Sermon for August 1, 2010 - Revision history

Iraneal: 13 revisions

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Iraneal: Sermon for August 1, 1020 moved to Sermon for August 1, 2010: Typo error in page title

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Sermon for August 1, 1020 moved to Sermon for August 1, 2010: Typo error in page title

Iraneal at 18:40, 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T18:40:35Z

Iraneal at 18:39, 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T18:39:34Z

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Iraneal at 02:53, 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T02:53:16Z

Iraneal at 02:06, 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T02:06:19Z

Iraneal at 01:00, 31 July 2010

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Iraneal at 00:23, 31 July 2010

2010-07-31T00:23:18Z

Iraneal at 23:31, 30 July 2010

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Iraneal at 18:01, 30 July 2010

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 But, the bible has a few things to say about pride as well.  And while you'll never hear me say that education is a bad thing (I am after all, a teacher and a student), it is useful for us to remember that even education—like possessions, achievements, and relationships—is fleeting.  What is the end, the objective, of wisdom?  Perhaps the end of Wisdom....is the end of Wisdom, or at least realizing where wisdom ends.  Forrest Gump says, “I'm not a smart man, Jenny, but I know what love is.”  Wait...Love?
-st Corinthians 13:2: “If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
+st Corinthians 13:2: “If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
 While I think that Forrest may indeed be onto something here, Qohelet does not, finally, raise the banner of love in Ecclesiastes.  That comes much, much later, in the gospel message of Jesus, and his sacrifice of love for all humankind.  But Qohelet does finally come to a conclusion, and I think it is a profound one.  After gathering fortune, fame, friends, wealth, wisdom, the gatherer says: Don't gather.  Enjoy what you have in this moment, feast or fast, for it is from the hand of God.  Anything else is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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 "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher . . . all is vanity."  The word "vanity" is from the Hebrew word "Hebel," which some translations render as "meaningless" and still others as "futile." It can also be translated as "inconstant," "transitory," or "unpredictable."  Unpredictable. Or in the words of Forrest's mamma, "Life is a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.
-As the quote implies, Forrest's mamma believes we each do the best we can with what God gave us, but in the end it is up to us. We make our own destiny.  We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, our own achievements.  Like most of mamma's sayings, this sounds noble and true on the surface, but it is at odds with the experience of the characters in the film, whose ambitions and dreams too often end in brokenness and failure.  Only Forrest--who has no ambitions, but allows himself to be carried by the currents of the moment--accumulates achievement after achievement, meeting presidents, influencing rock stars, being awarded a congressional medal of honor, and eventually becoming a millionaire.  And, of course, in his simplicity, the significance of these achievements are wasted on him.
+Mama believes that we each do the best we can with God gives us, but in the end it is up to us. We make our own destiny. We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, our own achievements.  And so the characters in the film embark upon their own quests:
-Likewise, the Teacher says:
+Jenny dreams of finding fame and fortune as a folk singer.  Chasing this dream, and taking her destiny into her own hands leads her down a path of hedonism and excess, drugs, abuse, and contemplated suicide.
-I did great things:  built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.
+Bubba dreams of owning his own shrimp boat.  Bubba talks about his dream constantly as he and Forrest go through basic training together, and while Forrest concentrates on the task immediately at hand (assembling a rifle, polishing boots) Bubba is often distracted, lost in his vision of the future he will never realize.  Tragically, Bubba is killed in Vietnam.
-I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem.  I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms.  I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and -- most exquisite of all pleasures -- voluptuous maidens for my bed.
+If Bubba's thwarted destiny lies in the future, Lieutenant Dan's rests in the past, as he tries to live up to the legacy of ancestors who died gloriously in battle.  At the point when he is about to realize his ambition, Forrest rescues him against his will, and instead of dying a hero's death, he becomes a disabled and disillusioned veteran.  Meanwhile, Forrest is awarded the congressional medal of honor.
-−
-Oh, how I prospered!
-−
-Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work.  But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke.  Smoke and spitting into the wind.  There was nothing to any of it.  Nothing.
 I said to myself, "Let's go for it -- experiment with pleasure, have a good time!"
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 With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life.  I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth.
-Everything I wanted I took -- I never said no to myself.  I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing.  I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task -- my reward to myself for a hard day's work!
+I did great things:  built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.
-Mamma:  Hard Work.  Achievement.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps
+How many of us fall into the same trap, spending a lifetime gathering achievements and
-Jenny:  Fame & Fortune. Excessive living.
-Bubba:  Dream of future.  Future minded. Head in the clouds.
-Lieutenant Dan:  Dream of past.

