"Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher (Qohelet), all is vanity."

Job. Lamentations. And, Ecclesiastes. Such depressing books of the Bible! (But life is like that, isn't it?) The Teacher says it's all like chasing after wind ("vanity of vanities" refers to vapor or a breath, a phrase he applies 38 times to different experiences of life). You can spend lots of effort -- physical, mental, and emotional -- but in the end, you come up empty-handed he says. So why bother?

The title "Ecclesiastes" comes from the Greek transation of the Hebrew Qohelet, which in turn is derived from the word qahal which means to assemble, or to gather. So the Qohelet is the leader of the assembly. That's why he's sometimes called the Preacher. The idea of this author being a Teacher comes from verse 12:9, "Qohelet also taught the people..." There's little doubt that Solomon did NOT write this book, which probably appeared around 300 B.C.

Qohelet's observations are all "under the sun," i.e., he thinks only in the framework of this earthly existence. When bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people, where is God? He lived in a time when a full orbed belief in the afterlife, or heaven, or eternal life, did not yet exist in Hebrew thought. Without such a belief in the final justice of God, you can see how he gets so cynical. He questions the assumptions of Proverbs that the righteous are rewarded by health, wealth, and happiness in this life and sinners are punished by illness, poverty, and early death. To raise a modern question, what about 9/11? The righteous died, the sinners still live. Where is God's justice? The grave is the destiny of all. No matter how hard you work and how much you accumulate, it all passes into your children's hands, who may themselves be fools! No matter what you do, they'll forget your name in no time after you're gone. So why bother?

There's much truth in what he says. Though this is certainly not a PROOF of an afterlife, it shows the importance of belief in the final justice of God.

I like Agur! He's found in today's readings in Proverbs, in chapter 30. My Bible footnotes call him "graduate school." He's for those who think they have succeeded in applying all the wisdom found in chaps 10-29. Agur says, after all these chapters of wisdom on poverty/riches, righteousness/wickedness, wisdom/foolishness, etc. -- "I have NOT learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One."

I really think it's true that the wiser we become (with age?) the more we realize how foolish we are. The wiser we become, the more easily we detect how fickle and self-centered we can be. The wiser we become, the more "righteous" we become (thought of as spiritually mature), the more we realize how far from Godliness we are.

Despite his recognition that he hasn't really become very wise, Agur says in verses 8-9: "Remove me far from falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God."

Here is REAL wisdom. After chapters of wisdom comparing the rich and the poor, in which it is generally agreed that to be poor is bad, Agur realizes that it is not good to be EITHER rich or poor. Both have their traps. Both can lead us away from God. What I really appreciate is Agur's realization of the danger of riches. When we are full, when our appetites are satisfied, when we are getting our own way, then we forget God. We think WE did it.

I remember how much prayer and appealing to God was on the news in the days right after 9/11. Even news media were referring to it. (I remember one particularly odd outburst on the day of 9/11 by CNN's Judy Woodward about turning to God, however one understands Him. It sounded like SHE was groping for God, but she didn't know how. I may have been wrong, but it struck me that way.) There were national day of prayer services -- and people CAME! Church attendance soared. We had a need for God. But then came the invasion of Afghanistan. And military victory soon after. We were satisfying ourselves. Church attendance dropped. No more talk of prayer. "We've got it now, God. Sorry to have disturbed you!"

At least it's good to know that this kind of foolishness has been around a very long time!

OK, this isn't from Disciple IV. It being Sunday, a Sunday I preached, it's been one of "those" days, leaving little time to do my Disciple study.

But rather than write nothing today, I thought I would post a devotion from Lamentations 3 that I prepared for our equipping staff retreat this week (I won't be posting Mon or Tues!). Here goes...

The theme of our retreat this year has been Lamentations 3:21-22, which you heard read earlier. I find Lamentations to be one of the most amazing books in the Bible.

