Ecclesiastes chapter 4

vs 9

Seems pretty reasonable. I don't know about life in ancient times, but I can tell you that living alone these days costs a lot more than two people living together. Food, rent, all that stuff is cheaper when there's a second person to split the cost with. Well, when both are working, anyway.

vs 10

I'm not exactly sure what situation this is referring to. Perhaps falling into a hole? I guess there could have been such situations, although I puzzle to think why people just went around the landscape digging holes (wells, latrine holes, mining holes?). In any case, obviously having someone to help you out is good.

vs 11

I guess you could hug a sheep or something, but then all sorts of connotations will be made.

vs 12

Of course, two can also be overpowered. It depends on the numbers. But I guess that defence is more efficient with two rather than one - back to back, as it were. Less places indefensible.

Then we have this final picture of a cord of three strands. It's the trinity, it's a marriage involving Jesus, it's Mabo, it's the constitution. It's just the vibe. I personally tend to think that proverbs tend to be fairly simple and straightforward pieces of inductive wisdom. Therefore, since the simple is true - a cord made of three strands really is hard to break - you can make more general principles from that. Possibly that even includes the Trinity, and marriage with Christ involved, and stuff.

vs 13

Of course, young brash people don't always know how to heed a warning either. But a young wise one will know. The difference between the two is youth, but also wisdom or lack thereof.

vs 14

Don't think these things never happen - obviously they did, and they are such romantic stories that they make it all over the world. I don't think Israel ever had such a king, but this writer obviously knows the kind of story.

vs 15

There is something attractive about a wise, young leader. In with the new, out with the old. People do like change sometimes. Thankfully, democracy allows this without bloodshed - at least in some countries.

vs 16

Even a wise young ruler becomes a foolish old king - perhaps not even because he is foolish, but he looks foolish in comparison to the next wise, young person. And so the cycle continues. And the cycle of course leads us once again back to foolishness, meaninglessness. Nothing new, nothing special. No meaning.

Ecclesiastes chapter 4

vs 1

This sounds a little bit like Marxism, but I think its scope is bigger. Of course power is on the side of the oppressor. Who can oppress without the power to?

vs 2

Job says something similar. It's an odd statement to make, but the sense of it is very clear - better not to live than have to live in the situation we find ourselves. It's not condoning suicide, necessarily, as we will see in the next verse. What it is doing is bemoaning the evil of the world, and that it seems to overpower the good, and certainly seems to overpower the helpless.

vs 3

So the best person is one who has not even been born. If you died, it means you lived, and so poor you. Better to never live, he says. This is not a difficult conclusion to come to if you are simply looking at what you see in the world at face value. There is evil, evil does triumph sometimes, and people do get oppressed by evil people, and never comforted or helped. It happens. Seeing that can lead someone to think, "What's the point of living?"

vs 4

How much of what people do is driven by such envy, the "keeping up with Joneses" type envy, or what MMORPG players call "Red Queen" envy? Probably a lot. We would probably never want something so much if we didn't keep seeing other people with it. Sure, there are still some things we just have to see and we want them. But how often do we see something, and want it not just because it's cool, but because someone else has it? And yet both die. Meaningless.

vs 5

This is in contrast to the previous verse. Working for jealousy is meaningless, but not working at all is ruinous. This is one of the many sections that has that Proverbs-esque style about it in Ecclesiastes.

vs 6

So chasing after the Joneses is folly, not working at all is folly. Better to be happy with little, than work your ass off for much. Probably better to work a bit for a lot, but not everyone gets that opportunity.

vs 7

Again!

vs 8

This man, whether real or imagined, is asking a question that completely ignores God. Because of his loneliness, all the work he does seems meaningless to him. Why work so much? If he is rich, perhaps he can only live out so much of his wealth. If he is poor, then perhaps he should not bother at all. In any case, his life will come and go, and not a single person will probably really notice. Meaningless.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3

vs 12

This sounds som much like what a regular person on the street would say if you asked them what they thought about God. This is a realpoint of percussion with the outside world here. Perhaps discussions on "What is good?" and where we find happiness would lead somewhere. Of course, the conversation would want to lead to God.

vs 13

It's not that God actually gives this gift to everyone - or is it? I'm not sure if everyone can find satisfaction in their toil. But then, God can do it, so why not? That just doesn't mean that he will give it.

vs 14

Fear in the full sense of the word, including reverent awe. But not excluding just plain fear.

vs 15

The alternate translation makes so much more sense - it's just a third rendering of the same idea. But calling it to account is a new idea, and I can't seem to make much of it. Perhaps because everything that does happen has happened, it all gets judged just as its past examples will.

vs 16

Now we get to something else we see here on earth - that justice and judgement don't seem to get an airing. Far more often, it is wickedness that take their place. Whether it's wickedness through personal selfishness, or even just institutional neutrality, it's still there.

vs 17

And that's true. It's just we don't always see it, because that time inevitably will be the end of time. Although, I don't know how clear this was in the OT.

vs 18

Lovely thought - God tests us so we see that we are not in fact like God, but are creatures together. And what do we do? We create Darwinism, and relish our createdness and how it separates us from God! It's like we want to fail.

vs 19

Lovely thought. We're just animals, so everything is meaningless. And of course, without eternity, we are just like animals. It's just shocking how much people are prepared to cling to that idea.

vs 20

Depressing thought. But only if death is the end.

vs 21

It's not rhetorical. God does, and he's told us. Or has he?

vs 22

Worrying about what happens outside of our lives is troublesome. We obviously have less control over that, even than over when we are working. It's a bit of a fait accomplit - the best you can do is enjoy where you are, so start trying to enjoy it. But we must remember that we won't even enjoy our work without God giving us that pleasure. We really are reliant on him.

Sermon: The Rich Fool

For those of you who are really keen, you can read my sermon before I give it tomorrow morning.

I'm just kidding, I know no-one reads my blog that closely.

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The Parable of the Rich Fool

Modern statistics of contested wills?

General greed as the malaise of the modern (and ancient) world

Futility of wealth as an end

Greed as idolatry

Proper focus of life – “do not worry, be ready for service, know the times”

Main points

Problems of wealth – wealth can break up families, dominate lives, take focus away from God, become an idol

Focus on personal wealth is foolishness and meaningless – focus on wealth we have or wealth we don't have are equally foolish (Eccl), and they become meaningless because they have no eternal significance (opposite of sermon last week – wealth can be used for eternal purposes)

Proper focus of life – comes in the rest of the chapter: don't worry about worldy wealth, be ready for service to God, and know and understand what is coming.

Words

A man comes up to Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Seems a fairly innocuous request at first, doesn't it?

