Title: Happy Life and Faith
at the appointed time
In verses 2-8 of today's text, the writer of Ecclesiastes expresses all kinds of mystical phenomena of human life in fourteen pairs of opposite lyrics. Let's look at just a few passages. “There is a time to be born, and a time to die” (2a). Not only humans, but all living things die. In some ways, being born and dying seem to be the same event. If we look at the entire human race, we are born and die at this time. Since the time between an individual's birth and death is only a fraction of a second, it sometimes appears to be a simultaneous event. “A time to plant and a time to uproot” (2b). After planting cabbage seeds in the ground, about 3 months later, cabbages should be plucked. In this world we live in, sowing and reaping are happening over and over again. “There is a time to love and a time to hate” (8a). There are times when we love someone, but at some point it turns into hate. There are many passions of love and hate in our lives. “There is a time for strife, and there is a time for peace” (8b). There has never been a single moment in human history where true peace has reigned supreme. No king has ever realized true peace.
The world of people is strange. Opposite things happen. Not only love, but also hate, and not only seek peace, but also cause war. Not only human life, but also the natural world. It's raining, but it's also sunny. Sometimes it's unbearably hot, but sometimes it's cold enough to freeze to death. Humans and everything in this world seem to be at odds with each other, and these forces are at odds with each other.
The writer of Ecclesiastes saw a “time” as the basis of this phenomenon. Look at verse 1. “There is a time when everything is decided. Everything that happens under the sky has a time.” Koreans usually say the same thing. They say that the time has come, or the time is not yet. It is true that everything that happens under the sky has a time. Sometimes even learning to play tennis seems so simple. The learner can feel the match between the racquet and the ball physically after some time has passed. It's not just talent or interest that makes these things happen.
What do you mean by “time” here? It means being conscious of the inner side of a phenomenon. This is because the affairs of this world are not driven by the outward appearance, but by some force acting within. Let's take kimchi as an example to show what that inner strength means. The appearance of kimchi is not much different whether it is first made or after a few days. Of course, there may be subtle differences in the eyes of experts, but if you look at it in a big way, it is not much different. What happens in it is ripe enough to be eaten. Bacteria corrode cabbage. Through the process, it becomes kimchi that appeals to our taste buds. But it is invisible to our eyes.
These forces are also at work in our personal lives. It is said that forces that lead you without your knowledge are at work. Some people like to read books, some people like math. So some people become great writers and some become scientists. No one knows what kind of person they will be when they are first born. However, when his inner powers work properly in his life, he can do things he never expected, just as kimchi tastes like. These forces do not appear on the outside, but on the inside, so people don't pay much attention to them. I wonder if it just happened spontaneously, or if it was achieved through human effort. But in reality it must be seen that a much deeper force was at work there.
These deep forces also occur within communities. Now we are gathering like this to worship. How did we come together like this? Simply go back 10 years. Can you connect the situation in which you were living back then with the situation in which we worship together today? Almost impossible. Can you imagine what kind of people we will be building this kind of community with in the next 10 years? I can't imagine. Just as bacteria do not enter our eyes, the forces that move at the bottom of our lives are beyond our comprehension.
God's time
This life force, which we cannot grasp and cannot predict, is the Holy Spirit, that is, God. It is God who takes time in ways we do not know. The writer of Ecclesiastes puts it this way: “No one knows how God will begin a work and how he will finish it” (11b). The reason life is mysterious is that we cannot comprehend the will of God, who is at the center of it. Natural phenomena and our daily life are also mysterious. Times that we can't count are dragging us on. This pulling force is God.
Here we have to pay attention. The writer of Ecclesiastes is not saying that these mysteries are vague or that they are simply natural principles. God's time and will is best for us. Listen to him. “God made all things to fit in their time and fit” (11a). There are many things in this world that we cannot comprehend, but in the end God provides the necessary things for human life.
