WISE LIVING: DEATH
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17
#wiseliving2022
READ ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 8:1-17 [somone from the congregation]
INTRODUCTION… Movie Quotes… moviequotes.eu/life/death
Some people like movies and TV and can quote their favorite characters at the drop of a hat. I can do that sometimes. I do enjoy good stories and movies and TV. Sometimes those that write movies or TV share with us memorable lines that stick with us. Our topic today is ‘death’ which is not necessarily a happy topic, but there are many quotes about death from Hollywood that are memorable.
“Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.” Maximus in Gladiator (Russell Crowe)
“Fear of death is what keeps us alive.” Doctor McCoy in Star Trek Beyond (Karl Urban)
“What are you so afraid of? It’s only death.” Young Bjorn Ironside in Vikings (Nathan OToole)
“God doesn't punish the wicked and reward the righteous. Everyone dies. Some die because they deserve to; others die simply because they come from Minneapolis. It's random and it's meaningless.” Mitch Leary in In the Line of Fire (John Malkovich)
“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.” William Wallace in Braveheart (Mel Gibson)
“On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” Narrator in Fight Club (Edward Norton)
"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it. White shores and beyond. A far green country under a swift sunrise." Gandalf to Pippin in The Return of the King (JRR Tolkein)
Sometimes there are nuggets of truth that come out as human beings write stories and movies and TV shows. Those things are fiction, but the Bible is not fiction and offers us real wisdom when it comes to wise living and even a wise death. We can learn wisdom about death. We can learn what to think and what to believe and how to feel when it comes to this life changing event.
REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTES: DEATH
In Ecclesiastes 8, King Solomon talks about submitting to kings and authorities, death, trouble for righteous people, judgment against wicked people, and also the mysteries about the ways of God. He covers a lot I think. The topic of ‘death’ grabbed my attention because King Solomon talks about death a lot. Death shakes his world and makes him jaded and cynical about a whole lot of life.
READ ECCLESIASTES 2:16 (ESV)
“For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!”
Solomon thinks that because the wise are wise that they should somehow escape death. But they don’t. Wise folks die. Foolish folks die. This shakes his world because wise good people should somehow be rewarded with longer and better lives, but death comes to us all.
READ ECCLESIASTES 3:2 (ESV)
“a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted”
King Solomon looks at life and notices the cycle of birth and living and dying and death. There is a time for everything. This thought, in 3:2, directly connects with our passage today in Ecclesiastes 8.
READ ECCLESIASTES 3:19 (ESV)
“For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.”
Solomon looks around creation and notices that it is not just people that die, but animals also die. Human beings do not have any kind of advantage in his mind when it comes to life and death. Animals and plants die. People die. This shakes his world.
In his jadedness about death, he is actually incorrect that human beings and beasts are all the same. Human beings and animals are different. Yes, death comes to both, but it is only the human being that is the imager of God (Genesis 1:27). God created one being on this planet in His image and that is the human being. We bear God’s image and so we are in most ways completely different from animals, but yes, both die.
READ ECCLESIASTES 4:2 (ESV)
And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
King Solomon in Ecclesiastes airs out his depression about life and death. He shares with us his thoughts and feelings and I don’t know if you know this or not, but depressed feelings make your brain think poorly. You think what you think, but each thought is colored by the depression. We see Solomon struggling in Ecclesiastes in this way. There are days when death shakes him, but then there are days when it seems like being dead is better than living. He struggles with these thoughts.
Then we come to our chapter today, 8, and he again mentions death.
RE-READ ECCLESIASTES 8:6-8a (ESV)
For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death.
There is a time for living and there is a time for death. We know that from 3:2 and that thought comes up again here. Solomon thinks basically life is trouble and then you die. Solomon reflects that no one has the power to retain his or her spirit in their body to keep their life going. No one, not even a great king, has the power over death. That is actually true. Try as we might, death comes when it comes. Death may come by accident or sickness or someone else’s sin, but he pretty much says: ‘when it is your time it is your time.’
I know chapter 9 is for next week, but Solomon also mentions death again in chapter 9.
READ ECCLESIASTES 9:3-6 (ESV)
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
Again King Solomon is depressed and dejected and maybe even a little afraid and angry about death. Death happens to everyone and he doesn’t understand why the good and wise can’t escape death. That is a concept that just makes sense to him… good people live and bad people die. Yet, everyone dies. He also thinks about death and realizes he does not know much about it. He doesn’t know what dead folks know. He doesn’t know what dead folks feel. It is a mystery to him.
