There are some passages of Scripture that stand out and demand a closer
investigation. So, you come back to them from time to time. And each time
you take a look, you see a bit more of what’s going on in the passage. Our
text for this morning is one of those texts for me. I have preached on it
before and more than likely I will do so again. The thing is that I think
that I’m getting it a bit better each go around. I’ve decided to preach on
this text today not just because I’ve been intrigued by the text. I’m
preaching on it because I believe that it has something for you as well. So,
let’s look again at this passage of Scripture and see what it has for us
this time.
The first thing that I want you to notice is that it doesn’t make sense. It
doesn’t fit. Paul’s point is fairly straightforward. If this is it, if this
life is all we’ve got, then we Christians should be pitied by the world.
Pitied! ‘Those foolish Christians. What possessed them to live that way? It’
s so sad.’
Now, take your average Christian, someone like you. He’s gotten older, and
so he is reflecting on things. He tells himself, ‘You know, my life’s been
good. I’ve enjoyed some of God’s good things during my years. Life hasn’t
been perfect, not by a long shot. In fact, there were some pretty rough
times. But all in all in, it’s been a good life. I’ve got no complaints.’
Now, let’s translate a bit. What our average Christian has just said is,
‘Even if this is all there is, it hasn’t been all that bad.’ But then, bring
Paul into the picture. ‘Oh no. You’ve got it all wrong. If this is all there
is then you should be pitied. Of all people you and the other Christians
should be pitied by the world.’ See what I mean? Paul makes no sense. His
words just don’t fit how we live. The common experience of the Christians
that you know is worlds apart from Paul’s attitude. So what do we do? We
could just chalk it up to Paul being a grouch who tends to look on the dark
side of things. It would be so much better if he just got out more. But, of
course, we can do that. This is Scripture. Even if Paul was a grouch who
needed to live it up a bit more, what he wrote is as good as if God spoke it
from heaven. And so, there must be something that Paul saw that we don’t.
I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes lately. Now, there is a whole book that
demands a closer investigation. I don’t know if I’m making much progress
this time through it, but I think that part of the point of the book can be
summarized like this: Even the good things of this life don’t make up for
the bad. There are good things in this life. Our God has given us many good
things to enjoy while we’re here. And we should enjoy them! But there are
also bad things here. Weigh them both side by side and Ecclesiastes says
that the good things won’t outweigh the bad. The good things aren’t good
enough to make up for the bad.
Now, this fact isn’t obvious to most folk. And there are reasons for that.
We make accommodations for the bad. Have you never heard the excuse, ‘Well,
no one’s perfect.’ Why not? Wouldn’t it be better if we were perfect? Isn’t
it terrible that we aren’t? Or have you ever found yourself saying something
like this? ‘Well, I may have had a hard time of it, but I know that there
are people in worse situations than what I’ve had to deal with.’ That may be
true, but how does it help? The bad situation that you experienced was still
bad. Wouldn’t it have been better if it never happened? Or consider what any
decent pastor says to the young couple planning on marriage. ‘Marriage is a
great thing, a super gift from God to be enjoyed to the hilt. However, you
need to be prepared for the problems. Every marriage has them. So, one of
the things that we’ll need to discuss before you get married is how to
identify and deal with those inevitable problems.’ There is much good to be
enjoyed. But there is bad everywhere. In different ways we accommodate
ourselves to the bad. But Ecclesiastes is right on. The good doesn’t make up
for the bad.
Up to this point Christians are in the same boat as the unbelievers. We all
enjoy some good and we all endure some bad. Even these unbelievers know
that, They know, at some level, that their situation is not as good as it
might be. They know that something is wrong. So they respond to that the
best they know how. They have their own ways of accommodating themselves to
the bad that is all around them. Some just give up. Suicide is on the rise.
