Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of Hebrew Bible Readings from the
Australian Prayer Book.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 & 12-14, 2: 18-23... 10th S after Pentecost,
C ....
(For
LK12:13-21, scroll.)
NOTES: 1]Read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our Christian understanding of God revealed in Jesus.2] ECC is part of what Hebrews call
the 'Writings', & we call 'Wisdom' books. 3] The Teacher or Preacher,
(Qoheleth in some versions) purports to be
Solomon, but this, is an attempt to grab attention. The
book comes from long after Solomon. 4]
While the teachings appear cynical, they can be read as an honest
attempt to grapple with 'inexplicable' things of life.
WARMING UP: What is a
cynic?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1:2 Are we vain
in any sense? Come on, be honest! What is 'vanity'? What is there about it
that always gets it a bad press? Should it or shouldn't it? Is there
such a thing as a 'vanity of vanities'? What is it? If everything is
vanity, are we all really
just wasting our time here on earth? Is there really no pattern, no
shape, no purpose to life, belief, etc.? If so, shouldn't we 'stop the
world & get off'? If it's not true, should we just chop ECC out of
our Scriptures? Or would it still have a useful role to play? Should
teachers, preachers, & other leaders be teaching such cynicism? Is
there a Christian teaching on vanity? Where does it derive from?
12-14 Is it possible to
spend too much time 'seeking wisdom'? How do we tell when we have
enough? Or is that an un-wise question? Is there a connection, tension,
balance, between wisdom & practicality? Is practicality its own
kind of wisdom? Is 'the getting of wisdom' really an unhappy business?
Is it our experience that all that's done under the sun, by us or
anyone else, a vanity, or a chasing after ('feeding on' in some
versions) wind? In Christian terms, is there a difference between
chasing after the Spirit (same word as 'wind') & feeding on Spirit?
Are we more likely to think of the Spirit chasing after us so we can
feed on 'it'?
2:18-23 Do we ever get
to the stage of hating whatever is our daily toil? Does it worry us
that what we achieve we must one day leave to someone else, or is that
a prime objective for at least some of us? (As opposed to 'Ski-ing',
'Spending the Kids' Inheritance'?) Does it bother us that those who
come after us in family, job, etc. may be either wise or foolish &
we can't, on the whole, protect ourself from foolish things they may
do? Do we ever get to the point of despair in any of this? Where does
vanity come into such things? Can we either bequeath or inherit wisdom,
knowledge, or skill? When might vanity become evil rather than merely
foolish? What do we mortals
get from all our 'toil & strain under the sun'? Can we describe
what we get, or measure it?
Are there ways
our days are full of pain? (The writer doesn't seem to be thinking in
medical terms, here.) What does pain us in the sense the Teacher means?
What vexes us? What kind of thinking, worrying keeps us awake at night?
Would it ever occur to us that that is a kind of vanity? Can we
identify aspects of these ancient teachings that bear on today's Gospel
(LK 12:13-21) & Christian faith in general?