As many of you may know, I have been working for the last little while typing court transcripts for the local and district courts. If you know anything about our legal system, you will know that legal decisions are made based on what the law actually says, and what previous decisions have been made in that area of law, which is called case law. When it comes to disputes over a will, one of the pieces of case law is Morton v Little and Price v Little, where in 2005 two daughters challenged their mother's will, because she gave them relatively small legacies, as she wanted to instead give the majority of her estate to charity, where she felt it was needed more. The daughters, both married and living on reasonable incomes, managed to increase their legacies from $20,000 to $100,000 and $350,000 respectively, which of course robbed the charity of those funds, not to mention depriving their mother's wishes from being followed with what was her own money.

The distribution of a deceased person's estate can bring out powerful emotions in people. Partly it is because emotions are already high – there has been a death in the family, after all. Part of it comes because there is an element of feeling that how the estate is divided somehow represents the love of the one departed, or their connection to that person, and who gets the photographs, grandma's spoons and so on, is important. But part of it has to do with the dollar signs that appear in some people's eyes when they see that a significant amount of money is up for grabs, and they want to get their hands on it.

I wish I could say that it was an ailment that affected only non-Christian families. But I have seen at least two arguments over estates within Christian families that were of the worst kind, in my opinion – bickering over the 'estate' of someone who isn't even dead yet! One was a simple matter of a grandmother giving one of her grandchildren a gift to meet a present need, and one family member feeling that this was “unfair” because all the other grandchildren weren't getting the same sized gift out of 'the estate'. But the other one was far more sinister, where one son was syphoning money out of his mother's estate before she died so that the other son would not get any share of the inheritance! That one ended up in a gruelling legal battle stretching over 12 months, brother against brother, Christian against Christian.

Now look at the request of the man in the crowd again, and let's see if we can fathom the meaning of the parable that Jesus tells in response to this request. In fact, Jesus makes it clear what he thinks about this person's request when he says straight out in verse 15, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” As soon as we hear that, we know what this parable is going to be about – it's going to be about greed. So what happens in the parable? Well, it's all about a rich man. That's right, the parable of the rich fool is about a man who is already rich. It's not a rags to riches tale, it's a riches to more riches tale – far more common when it comes to riches. The man is a rich landowner, who has made his wealth from farming. Already he is considered rich. But one year, the man has a bumper crop – his fields produce more fruit than they would normally do. A substantial amount more. A huge amount more. In fact, so much more that even he, as a successful, wealthy man, had not planned for his crop to be so big. He talks about it in terms of storing the grain in his barn – his current barns are too small to store the huge abundance of extra grain that he has received from his harvest. So he decides to tear down his old barns, and build new, bigger barns, so that he can store all the grain he has grown in this bumper crop, and live off the wealth it provides, never having to worry about money again.

It might be hard for you to imagine this. We don't really measure our wealth these days by how many barns full of grain we have, or how many head of cattle we own. Money these days is mostly electronic, so running out of space for it seems a little unbelievable. There's no limit to how much money can fit on your ATM card. Perhaps a good modern analogy would be investing in the stock market. You're already wealthy enough to be investing in shares. But one day you read in the paper that one of the companies you have a significant share in, say Holden, somehow discovers a way to make their cars fly. Suddenly, their stock shoots through the roof with this new, unbelievably awesome technology, and you suddenly become incredibly rich. Much, much richer than you ever expected. So rich that not only do you no longer have to worry about things like what happens to the share prices, or what happens if there's an economic crisis, or how much tax am I going to pay. You don't have to worry about affording anything you want ever again. You are so rich that it is now mandatory to wear a top hat and a monocle.

So what do you do? You're faced with so much cash, such an unbelievably large amount of money, that you think, “I know what I'll do. I am so filthy rich that I'm going to just sell all my Holden shares, and live off the fat of my wealth, never having to worry about anything. I can just sit back and watch TV all day, or play golf all day, or all day.” It's a dream come true – being so rich that you never have to worry about losing a job, about an economic recession, about rises in the cost of living, about your family ever being in need or want of anything. So there you are, sitting at your dining room table with the newspaper working out how you are going to spend your life now that you are a multi-trillionaire, when all of a sudden a car flies through your window and kills you.

Now what happens to your plans of playing golf every day? What happens to your life of luxury? They are all for nought – a total waste of time. Not only that, but now your kids will get the money, and who is to say that they will spend it appropriately? They might gamble it all away on instant lottery tickets. They might well spend it all on lawyers as they fight over it amongst themselves. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us in chapter 2 verse 21, “For people may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to others who have not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.” Jesus says that God calls the rich man who made these plans a fool. Verse 21 back in Luke 12 says it all – for those who seek to feather their own nests, but are not seeking to build up the kingdom of heaven, their plans will be meaningless. They are not building anything that will last. Later in the same chapter of Ecclesiastes, in chapter 2, verse 26, “To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.” When you are storing up wealth, but not pleasing God, you're basically a bank account for God to use for the sake of those who please him. The rich fool may well have died, and his children got the money and then used it for God's glory!

Why does the rich man live his life this way? Perhaps we should ask Why do people today still live this way? Why do we live this way? We seek to make ourselves comfortable, or secure, to build up something for our future, perhaps for our children's future. Is Jesus calling this foolish? No! Look carefully at his words. “This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God.” I think it's easy for us to hear this parable and to become judgemental of the super rich. It's easy for us to look down on those with incredible wealth, with their solid gold toilet seats, private jets and flying cars or whatever, and say “Yeah, what selfish people they are, with all that cash and wasting it on such things.” But we have to remember that this parable is not primarily about the mega-rich. Jesus is using a parable, a story, to illustrate a reality for everyone who listens to it, for all of us. And so to do that he uses an extreme example, an example of a mega-rich person. But he is answering the question of a normal person, who wanted Jesus to help him in a normal will dispute.

You might remember my sermon of two weeks ago, about the rich man and Lazarus. I said that the rich man sought after a life of luxury, and he got it every day until he died, but he was living a life that was unintentionally leading him to hell. Well, in this parable the rich man isn't even getting his life of luxury! He dies with the plans still in his hands. His life is worthless, because the only thing he cared about was a future of luxury and security, and once he dies, that all comes undone. He has no more future. But if he had been rich toward God, then his life would have had eternal meaning. His contribution to the building of God's kingdom would exist forever, and he would live forever in heaven to see it.

You might think I'm a bit strange for saying this, but this parable is not just about money. It's about our life's direction, and what we are striving for. If our lives are shaped by greed, like the man asking Jesus to help him get some of the inheritance, or like the rich fool, then our life really is all about greed. This is such a common life's direction that Jesus picks it to talk about over and over again. You've heard about it at least three weeks in a row now. It's a favourite topic of Jesus. But Jesus is not focusing on greed, he is focused on the kingdom of God, and so he is seeking to break down the reality and consequence of a life lived for anything but God, and show us that the only meaningful direction in life is to seek to follow God.

