Ecclesiastes 7, 15-18

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.Amen

A preliminary remark

Today we are dealing with a text from the book of Ecclesiastes. This is a book that belongs in the category of ‘wisdom literature’.

Wisdom is the attempt to come to terms with the world - despite its injustices, despite misfortune and some incomprehensible things. Wisdom is founded in experience - not in logic.

Ecclesiastes 7, 15-18 (NIV)

15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:

The righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.

16 Do not be over righteous, neither be over wise - why destroy yourself?

17 Do not be over wicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time?

18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

Dear congregation,

‘There is nothing that doesn't exist!’ we sometimes say in amazement. It is always surprising to realise what we experience in our fleeting lives.

The preacher is also amazed. ‘This is impossible, it can´t be true!’ can be heard between the lines. It is inconceivable that life can be so unfair. Unbelievable that bad things can happen to good people.

Unfathomable that life is the way it is.

Ecclesiastes confronts us with a difficult life experience: life is different from what we wish or hope for, different from how it ought to be.

People act differently than we think is right.

There is so much indignation: ‘This can't be true...’ is how such sentences begin. It can't be true that people are so corrupt and get away with it. It can't be true that some people are so helpful and caring, full of

compassion, while others don't care at all how their neighbour is doing.

It can't be true that some earn millions for their work and others, who break themselves physically, barely have enough to live on.

Oh, the list would be long: the list of what triggers outrage in us.

In Ecclesiastes, there is no indignation of outrageousness between the lines and that is truly wise.

As soon as I am outraged and upset about others, I make my truth, my experience the absolute truth.

Those who are outraged simply don't want to understand that things are and can be different from what they want them to be.

But this is what Ecclesiastes is pointing out to us: in life, we have experiences that we do not understand and cannot categorise.

The more we are outraged, the less we understand and the more resistance we put up, the more we suffer. This can rob us of our zest for life and we can become bitter. What use is that? What use is my indignation and bitterness?This is where Ecclesiastes comes in with its wisdom: stop comparing and stop judging one thing as good and another as bad.

There is a short, very impressive story about this. Perhaps you have heard it before:

‘An old man lived on a small farm with his only son. They only had one horse to work the fields and could barely make ends meet. One day the horse ran away. The people in the village came to the old man and exclaimed, ‘Oh, what a terrible misfortune!’ But the old man replied in a calm voice: ‘Who knows..., who knows what it's good for?’ A week later, the horse returned and brought a whole herd of beautiful wild horses with him to the paddock. Again the people from the village said: ‘What incredible luck!’ But the old man said again: ‘Who knows..., who knows what it's good for?’ The next week, the son set about breaking in one of the wild horses. But he was thrown off and broke his leg. Now the old man had to do the field work alone. And the people from the village said to him: ‘What a terrible misfortune!’ The old man's reply was again: ‘Who knows..., who knows what it's good for?’ In the next few days, war broke out with the neighbouring country. The army soldiers came to the village to conscript all the men fit for war. All the young men in the village had to go to the front and many of them died. The old man's son, however, was able to stay at home with his broken leg. ‘Who knows..., who knows what it's for?’

This story is a short introduction to the wisdom literature, to which Ecclesiastes also belongs.

It is wisdom, not dogmatism. These are not sentences that are chiselled in stone, but wisdom is an attitude that people cope with during difficult phases in their life.

Such wisdom is human wisdom - it is well-meant advice from person to person.

It is an attentiveness to the fate of others and an attempt to help them in some way.

Wisdom has a lot to do with enduring - less with explaining.

Wisdom has a lot to do with attentive perception, less with absolute truths.

Wisdom is the attempt to understand - not a scientific attempt, but a coming to terms with what is barely manageable - wisdom is healing power for the soul.

Wisdom speaks little of God and yet is completely grounded in him. Wisdom doesn't take over, but opens up - it doesn't minimise God, but expands the horizon so that God can be perceived everywhere.

That is why wisdom speaks very little of God - because God is not explained and captured in wisdom, but God becomes the origin and goal.

Therefore: accept it: this text, this sermon: as one among many: an impulse, a thought-provoking impulse, an attempt to remain joyful and confident in all that is difficult and unimaginable, in all justified indignation, in all horror and in all fear.

Who knows what good it will do?

To me it makes sense that the summary of an attitude of wisdom – the willingness to accept that not my will is the most important but to surrender to the will of God is written in Psalm 90,12 as follows:

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen