Ecclesiastes 4:5-6 Fools fold their hands
and consume their own flesh.
Better is a handful with quiet
than two handfuls with toil,
and a chasing after wind.
The writer of Ecclesiastes (possibly Solomon) was not a happy guy: or at least not in a happy mood when he wrote this book. Probably the most common phrase in the whole book is "I saw that this also is vanity and an unhappy business." He basically goes through all the things that people spend their time and their energy on and says that it's a bunch of vanity and chasing after wind. I don't disagree with him, but I kind of just want him to lighten up a little bit.
In the passage above, he's talking about all the time and energy that we humans spend working and trying to get more stuff. He's just said that all work comes from one person's envy of another. We work because we want something that we see someone else has. A promotion, a better office, a car, a vacation home. There's truth to that. Perhaps there's something to the sentiment that "better is a handful of quiet than two handfuls with toil." Maybe we need to learn to rest and be happy with the gifts that God has already given us. Maybe.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com Worship with us this weekend at 5 pm Saturday or 9 am Sunday.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Monday
Ecclesiastes 2:13-14 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
The wise have eyes in their head,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.
The book of Ecclesiastes is in part kind of a thought experiment about what brings true joy and meaning to life. It's a set of questions that we all deal with through our lives, whether we acknowledge the questions that obviously or not. Sometimes we don't know that we're trying to find joy and meaning in our lives, but if we sit back and think about it, that's really what it's about.
So the writer of Ecclesiastes, traditionally thought to be King Solomon, known as the wisest person in the history of humanity sets out to figure out what is really worth something in life.
And he acknowledges that wisdom is really good. Wisdom is a good thing. If you have to choose between being wise and being a fool, go with being wise. It's kind of like being in the light as opposed to being in the dark.
And yet it's not everything. As he says, "the same fate befalls all of them." The wise still die. The wise still lose things. The wise still experience sadness and loss, just like fools. So wisdom is valuable. But it's not everything. The only thing that brings value and meaning to life is a relationship with the God of the wise and the foolish. In God our lives are wrapped up into meaning and value.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com Worship with us this weekend at 5 pm Saturday or 9 am Sunday.
The wise have eyes in their head,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.
The book of Ecclesiastes is in part kind of a thought experiment about what brings true joy and meaning to life. It's a set of questions that we all deal with through our lives, whether we acknowledge the questions that obviously or not. Sometimes we don't know that we're trying to find joy and meaning in our lives, but if we sit back and think about it, that's really what it's about.
So the writer of Ecclesiastes, traditionally thought to be King Solomon, known as the wisest person in the history of humanity sets out to figure out what is really worth something in life.
And he acknowledges that wisdom is really good. Wisdom is a good thing. If you have to choose between being wise and being a fool, go with being wise. It's kind of like being in the light as opposed to being in the dark.
And yet it's not everything. As he says, "the same fate befalls all of them." The wise still die. The wise still lose things. The wise still experience sadness and loss, just like fools. So wisdom is valuable. But it's not everything. The only thing that brings value and meaning to life is a relationship with the God of the wise and the foolish. In God our lives are wrapped up into meaning and value.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com Worship with us this weekend at 5 pm Saturday or 9 am Sunday.
Friday, July 30, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Friday
Ephesians 4:20, 22-24
20That is not the way you learned Christ! 22You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I'm sure you've never said or heard the phrase, "That' s not how you were raised!" But, imagine for a moment, the tone with which a parent might speak such a phrase. Now re-read the above scripture.
We constantly need to be reminded that we have learned Christ, that we have been raised (whether we're 5 or 50 or 90) to a new life, a new self according to the likeness of God. So, hear again, the words that turn us away from the former life, the old self, and turn us toward the righteousness and holiness of our God-life. Again and again and again, God turns us back to God. Thanks, God, we need that.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
20That is not the way you learned Christ! 22You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I'm sure you've never said or heard the phrase, "That' s not how you were raised!" But, imagine for a moment, the tone with which a parent might speak such a phrase. Now re-read the above scripture.
We constantly need to be reminded that we have learned Christ, that we have been raised (whether we're 5 or 50 or 90) to a new life, a new self according to the likeness of God. So, hear again, the words that turn us away from the former life, the old self, and turn us toward the righteousness and holiness of our God-life. Again and again and again, God turns us back to God. Thanks, God, we need that.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Thursday, July 29, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Thursday
Romans 11:34-35
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
The depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge -- O! While it's always true, most of us probably live day in and day out without giving a lot of thought to the magnificence of God. I've written before that it can be overwhelming to imagine God in all of God's ways... O, how rich, how wise, how filled with knowledge.