So let's get this straight. Being rich toward God is not just about how you spend your money. That's only one part of it. Being rich toward God does not necessarily mean being poor in this world, any more than it means being mega-rich. What it does mean is instead of building plans based around your life, your wealth, your security or your comfort, your plans are focused on building up God's kingdom, spreading God's message, doing God's will and making God's name great. Just giving money to a church for a new building, or even to a mission agency to support the spread of the gospel, does not indicate richness toward God. Anyone can do those things without caring at all about God's kingdom.

Being rich toward God is about living your whole life in such a way that is focused on doing God's will. It's a change of attitude that stops asking, “What about me?” and starts asking, “What about God?” It stops asking, “What do I want?” and starts asking “What does God want of me?” When you have the answer to those questions, it means living those answers out with everything at your disposal. Take a look at your life for a moment. I won't even bother asking you if you are storing things up for yourself. You know you are. Of course you are. Everyone is. It's a wise thing to do. The question is, while you are doing that, are you being rich toward God?

It is important to recognise that the author, Luke, put Jesus' parable of the rich fool in chapter 12, which is all about living such a life of being rich toward God. It starts with Jesus telling people that the only worthwhile thing to strive towards is eternal life. Christians should not even fear death at the hands of persecutors, because our lives here are nothing compared to eternal life. We should be rich toward God with our very life and death. Then we have this parable, about the rich fool – the message is we should be rich toward God with our money. After that is Jesus' famous speech about how we should not worry, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” What is the message there? Don't make your life's direction all about what you eat, or drink, or wear. These are temporary concerns. Jesus says, “Your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” Sure, buy new underpants. But don't spend your life worrying about them! Seek God's kingdom!

The next section is telling us to be watchful. It's a parable about servants whose master has gone away. If the servants are keeping watch for their master's return, then they will be ready to serve the master, and he will be happy with them. But if they don't keep watch, if they think the master will be a long time coming, and they mess around and don't work while the boss is gone, then he will be angry when he finds them. This is yet another parable about where our life direction is pointed. Jesus has said he is going to return. When he does, will he find that we have been working diligently for him, because that is the direction our lives are focused towards? Or will he find that we have just been marking time until he gets back, or that we've been doing our own stuff on his work time, or that we have been feathering our own nests with his wealth? Jesus is pretty plain about it, “The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.”

The next section is about understanding that even our families, the closest people to us, may become separated from us because of this change in our life's direction. Families are an important and God-ordained part of our lives. But they are still temporary. Only God's kingdom is eternal. If we do not seek to look after our family's eternal needs, even as we seek to obey God in looking after their physical needs, then we are not focused in the right direction.

Finally, Jesus says that if our lives are focused in the right direction, the importance of eternity will become obvious to us. He likens it to looking at the sky and making weather predictions, which we then base our lives around. When we're making plans for a picnic, we check the weather and if there are dark clouds looming, we change our actions accordingly. Jesus says that if we are aware of the existence of the eternal kingdom of God looming on the horizon, our actions and lives should change accordingly.

Now let's put all those together. If you want your life to be at all meaningful, then your life's direction has to be focused on making a difference eternally. It means looking at our world from the perspective of God – as a ticking clock, counting down towards an inevitable end, recognising that end is coming nearer every day, and making sure your life is focused on what will be valuable after that end, in eternity. It means being watchful and dedicated servants, so that when Jesus does return and the end does come, you will have been diligently working away at his work. It means recognising that eternity is the only thing with any meaning, and outranks everything else that we are told in this world is so important – money, family, even life itself.

Let me tell the story one more time – this time, I'll put it in perspective. God comes to earth as a man, and begins to tell people how to get to heaven, and how their lives can be eternally significant. He has just finished telling them that even if someone wants to put you to death for following him, it's worth it. In the crowd, one man puts his hand up to ask God a question. “Yes,” says God, “You. What is it?” The man has God before him, and asks him for this: “Can you tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me?”

God looks at him and says “I, God, am here talking about how you can live forever with me in heaven, in perfect peace, lacking nothing, for all eternity. And you want me, God, to come and tell your brother to divide up your dad's socket wrench collection? Are you honestly that greedy? Are you really so short-sighted because of your selfish greed that you would rather me tell your brother to give you your mum's commemorative tea set, than hear me talk about how you and your brother can have eternal life? You are a fool, sir, and I pity you.”

You might think that's harsh. It is harsh. It's harsh because everyone knows we have all at one time or another worried needlessly about stupid things. Something silly can get under our skin and we pursue it like a greyhound chasing those fake rabbits around the greyhound track. “Oooh, my brother won't split the inheritance evenly with me! Oooh, toothpicks at restaurants aren't sanitary because they aren't individually wrapped! Oooh, there's not enough flavouring on Barbecue Shapes!” We focus our lives on trivialities. We chase the fake rabbit. Whereas God is concerned about justice. God is concerned about righteousness. God is concerned about grace and mercy and compassion. God is concerned about eternity. Let's get our lives focused in the right direction – in God's direction. Yes, you will still have superannuation and retirement. You will still have jobs and buy houses and children's parties and last wills and all of those things. But put them in their place. They are trivialities when you compare them to eternity with God in heaven. Jesus said “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Seek first the kingdom of God.

Let's pray.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3

vs 1

I knew the song by The Byrds years and years before I knew this was from the Bible. I wonder how much reverence they had for it as scripture, and how much they just used it as a peacenick song? I am actually surprised that, with the popularity of the song, the NIV changed the KJV. I mean, they kept some really archaic phrases from the KJV, ostensibly because they were so well known in their current form.

I simply can't go past without mentioning this video on YouTube - listen to what they all say about truth. All the ying-yang crap aside, of course. I just think it's amazing that God convicts people of truth even while they're plagarising his words. (I'm actually just kidding there about the plagarism - I believe the discography for the album Turn! Turn! Turn! actually does attribute Ecclesiastes.) Now, some people might say "Isn't it interesting that God revealed himself so powerfully during that period, in a peace song?" Isn't it interesting, though, that even the peace song that God wrote accepts that there is a time for war?

Anyway, if you ever wanted a verse to back up the idea that, in many ways, the Bible calls for moderation in all things (that aren't expressly detested by God), this is a pretty good one, if not only because it is well-known thanks to The Byrds. I think probably when The Byrds were using it, they were concentrating more on the idea of a perpetual cycle of activity (hence Turn, Turn, Turn). And Qoheleth is probably putting that forward to some degree - his argument in chapter one takes a very similar form. But the repetitiveness for Qoleheth is something that adds to life's meaninglessness. These things don't build on each other, they just take turns, over and over.

vs 2

People are born, people die. People plant, people pick. They are not bad things in themselves, I guess (people dying is up for argument) but their continual occurrence creates meaninglessness.

vs 3

Of course some people don't like the idea that there is a time to kill. But there is. Although we might argue about the credentials of any particular conflict, killing will always have its time. We've got to remember that in the ancient world, wars were fought in seasons - usually summer, I think. It was just "the time you go to war". In the modern world, it seems we like wars to perpetuate. At least back then you got winter off.

