When life makes (no) sense
Sunday 3rd March 2024
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…
Proverbs 1:7
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)
When life makes (no) sense
Have you ever wondered why we have the books of both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the Bible?
Here is how Christopher Watkins puts the question: “Why are the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes both in the Bible? After all, Proverbs gives the impression that if we make wise decisions, things will go well for us, and if we make foolish decisions, things will go badly. Simple enough. Ecclesiastes, by contrast, suggests that it does not really matter whether we make wise or foolish decisions because the wicked prosper and the wise suffer, and we are all growing old and will die soon, so we may as well enjoy what little time we have left because life is just one big pantomime of chasing after a wind that we never catch. Simple enough?”
And we are tempted to ask, which is it? Is Proverbs right, or is Ecclesiastes right? And wouldn’t it be better for everyone if instead we had a single book that combines both perspectives? The answers are, of course, that both books are right – and, no, it wouldn’t be better to have a combined-perspective volume.
That is because we need both perspectives. There are times when life makes sense, and there are times when nothing makes sense. We will encounter both experiences at different times, and maybe even at the same time. You may be enjoying the fruit of good work, where your efforts are being rewarded, or perhaps suffering the consequences of someone’s anger or dishonesty(Proverbs), while at the same time wrestling to understand a cancer diagnosis, or contemplating the apparent randomness of life (Ecclesiastes).
Life does make sense (at least some of the time) because the world remains a created world, given order and reasonableness by its Creator. There are times when life makes no sense because the world is fallen, and the order is broken (although not beyond repair). And we will experience both perspectives as long as this world lasts. Here is how GK Chesterton put it: “The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite” (quoted by Watkin).
Lord, teach us the way of wisdom, recognising the order in your world and learning to navigate the disorder, while we long for the day when order is restored and what is broken is remade. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)