Some people will find it difficult to accept this biblical argument. This world doesn't work very well. Natural disasters happen and many people die, and good people suffer hardships. Sometimes evil people prosper. This world seems to be ruled by capital and power rather than just. When I think about these things, I doubt whether God is just. If God is love, can we just let people who made a lot of money from real estate speculation pretend to be good-looking and suffer so poorly that they can't even afford a meal? We do not yet know the root cause of this phenomenon. We just want God to bring perfect justice and peace to this world right now. Folks, the world is not over yet. Our thoughts are too short to know the reality of all anxiety, doubt, doubt and despair. Just as a mother has to experience the pain of splitting her body to give birth to a baby, so we have no choice but to endure suffering and injustice for unknown reasons.
But ultimately, as the writer of Ecclesiastes is saying today, it is clear that God has made everything fit, and He leads it that way. Don't tell me to provide proof of it. That's not to say that you have to believe this unconditionally. Herein lies the tension of the Christian faith. I am strained by the gap between my belief that God is good and the world that is not. I mentioned childbirth above, but I have to tell you a similar analogy again here. My ten-year-old daughter has a bad cold. This child complained to his father. Why do I have to suffer like this? How can a father convince this daughter? Can you convince me that the reason you caught a cold is because you didn't take good care of your health, or that it's good to catch a cold sometimes in order to live a healthy life?
Spiritually, we are as immature as a ten-year-old girl. They just complain about the fact that they are sick right now. The writer of Ecclesiastes was a mature man. It teaches that God made everything fit. The fact that I have listed 14 contradictory life phenomena above means that he knows how difficult life in this world can be. Still, he teaches that God's will and God's times are beautiful. Could this be faith? Seeing joy beyond that, even in painful reality. Finding peace beyond that, even in the midst of loneliness.
Is this really possible? Does this attitude deceive you? Is it just a religious trick? Sometimes religion works as a trick. However, the writer of Ecclesiastes is not speaking now, but a great affirmation for this world. It is fundamentally affirming the world that God has created and maintained. From this affirmation, the actual capacity of life, to borrow Paul Tillich's term, "courage to be" begins. To face the world with the courage and power of such a being is the Christian faith. Because God is the very being.
happy life
What does it mean to live without losing the courage to exist in a world that seems contradictory? The answer given by the writer of Ecclesiastes is not so noble. Those expecting some plausible answer are sure to be disappointed. He says: “At the end of the day, I realized that the only good thing is living well and having fun while you are alive. People should eat, drink, and have fun with the reward of their hard work. This is the gift of God” (verses 12, 13). It's called having fun. It means to eat and drink and live happily while you are alive. The word eating and drinking refers to all our life activities, not just eating and drinking water. It is the grace of God to live happily while faithfully doing all the activities necessary to sustain life, such as sleeping, waking up, breathing, getting married, eating, drinking, defecating, etc.
It is wrong to align the Christian life with asceticism. The Christian faith fundamentally affirms life on earth, but does not deny it. Of course, there are teachings to take up one's cross or to be sober. However, these are all statements based on a particular situation, not general ones. When we think about the kind of cup that Jesus received from the Pharisees at that time, the nature of the gospel is revealed. The Pharisees turned to Jesus and said, “Why do you eat and drink with sinners and live happily ever after?” and asked. The Pharisees tried to achieve righteousness by practicing the law, but Jesus acknowledged human life, life itself. The gospel of Jesus was to receive by faith the grace of God that is already full in our lives.
The last question here is: What the hell does it mean to live happily? How can we eat, drink and have fun? Consider why the writer of Ecclesiastes refers to the joyful life when he speaks of God's will and timing. Will we be happy if we eat as much as we want and drink as much as we want? It's not like that. Few people experience happiness in their daily life. I won't explain why, because you all know it. Instead, let me just say one word. Only when our relationship with God deepens can we eat and drink and have fun. It's like having a meal with like-minded people makes you happy. Furthermore, a person who has this foundation of life cannot do anything that destroys other people's lives. Because he is already happy. I wish you all such happiness in 2006.