So my argument I guess is that there will always be killing - it's a pragmatic time. But is there a time for killing, under heaven? Again, the answer has got to be yes, because God does tell people to kill other people. That's the time for killing. you can't get around that.

vs 4

These ones are fairly much mirrored. In fact, really all of them are so far, but this one is much more obvious. That's an element of Hebrew poetry. In everyone's life there will be weeping and there will be laughing. Even the person with the most miserable life will find something to enjoy, even the simplest thing. We need to have things we enjoy, things to laugh at. And although few of us seek out pain and suffering, I guess we need it too, because God makes sure we get it.

vs 5

I wonder if, given the pattern of the last few verses, we can link scattering stones to refraining, and gathering stones to embracing? I honestly don't know what the gathering and scattering of stones means. I mean, there's a few instances of gathering stones to make an altar in the Bible. They could be gathering stones to build something, a wall or a building. Why scatter stones? I don't know that either. But I do know what it means to embrace, and I do know what it means to refrain. Again, would we ever say there is a time to refrain from embracing? "With such a man, do not even eat." I guess there is.

vs 6

Now some people would say that a person should never give up searching for the truth, or for the Kingdom of God, or for God's will. I think I'd agree. But as to searching far more generally, there is a time to give up - especially if you're searching for the wrong thing. Keeping things and throwing things away is the same - that year-old box of pocky can probably go. But don't throw away your commitment to God.

vs 7

I wonder whether speaking is mending or tearing? Once again, we might say that we should always mend, that tearing is negative or something. But don't sew new cloth on old garments, so says Jesus to the Christian sewing circle. I am guessing that sometimes speaking is tearing, and sometimes being silent is mending. Sometimes it will be the other way around. But the fact is there is a time for these things.

vs 8

A time for hate, a time for war. Hard to believe, especially coming from God. But these things do exist for a purpose, and God uses them. God uses war, he even uses hate. We are to hate our sinful natures, and things of sin. That sort of emotive branding of something is useful in turning us away from something. God uses it. War is sometimes necessary too, although I'm glad I'm not the one deciding when it is.

vs 9

I'm sure you'll tell us, Qoheleth. Oh wait, was it a trick question?

vs 10

Haven't we all seen it? Perhaps some people are blind to it, because they're so busy carrying it. Or perhaps it's easier to see the burden when you're mega rich?

vs 11

Now there is a huge burden - we are surrounded by "times" for things, but our hearts are set on eternity. What are we to do? Left to our own devices, we'll just wander around forever, completely unsatisfied. We'll find things in their time, and they will be beautiful. But then the time will pass, and we will find ourselves wishing that the time didn't pass - that there was an eternity to the beauty, to the good, to the righteous.

This idea captures why Qoheleth sees so much meaninglessness - because eternity is where meaning is really found. It's in our hearts, and we yearn for it. We can imagine it, in our own flawed ways. I'm not saying we can really understand it, but we want it all the same. And so everything, regardless of beauty, wisdom, wealth, specialness, will wear away and disappear, and that is meaningless. This verse is such an important fulcrum of the book.

Ecclesiastes chapter 2

vs 19

This is a continuation of the idea of meaninglessness of toil, given inheritance. The idea that someone works for something to get it, and then the next generation doesn't work to get the same thing, shows how meaningless it is.

vs 20

It's not because it didn't bring him joy - but his joy was in the doing, and in the seeing what he had made. Now, to hand it to another at death brings despair.

vs 21

Not just meaningless, but a great misfortune. It's actually a negative thing, not just a good thing that becomes pointless.

vs 22

Although he found some joy in his toil, he also freely admits it is also full of anxiety and hard labour. But the majority of the fruits of it (or indeed, any part of it that still exists upon his death) do not belong to him.

vs 23

Qoheleth does admit that work can have some joys, but he also admits the pain of toil, the sleepless nights, the grief of toil. And the pain and grief is as meaningless as the joy. Both equally pass away. So you could say that the suffering is as much for nought as the pleasure.

vs 24

Yes, work is meaningless, and eat and drink is just as meaningless - but there is no better option available to people than to find joy in these things. In fact, such satisfaction is given from God. That statement shows us that Qoheleth has not forgotten about God, nor has he dismissed God. This is, if you like, a taste of his conclusion - that outside of God, meaninglessness reigns. But here, we can see that the best choice out of what has been looked at (finding enjoyment in work and eating and drinking) comes only from God.

vs 25

This doesn't mean if you don't believe in God, you won't enjoy eating or working. It means that it is God that gives these meaningless things the ability to produce joy. Without God, there would be no joy in them. Perhaps we'd be simple creatures, driven by instinct, who robotically intake fuel to push us forward in a ceaseless mating ritual.

vs 26

Pleasing God brings good things - wisdom and knowledge, and happiness. I don't know whether it's helpful to think about these in a linear progression - that is, a) please God, b) gain wisdom, knowledge and happiness. I think it's all much more of a mixture in a bowl. In as much as there is stuff that is pleasing in the bowl, there will be knowledge and wisdom (which of course instruct us on God and his desires for our lives) and this life will also bring happiness to us.

Meanwhile, for the person who does not please God, they will be seeking to do something else - Qoleheth suggests they'll probably spend their life chasing wealth. And just to show you how meaningless that is, he shows that in doing so, they will actually, eventually, end up giving that money to someone else - and God will make sure that those who please him get a taste of it. They may not have 'earned it' in that they didn't toil for it, but they deserved it in that God was pleased with them. I think I could use this in my sermon.

Ecclesiastes chapter 2

vs 10

So he both gave himself every pleasure that he wanted, but also the work he was doing was a delight to him. So everything he was doing was enjoyable.

vs 11

His enjoyment of his toil was meaningless. The fruit of his toil, what he created, was meaningless. At the end of the day, nothing was gained.

vs 12

King's successor? He might not be talking about himself. He might be saying that he's already done everything - what is there for anyone to do after him? So he was very thorough in his pursuit of wisdom (hence the link with Solomon, or the writing being Solomon himself) and there is therefore nothing really else that could be accomplished in this area, in his opinion.

vs 13

Both are still meaningless - but one is better.

vs 14

So one sees, and one doesn't - but both die. The life of wisdom might seem better, but it results in the same death as that of the fool. Temporary benefit, but no eternal meaning.

vs 15

Wisdom doesn't save from death. Perhaps it lets you understand death better, but then you just are more likely to see it coming. You can't stop it any more than you can stop the sun rising.

vs 16

Not only death, but disappearance, follow both the wise and the fool. No-one will remember either of them. Inevitably someone else will stand up and say what they did, wise or foolish, and that person will take their place, only to also be forgotten.

vs 17

Haven't we all felt this lack of motivation at some point in time? We can't seem to make any difference, everything we do just needs to be done again pretty much straight away. What's the point?

vs 18

Of course, the work that is done doesn't just disappear the moment you die - although for you, it does. But it will hang around, and at the very least your kids will get something out of it. But they didn't work for it! Part of the enjoyment of it, we remember, was the toil. And now the things that he values because he worked on them are given to those who did nothing for them. More on this tomorrow.

