By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorFrom the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer laments "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity... I saw all the deeds under the sun and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind." And I thought I had a mid life crisis!
I hasten to remind the listener that this is the first chapter in a 12 chapter book and things do not always appear as dire as the opening verses. It does, however, set up a conversation about the goals and rewards of life.
Tradition has attributed this book to King Solomon, especially because of the opening verse in which he refers to himself as having been King over Israel in Jerusalem. A careful reading of the same verse implies that the writer was once a king but at the time of the writing of this book was no longer King. Solomon died while still being King. It was also customary for writers to enhance the stature of their own work by attributing it to a mentor or hero. That doesn't seem quite right to us these days with patents and royalties, etc. but there were no such restraints in ancient time and it is often suspected that our scriptures in the Old and New Testament are not the actual work of the people whose names they are attributed to.
These are small points in the case of wisdom. In the end it doesn't matter who wrote it, if it resonates with reality as we understand it.
The Teacher, an anonymous yet authoritative title, could be any person, man or woman, looking over their life and assessing it critically. Part of the wisdom that comes with age uses a significant amount of personal life data. Data that includes stories of love, ambition, tragedy, hope, anger, joy, success, failure -- you name it, you live long enough you feel it all and have abundant stories to illustrate each. One thing all of us can hope for, however, is the ability to make sense of what we have experienced and allow it to guide our remaining time and leave a legacy of learning to those following who, on the off chance, may let advice steer them.
Whoever the writer is, he or she looks over a lifetime of work and seems to resent the fact that all their hard work will be inherited by someone else. For example, you spend your whole life building your dream home and as soon as it's finished you die and someone else lives in it. This, he says, is vanity and evil. Further, he has no assurance that they will care for it in the way he would. Even more vanity and evil.
This example is typical of the resentments the writer has, making the observation that all they have built in terms of material or fame is of their own doing and will be received by another.
This observation, by the way is another reason why it's doubtful that the writer is Solomon. Because if it was Solomon, he would need to be reminded quickly and forcefully that he did not get to be King himself. His father David, the young shepherd boy worked very hard and long to get to the throne and establish this kingdom. Solomon had that handed to him. It is often the case that those who resent the next generation forget that we stand on the work of the previous generation.
We refer to "self-made" people as role models and rags to riches heroes. In some way this might give hope to those who have little in this world that they can rise above all obstacles to achieve their wildest dreams of accumulating financial gain or power. The truth is, there is no one who is totally self made. All of us come from somewhere and stand on the accomplishments of those who have gone before. What we add to our own lives and society as a whole is something that will indeed be left to others. If we have done our work well, it will be something they'll want and be able to use effectively. The question is for each generation to ask themselves, is what will they use it for?
The Gospel lesson echoes the book of Ecclesiastes with a story about a man who is successful in farming and makes big plans to tear down one barn and build another that is bigger. He wants to store his goods and live off them for the rest of his life. What he doesn't know is that the rest of his life isn't going to be that long.
These stories are cautionary tales. They are designed to shake us up a little and make us look at our priorities. Our lives are about so much more than what we can accumulate. Our lives are not lived in a vacuum, but are impacted by many and in turn impact many more. In further chapters the writer of Ecclesiastes concludes that life is best lived in relationship to God since the things we work so hard for are mere shadows that pass away.
In my work I am privileged to be with people at the major milestones of their lives, births and baptisms, major birthdays and graduations, marriages, more births, illnesses and at the times of death. The milestones of our lives are sacred moments in time and often places to rest and review one's life. I've been to many death beds and not once in all those sacred times have I heard of anyone wish they had made one more conference call, or had attended one more meeting or closed one more deal. The passage of death brings us face to face with the relationships of our lives. Those whom we love and those who love us. If there are any regrets they have to do with breeches in those relationships, misunderstandings, or pain caused or sustained in them. The joys people express at the end of their lives have to do with lives well loved -- wonderful partners or spouses, children, dear friends. I'll hear stories of dinner parties, birthdays, idiosyncrasies, and small joys that build up into wonderful relationships.
These scripture lessons remind us to place our priorities in our relationships with God and each other. The quality of these need to be maintained rather than the barns we build or the kingdoms we create. It is true that we do need barns and kingdoms of a sort, but we also need the balance that tends to what is most important.
Some years ago there was a movie called "Schindler's List" based on the real life story of Oskar Schindler who saved many Jews from the Holocaust. After he was successful saving many people by bribing guards to turn the other way as the Jews on his list escaped, he had a personal melt down crying and looking at his watch and everything of value that he had thinking that he could have saved one more person with his watch or one of his other possessions. Friends gathered round him to comfort him by the knowledge of how much he was able to do successfully, that he did so much more than other thought possible. Being of service in loving relationship to God's people is the meaning the Teacher of Ecclesiastes finds in life. It's the meaning Jesus instills in his disciples even through his own crucifixion and resurrection.
The latest issue of Episcopal Life (the newspaper publication of the national Episcopal church) has an extended discussion of the Millennium Development goals adopted by the UN in 2000 with 8 goals to address issues of health, poverty and justice. It raises hope of significant work done in places around the world and talks of the many challenges yet to come.
The meaning of our lives is not how much we can do for ourselves, but how much we can do as part of the larger family of God. We have been given much in our lives and are capable of giving much more as part of building God's kingdom on earth. We build on what has been given us so that others can build on what we have given them. This work is neither vanity, nor smoke passing away. Amen.
© 2007 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
Posts