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 "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher . . . all is vanity."  The word "vanity" is from the Hebrew word "Hebel," which some translations render as "meaningless" and still others as "futile." It can also be translated as "inconstant," "transitory," or "unpredictable."  Unpredictable. Or in the words of Forrest's mamma, "Life is a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.
-After laying out this thesis, the author of Ecclesiastes tells of his first attempt to answer the great philosophical questions of life:
+As the quote implies, Forrest's mamma believes we each do the best we can with what God gave us, but in the end it is up to us. We make our own destiny.  We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, our own achievements.  Like most of mamma's sayings, this sounds noble and true on the surface, but it is at odds with the experience of the characters in the film, whose ambitions and dreams too often end in brokenness and failure.  Only Forrest--who has no ambitions, but allows himself to be carried by the currents of the moment--accumulates achievement after achievement, meeting presidents, influencing rock stars, being awarded a congressional medal of honor, and eventually becoming a millionaire.  And, of course, in his simplicity, the significance of these achievements are wasted on him.
-I said to myself, "Let's go for it -- experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke.
+Likewise, the Teacher says:
-What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it? With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life.  I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth.
+I did great things:  built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.
-Oh, I did great things:  built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.  I bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me even more slaves; then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem.  I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms.  I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and -- most exquisite of all pleasures -- voluptuous maidens for my bed.
+I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem.  I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms.  I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and -- most exquisite of all pleasures -- voluptuous maidens for my bed.
-Oh, how I prospered!  I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust.  What's more, I kept a clear head through it all.  Everything I wanted I took -- I never said no to myself.  I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing.  I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task -- my reward to myself for a hard day's work!
+Oh, how I prospered!
 Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work.  But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke.  Smoke and spitting into the wind.  There was nothing to any of it.  Nothing.

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 If I were truly wise, and if we had a giant screen here in the sanctuary, and if the worship service lasted two-and-a-half hours, I would sit down, shut up, and let you watch the movie Forrest Gump as a guide through today's scripture text. But fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, I am far from wise, we have no screen, and I have been strictly instructed to unlock the secrets of wisdom and the universe in a neat and tidy 15 minutes.
-There are three ancient books that together form the "wisdom" tradition of the Old Testament:  Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.  All in some way attempt to answer, among other things, the philosophical question "What is the end of wisdom?" or to phrase it differently, "What is the objective, the purpose, of wisdom?"
+There are three ancient books that together form the "wisdom" tradition of the Old Testament:  Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.  All in some way attempt to answer, among other things, the philosophical question "What is the end of wisdom?" or to phrase it differently, "What is the objective, the purpose, the goal of wisdom?" Depending on how the question is answered, the related questions "What is the meaning of life?" and "How should we live?" flow naturally, and are also addressed.
 The most ancient of these is the book of Job -- for more on Job's answer to the meaning-of-life question, <begin shameless plug here> you can join me at 5pm next Sunday night, where I'll be leading a folk music rendition of the book of Job as part of the worship service for the Presbyterian Church in El Paso, which meets Sunday nights this month here at 1st Pres <end shameless plug>.
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 However you view Ecclesiastes, it is certainly complex, and difficult to penetrate.  Here's where it might help to have a tour guide.  How many of you have seen the movie Forrest Gump?  For those who haven't, I'll try to do it justice in summary, but I highly recommend seeing it for yourself.
-The film opens with a single feather, floating aimlessly on the wind, spiraling past trees, houses, cars, and people changing directions unpredictably several times before gently coming to rest at the foot of Forrest Gump, who reaches down and picks it up.  Forrest is, in his own words, a "simple man."  Actually, his IQ is about as low as it can be without quite being considered mentally retarded.  The film follows him through a series of unlikely and seemingly random events that span American history and culture from the 1950s to the late 80's. In addition to meeting rock stars, presidents, and cultural icons, Forrest Gump shares the screen with four principal characters:  His mother, "Momma,"  his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, his best friend Bubba, and his commanding officer and later business partner, Lieutenant Dan.
+The film opens with a single feather, floating aimlessly on the wind, spiraling past trees, houses, cars, and people, changing directions unpredictably several times before gently coming to rest precisely at the foot of Forrest Gump, who reaches down and picks it up.  Forrest is, in his own words, a "simple man."  Actually, his IQ is about as low as it can be without quite being considered mentally retarded.  The film follows him through a series of unlikely and seemingly random events that span American history and culture from the 1950s to the late 80's. In addition to meeting rock stars, presidents, and cultural icons, Forrest Gump shares the screen with four principal characters:  His mother, "Mamma,"  his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, his best friend Bubba, and his commanding officer and later business partner, Lieutenant Dan. Their stories parallel that of Forrest,  and each offers insight into the philosophical questions raised by the film, by the feather, and by our biblical text.
-Each of these characters, intentionally or unintentionally, illustrates a different aspect of the vain futility that the author of Ecclesiastes speaks of when he famously says, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  The word "vanity" is from the Hebrew word "Hebel," which some translations render as "meaningless" and still others as "futile." It can also be translated as "inconstant," "transitory," or "unpredictable."
+"Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher . . . all is vanity."  The word "vanity" is from the Hebrew word "Hebel," which some translations render as "meaningless" and still others as "futile." It can also be translated as "inconstant," "transitory," or "unpredictable."  Unpredictable. Or in the words of Forrest's mamma, "Life is a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.
-Unpredictable. Life is a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.
+After laying out this thesis, the author of Ecclesiastes tells of his first attempt to answer the great philosophical questions of life:

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 If I were truly wise, and if we had a giant screen here in the sanctuary, and if the worship service lasted two-and-a-half hours, I would sit down, shut up, and let you watch the movie Forrest Gump as a guide through today's scripture text. But fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, I am far from wise, we have no screen, and I have been strictly instructed to unlock the secrets of wisdom and the universe in a neat and tidy 15 minutes.
-There are three ancient books that together form the "wisdom" tradition of the Old Testament:  Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.  All in some way attempt to answer the most basic philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" and the related question, "How should we then live?" in light of that answer.
+There are three ancient books that together form the "wisdom" tradition of the Old Testament:  Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.  All in some way attempt to answer, among other things, the philosophical question "What is the end of wisdom?" or to phrase it differently, "What is the objective, the purpose, of wisdom?"
 The most ancient of these is the book of Job -- for more on Job's answer to the meaning-of-life question, <begin shameless plug here> you can join me at 5pm next Sunday night, where I'll be leading a folk music rendition of the book of Job as part of the worship service for the Presbyterian Church in El Paso, which meets Sunday nights this month here at 1st Pres <end shameless plug>.
-Proverbs is perhaps the most well known of the Wisdom books -- it's answer to the "life questions" is also the most simple: To "find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
+Proverbs is perhaps the most well known of the Wisdom books -- it's answer to the "life questions" is also the most simple: To "find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:4-7).
-Of these three ancient wisdom texts, Ecclesiastes is the latest, and the most subtle.  It has been regarded as cynical, dark, pessimistic, and also, in a paper I recently read by a young seminary student (at the time) by the name of Robert P. Reno, as tongue-in-cheek satire, wherein the book's author creates an over-the-top persona of all the things he argues against to drive home his witty, irreverent point.
+Of these three ancient wisdom texts, Ecclesiastes is the latest, and the most subtle.  It has been regarded as cynical, dark, pessimistic, and also, in a paper I recently read by a young seminary student (at the time) by the name of Robert P. Reno, as tongue-in-cheek satire, wherein the book's author creates an over-the-top persona of all the things he argues against to drive home his witty, irreverent point. Personally, I find Ecclesiastes, along with the book of Job, to be one of the most profound and interesting books of the Bible.
 However you view Ecclesiastes, it is certainly complex, and difficult to penetrate.  Here's where it might help to have a tour guide.  How many of you have seen the movie Forrest Gump?  For those who haven't, I'll try to do it justice in summary, but I highly recommend seeing it for yourself.
-Forrest Gump is, in his own words, a "simple man."  Actually, his IQ is about as low as it can be without quite being considered mentally retarded.  Despite his limitations, Forrest racks up some amazing accomplishments over the course of the film, including meeting three presidents, winning the congressional medal of honor, becoming an international ping-pong champion, shrimp boat captain, cross-country runner, media celebrity, and multi-millionaire. However, life is not all roses for Gump, who along the way loses his beloved mother to cancer, his best friend to the war in Vietnam, and the love of his life to an unnamed and incurable virus.
+The film opens with a single feather, floating aimlessly on the wind, spiraling past trees, houses, cars, and people changing directions unpredictably several times before gently coming to rest at the foot of Forrest Gump, who reaches down and picks it up.  Forrest is, in his own words, a "simple man."  Actually, his IQ is about as low as it can be without quite being considered mentally retarded.  The film follows him through a series of unlikely and seemingly random events that span American history and culture from the 1950s to the late 80's. In addition to meeting rock stars, presidents, and cultural icons, Forrest Gump shares the screen with four principal characters:  His mother, "Momma,"  his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, his best friend Bubba, and his commanding officer and later business partner, Lieutenant Dan.

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