Ecclesiastes chapter 2

vs 1

Pleasure seems to drive so much of what we do, but it's true to say that once you get it, it's gone. There is no lasting effect of pleasure, certainly not in any eternal capacity.

vs 2

Laughter makes us feel good. That's why we watch comedies. But if all it does is that - give a momentary, fleeting hit of good feeling - then what benefit is it? It is folly. In a miserable world, I guess you could go one step further and say that to embrace laughter is to embrace madness - a disconnection with reality. I'm not sure if Qoheleth is going quite so far.

vs 3

Should we just numb the pain of life with wine, and use external matters to keep our bodies in a state of, if not cheer, then at least stupor? I love that he did this "while his mind still guided him with wisdom." It makes me wonder whether he actually did it at all, or just thought about it, or observed those who had done it.

vs 4-6

For some people, this idea of 'great projects' is what drives them. Whether it is seeing a huge bridge with their name on it, or to be known as the one who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or just having a garden and knowing that you helped these things grow, or that you can now sustain your life with the stuff you made grow, people really get into this 'I did it my way" Sinatra-esque thing.

vs 7-9

All of this is basically an amassing of great wealth. It certainly does sound like Solomon. And in fact, if we think of it that way - that Solomon was doing a philosophical experiment by marrying hundreds of women and having hundreds more as concubines - then perhaps we wouldn't feel so bad about it. For science!

Whether that's true or not is up for discussion I guess. In any case, the point is that he made himself rich in every way, with all the trappings of riches, from slaves to concubines to just big piles of money, in an effort to see if, once you got to the top of the pile of cash, there was a meaning.

Ecclesiastes chapter 1

vs 10

Especially if you measure things eternally, you realise that even if something looks new, it points to the same meaningless end - for nothing saves us from death.

vs 11

Now, obviously there are some people who are remembered - Solomon has been remembered, for example, because the writer knows who he is, and we still do too. And of course Moses and Abraham are remembered. So what does he mean? I think he means something akin to the saying, "History repeats itself" - that although we know David was a mighty king who got caught in adultery, we don't learn from it and stop adulterising, for example. We might remember it happened, but we don't learn.

vs 12

Now, either the author really was a king (like Solomon, or even Solomon himself), which is fairly believeable, but dates the letter pre-exile obviously - or he wasn't, and is placing himself into the position for the purpose of the thought experiment.

vs 13

What wonderful first principle of wisdom - that by studying all that is done, the very first thing that Qoleheth sees is the heavy burden of work that humanity has before it. The curse of the fall is in full swing.

vs 14

Well, depressing. Nothing done by humanity is stacking up to look all that impressive.

vs 15

The world is broken, if you like, and we can't fix it. If we could make our lives easier, we would. Instead, I suppose we try to make them easier and instead just make them different. You might solve your food worries by getting rich, but then you just have the worries of wealth.

vs 16

Part of the "wisdom and knowledge" that is being talked about here is a classificationary wisdom (like recognising all different things), part of it is scientific (like realising causal links) part of it is philosophical wisdom (seeing logical premise, like this book) and there's probably other kinds of wisdom and knowledge too.

Surely, somewhere in the scope of human intellectual endeavour there is some redeeming feature!

vs 17

Apparently not. When measured against eternity, death comes as swiftly to the wise as it does the fool. A few years might separate them, but in the end the same fate awaits both.

vs 18

Not only that, but the increase of wisdom and knowledge only seem to increase grief. From at least one viewpoint, ignorance is bliss. Of course, there is another viewpoint which is expressed later about wisdom, but we'll get to that.

Ecclesiastes chapter 1

I really should start my sermon for next Sunday. But at the moment, I'd rather just get back into my morning routine.

vs 1

And of course we start of straight away with Qoleheth, what it means, who wrote the book, and all that jazz.

Of course, pretty much all modern scholars think it was written by some wisdom writer that wasn't Solomon. I think even Childs, who might say it is claiming canonically to be from that time, would not accept it. That says a lot. If it was written by Solomon, why doesn't he name himself? Why isn't this strange life-experiment written about anywhere else? Why didn't Solomon follow his own conclusions?

For me, I think it's too weighty - someone else, possibly another person in the Davidic line, has raised this, but as more of a thought experiment than a real life experiment. Obviously I don't know when it was written - most people say post-exile, but who knows? - so I'm pretty much prepared to leave it at that.

vs 2

At least he's open about it. This is the premise of the book. Of course, we have to ask ourselves what meaning is before we can ask whether something is meaningful. It will become clear what Qoleheth thinks is meaningful as we move on.

You'll notice that the NASB and KJV repeated their "vanity of vanities", while the (T)NIV retranslate it to be "Utterly meaningless", arguing that the doubling of the word represents in Hebrew a more forceful idea. A similar thing happens in Ruth 1, but all the translations pretty much follow the NIV ruling, interestingly.

vs 3

This question on its own is fairly simply answered - food to eat, satisfaction of a job well done, something to keep them busy - there's all sorts of things that people get from work. But that's not what Qoleheth thinks is meaningful.

vs 4

This is the point that he seeks to make - that without eternal meaning, there is no meaning. Which is interesting, really, because a humanistic worldview could quite easily argue that all humans make an eternal contribution to the universe, because whatever we choose to do or not do will create a set of ramifications that cannot be undone, and therefore is our eternal contribution.

Of course, I think any realistic humanist would also realise that such a nebulous and pointless contribution to the universe is not likely to be valued by most people - it will just make them feel even more insignificant.

Qoleheth doesn't really deal with that, which I thinkis significant, because his understanding of the universe is not humanistic, it is theistic, and as such assumes a God whom gives things meaning and can remove any contribution made by man.

vs 5

A picture of the endless cycle of life that the whole of creation is subject to. Regardless of the happenings of man, the sun will still rise.

vs 6

The wind isn't new - it is recycled. Just the same air blowing around from place to place. If creation isn't really giving us anything new, then where are we going to find it?

vs 7

Another picture of endless, almost pointless, repetition in nature.

vs 8

Since there's nothing new, perhaps humanity could be satisfied with seeing and hearing everything? Perhaps once we attain the ability to experience every experience that is available to humanity, we can be satisfied? Nope, apparently not. After all, we enjoy the second peach pretty much as much as the first - we're always thirsty and hungry, and we chase pretty much the same of everything throughout our whole lives.

vs 9

The Internet is just very fast horses. Computers are just Stonehenge with more processing power. All games are based on the stick game. Guns are basically an advanced tool for throwing rocks at people. You get the idea - we might work out how to do something better, but it's not new.

