Showing posts with label ecclesiastes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecclesiastes. Show all posts
Books on the Book of Ecclesiastes
Two Sundays ago I preached my last sermon in our seven part series on Ecclesiastes. I found it interesting as I was working through this challenging book to note the number of other churches that were exploring Ecclesiastes at the same time as me. My parents' church in London had finished a series on Ecclesiastes just before I began mine; my brother's church in Michigan started a series on Ecclesiastes while I was still in the middle of mine; and a friend's church in Coburg was also working on Ecclesiastes at the same time as me. I've mentioned before how poignant and relevant I've found this book; it would seem it's been speaking in similar ways to a number of other churches.
For posterity's sake, I thought I'd share a few quick notes on the commentaries and resources I used in preparing this series.
Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters, Philip Graham Ryken
This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. Misunderstanding the series title ("Preaching the Word"), I purchased it assuming I was getting a pulpit commentary that would help me do just that (i.e. preach the Word). Instead, Philip Ryken's book read like an extended series of sermons on the book of Ecclesiastes, which is precisely, I think, what it was meant to be. It wasn't an entire waste, of course, inasmuch as seeing how other preachers have tackled specific texts is informative, illuminating and inspiring; and there were some insights here that helped me in my own sermon prep. Overall, however, it had neither the depth nor breadth I was hoping for when I added it to the list of sermon resources.
A Time to Tear Down and A Time to Build Up, Michael v. Fox.
What Everything Matters lacked in depth, A Time to Tear Down more than compensated for. This fresh, erudite, creative and scholarly study of Ecclesiastes is, in my opinion, must-read material for anyone wanting to go deep with this book. Fox's discussion of hebel-- and the sophistication with which he compares it to Albert Camus' existentialist absurdity-- takes you to the heart of Ecclesiastes like no other book I encountered. And his work with the other major themes leave you feeling like you've really met the Teacher. His commentary section, too, is thorough and thoughtful. I drank especially deep draughts of this commentary for Sermon 1 and Sermon 3 in my series.
Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes, Sidney Greidanus.
I've read a couple of other books by Sidney Greidanus, and his approach to Christ-centred, expository preaching has deeply impacted me. Especially his Preaching Christ from the Old Testament left a lasting mark on my own approach to preaching Old Testament texts, and from him I learned to appreciate the homiletical dictum: "Preachers turn Grace into Law whenever we present anthropocentric imperatives without the divine indicative." This book reads like an extended application of his previous work, and I found it very helpful. In the introduction he tells a story about preaching a painstakingly researched sermon on Ecclesiastes early in his preaching ministry. A seasoned pastor who was in the congregation approached him after and said: "Good sermon, pastor, but I'm wondering, could a Rabbi in a Synagogue have preached it just as easily?" This set him on a quest to uncover what it is about Christian preaching of the Old Testament that makes it especially Christian. Besides the treasure trove of exegetical insights it provided me, I found this commentary helpful as a point of reference in my own effort to keep my handling of this profound book Christ-centred.
Is this all there is to Life? Answers from Ecclesiastes, Ray Steadman.
This devotional book was actually just sitting there on the shelf in our very limited church library, so I grabbed it early on in my research to get a popular-level view of Ecclesiastes. Compared to Greidanus and Fox (and even Ryken), of course, the bones on this one seemed a little lean. For the most part, it read like the loosely compiled sermon notes of a pastor's verse-by-verser on Ecclesiastes, which he simply bound and published after the fact. But again, it was helpful to see where other preachers had gone with The Preacher, and part way through I realized I was reading Steadman more for moral support than exegetical insight.
Seven Words to the Wise
As I mentioned before, I've been working through the Book of Ecclesiastes for about a month now, and finding it challenging, inspiring and poignant. At one point I said to my wife: I feel like I'm being converted, all over again. My tongue was in my cheek, of course, but what I meant was: when I read Ecclesiastes, I discover this way of being in the world that is very wise, but in many ways very different from how I've learned to be Christian over the years.
Here are some of the lessons The Teacher's been coaching me on so far:
1. Don't flatter yourself: ennui over the fact that there's nothing new under the sun is itself nothing new under the sun.
2. All we are and all we do is "under the sun": contrary to appearances, human potential-- even human wisdom--is not limitless, nor was it meant to be.
3. To accept the existential absurdities of life is a source of great wisdom: Everything is "hebel" ("vapor," KJV's vanity, NIV's meaningless) not because it's worthless, but because it refuses to line up with our human intuition of rational cause and effect; don't rage against this, but accept the Creator's prerogative.
4. Work is only good because it's not ultimate: accepting the limitations the Creator has placed on the outcomes of our work (and our ministries) sets us free to enjoy our work for what it is.
5. Savor simplicity: luxury itself is "hebel".
6. Stay in the Now: "There is a time for everything," and right now is the time for what's happening right now.
7. Hold your tongue: "The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools." Full stop.
The Wisdom of Qohelet (IV)
Working on the book of Ecclesiastes for the last six weeks or so, it's struck me over and over again how poignantly, vividly and compellingly this 3000 year old book speaks to our world: living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Here's the fourth sermon in our series:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14. The Time(s) of Your Life
The Wisdom of Qohelet (III)
Contrary to appearances, I have not fallen into a space time vortex, or been abducted by aliens, or called out on assignment with the British Secret Service. My recent slackness in blogging is due to a much more mundane cause: a sinus infection has been having its way with me, leaving me with little energy for the simple pleasures of life, like musing about love, faith, words and spirituality. I intend to be back at my posting post in the coming days, but in the mean time, let me offer here Sunday's sermon, the third installment in my series on the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26: Running in the Rat Race
The Wisdom of Qohelet (I)
We started a series this week at the FreeWay on the Book of Ecclesiastes. So far it's turned out to be a far richer and more challenging study than I expected. I plan to post some more thoughts on this book in the next few weeks, but for now I hope this first installment of my preaching series brings you encouragement and edification today.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11: What's New?
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