Vanity, Vanity

Proper 13, Year C

“I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.”  From Ecclesiastes.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

If you read the whole book of Ecclesiastes, you get a pretty confusing picture of what the Teacher is really getting at.  We hear repeatedly that all is vanity and that the things of this life are essentially worthless.  He commends us to enjoy the things in life when we can, but that none of it really matters.  When really digging in, Ecclesiastes comes off as very pessimistic.  Money is vanity, toil is misery and despair, life is fleeting and uncertain, wisdom is good, but too much of it just opens your eyes to how miserable things really are and how little you really know.  The best we can do is to fear God, seek wisdom, and enjoy the gifts of God when they come to us and in the end, God will judge all.

Then we get to the psalm and the outlook doesn’t get much better.  “For we see that the wise die also; like the dull and stupid they perish and leave their wealth to those who come after them.  Their graves shall be their homes forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation, though they call the lands after their own names.”  There is nothing we can do to save ourselves, we’re all going to die, and everything we’ve worked for will not benefit us in the least.

But finally we get to the Gospel reading, “you fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.  And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”     OK, so let me get this straight, life isn’t all about stuff.  It isn’t about wealth, or prestige, or legacy, because eventually time erases us all; all of our possessions, all of our achievements, everything.  The teacher was right, “vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”  But there is one constant, one thing that will last forever, and that is God.  So, if one thing is important, it’s living our lives not storing up treasures for ourselves, but living richly towards God.

But how hard is that.  Conventional wisdom tells us to build the bigger barns and save up for a rainy day.  We encourage our children to make choices that will lead to financial success so they can lead a “better” life than we did.  We see it as a good thing when we can leave behind an inheritance for our children.  But at what cost?  What are we sacrificing in the process?  Are we storing up our harvest to the neglect of those around us?  Are we too concerned that there will be enough for us that we fail to act charitably with what we have.  Or what if in our quest to build a financially secure foundation for our family, we forget to provide the spiritual foundation that is built on Jesus Christ.  Too many people are trading in the wisdom of God for the wisdom of the world.  Parents are abandoning their places as spiritual heads of their families in order to get that promotion or pay raise.  Children are being pushed to succeed in academics, in sports, in fine arts, while church participation and community service is only seen as beneficial because they look good on a college resume or fulfill their honor society requirements.

Here’s the thing, the teacher from Ecclesiastes isn’t presenting a pessimistic view of the world, well he is, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an accurate picture.  But, he isn’t presenting this view for the sake of being pessimistic, but to expose a problem, to show us our need.  Yes, the things in this world are fleeting, and yes we will all die and everything we’ve worked and strived for are left in the hands of others, and often times things seem broken and unfair and God is the only one who can fix it.  But even with all our wisdom, we really can’t see how he is going to do that, much less come anywhere close to accomplishing it ourselves.

This is where we see the major difference between Ecclesiastes and the Gospel.  Jesus reveals the exact same problem as the teacher, but he stands before them AS the solution.  He presents the same worldview, gives basically the same advice, but he stands before them as a revelation of the wisdom of God.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  Jesus IS the wisdom of God, standing in opposition to the wisdom of the Greeks and still today standing as a stumbling block to the wisdom of the world.

Compared to our eternal salvation, everything else really is vanity.  Our existence on earth is but a mere blink of an eye compared with our lives that will go on forever.  The joy we find in earthly pleasures is just a shadow of the joy we will experience in heaven.  We all have our storehouses where we horde away the vain things of the world that charm us most, but they are just that, vain.  Our toil is a necessity, working to provide for ourselves and our loved ones is something we all have to do as a condition of our fallen world.  But it is more than that; in fact, work is something that affords us dignity, it gives us the ability to be charitable; we are able to use our creative powers for good, productive contributions for mankind.  The problem is when we regard work as a means to an end, with that end being the acquisition of wealth.  Wealth is not an end but must be used as all things, to make us holy.  Our goal in life is sanctification, our first priority must be righteousness.  We are surrounded by vanity, all things are passing away.  But the kingdom of God is forever and we should be working to store up our treasures there.

In the name…