THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN, PART 1

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

During our sojourn here on earth, there comes a point at which a person wonders about the nature and purpose of life. Many people become quite lost in their quest to answer questions about life and their purpose in it. Some follow only seemingly-sage advice, flimsy guidance, even if well-meaning, from people who are similarly lost. Others try to "find" themselves, and roam aimlessly, wasting their time with experiments. But children of God decide who they want to be: an emulation of Jesus, and then become it. Children of God follow truly-sage advice, firm guidance, matter of fact direction from scripture itself. When concerned with the existential, The Book of Ecclesiastes is where to go to sort it all out.

• I AM BUT A LITTLE CHILD

1 Kings 3:5-14 

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. At the onset of his kingship, Solomon requested wisdom from God. And God, pleased with his selfless request, granted it... and much more. God granted Solomon so much wisdom and wealth, time and resource, that Solomon was able to comprehensively discover the value and vanity of life. In this book, he shares his results. With Solomon's results, we learn how not to waste our time with the vain things in life. There is daily and lifelong purpose in the words of the former king, for the days of life when we feel purposeless or see purposelessness and need the scaffolding of scripture as support.

• ALL IS VANITY

Ecclesiastes 1-2 (Solomon's existential crisis)

Solomon began the book in rather a low place. A low place, and a place not unfamiliar to people living today. For though much has changed in the world, very little (or less) has changed in the human heart, mind, body and soul. For as we live and operate within our families, communities and societies, whatever they look like and whatever time period they exist it, we feel the same feelings. We each undertake a physical, emotional and spiritual journey. 

Solomon observed that generations come and go. Come... and go. Our lives are as real and immediate and intimate as millions before us... but they have passed as we will pass. We keep no memory of them, the future generation will have no memory of us... in this moment. And yet, this moment has meaning. And purpose. It has value and is worthy to be enjoyed and appreciated. It matters, as past moments mattered, for it leads to an eternal kingdom. These moments sculpt and tailor us for life with God, after earth. The limited, precious time here prepares us for time-irrelevance there.

The pressure of the quickness of life here causes us to learn crucial lessons... or squander those opportunities away. We choose. We choose either vanity, the pursuit of things and status in the eyes of ego and men. Or, we choose substance, the pursuit of spirit and status in the eyes of humility and God.

Each moment used to prepare ourselves for eternal union with God is a moment captured, utilized, to make a place, a person, a relationship, a community, a region, a nation, a world here on earth better. Each individual, in their emulation of Jesus, is capable of injecting peace into turmoil, order into chaos, patience into frustration, kindness into cruelty, morality into depravity. These daily opportunities contribute to individual growth of character, which in faith qualifies us for even more responsibility, even higher skill and capability, that then contributes to the state of the world through servitude to God.

• A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN

Ecclesiastes 3

Life does not often seem like a smooth trajectory. We make a mistake, have a lapse in judgement, and then learn. In that particular area. Then we do the same in another area, and it can feel like we are juggling multiple, different colored balls. We learn not to drop the green ball, but then drop the blue and yellow balls... and suddenly it does not feel that we have accomplished anything or grown in any significant way.

But Solomon tells us that there is a season and a time for ever matter under heaven. Surely the broad understanding of this is that God has a plan and a timeline for humanity and the host of heaven. But then Solomon makes it relevant to the individual; there is a time "to be born, and a time to die;... a time to weep, and a time to laugh;...a time to seek and a time to lose...". And if we accept this simple fact that life will be a journey of twists, inclines, and declines, we can then focus on God's ability and promise to persevere us through all of it.

What are those colored balls? Anything, everything. We might manage to discipline ourselves into generosity, when before we had a tendency of selfishness. At the same time, we might still fail in a whole other area: ex. tendency to fear, quickness to anger. Life is multifaceted and there's no shortage of lessons to learn. That can feel impossible, overwhelming. But Solomon reminds us that there is a time to seek, and a time to lose. There is a time to try and fail, so to speak. It is all part of a process God has created and placed each of us in. 

• GOD-GIVEN TASK

Ecclesiastes 3:9

In 1 Kings 3:12 God explained that he gave Solomon wisdom and understanding unlike any person before or after him. We have to take advantage of this gift to humanity, from God, through Solomon. If Solomon gives the directive, in Ecclesiastes 3:12, to be joyful and to do good as long as we live (and he does give this directive) we have to remember its source: God, then trust that it is sage advice, and follow it! 

Be joyful. Do good. 