Psalm 22

vs 21

I didn't know wild oxen were that vicious. In fact, you don't often think of wild oxen, do you? Again, it could be because David is in the wild, or they could be symbolic of his enemies.

vs 22

Is this in return for the rescue? It certainly sounds like that. Which isn't really how God works, I don't think. Or is this the start of a new idea - explaining to God why he should do what he should do? That seems more likely, especially in the messianic sort of way.

vs 23

See, he does it anyway - regardless of God's saving him. No doubt because he is trusting God to do what God knows is best.

vs 24

This is a fantastic verse, that really puts verse 1 et al in its place. When Jesus quoted this psalm, remember this verse is part of that. Of course God doesn't turn away from Christ, because Christ is doing his will. Of course he doesn't turn away from David, even if David has done wrong, because David repents.

vs 25

I'm not sure what the vows are. Jesus could be said to fulfil his vows before the assembly, because he was crucified in public, just as he said he would be. Is that vows? David no doubt had made vows of some sort or another. It is his praise that is of course noteworthy, because everyone knows about David's praise for God.

vs 26

Of course, both Jesus and David weren't in the most envious of positions at the time that this applies to them, so they can talk about God's attitude towards the poor in a pretty good light. They also seek God, so their praise for him is then obvious.

vs 27

That observation is somewhat more relevant to Christ and his works. I don't know that David was so well renown. I guess David is just talking more generally about God's will.

vs 28

That's the solid base that DAvid makes his last claim on. That's good.

vs 29

Both those alive and those dead, I guess that means. It's also including the rich, because the poor have already been talked about. God, at the end, will be worshipped by all.

vs 30

Posterity will always serve the eternal, I would have thought. But even more so the Lord, because of his mighty works.

vs 31

And all the more so when they realise Christ and the work he has done - he has indeed done it!

Psalm 22

vs 11

Jesus was, at his last, left pretty much alone. There was no one to help. David had times like that too, where everyone had forsaken him, and he was all alone. I guess we've all had times like that - either where there's no-one around to help, or nothing they could do.

vs 12

Bulls of Bashan, always with the bulls of Bashan. I'm sure it's poetic, and that he's not actually being surrounded by bulls. Strong males, perhaps armies of Bashan? More likely just a typical enemy of Israel.

vs 13

Again, David might have been worried about lions as he was out in the wilderness, but I think it's more a word picture. Like we would say someone is "out for blood", but they usually aren't. Of course, in the case of David, and Jesus, people actually were out for their blood.

vs 14

This idea of people turning to water, or melting, is fairly typical for losing courage. It's how the people of Jericho, and the whole promised land, are described when they know Israel is coming. I guess they couldn't say 'turned to jelly' because they didn't have it.

vs 15

I've got to say the TNIV makes more sense on this one, regarding 'mouth' over 'strength'. It's easy to swap words in Hebrew sometimes, especially when it can be a matter of vowels, that aren't actually in the originals (which of course we don't have, unless they're in the Dead Sea scrolls, which I believe are unpointed).

In any case, it is a picture of total fear - and fear is as good as death, I think the message is. Certainly if it is strength, then a lack of strength is as good as death when facing such adversaries.

vs 16

Obviously we Christians are going to favour the "my hands and feet" translation - it's so sharp and telling prophetically.

I don't know whether Jesus was surrounded by dogs - either real dogs or gentiles. He was certainly surrounded by villains, though! I don't know if David was literally surrounded by either, but it's a very poetic picture of defeat and almost certain destruction.

The thing that gets me, then, is why would David's hands and feet get pierced? What did he mean by that, since I assume that he wasn't going to get crucified? With the dogs and the thieves, the lions almost fit better for his situation. But I think this verse might be called on in this form in the NT. Unfortunately, I can't check right at this second.

vs 17

The TNIV departs from the traditional "I can count all my bones" here. I mean, the prophetic meaning of their translation probably isn't all that different, is it? But it's probably a little more gruesome for David's sake - it's either that he is emaciated and thin, or that literally all his bones are on display - eww. No wonder people would stare and gloat.

vs 18

This I am assuming is more common in the ancient world than we might assume. The coincidence otherwise is just uncanny. It doesn't make it any less prophetically awesome in my view, but I would assume that the division and sale of clothes would be something a victor (or at least a villain) would do. Hey, people still get mugged for shoes.

vs 19

No-one else is going to help, but you can always call on God. Even when every other strength has failed, God is strong, and is usually willing to help too.

vs 20

Obviously the sword is a fairly legitimate and immediate concern for David. For Jesus, it might represent the power of the governing authorities. In any case, rescue is required.

Sermon: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

Our church is currently doing a series on parables, so here's my first sermon on the matter, as always including the sort of scribble notes that I always do before a sermon. I didn't have a great dael of time to write this one, but I still think it came out okay.

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Rich Man and Lazarus

Context in Luke – bunched up with a lot of parables and teachings. Particularly, Pharisees who love money are listening, and Jesus is making a point both about money and about the importance of the Law and the Prophets to the Kingdom of God.

Main points:

- Money: not a bad thing in itself, but not an end in itself either. Won't get you to heaven. Won't necessarily keep you out, but beware.

- God's Word: of absolute and paramount importance. Focus of Jesus' ministry is on the Kingdom of God, but the way in is through the Law and the Prophets (God's word revealed to humanity).

- Prophetic: Jesus will indeed be raised from the dead, but does not expect his listeners (the Pharisees) to accept that as proof that his message is correct. They will not magically start to listen and accept. Moses and the Prophets is enough!

- Human Nature: Miracles, even incredible ones like people rising from the dead, do not convince those who ignore the message of God.

Other points:

- Lazarus is the only character named in a parable. His name comes from Eleazar – God helps.

- We cannot be sure how accurate a picture of heaven and hell this is – how much of it is real, how much is for the sake of the story.

Overall structure:

Valuing the right thing – this life or eternity (app: what does your life say you're valuing?)

The value of God's word (app: do you know and value the whole of God's word?)

The parable points to Jesus

The nature of belief (app: Miracles, even Jesus' resurrection, won't convince people on their own. They need to learn and know about God)

Words

I want to tell you about Richard Branson. He started off life selling a magazine called Student, before selling music records out of the boot of his car to retail outlets, and then later selling them via a mail service. He called his organisation Virgin for one reason or another, and because he followed a business model of undercutting the current market leaders, he was always successful both in making a profit, and also forcing prices to come down in the industry. Whether he was moving into planes, trains or mobile phones, he followed the same process – undercut the business leaders, make a profit, and force price reduction in the industry. He is now even pursuing ventures in space travel and environmentally friendly fuels. Through his dedication to his business ideals and corporate ventures, he is one of the richest people in the world, he is world famous, and he has made lasting impacts on some of the world's biggest industries.

And yet, he has never become a fireman. I could say the same about many other people who have gone on to achieve big things. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a world class bodybuilder, became a famous actor, and is now the governor of California. But as far as I know he's never built a computer from scratch or piloted a submarine. I can go on and on like this – no matter who I choose, and how successful they have been, I'm sure I can name something they've simply never done. Not because it's impossible for them to do it, but because they've never set their mind to it and made it their aim.