Some develop elaborate philosophies to deal with the sorry facts about our
human condition. Paul refers to one popular method of dealing with this. ‘If
the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."’ [1
Corinthians 15.32b] If the good isn’t making up for the bad, at least not to
this point, maybe the thing to do is to work at enjoying the good more. So,
people live for the weekend when they party hearty. After all, you only go
round once, so grab all the gusto you can. And the pursuit of pleasure needn
’t be as crass as getting drunk every weekend while you hop from bed to bed.
It can also be quite refined: buying an expensive house on the lake,
enjoying a vacation in that very special place, becoming more interested in
the cultured things of life. And that is what so many do.
But as Christians we do not pursue a lifestyle that is focused on eating and
drinking and other pleasures, refined or not. We know that Jesus has called
us to a life of self-denial. And that means that there will be times when
some legitimate desires will need to be put to the side. And when we enjoy
some of the pleasures of this life – there isn’t anything wrong with having
friends over for a party – we understand that there are limits. But you
realize, of course, that self-denial or even a more moderate enjoyment of
life makes absolutely no sense if this is all there is. It really doesn’t.
And then, to make matters worse, we Christians not only decline some of the
pleasures of this life, we also put ourselves in harm’s way. Listen again to
Paul as he relates his own experience. ‘What do I gain if, humanly speaking,
I fought with beasts at Ephesus?’ [1 Corinthians 15.32a] Now, we’re not sure
if Paul is talking about facing real animals in an arena or if he is being
picturesque as he describes some very human opponents. But it doesn’t
matter. Paul’s point is that, because of his loyalty to Christ, he exposed
himself to trouble and strife and all the rest. You may never have to face
beasts, actual or otherwise, but your loyalty to Christ will result in other
difficulties for you. You will suffer because of the Gospel out of loyalty
to Jesus. ‘For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you
should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake…’ [Philippians
1:29] So, you not only pass up on pursuing all the pleasures of this life,
you open yourself up to more pain and sorrow and struggle. If this life is
all there is, we have made a colossal mistake. Now Paul makes sense. We
should be pitied. What fools! What fools to have chosen such a life! And
that is what we are, fools for Christ’s sake. But we are such fools because
we believe the Gospel. Jesus has died. But He has been raised again from the
dead. He has conquered death. And so, this isn’t all that there is. The age
to come awaits. And that changes everything.
So, it’s fine to enjoy what is good about this life. But there are some
things you must understand. For one thing the enjoyment of the good will
still not make up for the bad. So, don’t expect it to. It is a subtle
temptation that we sometimes fall into to think: ‘This will balance the
scales a bit.’ That is the thinking of the world. Regardless what the ‘this’
is, it won’t make up for the bad. Buying a new house or a car or taking a
vacation are all good things to enjoy. But after you do any of these, the
statement is still true: the good you enjoy does not make up for the bad.
Also, bear in mind that self-denial and enduring the difficulties of being
loyal to Christ make sense if the resurrection has happened, if there is
more than just this. What you do here affects your experience there. The
saint converted at the last minute will have a different experience and
enjoyment of the age to come than the Apostle Paul who spent years suffering
greatly for the Gospel. Both will be fully satisfied, but more awaits Paul.
What you do here affects your experience there. Suffering for Jesus makes
sense.
As all this becomes clearer and clearer to you, and that is a process that
will never end, there will be some ironic twists. For one thing, you will be
freed to enjoy the good things of this life. You will understand that they
cannot make up for the bad, and so you won’t be pursuing them as if they
could. You’ll just enjoy them for what they are, good gifts from God. And as
you see that there is no way to make up for the bad things of this life, it
will be easier to deny yourself of some of its delights for the sake of the
Gospel. And all of this will make you see more and more clearly what Jesus
did in His resurrection. It is the resurrection of Jesus that makes up for
all the bad of this life. It makes up for it all by providing for us a place
where there will be no bad to make up for. We live in this world, striving
to serve Christ as He thinks best, enjoying what good He gives to us. But we
live for the next world, the world that Jesus’ resurrection made possible
for us. This is the Gospel. Enjoy it for all it’s worth.
