Ecclesiastes and the Teacher Preachers Need
Who are you kidding?!
If you have ever been involved in opening the Bible with someone then I am sure that at some point the question has pushed its way to the front of your mind. As you sit down on a Monday morning to prepare another sermon, as you desperately try to think of something to say to the friend beside you in tears, as you look around to the group gathered for a Bible study, sooner or later you find yourself asking ‘Who are you kidding?!’ Whether you would describe it as imposter’s syndrome, stage fright, writer’s block or just feeling spiritually dry, we are never far away from a sense of our weakness before the word of God. Worse than weakness, it can feel simply ridiculous: How can I presume to have anything to offer them? How would they have any reason to listen to me? Who are you kidding?!
I felt that question recently as I began to prepare a sermon on Ecclesiastes chapter 9. The message of the book seems as elusive as the hebel or smoke that weaves its way through the text. Its structure feels as confusing as the chaotic world that Qhoholet- the ‘teacher’ describes. Its language is beautiful, paradoxical, compelling and cryptic. So as I prepared to preach, the book seemed to confront me with the question: ‘Who are you kidding?!’
But then I realised something. That is the point.
Ecclesiastes strips us of any pretension to strength. It exposes the absurdity of self-reliance. It kicks away the crutches of technical skill and pulls out the rug of personal charisma. It holds up a mirror to show us ourselves and our place ‘under the Sun’ and asks ‘Who are you kidding?!’ To the preacher seeking to forge a legacy, Ecclesiastes warns that we will each be quickly forgotten. To pastors wanting to fix the brokenness of people they love, the book lays bare the crookedness that we can never make straight. To the friend who is searching for the perfect piece of advice it exposes the weakness of wisdom itself.
Again and again, it says to us ‘Who are you kidding?!’
But that question feels very different when it comes to us from Ecclesiastes. When I ask myself that question it is in a tone of contempt and accusation and shame. When Ecclesiastes asks me that question, it speaks with a smile of love. Like a parent picking up a child who has been bruised by their own reckless self-confidence, the book speaks to us in compassion and care. In its pages God takes our hands. He brushes down palms that are scuffed and sore from our scrabbling to take control. He looks us in the eye and soothes a heart racing from the effort of chasing after the wind. He puts us back on our feet - but shows us where it is that we stand. We see our smallness and our fragility amidst the sprawling unknown of the world around. In grace and compassion it asks us that question: ‘Who are you kidding?!’ Stop struggling against the reality of your own fragility - stop exhausting yourself wrestling with smoke.
And that question then frames the Teacher’s response. Listen to what he says in the middle of Ecclesiastes 9:7-10:
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. … Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
Life is short, but God is good and he has showered you with gifts to enjoy. Your ministry, responsibilities and service can’t give you stability, security or significance - they don’t give you anything. They were given to you by your loving God. And when they are freed from the need to bring us meaning, we can receive those gifts in gratitude and joy. God hasn’t placed today’s tasks before me because I am special. He has placed them before me because he is kind. He has made them special - opportunities to enjoy his Fatherly care. I don’t have to puff out my chest in pride or hide behind a show of strength. I just wrap my hand around whatever the Lord has placed in its reach today. However feeble or weak my grasp might be. I love how Calvin marvels at preaching as the moment ‘when a puny man risen from the dust speaks in God’s name.’ It is an absurd and generous kindness of God.
Or to put it another way, once I have stopped kidding myself, I can begin to enjoy the joke. I can shake my head in wonder and share the Lord’s delighted smile.
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