While we might forget, or simply not acknowledge it on a daily basis, remembering that God is God (and we're not) can be helpful. It's not up to us to shoulder the concerns of the world -- God has far more wisdom and knowledge to handle those things that come our way than we ever will. We are to turn to God for counsel, we are not expected to counsel God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
The depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge -- O! While it's always true, most of us probably live day in and day out without giving a lot of thought to the magnificence of God. I've written before that it can be overwhelming to imagine God in all of God's ways... O, how rich, how wise, how filled with knowledge.
While we might forget, or simply not acknowledge it on a daily basis, remembering that God is God (and we're not) can be helpful. It's not up to us to shoulder the concerns of the world -- God has far more wisdom and knowledge to handle those things that come our way than we ever will. We are to turn to God for counsel, we are not expected to counsel God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday
Psalm 55:16-17
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
There is a sureness that the psalmist shares -- the Lord *will* save me; he *will* hear my voice. Is this a mantra that the psalmist repeats to get himself through the day? Is this the prayer before bed? Perhaps a little bit of both. While I'm sure that the Lord appreciates hearing our joys and thanksgivings, in addition to our complaints and moans, the truth is that there are days (weeks? months?) when complaints and moans dominate our conversations with God.
Let us trust that the Lord will hear our voice, and save us.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
There is a sureness that the psalmist shares -- the Lord *will* save me; he *will* hear my voice. Is this a mantra that the psalmist repeats to get himself through the day? Is this the prayer before bed? Perhaps a little bit of both. While I'm sure that the Lord appreciates hearing our joys and thanksgivings, in addition to our complaints and moans, the truth is that there are days (weeks? months?) when complaints and moans dominate our conversations with God.
Let us trust that the Lord will hear our voice, and save us.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Friday, July 23, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Friday
Acts 2:29 Fellow Israelites,* I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Peter gave the sermon at the first big Pentecost celebration and he started by reminding the people that David was still dead. David, the great leader of Israel's past... David, the greatest king in Israel's past... David, for whom God seems to have had a soft spot... David, the writer of the psalms... David died and stayed dead.
Sometimes we think about or talk about Jesus as the greatest prophet and moral teacher in the history of the world. And he was. He taught brilliantly in parables. I believe his Sermon on the Mount would stand up to any political speech today as a great plan for how people can live together. He motivated thousands. He brought food and healing and love and hope throughout his nation. He did all that. And so have others, to varying degrees.
But Peter here is hinting at the key difference. What makes Jesus Jesus? What makes Jesus worth following and worshiping? He didn't stay dead. That makes all the difference in the world. Because not only did Jesus not stay dead but he promised that neither will we. Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Peter gave the sermon at the first big Pentecost celebration and he started by reminding the people that David was still dead. David, the great leader of Israel's past... David, the greatest king in Israel's past... David, for whom God seems to have had a soft spot... David, the writer of the psalms... David died and stayed dead.
Sometimes we think about or talk about Jesus as the greatest prophet and moral teacher in the history of the world. And he was. He taught brilliantly in parables. I believe his Sermon on the Mount would stand up to any political speech today as a great plan for how people can live together. He motivated thousands. He brought food and healing and love and hope throughout his nation. He did all that. And so have others, to varying degrees.
But Peter here is hinting at the key difference. What makes Jesus Jesus? What makes Jesus worth following and worshiping? He didn't stay dead. That makes all the difference in the world. Because not only did Jesus not stay dead but he promised that neither will we. Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Thursday, July 22, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Thursday
John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary Magdalene said "I have seen the Lord." You have seen the Lord too. I know you have. You've seen God bringing hope into your heart at your grandmother's bedside as she died. You've seen God offering you a place to rest when you didn't think there was any room in the inn for you. You've seen God giving you a word of hope that let you get through another dreary and downcast week. You've seen the Lord. I know you have.
I also know, or at least I can guess, that you haven't felt like you could quite put it into words. You haven't felt quite worthy to tell anyone that you've seen the Lord. Because you're not a pastor. Because you're not a brilliant writer. Because you don't write amazing songs. Mary Magdalene felt the same way. She was a woman. She was an outcast woman. She followed Jesus but wasn't counted one of the Twelve Apostles. And yet God chose her to bear the message the first time. Mary Magdalene told the Easter story the very first time. If she could do it, so can you.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Mary Magdalene said "I have seen the Lord." You have seen the Lord too. I know you have. You've seen God bringing hope into your heart at your grandmother's bedside as she died. You've seen God offering you a place to rest when you didn't think there was any room in the inn for you. You've seen God giving you a word of hope that let you get through another dreary and downcast week. You've seen the Lord. I know you have.
I also know, or at least I can guess, that you haven't felt like you could quite put it into words. You haven't felt quite worthy to tell anyone that you've seen the Lord. Because you're not a pastor. Because you're not a brilliant writer. Because you don't write amazing songs. Mary Magdalene felt the same way. She was a woman. She was an outcast woman. She followed Jesus but wasn't counted one of the Twelve Apostles. And yet God chose her to bear the message the first time. Mary Magdalene told the Easter story the very first time. If she could do it, so can you.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
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