SUMMARY
Solomon thinks a lot about death. He thinks a lot about death in Ecclesiastes and to be honest in Proverbs he writes about it over and over. He doesn’t like death. We do not like death.
WE DO NOT LIKE DEATH [Adapted from Chapters 4-5, ‘The Grieving Teen’ by Helen Fitzgerald]
We do not like what death does to our bodies.
We think about death and we wonder what it will physically feel like. Will we hurt? Will we be uncomfortable? These are not nice thoughts, but we do think about them when it comes to death.
Death didn’t happen to us physically, but death brings grief which is stressful and physical and with it comes nausea, dizziness, fatigue, rashes, headaches, back pain, weight loss, weight gain, and insomnia. We may feel sick for no reason. None of that is fun or something to look forward to.
We do not like what death does to our bodies.
We do not like how death makes us feel.
We think about death and because there is no absolute written road map of what happens after death, we feel fear. The unknown can be scary. We think about leaving our loved ones behind and because we do not know how life will go for them, we want to push off death for as long as possible.
Death brings us mental anguish and mental suffering and intense feelings of sadness. The sadness does not immediately go away because the dear person we are missing is not coming back. Death can also change how we view ourselves as we apply words like widow, widower, or orphan to our name. We feel different because we are dealing with death. We label ourselves different because we are dealing with death.
We deal with feelings of shock and disbelief because death is a final change in our lives and a definite new chapter. We feel like life is completely unfair because other people do not feel what we feel. There might also be anger, guilt, regrets, depression, fear, and worry.
We do not like how death makes us feel.
We do not like what death does to our minds.
We think about death and sometimes we don’t know what to think. We wonder if we have done enough to earn heaven… the answer is ‘no’ by the way. We wonder if we have done enough to earn hell… the answer is ‘yes’ by the way. We don’t know what to think about death and that is unsettling.
Death means at times we are tired, but we can’t sleep because we think about the person who died and what happened in our lives. Food sometimes even loses its taste and you don’t feel like eating. Grief over a death also makes us forgetful and we just kind of walk around in a daze. Concentration might be hard as well as driving.
We do not like what death does to our minds.
TRANSITION
Death is one of those circumstances and events and truths in life that absolutely cannot be avoided and it is terrible. Solomon does not like death. We do not like death. The Bible does not leave us without wisdom in this area. Solomon presents some pretty hopeless and dire thoughts when it comes to death, but again, his thoughts in chapters 1-12 are not the end of the matter. The end of the matter comes in 12:13.
WISE LIVING: ECCLESIASTES 12:13
At the end of Solomon’s deliberations about life and death in the Book of Ecclesiastes, he arrives in chapter 12 with a thought to end all thoughts.
READ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
You see life is absolutely meaningless, pointless, futility, fleeting, a brief breath and a quick vapor and absolutely completely unjust and terrible unless you and I have a God-given perspective about life... and a God-given perspective about death. The meaning and identity that God gives us in our relationship with Him does not stop at death’s door, but pushes through to life after death and anchors us when we are here left dealing with death.
The end of the matter for the wisest person who ever lived was that the whole duty of a human being is to live in a proper right relationship with God. God must be in the middle of our lives or we are lost even when it comes to death.
It is the right relationship with God that brings meaning and even makes death make sense.
It is in following the commands of God that purpose in death is given.
It is when we seek after God and His Kingdom that all the pieces of death fall into place.
TRANSITION
So what is a God-given wise perspective about death?
Where do we get such wise thoughts?
How should we feel about death and dying?
The Bible shares with us God’s Words on many subjects including death. Death is not a topic shied away from as God inspired people to write down His Words. God knows all about death. We do not, but He does. The Bible has much to say about death and much to communicate to our minds, hearts, and spirits as we think about this thing we don’t like to think about.
This topic is important because many of the debates, news articles, laws, and social issues that surround us these days deal with death in one form or another. For example, we are still dealing with the after effects of COVID-19 even though it is 2022. It is the gift that just keeps on giving. The world shut down in 2020 because it was afraid of the spread of sickness that leads to death. Mask debates and vaccine mandates raged in 2021 and even in 2022 because people don’t want to get sick and die. There is much fear of dying. From what I can tell, Christians and non-Christians alike are afraid of dying. Fear makes us stay home. Fear makes us inconsistent in that we will go out to eat, but not to church. I even saw news articles from the Super Bowl last Sunday about tons of pro-mask folks walking around the Super Bowl with no masks and I think I even saw a quote that the mayor of LA said he held his breath the whole time. The initial fear over death was real and perhaps even now it is real, but there is some ridiculousness mixed in there as well. Death makes us think and do strange things.