Enter now the rich man from Jesus' parable. He doesn't have a name, he is identified only by being a rich man. We don't know why he is rich, or how he made his money. But we certainly know he is pretty darn rich – he dresses in purple, which is the colour of royalty and was very expensive back then. He wears fine linen – no scratchy hair garments for this man. His home even has its own front gate, which is a mark of wealth. Think about wealthy houses even today – how many have a large gate blocking entry to common riff-raff and symbolising big, expensive house. He lives in luxury every day – what more needs to be said? We may not know how the nameless rich man earned his wealth, but we know how he spent it – his goal was to have luxury every day, even I suppose the Sabbath. That was his goal, and he was able to pursue it until the day he died.

Now enter Lazarus. Lazarus is not a rich man. In fact, he is a beggar, whose skin is covered with sores. He's obviously sick with something. He is religiously unclean, because of his sores and because dogs lick his sores, and dogs are unclean animals. We assume he is too sick to fight them off, or perhaps it feels nice. He is a total outcast from society – not even welcome in the temple, because he was unclean. His desire in life is not to dine at the banquets of nobles, or to dress in fine linens of kings. He doesn't wish that he could live in a mighty mansion with its own iron gate. He doesn't even wish that the rich man whose gate he lies at every day would invite him in for dinner once in a while. All he wishes is that he could eat out of the rich man's garbage bin. That is what he longed for – the table scraps of the rich man. But he never fulfilled even those simple desires.

However, there was one goal that Lazarus had, that he strove for, that drove him. Lazarus was a righteous man, and he strove to do God's will. The parable doesn't out and out state it, but it is safe enough to assume it, given what happens to the pair when they die. When Lazarus dies, angels come to carry him to the side of Abraham. Not just to his side, either. Literally, he goes to rest on Abraham's chest, which is where, at an ancient banquet, you would rest your head if you were the guest of honour. Meanwhile, our nameless rich man just dies and is buried. There's not really the same amount of grandeur in that, is there? But it gets worse. Jesus, very matter-of-factly, tells us that the rich man now finds himself in hell, where he is tormented, like being tortured in a fire.

What went wrong? The rich man had it all – wealth, fine clothes, luxurious living, a huge house. Whereas Lazarus had nothing – no food, no house, not even his health. Jesus, master storyteller, has given his parable a twist. The tables have turned on these two men. No doubt those who were listening would have expected that if anyone was going to heaven, it was the rich man. After all, how did he get rich if God didn't bless him? And what about Lazarus? Poor, unemployed, homeless, sick, not fit to go before God in the temple – that is surely a picture of a man who has been forsaken by God. But his name is Lazarus. So what, you might say? The rich man's name might be Richard. What does that matter? But this is a parable, a story. The name Lazarus means “The one who God helps”, and since Lazarus is the only character in any of Jesus' parables who actually has a name, we should take notice of that. The poor man, with sores, who is so poor he wishes he could eat out of the garbage, and has dogs licking his sores, is named “he who God helps.” Is it a sick joke? No! Lazarus was living for God, and he eventually received what he strove for – he was admitted into heaven, and given pride of place.

Meanwhile, the rich man strove for luxury and a comfortable life, and he got what he wanted too. His life was luxurious, and full of plenty, and he got what he wanted. The one snag was that in doing so, he took no notice of what God demanded from him, and so his life resulted in an eternity of torture in hell. He probably wasn't expecting that – maybe he believed that God had blessed him with all his wealth because he was doing what God wanted. Of course, he also had to walk past the beggar Lazarus every day on his way to doing whatever it was he did with his time. He may have even thanked God that he wasn't like Lazarus. And now he's in hell.

The parable is only half done, and Jesus has already presented a strong challenge for us. What's your life aimed at? What is the thing you are striving for? What's your goal? You might have any number of answers. I don't think many people would straight out say, “I'm trying to make as much money as I can as fast as I can so that I can live in the lap of luxury while people starve at my doorstep.” And yet the rich man in Jesus' parable seems surprised that he has ended up in hell. Outward appearances of our lives can be deceiving, even to us. So it is possible, it seems, that we might get even our own life goals wrong. We might unintentionally be living a life that is not preparing us for heaven at all. Recently while eating our cereal one morning, my wife Penny pointed out to me the eschatological nature of our nutri-grain. The box asks the question, “When the time comes, will you be ready?”

A book I read recently had this quote from apparent business guru W. Edwards Deming, “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you're getting.” Think about that for a moment. Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you're getting. After all, that's why you keep getting that result. He gives the result of a car manufacturing system where 50% of the time the bumpers are installed on the cars upside down. It's not the fault of the bumper. Your system is obviously unintentionally designed to deliver that result. You might not be getting the results you thought you would. You might not get the results you want. But that just means that your system isn't designed to give you what you want from it. A system can only produce the result it is set up to produce.

Think carefully about the way you live your life. Is it designed serve God faithfully, and so give you the result of eternity with God, seated at pride of place next to Abraham? Or is it designed, perhaps unintentionally, to give you comfort and pleasure while ignoring God's commands, with the result of an eternity in hell, suffering torment? That system needs changing, if you don't want such a result.

The rich man probably didn't want to go to hell. But his system was unintentionally designed to send him there. His situation has been completely reversed with that of Lazarus! He is now the beggar, begging Abraham for pity, begging for Lazarus to be sent to even dip his finger in water to cool the rich man's tongue for a moment's relief. But Abraham says no – not because Abraham is a loveless man, and not because he doesn't pity the rich man's fate. There are two reasons why he denies the rich man's request. The first reason is that the rich man is suffering the consequences of his life's direction on earth, just as Lazarus is comforted in heaven because of his life's direction, and because of God's help. Note that what Abraham is not saying is that Lazarus's suffering and the rich man's wealth has anything to do with their eternal positions in heaven or the hot place. Of course, Jesus says elsewhere that from those to whom much is given, much will be expected, so in one way the rich man has higher standards to meet than the poor, helpless cripple. But Abraham is simply pointing out that now the tables have turned. The reason, as far as Abraham is concerned, should be obvious, and comes out later – Lazarus lived according to God's words in the Bible, and the rich man didn't.

The second reason is made clear in verse 26. It is not possible for people to cross over from heaven to hell, or the other way around. At this point, it might be worth looking at just how closely Jesus' parable accurately portrays heaven and hell. Is hell really a place of burning fire? Can people in hell really see and talk to people in heaven? The fact is, Jesus' parable is drawing on Jewish myths about what heaven and hell are like, and this is describing pretty fairly the Jewish mythical idea of a 'temporary hell' where people went until the end of the world. It's like if I tell a joke about a taxi driver and a preacher dying and going and standing in front of St Peter at the pearly gates (the preacher doesn't make it because while he preached, people slept, but the taxi driver gets in because while he drove, people prayed) – it's not really biblically accurate, but people know what I'm talking about, because it fits the modern myth of heaven, and so they get the joke. However, if anyone knows the reality of heaven and hell, it's Jesus. At the end of the day, we must realise that Jesus' primary goal in telling this parable isn't to teach people about how hot hell is, or how big the chasm between heaven and hell is.