Does it say: be joyful when you have ample reason to be joyful and no reason not to be joyful? No. Does it say: do good when you have the time, the resources, and a deserving recipient? No. Instead, with these simple words, God via Solomon exhorts us to be tenaciously optimistic (and optimism as a Christian is realism); that is: to choose joy no matter what, with the strength to do so from our understanding of God and our relationship with Him. And to do good... in every moment, with whatever resource you do have in any place that or person that needs it. No stipulations. No fine print. 

Be joyful. 

Do good.

Opportunities for both will come to the servant of God who will host them. Naturally, there will be times when sadness is appropriate. But we must always stoke that joyful fire that is love and trust for God within us. Remain joyful in the fact that God will not allow you to permanently lose anyone, anything, any opportunity, that is good and dear to you.

• FROM DUST TO DUST

Ecclesiastes 3:16

A prescription of humility will solve a multitude of problems, including our concern now: existentialism. On one hand, we are children of God! Servants of the most high! Participants in the pursuit of righteousness endeavoring toward kingdom of Heaven! Purpose and direction enough for any spirit. On the other hand, we are like the animals. Our bodies are made from the raw materials around us and will return to the earth. Each individual is important to God, a crucial part of the whole body... but out individual body returns to dust. It is our spirit, our impact, that is eternal. 

Therefore God, via Solomon, tells us that nothing is better than that man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. To be joyful and do good... work, assignments, to fill the spirit of self and others rather than ornament the body.

SET THE MIND

Unless you are a firmly faith-centered person, the mental aspect of the application of Jesus’ instruction to your life would be difficult. In Romans 8, Paul explained that people either live according to the flesh or according to the spirit. For those who live by the flesh, much of what Jesus taught will seem peculiar, and like a complete reversal of the norm.

Using Paul’s words, the “flesh” is hostile to God. Even though the spirit sings when in accordance with God’s will, the body — which looks out for itself, does not understand how service to God via service to others could ever benefit itself.

The Meek Inherit the Earth

Our history books are filled with conquerors — Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, people with power who claimed land. Based on what we know about life in the flesh in the world, what chance does a meek person have against an assertive one? Yet Jesus tells us that the meek shall inherit the earth.

Without faith, it might be genuinely difficult to set the mind to believe that a meek spirit will garner more than an aggressive person can take. However it is true; it is true because it is not the meek spirit which prevails over the aggressive person, it is God, on the meek spirit’s behalf.

Despite how powerful leaders, armies and territory lines in the world act, everything of the world takes place on an earth which belongs to the Lord, who created it. It is His to distribute. Recall Matthew 20:1 in which Jesus used the analogy of the kingdom of heaven as the master of a house and people of the earth as the hired laborers of that house. The house, the land, belongs to the master — to the Lord, but He has hired us to tend it. Here on earth we have the freedom to labor with freewill, but our freewill here does not equate with ownership over that which we exert our freewill.

Therefore the aggressive, the powerful, the bold may make claims — often brutal claims, they are temporary and can be resisted or overcome by the meek of spirit through the strength and will of God.

On a daily basis in our present, the practical application of this idea is less belief that one can conquer a country and more the belief that one can conquer the innate urge to aggressively pursue — in a manner which is opposite the manner of Jesus, what the body wants via the strength that is the faith that God will provide, comprehensively all that one needs (Matthew 6:8; 6:33).

The tenacious faith of a meek spirit is power unmatched by the mightiest of the world!

Not To Be Served But To Serve

Celebrity culture has accelerated so much that the proverbial “Jones’” are the idols of society. People attract the attention by, essentially, regurgitating every gaudy thing they posses, every popular association they have, and every materialistic thought that they think — all over the masses. Such deceptively-shiny displays may qualify a person for superiority in the world but are inferior in the Kingdom of God.

Many of the eyes in the world are set on the metaphorical thrones in the world, but God’s eyes are on the servers rather than the served. Jesus’ words encourage us to switch our priorities, to re-determine whether we will endeavor to climb the ranks of the world or of the Kingdom of God.

Again, it would be difficult for a non-believer to understand how humility and service could possibly elevate a person. ‘Descend to ascend’ is an oxymoron in the world, but is the celebrated route in, to the Kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul self-described himself a slave of Jesus Christ, Romans 1:1. He dedicated all that he had, all that he was, quantifiable and not, to service of the Kingdom of God. The only “thing” Paul had, consistently, were the chains he wore because he refused to abandon the lifestyle which made him not famous, not rich, but productive in service to the Lord.