It is my hope as we dig into God’s Word today that His Word will frame your thoughts and feelings and beliefs about how you live and work and play and educate and socialize. This is a needed part of our worldview as we live life and deal with death.
GOD-GIVEN PERSPECTIVE ABOUT DEATH
#1 Death is not bigger than Jesus.
READ ACTS 2:24 (ESV)
God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.
This verse is from Acts 2 in Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost where he shares about the life and death and victory of Jesus. Jesus did in fact die. Our sermon today is not about the theological ramifications of that death, but what I want you to notice is that death could not hold Jesus.
Death is powerful.
Death is final.
Death is one chapter ending and another beginning.
Death was not more powerful than Jesus.
Death was not final for Jesus.
Death was only mid-chapter for Jesus.
The fear and the overwhelming finality of death is taken away for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus has been there dead. Jesus has done that death thing. Jesus has come back and conquered death with His breath and conquers it still because He ascended into Heaven and still lives! Death could not hold Him.
Listen, if Jesus had died and stayed dead then death would be more powerful than Jesus and should absolutely be something to fear. We should fear death if Jesus was still dead. We should be afraid for those we love who die if Jesus was still dead. Death would still be completely unknown. Death would be a power, like Solomon wrongly believed, that comes to everyone and dashes all hopes. Yet, because Jesus died and because Jesus lives and because Jesus is Who He says He is and because He conquered death… we who believe in Him are well cared for when we die and so are those we love who are believers. He’s got us and He can be trusted. He’s taken care of us when we die and blazed a trail through death because He has already been there.
READ ROMANS 6:9 (ESV)
“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.”
#2 Death is the door to be with Jesus.
READ 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16b-18 (ESV)
“And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
We who are in Christ will be with the Lord after we die. Verse 17 tell us that we who trust in the Lord Jesus and believe on Him have absolutely nothing to worry about when death comes knocking on our door. It will come knocking. Have no fear, but rather have courage.
You and I can have courage in the face of death. There are unknowns about death, but past those unknowns is the God of the Universe Who loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. We need not fear. We need not needlessly shake over death. God has death and eternity well in hand. This truth that death is just the door to Jesus prepares us not only for our death, but the death of those around us. Death is nothing to fear. Nothing that can kill you is anything to be feared because Jesus has taken care of what comes after.
Sometimes we hold onto this life way too much. We cling to this body and material things way too much. I am not saying to throw our lives away, but in Christ understand that Jesus has prepared life after this one. This is not all there is! To be absent from the body is to be present at home with God for us and for those people we love.
READ 2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8 (ESV)
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
#3 Death is positive change for us who die in Jesus.
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-53
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. W1e shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
The Apostle lays out a great truth for us about death. It is a mystery! We do not know every single detail. We do not know a whole lot about death. Death is a positive change for us when we die. We do know that those who believe in Jesus who die will be changed and we will be imperishable and be different than we are now. He says we will put on eternal life because we are connected with the source of eternal life.
Those same truths are present for those of us who have lost someone who is a believer. They are cared for by Jesus and are changed. They are with Him putting on the imperishable and the incorruptible and they are absolutely in a better place and in a better condition. That is hope. That is hope rooted in the Person of Jesus Christ Who ushers us into the Kingdom of God.
APPLICATION
We do not like what death does to our bodies.
We do not like how death makes us feel.
We do not like what death does to our minds.
We have a choice to make and I challenge you with this choice today. You and I can follow the thoughts of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1-12 and we can be fearful of death or unsettled by it and we can unnaturally hold onto this physical life and become cynical. Or we can realize there is a better way… a wiser way… that takes into account fearing God and our relationship with Him.
WISE LIVING: ECCLESIASTES 12:13.
RE-READ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
May we choose to believe and be encouraged that… #1 Death is not bigger than Jesus.
May we have confidence amidst the unknown that… #2 Death is the door to be with Jesus.
May we find joy in the belief that… #3 Death is positive change for us who die in Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION… Movie Quotes… moviequotes.eu/life/death
Besides, “What are you so afraid of? It’s only death.” Young Bjorn Ironside in Vikings (Nathan OToole)
PRAYER
INVITATION