What he does want to make clear, though, is that our choices on earth have eternal consequences. Once you end up on one side or the other, you can't change. Once you die, your eternal destiny is set – heaven, or hell – forever. And that is what Abraham makes clear to the rich man in this parable, in his second reason – once you're in hell, there's no changing it. So even if Abraham wanted to help, even if Lazarus wanted to help, they can't. Not even to dip a finger in water and place it on his tongue.

So the rich man now has another idea. It might be too late for him, but what about his family? Note that the rich man still is unrepentant – look at the way he treats Lazarus, even now that he's in hell. All he thinks of is his own anguish and torment. And his attitude is centred on himself or his family, at least his five brothers. If Abraham can't have Lazarus assist the rich man in his torment like a waiter, then perhaps it's not too late for Lazarus to act as a messenger so that his brothers get the message. Apparently, the rich man considers that his family are living pretty much the same way he did – probably just living out their lives in a search for security, comfort and happiness, without really considering the demands of God on their lives – so they are just as likely to end up where he is. The rich man has a shrewd idea – if Lazarus is raised from the dead, he can go and tell the brothers what has happened to their rich sibling, and save them from sharing his fate.

But here Abraham makes his killer response. He says to the rich man, “Your brothers have access to the Old Testament, like you did – let them listen to Moses and the Prophets.” After all, Lazarus was too sick to even go to the temple and hear the words of the law and the priests, but he lived a righteous life as far as he could, he relied on God. What's your family's excuse, too many parties? Abraham lays it out plainly to the rich man – God has given people everything they need to recognise the error of their ways, and to know what God expects of them. And this, remember, is before the New Testament! Jesus is talking about Moses and the Prophets – Old Testament only, where they would hear words like, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” “Love your neighbour as yourself,” “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings,” and “What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The truth of where your focus in life should be is laid out plainly in the Bible, even if all you have is the Old Testament. The path to the kingdom of heaven is found through the words of God in the Bible.

So let me ask you, then – How well do you know your Bible? How well do you understand it? There really is nowhere else you will find that holds the key to eternal life. There is no better place to turn if you are seeking to know God, to know what he wants for your life, and what he expects of you. That includes both the New Testament as well as the Old. But we must do more than just reading it, and even understanding it. We have to let the Bible be the first thing in our lives that shapes our beliefs, actions, and attitudes. It must be first. I think for many of us, we build our life up like a collage – a little from here, a little from there, all stuck together to make us who we are. So we might have spiritual views, political views, psychological or philosophical theories, family life, work habits, hobbies and interests – and we take pieces of these and turn them all into a picture of who we are. But that is not how it should be. The Bible is the primary place where God reveals his will to us. As such, we must build our whole life on what it says, and we must interpret everything else in our lives by what the Bible says. We must have Bible-coloured glasses, if you like. And if something doesn't stand up to biblical scrutiny, then it must be done away with, it must not be accepted or tolerated.

It's not easy. In fact, for people who have grown up their whole life exposed to the Bible, it can become something that quietly sits in the background, like the canvas of a painting. Sure, you know its there, but you don't pay attention to it, not with all the fancy swirling colours of the painting. This is what happened to the rich man, and he knew that his brothers were the same. He said to Abraham, “No, I know my brothers. They're like me. They will ignore the Bible. What they need is a special miracle, just for them. Something uniquely shaped to meet their needs. Send Lazarus, who they know is dead, to go and talk to them, and I just know that they will realise the seriousness of the situation, and they will change their lives!” How often have you heard this argument? From the arrogant “Unless I see God himself, I won't be satisfied,” “Let God do a miracle right now, and then I'll believe,” “Why doesn't God just write 'I exist, believe in me' in big letters in the sky so everyone can see them? I'd believe that,” to the mournful, “If God exists, why did he let my mum die of cancer, even though I prayed for her to be healed?” “I call out to God, but I keep on suffering, my life doesn't change,” “Why did God let me lose my job? He knows I have a family to feed. Can't he give me another job?”

But the rich man is going to be in for a shock because of Abraham's reply. “If someone doesn't read and accept what's in the Bible, then a miracle isn't going to change their mind, even if that miracle is someone being raised from the dead.” The truth is that miracles do not exist for the purpose of changing people's minds. When a believer sees a miracle, they are encouraged, challenged, and know that God is working. When an unbeliever sees a miracle, they deny it, change it to fit into their worldview, or attribute it to something else. What they won't do is change their minds about God. Jesus cured a man born blind. The Pharisees didn't believe it. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand, but the Pharisees didn't accept that it was from God, because he did it on the Sabbath. Jesus drove demons out of people, the Pharisees said, “He's using the power of demons to drive out the demons.” Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees wanted to kill him again!

Of course, Jesus here is pointing to himself. He is going to rise from the dead himself, and proclaim the realities about heaven and hell. But in his parable he is making clear that even that won't convince people, not on its own. Jesus rose from the dead, there were hundreds of witnesses, and people were ready to die for speaking about the truth of his resurrection. But just the resurrection of Jesus on its own is not enough to convince people to change their hearts and their minds when it comes to God. No miracle can.

You know, before really getting into this parable, I thought that if I could just convince people of the resurrection, of its historical facts, then they would believe. But Jesus assures us that it takes more than proving a miracle to change people's hearts. Joe Boot, an evangelist and apologist, said that he once gave a stirring presentation of the facts of the resurrection and its historical proofs, and he had a non-Christian woman approach him afterwards and say, “You know, that was a good talk. Very tight. In fact, I don't think I can argue against it. But I have a question.” He thought the question was going to be, “How do I become a Christian?” But it wasn't. Her question was, “So what? So Jesus came back from the dead. What if my uncle Bob came back from the dead? It doesn't mean anything.” Joe Boot had taken for granted all that the Bible tells us about the importance of God's plan, and how the resurrection fits into that plan. Just the miracle of the resurrection on its own, without knowing, understanding, and accepting God's character, his plan, and his call on our lives, doesn't add up to anything. It's just a single occurrence in a random world.

What does that mean for us? It means we have to realise that if we want to see people becoming Christians, we need to be exposing them to the whole truth of God as revealed to us in the Bible. We can't neglect the teaching of biblical truth to our children, to each other, and to the rest of the world. We can't neglect living our lives in accordance with what the Bible says, and being able to back up our beliefs and our actions using biblical truth. Only when we are taking the Bible seriously ourselves, and know God's message in it well enough that it is really impacting our lives, can we expect our lives and our words to impact others.