First, if you need some decorations for a pity party, look no further. This is the most depressing book. Just listen to some of its verses:

How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. (Lament. 1:1, NRSV)

God has right on his side. I'm the one who did wrong. [Can you hear the SHAME?] Listen everybody! Look at what I'm going through! (Lament. 1:18, The Message)

I called to my friends; they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders only looked after themselves, trying but failing to save their own skins. (Lament. 1:19-21, The Message)

Oh God, look at the trouble I'm in! My stomach in knots, my heart wrecked by a life of rebellion. Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses. (Lament. 1:19-21, The Message)

No one listens, no one cares. When my enemies heard of the trouble you gave me, they cheered. Bring on judgment day! Let them get what I got! (Lament. 1:19-21, The Message)

I mean, this stuff is utterly DEPRESSING!

But isn’t it safe to say it describes just the way we feel when...
- not one, not two, but three of our staff members get cancer within a year and two of them die of the disease?
- when a church member gets cancer and we pray for them, and we anoint them, and we celebrate with them when the doctor announces them post-surgically "cancer-free!" and then, a year later, they die from the recurrence of the disease?
- we bust our butts mobilizing to help Hurricane Katrina victims at the Reliant Complex; collect and distributing toys, diapers, food, bottles, clothes, we collect almost $500,000 in cash; we train and organize 700 volunteers to serve food; and then, 2 weeks later, TWO WEEKS LATER!we’re all running from another category 5 storm aimed right at us?
- an addict has been loved and nurtured at Mercy Street, he’s gotten sober and into a life group, he’s even living with a church member. Then, after we’ve poured so much love and trust into him, he steals from the people he’s living with gets high again?
- one partner of a married couple we’ve loved and shared life with suddenly and unexpectedly announces he or she is getting a divorce because there’s been an affair?

I could go on and on. All of these examples are real incidents that happened to us as a church staff recently. Like the writer of Lamentations, we can pour on the "poor, poor, pitiful me" stuff. Life gives us plenty to complain about, plenty to be downright depressed about. And I haven’t even mentioned the constant threats to our well being in the culture around us, stuff like...
- terrorism
- bird flu
- economic inflation and recession
- high oil prices
- apparent government incompetence or uncaring in the wake of disasters
- global warming and the thinning ozone layer
- living on the HIGH side of the hurricane cycle

If I go on – and I could – we would ALL need Liza to give us counseling! All of these are real threats currently around us. I’m not making any of this up.

But then, then, in the very midst of this "pity party" stuff, in the very middle of this depressing list of real life happenings, comes these absolutely AMAZING verses. This INCREDIBLE declaration of faith comes literally sweeping in out of nowhere. Smack dab from the center of all the complaining, and weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, comes this incredible statement:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will HOPE in him." (Lament. 3:22-24, NRSV)

"I will HOPE in Him." You know, they say that hope is stronger than memory. Where does this hope come from? Where in the depths of this pity-party-writing Lamenter does this hope bubble up from? And what I REALLY want to know is – where can I get some?

I don’t want to give you the "Jesus" answer here – you know, the "preacher I know the answer is SUPPOSED to be Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel!" answer. I don’t want to over-simplify here. But we know that this Lamenter, when times got really, really tough, reached down deep, deep into the fortress of his or her faith. It comes from the bedrock belief that no matter how bad things get – and they DO get bad – that God is love. And though we may wail and moan and complain, we will not let go. Because we know that God will not let go. So we will hope in God.

I liked this theme for our retreat when it was first proposed because I find that this weaving in and out of the threads of despair and hope creates a tapestry that looks a lot like work on a church staff. There are incredible highs. And there are unbelievable lows. Often coming one right after the other. There are times when we want to get up on the roof of the church and shout for joy! And there are times when we want to bury our head and hide for days. There are times when we say, "This is the greatest job in the whole wide world! I should be paying the church for allowing me to do this!" And there are times we feel, "They can’t pay me ENOUGH to keep on doing this." This is church work.

Deep down in the bedrock of our souls, down in those unplumbed places where the Lamenter retreated in a time of dark despair, there, there we find faith. Faith like the Apostle Paul had in mind when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:58...

With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. (1 Cor. 15:58, The Message)

Yes, hope is indeed stronger than memory.