Reflections with Andy - Ecclesiastes 5 - Cynicism and Hope
The teacher reminds us that life can be hard. But he also gives us a tool against cynicism. Be faithful with your task today. And hope!
In this Monday reflection on Ecclesiastes 5, the chapter’s three movements — reverence, humility, and contentment — are unpacked with practical pastoral honesty. The call to guard your words before God and take your vows seriously is a word about integrity: promises to God and to each other matter, and we shouldn’t make them lightly. The observation that oppression and injustice are everywhere is not meant to depress but to inoculate — don’t be surprised when the world is broken, because we were never promised otherwise, and being realistic about that keeps us from being crushed by it. And the Teacher’s recurring refrain — eat, drink, find enjoyment in your toil, for this is the gift of God — is finally named as a call to contentment and faithful presence in the present moment. We cannot control the future, and the anxiety about it can be paralyzing. But we can be faithful today, with the task in front of us, loving God and loving neighbor — and the reflection closes with a conviction: if we’re all doing that, somehow, through God’s grace, good is going to come of it. Hope is not fragile. It drags itself off the floor and goes another round.
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Good morning! Hope you had a great weekend. It’s a busy week — I’ve got the calendar on the wall in front of me, and we’ve got roughly three weeks left in the office here, with the last one mostly consumed by annual conference. So we’ve got work to do in Ecclesiastes. I think we’ll finish it, but we’re going to move. Today we’re reading all of chapter 5 — and I’ll say this: chapter 5 feels more like Proverbs to me than anything we’ve read so far. Practical, pointed wisdom. My Bible headings it under reverence, humility, and contentment, which is a pretty good summary. Verses 1 through 20:
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you are upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field.
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands. This also is a grievous evil: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind?
This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil — this is the gift of God. For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.”
A few things worth sitting with here.
First — guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen. Be careful what you promise. Don’t rush into vows. It is better not to vow than to vow and not fulfill it. This matters. I think of our membership vows — to the church, to the annual conference, the vows we make at the altar. We should take these seriously. I don’t expect perfection in keeping them; I know I’m going to fall short. But I want to take them seriously, because promises to God and to each other are not casual things. Let your words be few. Wisdom.
Second — don’t be surprised when you see injustice and wickedness in the world. The Teacher says it plainly: don’t be amazed. We live in a world where people don’t act the way they should. We were never promised otherwise. That doesn’t mean we accept it or stop working to make it better — it means we’re not crushed by it, because we weren’t naive enough to expect perfection.
Third, and this is where the Teacher keeps returning throughout this book: eat, drink, find enjoyment in your toil. This is the gift of God. Contentment. Not wealth, not achievement, not legacy — just the gift of being alive and finding meaning in the work right in front of you today.
And here’s what I want to say about that, because I think it’s so needed right now. There is so much anxiety about the future. Get on social media or YouTube and you’ll find no shortage of people absolutely consumed by dread about what’s coming — and some of what they’re worried about may even be legitimate. I’m not offering some Pollyanna perspective where the future is perfect, because it isn’t. The present isn’t perfect either. But we cannot control the future. All we can do is be faithful with what God has put in front of us today.
And here’s what I genuinely believe: if you’re faithful with your task today, and I’m faithful with mine, and we’re all loving God and loving neighbor — somehow, through God’s grace, good is going to come of it. I have to believe that. All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. I can’t change the whole world today. But I can be faithful today. And you can be faithful today. And that is literally all that is asked of us.
There’s a quote I’m probably going to mangle, but it goes something like this: we tend to think of hope as something fragile and whisper-thin, but hope drags itself off the floor, spits out a tooth, gets its fists up, and goes another round. Hope is not easily defeated. Don’t give up on it.
Be faithful today. Love God, love your neighbor, work for good. God will take care of the rest. Have a great day — see you tomorrow!