Pastor's Letter for November
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 10:40PM Dear Members and Friends,
The book of Ecclesiastes begins with: “Vanity of vanities, says the teacher, vanity of vanities. All life is vanity” a cynical statement, but one that can often feel true. The Teacher then backs up his statement saying: “I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me—and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun.” Our lives can feel that way as well.
We can work hard trying to create a business, or raise a family, or simply work to try and make it by, yet it so often seems to add up to so little and who knows what will happen? Businesses fall apart, families go through crises and sometimes don’t recover, we lose loved ones, we may fall ill, and in the end we leave all behind in death, no longer able to affect the world or the things we care about most. Sometimes it feels like vanity!
The great Old Testament prophet, Moses, led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and spent 40 years in the wilderness heading to the Promised Land. When they arrived at the border Moses saw the land from a distance, but he was not allowed to enter! Shortly after this Moses died. I can’t imagine anything more frustrating and yet life so often turns out this way.
What is the Bible trying to tell us through these passages? Is all of life simply vanity? Do our efforts add up to nothing? Well I believe they do, if we live only for ourselves, if we are not part of a larger plan. But Moses was part of something greater!
Moses answered God’s call at the burning bush and lived it out. It was not ever easy, and he had more than his share of frustrations. However, I am sure after 40 years of life and death struggles in the wilderness, he understood that he was part of something greater—he was part of God’s plan. Wherever his journey ended was the goal, because Moses had let God be in charge.
Turning our lives over to God is not easy. As human beings we want to be in charge. We want to determine our own destiny. In the Western world we highly treasure freedom, independence and the willingness to go it alone. But in the end that is not the Christian faith.
Our faith speaks of dependence on God and on each other. God created us for each other and to have a personal relationship with God. The book of Ecclesiastes says that God is so far away we cannot hope to understand God’s plans. I believe that is at the heart of the faith crises expressed in Ecclesiastes. God answers that fear, by sending Jesus Christ into our world. God loves us so much that God personally reaches out to every single human being.
In Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, and Luke 10:25-28 Jesus lays down the road map for our lives when he tells the reader the most important law of all: “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.”
And, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And for Jesus your neighbor is anyone who is in need.
After telling us what gives life meaning Jesus then lives it out. He fully empties himself into God’s will and his life ends on the cross, which was the most meaningless ending possible. The cross was the place for terrible criminals. It was the most excruciating death one could imagine. What good could come from death on a cross? However, because Christ fully trusted God, his death brought eternal life to all who believe. What would seem to be the most meaningless ending possible becomes the most earth-shattering event for all human history!
Following the two greatest commandments is not easy—just ask Moses. Life was frustrating. Moses often was afraid that God was not with him. Moses was often deeply frustrated and angry with his neighbors as he led them through the wilderness. More than once Moses lived through heart-rending events. The only way Moses and the people of Israel made it through the wilderness of life was that God was with them and in times of crises they turned back to God.
We may fear that that life is nothing more than a wilderness. Our hearts may dread what is coming. Our minds may come to believe that all of life is vanity. To answer those fears we need to live in the knowledge that God loves us deeply. We need to believe that God walks with us every step of the way. And we need to hold in our hearts that God has a greater plan than we can imagine and that we, through our faith, are part of that plan!
In Christ,
Pastor Eric