MEANINGLESS

I love old cemeteries. I'm not sure why, but ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by them. I know it's odd, but I find it sobering and thought provoking to walk slowly through an old cemetery, reading the inscriptions on the gravestones. The oldest cemetery I have encountered is in Georgetown, South Carolina where some of the graves date back to the 1700's.



Although it's been many years since the last time I was there, I remember that most of the gravestones there bore a basic epitaph: a name, year of birth, and year of death. That's it. Nothing more. Many of them were barely legible, showing the effects of time and weather. It was not at all unusual to encounter graves of people who only lived forty or fifty years, as life expectancies were so much shorter then. Occasionally I came across the graves of husband and wife next to each other. That made me pause and think about my own marriage, and the blessing of a good wife. Some of the gravestones were very tiny. These were the children, who never made it past infancy. This made me sad, and thankful for the joys of raising our own children.


Among the basic gravestones, there were those which are a bit "fancier". Some had short poems, or a reference to a person's military service or contribution to society. Some had a brief sentiment etched in the stone. One thing I never encountered in that old cemetery in Georgetown is anything with an ounce of humor. Like the following actual epitaphs:


"Here lies old Fred. A Great Big Rock Fell on His Head.: R.I.P."


"WILLIAM H HAHN Jr. 1905 - 1980 I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK"


"Here lies my wife: Here let her lie! Now she's at rest. And so am I."


"Here Lies Mary Smith Silent At Last"


I have never encountered a humorous gravestone, and I doubt that I will ever encounter one that has this as the epitaph either: "MEANINGLESS!" Can you imagine walking through a cemetery and finding a gravestone that reads "John Smith 1940 - 2012 HIS LIFE WAS MEANINGLESS!"? "Poor John Smith", you say. "He must have lived a pathetic life." Imagine that you walk a bit further, where you find a gravestone with YOUR NAME, your year of birth, a blank for your year of death, and the inscription " HIS LIFE WAS MEANINGLESS!"


Your Name 1950 - _____. HIS LIFE WAS MEANINGLESS!


Your mind begins to race, and your thoughts run from "How did this get here?" and "Who would/could have done this?" to a quick summation of all that you have done in your life that is good and meaningful. You find yourself talking out loud, as though debating with that piece of stone that dares to call your life meaningless. "What about...?", you say. "What about my success in business, the children I raised, all the money I have given to churches and charities, my volunteer work? What about...? What about? What about...? " The gravestone stands silent and unchanged. Beginning to feel a bit silly, standing alone in a cemetery, talking to a gravestone, you walk around to the back of the stone. There you find one word: "ECCLESIASTES" Imagine that!


The book of Ecclesiastes begins with these words:


The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”


Other versions read:


The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities ! All is vanity."


The word translated "vanity" means "breath, or vapor". Walk outside on a cold winter day and exhale. You can see the vapor of your breath in the air. In a very brief moment it is gone - and the world around you is unchanged. It's as though it had never been there. Meaningless.


When I was a young believer, I found Ecclesiastes discouraging and depressing. A few decades later, I see more of the true perspective shared in Solomon's divinely inspired words. The basic message of Ecclesiastes is that all of life is meaningless - useless, follow, futile - if it is not rightly related to God.


Over the past few weeks I read Ecclesiastes again. Here are just a few truth claims that really stood out to me:


• Anything done without God is ultimately meaningless.

• Life not centered on God has no purpose.

• Apart from God, man's wisdom is faulty, and leads to grief and despair. (Ecc.1:18)

• All the accomplishments - the "successes" - of a person's life are by themselves meaningless. Only that which is done with God at the center has any worth or meaning. (Ecc.2:11)

• Work is meaningless unless submitted to God and done for him. (Ecc.2:17)

• God is in heaven - the sovereign ruler. I am on earth - his subject. I must stand in awe of him, and listen. (Ecc.5:2)


There is much wisdom available to us in Ecclesiastes, and I encourage you to read it for yourself. Perhaps you, like me, will find it to be a much needed reminder of how we are to live.


May it be so...


John


Soli Deo Gloria

GOD AT WORK

     In general, I don't like meetings. Typically, meetings take much longer than needed. Often the subject matter could have been addressed in an email, and there are the inevitable questions at the end of the meeting - the answer to which was given earlier in the meeting! The meetings I dislike most are those where I encounter people who complain about their work.

     Not long ago, I attended a day-long meeting with a group of about 20 people . All of us are "independent contractors" and not directly employed by the company, but our association with the company is "captive", meaning that we have no associations with other companies. I happened to sit near a couple of the more "seasoned" associates whose tenure was in the 35 year range.

    It seemed that at every break, and at times during the meeting, they would complain about the company. "This company isn't what it used to be!" "This new system doesn't work." "They expect too much!" "If they think I'm doing that, they're crazy." One of them is literally counting the days until he retires in about 3 years. How sad...
    What is amazing to me is that all the good the company has done for these men and their families seems to have been forgotten. Their work has done far more than provide for the basic necessities of life, as these men enjoy a lifestyle they would not otherwise have attained. They have no enjoyment in their work, no passion for it, and little appreciation of it. I suppose that this kind of attitude toward work is not uncommon in the work place, but I believe it is far from the Biblical view of work. To these men, "work is a four letter word". It is to God as well, and that word is "good'.
     There are many who believe that work is a product of the fall of man. In reality, God assigned the privilege of work to man before the fall (Gen. 2:15). Since the God who created everything and pronounced it "good", also gave man work to do, work must also be good. The primary reason work can be so hard for us is a result of the fall - (Gen.3:17-19). It is clear from scripture that work is profitable, good, and to be pursued. (Proverbs 14:23; Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 28:19). In the book of Genesis, we read "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." Man is made in the image of God. If God works, man works.

     Our view of work has been seriously corrupted by the culture. God's perspective on work is that it is a mandate. The culture's perspective is that work is a curse. God's perspective is that work is to provide for family needs. The culture's perspective is that it is to have more (more "stuff"). God's perspective is that work is to be done for the glory of God. The culture's perspective is that work is done to be more (Recognition). God's perspective is that work is to provide for the needy. The culture's perspective is to influence more (Power). God's perspective is that work is so that we can minister to others. The culture's perspective is that work makes us feel secure and significant.

     In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he wrote "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."(1 cor.10:31). In his letter to the Colossians, we find this instruction: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men..." (Col. 3:23) Regardless of who signs the paycheck, It is clear that the believer is called to work as if working for the Lord, and that our work is to be done for the glory of God.
     As believers, we must be very careful that our attitudes toward work are not corrupted by the culture. Whatever He has called us to do, whether inside the home or out in the work place, we are challenged to view it from a Godly perspective.


May it be so...
John

Soli Deo Gloria