Are we likely to become vagabonds for the faith as Paul did?

Set the mind to become a vagabond for Christ like Paul, a servant of the Kingdom of God above, in place of any other title the world would value. Humble here is heroic there and in heart — service to the Kingdom of God through effortful compassion on His children, is the actually-shiny display we inadvertently present as the result of our life. It may be unnoticed by people — and all the better for it (Matthew 6:2-4), but it is notable to God.

Give to Receive

In Luke 6:38 Jesus introduced a concept contrary to how the world seemingly works: distributed to you is that which you distribute to others. A non-believer or someone weak in faith will not accept this concept. How can you pour and fill your cup at the same time?

Worldwide, societies have systems of exchange — we understand and accept the “this for that” system because it is immediate and tangible; it requires zero or a negligible amount of faith.

Jesus’ ministry introduced, revealed the system of exchange God established. This system of exchange may not seem immediate or tangible and will require a considerable amount of faith. The system of exchange of the Kingdom of God runs concurrently with the system of exchange of the world and therefore, it can be difficult to set the mind to hold fast to the latter when the former exerts itself over the world that we live in.

But we must — we must because money and material is limited and liable to disintegrate, to be taken, to lose value. Conversely, when we distribute what we have been blessed with — funds, time, effort, provision, mercy, whatever we have that someone else lacks, God arranges that those things are redistributed back to us in a consistent flow reinforced, upheld, and ensured by God. Thus we are able to pour out to others while God causes our cup to run over.

Our faith in God must be strong enough to withstand the spiritual effort of complete dependence on God. We must be able to give that which is tangible and simultaneously expect, intangibly, that equal measure of that which was given will essentially — boomerang, return back to us. God’s system is flawlessly functional — operates without oversight, but is entirely dependent on selfless generosity. The windows of heaven will pour down for you blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:10); heaven is abundant with provision, but are we abundant with the selfless generosity that causes those windows to be opened? We must set our mind to adapt to the system of the Kingdom of God, to inspire, to encourage, to enable our body-in-the-world to live in alignment with the eternal way.

To live in accordance with the spirit will require effort. Jesus’ instruction, God’s design, is so different from the instruction and design of the world we are used to… of the world our bodies innately affiliate themselves with. But our bodies are temporary vessels of an eternal spirit — thus they should not be allowed to dictate our mindset. The spirit, the way of the spirit, supersedes so completely that it renders the body’s way inevitably, fast-approaching, obsolete. If we live by the spirit now, we can enter the Kingdom of God with grace and understanding of how it operates — a cog familiar and productive in its machine!

But also, and pertinent to the here and now, adapted to the way of the Spirit while on earth is to be blessed by the Spirit while on earth. Set the mind on the spirit, on Jesus, and have life, and more abundantly (John 10:10).

BRAMBLE BUSH

Through scripture, we have been attuned to use discernment. We have been taught to recognize good fruit vs. bad fruit. Yet we know that Jesus sat at the table with the rejected of society — the ‘bad fruit', Luke 5. Similarly, the apostle Paul advised the Corinthians not to dissociate from all ‘bad fruit’, (as they would need to associate with those people especially to perpetuate the word of God), 1 Corinthians 5.

A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit

We learn about ‘fruit’ in Luke 6:43-45. Jesus explained that no good tree can produce bad fruit; no bad tree can produce good fruit. Figs cannot be gathered from a thorn-bush; grapes cannot be gathered from a bramble bush.

A good person, out of a good heart, produces good; an evil person, out of an evil heart, produces evil… for out of the abundance, the content, of the heart is the quality of the character. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the heart, the mind decides and the body acts.

Our relationship with God, our journey through scripture, takes place in the heart. Heart, as in the figurative center of our spirit. The relationship and the journey occur in our spirit rather than our body because the quality of our character in spirit determines the type of tree that our body will be… a good fruit-producer like the grape vine, the fig tree, or an evil fruit-producer like the thorn or bramble bush.

Our relationship and classroom with God in all of its manifestations is meant maintain our status as a good tree or convert our status from an evil tree. Surely, as children and students of God, we are given by Him the provision we need to heal and help ourselves. From places of wilderness and desolation, and in many and miraculous ways, He helps us to feel better, to feel good. But ultimately, the purpose is the be good.

