Pray

Read: Ecc 5:8.

Meditation

I rarely buy the newspaper, but just this last Wednesday (at the time of writing) I picked up two different papers, and let me share just a little of what I read. I warn you that these stories are troubling, but there is a point in sharing them.

A four year old Melbourne girl was admitted to hospital this week. Weighing only 9.3kg, she had suffered severe neglect at the hands of her auntie, who was her guardian. She was severely malnourished and could not have survived much longer. When the case came to light, it was discovered that she had hardly attended pre-school, and the government worker charged with overseeing the girl also admitted that they had sometimes filed welfare reports without even seeing her.

Here is another story. As William Dearing, a citizen of Melbourne, was singing the victory song of the Melbourne Football Club after his favourite team’s win at the MCG, a disgruntled supporter of the other team walked past and deliberately knocked the beer out of his hand. Mr Dearing, infuriated, knocked the man down and repeatedly beat him while he was on the ground. Mr Dearing got off from the courts with next to no penalty.

One more story. Two drunk teenagers severely beat and injured an off duty and elderly police officer. There were worse stories than these as well, but I will not go into them now.

My point is that even from a randomly selected newspaper on any given day there are numerous stories of darkness, and hearing so many of these stories may easily tempt us to despair. As Christians it is worse still, because these stories are only the ones the media is willing to report. It really is just the tip of the iceberg.

For example, they will not print the story of Australia’s mass murder of unborn infants. That is a story unfolding every day in our country. Nor will they respond with outrage as the government protects the rights of those who murder these infants. There are laws against even praying within the vicinity of an abortion clinic. Another story the media will not tell you is the story of our country’s infatuation with sexual perversity. In fact the media often serves that agenda by trying to tell us that sexual immorality is normal and healthy, something to be celebrated.

You may be aware that in Victoria, even as we speak, the government is discussing the possibility of criminalising normal Christian practices such as praying and discipling. Why? Because it rejects the idea that homosexuality is sinful. Now I am not denying that the church at large has mishandled and unfairly treated homosexuals and the issue of same sex attraction at different times, but what is being discussed attacks basic Christian practices.

As Christians, we’ve see things like this getting worse and worse in recent history, and we are tempted to stand open mouthed in shock at the world around us. I was in a pastoral situation a few years ago in another church context, and as I was talking with a Christian man in his forties, he shared that as he looked out on the society around him he increasingly felt driven to depression. As he looked at everything that was wrong with the world he felt so overwhelmed that he simply did not know how to handle it. Life seemed full of darkness to him.

As you talk to Christians it is not unusual to hear this kind of sentiment. It is not usually as severe as that example, but still many Christians find this matter difficult, challenging, perplexing, and depressing. There are so many things wrong in the world around us that we hardly know how to take it in, and just when you think it is as bad as it can get, something worse inevitably happens. Again and again.

As the Book of Ecclesiastes continues, Solomon has a word for us on this issue. In verse eight he says: “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter.” While we stand gaping and shocked at the world around us, Solomon also looked on at similar sights all those years ago. He saw all the horror, but his response was quite different. He quietly turns to us and says that we should not be surprised.

Why would he say that? That is the question we will be dealing with in the next few meditations. Moving on from the topic of fearing God in worship, Solomon is teaching us how to respond with godly fear to societal sins, oppression, injustice, and unrighteousness.

Let’s remind ourselves of the labyrinth metaphor once again, it’s very helpful. One of the images I have used in this book to help us understand Ecclesiastes is the image of a labyrinth. Just as a labyrinth is vast, complex, mysterious, troubling, and easy to get lost in, so in Ecclesiastes we find a book that is mysterious, troubling, perplexing, and difficult. Yet in every labyrinth there is a centre, a goal that we are seeking to reach. So it is with Solomon.

As we read in Ecclesiastes 12:13, he wants to show us how to fear God in a fallen world. Throughout the book Solomon is leading us toward that destination. Sometimes he shows us dead ends in the labyrinth, pathways in life that we ought not to follow because they take us far from the fear of God. These are pathways that lead nowhere and achieve nothing, pathways of vanity. But he also leads us along pathways of life, pathways that show us how to live in the fear of God. Each passage can be seen either as a dead end where Solomon shows us what not to do, or as a good pathway where he shows us the right direction.

This of this passage as something like a T intersection in the labyrinth. We find ourselves walking toward a great wall, a wall that is high and wide and long, and a wall that seems impossible to get around. This is the wall of all the world’s injustices, oppression, and unrighteousness. As we approach this wall we have two choices. We can turn to the right hand or to the left. Solomon’s aim is to show us the right way. He points out the dangers and then directs us in how we ought to go.

He begins with the dangers, and in this meditation we’re focusing on the first danger – the danger of the shock response. We’ve been talking about it already. As we see the society around us we may be tempted to feel a certain way. We may feel shocked. Like the Christian I mentioned earlier, we may look at this world and feel depressed or angry. In our anger we might ridicule the government or the people in our society, and we do sometimes see Christians willing to do that. Bitterness is a real risk. So is self righteous superiority, feelings of helplessness, and the slow evaporation of our joy. These are very real responses.

So here we are at the feet of this great wall. There is no way around it, no way over it, and no way through it. We simply fall down and sit there, overwhelmed at the injustices of society. In Solomon’s language we are amazed or shocked at what we see. “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter.” But we are amazed. Aren’t we? Shocked into stunned silence at the new low we’re watching unfold.

But Solomon says: “No”. Don’t be amazed at this sight. Do not be shocked when you see corruption, oppression, and injustice in the world around you. That is his instruction. Do not be overly downcast by the oppression of the poor. Do not fall into despair at injustices. Do not be shocked by moral corruption in the world around you. Do not be self righteously indignant. Do not grow bitter. Do not feel hopeless. Do not let your joy be choked out by these concerns.

But there is an obvious question here. Why does Solomon tell us not to be shocked and amazed? After all, we do see some quite shocking things. Why would he tell us not to be shocked that tens of thousands of Australian infants are being slaughtered every year?

Solomon does not leave us floundering on this question. He does not simply tell us to toughen up. Instead he directs us to look to God. He says, “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter.” Then he gives the reason. “For the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.”

What does he mean by this?

When we feel shocked by the state of our society, what exactly are we feeling? We feel many things. We may feel anger, outrage, disgust, or loathing. Perhaps even hatred. We may feel nostalgia for what life was like seventy or eighty years ago, or at least for what we imagine it might have been like. We may feel a desperate desire for change while knowing we are powerless to bring it about.

Part of what we feel is a loss of control. Somehow we think things should not be this bad. It becomes hard to believe that this is actually happening. It can begin to feel as though there is a giant black hole in our society and everything is being slowly drawn into it.

But Solomon says: “Do not be amazed at this. This is a fallen world. We should not be surprised to find that sin truly is a hideous thing. It should not shock us to see that the corruption of mankind is vile and repulsive. Evil is not polite or well mannered. It is not a mischievous pet dog that occasionally makes a mess. Sin is a horror, a beast that destroys everything it can sink its teeth into.”

Solomon has faced that fact. Sin is deep, black, vile, and destructive. It is a horror revealed in the mass slaughter of innocents. It is a corruption that shows its true colours when people celebrate and pursue depravity. This is sin.

Yet even this is not Solomon’s main point. Simply recognising the horror of sin is not enough to give us the strength we need to face it. We must return to Sol...