of frustrating enigmas is not, “go fix everything that’s broken.” Rather, he sums up his learning in a few phrases like, “enjoy the fruit of your labor,” “enjoy life with your family,” and most importantly, “fear God and keep his commandments.” Vanity will come. The only question is, will we learn from Solomon’s vast experience with it? The next time the bike chain pops off your plans my prayer is that you take it as an opportunity to evaluate your relationship with God in light of His commandments, reflect on the blessings provided in your loved ones… and then of course, eat a cookie.

Glory

So many powerful words are lost in the obscurity of the familiar. Worship, glory, fundamental, awesome, church… we could each add to the list with words we know we use poorly, but have them so engrained in our churchy vocabulary we just keep saying them without reflecting on their fundamental meaning. Oops, there I go already…

Glory. We want to glorify God, we sing of His glory, praise Him for His glory, but what is His glory? The word itself has a shockingly ordinary origin, being used to describe all manner of things, both good and bad. Here are some examples of the bad:

-Gen 12:10 – severe famine

-Ex 8:20 – great swarms of flies (glorious flies?)

-1 Sam 4:18 – Eli was old and heavy

-Psalm 38:4 – Sin is a heavy burden

The Old Testament usage applies the word to contexts of great significance, or heaviness, both figurative and literal. In summary, a glorious something is something of great substance.

In a volatile world such as ours where everything is in a state of flux from governments, to terrain, to that which quantifies beauty and humor, our souls scream for something constant. Something of lasting substance. Something of glory.

In this universe there is only one such thing. God. The glory of God will never change, never fade, never hide. We can see it in nature, experience it in the attributes that reveal His image within us, and if we do it right, share it in the Church (Ephesians 3:20-21).

So, how do we glorify God? By living in such a way that our lives reveal the one thing of true glory that exists. To love as Christ loved. To live as Christ lived. To die to self and selfish gain and point others to our source of life and happiness. This concept is nothing new. It is as old as, say, the glory of God itself.

Cowboy Coffee?

The aroma was inviting, the music was the weird, the lighting was pleasantly dim while not so much as to inhibit my reading. Sipping my steaming, grande Americano in the thought-provoking ambience provided by Starbucks, I almost forgot what world existed outside the door. Everything was as you would expect in every Starbucks from Boston to Seattle, but suddenly, something didn’t fit. There was a noise totally out of place, pulling me from my leisurely read back into my new reality. I turned and saw a typical college girl whose likeness you would expect to see a dozen times during any visit to any Starbucks anywhere in the world. But the guy she was with told another story. From his Stetson, to the western cut shirt, pie-plate sized belt buckle, all the way to the culprit of the noise – spurs strapped to his manure caked boots, this guy meshed with the Starbucks scene like Joel Osteen at an old time tent revival. But here, somehow it works. Spurs in Starbucks. Only in Wyoming. Oh, and the best part? He ordered a skinny latte with room for sugar. Wimp.

Pastor's Job Description

This is one of many possible job descriptions of the pastor:

My job is to visit with you on Tuesday, fully enjoying your beautiful home, recreative hobbies, and impressive accomplishments, celebrating God's blessings in His gracious gift of these things, then stand before you on Sunday, Bible in hand, and convince you that the love of these things will destroy your soul.

Prayer

It is none of our concern how it works or why it works. We will tie our theological tails in knots if we worry to much about those questions. What we know is that God works. He works constantly and tirelessly for the sake of His glory. The bedrock truth of the Christian experience is that happiness, peace, holiness, and all of life, is written into the eternal saga of God's glory. Prayer is a channel through which we weave our stubborn will into God's perfect will, revealing His glorious workings in the affairs of men. We pour out our confused hearts before His throne and He fills us with holy passion for the revelation of His glory in our circumstance. This is why we qualify our requests with phrases like, "if it be your will." We are emptying ourselves of ourselves as we yearn for more of Himself.

This does not happen quickly. As I wrote in my last post, God is not in a hurry. Learning to pray well, to trust well, to be urgently patient, is a lifelong skill. God has surrounded me with a mighty army of prayer warriors in His church who have learned this far better than I have. I am grateful for their example, that I can learn from them, and that God' glory shines through their lives as they wait on Him in prayer.

God is doing something

“The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I even know it” (Eugene Peterson).

God is extravagant with His resources. Wyoming landscape proves it like nothing else I’ve seen. Our tendency is to cram as much as possible into as little space and time as we possibly can. God spreads His creation over the unplumbed depths of space. He has extended His plan of redeeming His beloved from our rebellion against Him from before the annals of history and will continue long after my bones return to dust. He is not in a hurry.

If I claim to be spiritual I must assume that I know that. He is already working, and this work comes at His speed, not mine, for His purpose, not mine, according to His agenda, not mine.

Even as I write this blog I am fighting the urge to cram everything on my mind today onto a single page. God senses no need to be so stingy with time and space.

Trust Him. He knows what He’s doing. He invites us to join Him, not visa-versa.

"So the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it."

The gentle rain

At the close of Deuteronomy the nation of Israel is facing a huge transition. Moses is about to die, Joshua is about to take over, and the 40 year sojourn is ending. Finally, the conquest of the Promised Land is near enough to taste. Yet, with all the excitement that was surely in the air the sobering truth of man's depravity threatens to steal center stage. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.'" (Deu 31:16). With this gloomy reality as inspiration God gives Moses a song to teach to the people...

Last week we got a hail storm that almost covered the ground in icy white marbles. We were pelted with what felt like gravel as we scrambled to park our newest vehicle in the garage before the worst came. If music could be likened to rain I would expect this song to sound and feel a lot like last week's storm. But, from the Songwriter's pen who is the God of all surprises, listen to these lyrics:

"May my teaching drop as the rain / my speech distill as the dew / like gentle rain upon the tender grass / and like showers upon the herb."

Less poetic but just as surprising are Paul's words to Timothy, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort..." Many times us preachers are tempted to stop reading right there. We snort and paw at the ground like a bull ready to charge and the sheep we are called to lead by the cool waters we instead BBQ on the spot - all under the banner of this charge: preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort. If we keep reading, however, we see that Paul doesn't end the sentence here. It ends, "with complete patience and teaching." This sounds a lot less like hail storms and more like gentle rain on tender grass. Before we forget, many people of Timothy's church, and even our own for that matter, are probably a lot like the Israelites in our constant forsaking of God. The solution God provides is the patient teaching of His Word.

Let us thank God with the deepest gratitude that He doesn't pour down the hailstorms we deserve. Let us keep at center stage the gentle rain of His Word, and receive it like new grass desperate for life-giving refreshment.