Ecclesiastes 3:1–4:3

Bringing the sermon home:

There is but one constant in life, and that constant is change. Nothing is permanent. “For everything there is a season.” But the ever-changing seasons of any given life don’t continue forever, as they all, eventually, come to an end, and there is no lasting gain to show for our toil.

Is there any comfort to be found in this broken world? Yes. It’s found in knowing that your life and your labors are gifts given to you by God, and, thus, that they matter, for God does nothing in vain. And further, “God has made everything beautifully fitting in its time.”

When we hear this, we immediately begin to ask: “What about this or that tragedy or atrocity?” Ecclesiastes responds to this objection in two main ways. First, verse 11 says that God has deliberately placed within us an innate sense that there is far more to this world than we can see, and yet has not given us the ability to see or make sense of it all. Why? It’s to humble us, teaching us that God is God, and we are not.

The wisdom being taught in this book is not about having the answers, but about trusting that God does, and, secondly, trusting that God will set things right in the end, for judgment is coming. As we look to the cross and behold the greatest atrocity made beautiful, may we find comfort as we trust Him.

When [Christ] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1 Pet 2:23)