NORTHSHORE CHURCH OF CHRIST

Solomon paints us pictures of the wise man and the foolish man in the 10^th chapter of Ecclesiastes. As we take trip after trip around the sun, we can start to wonder what we are supposed to be doing and if we are doing it right. Solomon nods along beside us. He, too, has wrestled with all those thoughts, and God granted him wisdom to understand man’s place and purpose under the sun. God grants man wisdom so we can walk rightly, honorably, justly in this world, thus gaining the precious rewards of healthy consciences, happy lives, and inner peace.

According to Ecclesiastes 10…

The wise man takes care in his life, takes care of his tools, works hard despite less-than-optimal conditions, uses his words skillfully, does not curse rulers but controls himself, feasts at the proper times, and brings home the bacon to his thriving, healthy family. His words give grace and return to him with favor. He can calmly sit while his master rails at him because he knows his place, knows he is in the right, and knows that to rise against the ruler would be shameful and foolhardy. His steps are established by the Lord in wisdom. “Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” (10.17).

The fool demonstrates his lack of sense through laziness, silly speech, incompetence, and lack of moral judgment. He spouts unhelpful words. He makes excuses and does not work. “It might rain,” he says, and stays inside to play video games instead of doing what needs to be done today. With a super-inflated ego, he “educates” others and believes that wisdom resides with him, but everyone around him realizes he doesn’t even know what road he’s on and he certainly can’t guide others! “The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness” (10.13).

This is not just dealing with social issues or things that are “worse vs. better.” Solomon speaks here of morality, of the way a man orders his steps before the Lord, of righteous living vs. wicked living.

Paul’s Similar Admonitions

Paul similarly commented on wise living in Ephesians 5.6–21. Some will attempt to deceive Christians with empty words, but Paul wants us to carefully discern and not become partners with those “sons of disobedience” who are “darkness” (5.6–8). Those fools will perish in their folly. Paul charges us to “walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (10.8–10). Paul continues:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Sprit addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (5.15–21)

Walk in the wisdom of the Lord! His paths are straight and level, our foot will not slip, our lives will be established come what may. What confidence, what joy, and what peace you will find!

Our Lord Jesus the Anointed One preached, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5.13).

How are Jesus’ disciples “the salt of the earth”?

For one thing, salt gives taste and flavor to make foods more palatable and even delicious. Who doesn’t like a little salt along with their meat? Bland food can be made enjoyable with a few dashes of salt.

For another thing, salt preserves. Before refrigeration, men packed their raw meat in salt containers, which preserved it for long periods of time. Salt staves off bacteria.

For the Israelite, Jesus’ statement had meaning even beyond flavor and preservation because God had mentioned salt several times in relation to their covenant. Notice Leviticus 2.13: “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Did God really need salt? Did it make the grain taste better to God? God didn’t actually eat it, but He demanded that no grain offering be offered to Him without the proper seasoning.

Later, God said to Aaron and his household (the High Priest line among the Levites), “All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you” (Numbers 18.19). What does that mean—that it was a “covenant of salt”?

Interestingly, Abijah schooled King Jeroboam using the same kind of language in 2 Chronicles 13.5: “Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?”

If you put those two together, you see that God gave a “covenant of salt” to the family of the High Priest (Aaron) and the family of the King (David). The priest and the king were two major leaders among the Jews—the first was their highest spiritual leader who ministered before the Lord on behalf of the nation; the second was the highest political authority. God gave to both a covenant of salt, meaning a perpetual covenant—a covenant which would always be preserved before the Lord.

But then a terrible thing happened. Assyria overthrew the northern kingdom of Israel, and then a hundred years later (or so) Babylon overthrew the southern kingdom of Judah. From that point on no son of David ruled as King in Israel. How could God say He had given them a covenant of salt which would last forever?

Enter Jesus, the True High Priest and True King from the house of David. In Christ, the High Priesthood and the Kingdom converge beautifully and eternally. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7.14).

On top of that, God has made His people (you and me!) into a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19.6; Rev. 1.6; 5.10).

God’s covenant of salt remains fully in effect, never broken, in the reign of Jesus Christ and through His people who still walk in this world as the salt of the earth. Let us continue to season this world and preserve it by keeping the covenant of our Lord.

Here are a few lessons we talked about on Wednesday night—thoughts drawn from Ecclesiastes 7.

STRANGELY BRIGHT

Joe Rigney wrote a little book called Strangely Bright in which he riffs off the song,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Rigney’s idea is just opposite—when we understand God’s grace and Jesus’ wonder and beauty, the things of the earth will grow strangely bright. The more we grow in godly wisdom, understand the character of God, see how He works, and trust His judgment, the more this earth means to us. It doesn’t become less real; it becomes more real. The colors are more vivid, the smells more wonderful, the sounds more musical.

10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
       For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

THE HOUSE OF MOURNING

Pondering the day of our death is good. What do we have to look forward to after we die? We think about the end of all men…for what are we striving? Are we resting, even in our labor? Are we working from a platform of resting in God’s strength and promises? Or are we so narrowly focused on THIS LIFE that we miss the meaning of life altogether?