In a way, we become a disciple when we read scripture as a conscientious student, keeping all that God cultivated within us, we walk the world as an apostle. We preach not with word, necessarily, but with action. We have step into purpose, into service of the Kingdom of God. Finally, we begin our emulation of Jesus as servants of God. Suddenly, two things matter even more than before: who we associate with and how associate with them.

The Sick Need a Doctor

The purpose of our relationship with God and journey through scripture it not to develop self-righteousness. 1 Corinthians 10 explains that the things in scripture happened as examples, they were written for our admonition — to counsel us, to warn us. With that in mind, remember that the people God chose were chosen not because they were great but because they were small. It is with humility and effort that we follow Jesus’ noble and effortless example.

The good fruit we produce — our generosity, mercy, compassion, etc. is not meant to be withheld from anyone. And plainly, it is not good fruit if it is paraded or presented in any self-righteous, ostentatious, or self-important way.

Jesus sat with the ‘sick’ — the sick fruit, if you will. Sick fruit is bad fruit, it is not to be consumed. But according to Jesus’ example, it is to be associated with. The goodness of spirit you bring to whoever you associate with through the day might be the medicine, the impetus a sick-fruited heart needs to begin to change, to mend.

Undoubtedly, Jesus sat and talked with them as He sat and talked with everyone else — with compassion and the word of God. The way we live our life and associate (with friends, family, acquaintances, cohorts, coworkers and even strangers) quotes scripture without reciting verses. Those around us are thus exposed if not to the word of God specifically, certainly to the way of Him.

It is important that we continue to be good-fruit producing trees, that we present good ‘fruit’. In practice, it requires effort. We do not readily produce patience at the door of frustration. And it is rarely pleasant to meet resistance. If we are to associate with thorn and bramble bushes, we are likely to be pricked. A good-fruit tree remains persistent in patience with compassion and the word of God as Jesus did when He associated with thorns and brambles.

The Road to Righteousness

Be the good-fruit tree, unabashedly. Nearly all of Jesus’ exhortations taught us that the humble of earth are the exalted of heaven; the least, the greatest. To be renowned in the place, the eyes that truly matter, decline the so-called honorable seats at the table and choose to sit with the ‘sick’ instead. Value service to the Kingdom rather than status within it. In practice this means that nobody is beyond the reach of God’s arm, His many-membered ‘body’. The doors of the Kingdom of Heaven are flung open to anyway willing to walk the road of righteous that leads to them. Be the good-fruited tree; plant yourself in their path, offer your compassion, your patience — whatever the moment or situation or person needs, whatever they may not have gotten without the grace Jesus built in you, and they might notice the path they almost walked right by. The road to righteousness. They will benefit from your good fruit —from that which Jesus taught and exemplified, and it may help them walk the path or stay the course.

You may have inspired a new disciple, a potential apostle, because something about being recipients of God’s grace makes us want to be perpetuators of it. And sometimes we just need someone, some tree, to stop us in our tracks and redirect us toward the Kingdom.

Shake the Dust Off

It would be remiss not to mention Matthew 10:14. If somebody rejects the good-fruit you bring, the word and way of God, ‘shake the dust off of your feet’ and ‘leave that house’. It is not your responsibility to doggedly attempt to change their mind. Your responsibility is to be good — actively, humbly, without discrimination.

The whole Bible has shaken the dust of Satan off of its feet; nowhere in scripture will you find anyone pleading with Satan in a dogged attempt to convince him to change. Satan has rejected God — it makes him a destructive nuisance, but an irrelevant one. The Kingdom of God is a forward-movement and the dust is left behind. Satan and his followers are in the periphery, have already failed and been sentenced and thus can likewise be rejected and ignored! That is our responsibility: to reject him, to resist the devil and thus cause him to flee from us, James 4:7. Further management of Satan + company is under our, the sovereign God’s unrelenting jurisdiction in which evil has been sentenced to perdition.

Someone to Sit With Us

Jesus sat at the table with the sick for a purpose; Jesus determined there was potential — a chance at growth and redemption for the prodigal. Jesus was perfect; we are not. We sit at the table humbly aware that there is potential for growth and redemption for us as well. We all have something to offer the other; others sprint in places we stumble; we sprint where others stumble. Sometimes, one of those thorns pricks us and irritates a place in our own selves we had not given enough attention.

The irony is that while Jesus encourages us to sit and persevere with (grin and faithfully bear) others, He simultaneously, encourages others to sit with, to grin and bear us! For our growth and spiritual development is under construction, too; we always have more to learn in the effort to emulate Jesus better every day.