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

DON’T BE SO ONLINE

This is getting harder and harder. What did the new President do today to make headlines and shake up the world? Is our country going to conquer the world or will it be overthrown in a few years? What are Taylor Swift and Kanye West doing at the grammy’s that is so important? Look at all the shiny pictures of my neighbors and acquaintances on FaceGram and X-book. We get so lost in all the madness, the churning and burning of a downright foolish world, and we get distracted from the gift of life that God has given us to enjoy right this very day and hour. Here we are. What blessings do we have to count today? What blessing can I be to the people around me today? How can I bless the name of the Lord right now?

5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of the fools; 
    this also is vanity.

Have you ever…

…called someone an “idiot” (or worse) for cutting in front of you in traffic?

…thought (in your head) that your spouse was ignorant, weak, or insane because they refused to see a matter your way?

…clucked your tongue at a frazzled mom who couldn’t control her kids in the department store?

…grimaced to yourself because a sister showed up to church with holes in her jeans?

Yes? Me, too. And this verse is for us today:

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6.37–38

Jesus spoke symmetrically and poetically to bring us this wonderful truth. Two do nots (judge not and condemn not) followed by two dos (forgive and give) strike quite the contrast.

Make sure you give more than expected. How will you fill the cup with flour? Press it down. Shake it. Let it spill over. Give more than you owe, more than they expect, more than you must.

But wait—Jesus said the extravagant measure will be put in your lap. You will you get that overflowing gift, when you use that measure for others. Likewise, if you skimp with others, don’t be surprised when you get back the same.

Jesus had just finished teaching the crowds to love their enemies (Luke 6.27) by blessing them and doing good to them. He told them to lend them money, expecting nothing in return (Luke 6.35), and to be merciful to them (Luke 6.36).

This is the context in which He taught, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.”

Jesus does not mean it is wrong to apply God’s law and judge a matter to be right or wrong. In John 7.24, Jesus also instructed to “judge with righteous judgement.” Interestingly, He told that to Jews who were condemning their brothers (including Jesus!) in their hearts. We should learn to judge righteously, but that’s not the same kind of judgment He condemns in Luke 6.

Jesus is telling us not to condemn a brother in our hearts. On the one hand, you love your brother when you tell him he is living in sin and needs to repent. On the other hand, you hate your brother when you despise him in your heart. The opposite of judging and condemning is forgiving and giving. And remember, we should give even to our enemies, not expecting anything in return. How then should we give to our brothers?

The underlying golden rule instructs us to ask, “How would I like to be treated?” and then treat my brother that way. Would I want my brother to set himself up as my judge? Would I want him to judge me because of my family situation or the color of my skin or the financial troubles I find myself in?

Don’t we tend to judge people based on these things? Perhaps my neighbor is in bad financial straights because he sinned with his money. More likely I just don’t know his story and I would probably be in his position had I gone through what he has.

Steven Covey tells the story of when he was on the subway one day and a man sat near him who was letting his little children run wild on the car. Steven finally had enough and chastised the man for it. The man, in a sort of daze, apologized and told him their mother had just died and he hadn’t figured out how to handle it yet.

Yes, there are plenty of bad actors out there, and we can judge their actions as evil. But when we are simply irritated at someone, we show a pathetic lack of love. Most people would probably say, “Why don’t you get to know my situation before you judge?” Isn’t that what we would want from others?

How would I like you to think about me? Then I’ll try to think of you that way.

How would I like you to treat me? Then I’ll try to treat you that way.

Love you, my brother.

Jannet and Carrie live next door to one another. Both have husbands and three children, and they both enjoy roughly the same level of income.

Jannet wonders why her life is so hard. She wishes she had more help with washing dishes and clothes. She wonders why her husband doesn’t bring flowers more often and why he gets to be the one who goes to work every day, leaving her to the drudgery of home life. She scrolls through Facebook and looks with envy on the picture-perfect lives of friends and neighbors.

Carrie wonders why she is so blessed. When she does the dishes, she thanks God for the food which dirtied them and the fellowship her family enjoyed while eating together. She washes her kids’ clothes looking forward to full closets and being ready for the week. When her husband leaves the house, she is grateful for a man who takes care of his family. She enjoys giving.

From the outside, Jannet and Carrie are physically blessed in almost identical ways, but their attitudes are almost opposite. One sees her job as drudgery and remains discontent with the things in her life, always wishing for something different, something more. The other loves her life, enjoys her family, and sees her work in the home not as endless toil but as a gift and an honor.

The difference between these two women is not one of circumstance but rather one of perspective. Many people fall on both sides of this attitude spectrum. What makes the difference?

Are happy people happy because of their pleasant circumstances? Miserable people think so. They see everyone else’s life through rose colored glasses while seeing their own life through gray-tinted spectacles. They become like Job’s accuser, saying things like, “He is only jolly because things always go well for him.”

But happy people are disposed to joy often despite their circumstances. They understand that life on this earth (“under the sun” as Solomon wrote) is not and never will be perfect. Evil comes upon the righteous and the wicked alike. Blessings come from the Lord. The secret to a contented life is to thank God for all things and to never quit thanking Him. Endure the bad, and enjoy the good, knowing that God is with you through all of it. This is the way to true joy.

When you find yourself falling to depression, feeling miserable and discontent, ask yourself whether you have thanked God recently for His gifts. It’s probably time to count your many blessings and remind yourself all that God has done for you. We have so many reasons to be thankful!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5.16–18)