a tilting of air

This is a long post. It’s a big topic. I’m also not sure how much of this is “right.” I know my faith in God and His Word are right…but I’m not sure if all my thinking is right. Take it as a need to process out loud thoughts brewing for some time. I’m sure I’m not the only one working through this.

The concept of a “resolution” has never inspired me. It feels like a promise, and promises are tricky. The possibility of making good on them due to my own imperfection and/or unplanned obstacles (hello, 2019) is so prevalent, why even start? I feel the same way about giving up something for Lent, but that’s another post for another day.

Jesus says in Matthew:

³⁴ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Gospel of Matthew 5:34-37 (reiterated by James, Jesus brother, in his epistle, Chapter 5:12)

Here’s the rub: I fail at almost every promise I make. This is Jesus’ point. Because I’ll fail at my promises, it is wise to keep them few and meaningful, and in a context of impending failure (let’s be honest)…and then be ready to serve up plenty of love, grace, and forgiveness when the failure happens. That’s what Christ does for us every single day, primarily through His death and resurrection, and His Word and sacrament that anchor us back to that.

I explored Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom in the Holy Bible. It gives me a very different way to think about how I pursue things in life, and also helped me understand better why I have such an allergic reaction to a New Year’s resolution.

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The Book of Ecclesiastes, inspired by the Holy Spirit through the hand of Solomon, mentions a “striving after the wind” nine times…if I counted correctly. This references the ongoing pursuit of personal happiness, success, material wealth, and so on (the Biblical version of “living your best life now”). Pretty much that upon which people build New Year’s resolutions and, well, their lives.

Although I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions, I’ve certainly made promises I couldn’t keep and have made many decisions based off my own wants and fears: losing weight, exercising more, being a better husband, father, etc…the ongoing narrative behind them is about ME, not about God.

Ecclesiastes is sometimes the hardest book for me to read, which also makes it one of my favorites. In it, God provides a reality check in which three things stand out to me (especially if I put them against other passages from His Word): the importance of seasons of life, the frailty of earthly pursuits, and the criticality of focusing on the one, true God.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

This is a direct quote from Ecclesiastes 3:1. Ups, downs, death, birth, wealth, poverty, healing, sickness, war, peace…it’s all part of my life on earth, regardless of any man-made invention to manage the 365 days it takes to revolve around the sun. Death, poverty, sickness, and war and other “why do bad things happen” wouldn’t be here if it weren’t’ for sin entering the world. But it did…so we deal with it by the grace of God.

Life’s unplanned and often mind-boggling events sometimes shatter our hopes and dreams. But troubles are always going to be present. True peace in our world will not come until our Savior returns and God creates a new heaven and a new earth. This is foretold by Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.

⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Matthew 24:6-7

In His walk with his people from Adam and onward, our Lord continues to beat the same drum: we are sinners; the world is imperfect because of that sin; God is perfect, He sent His Son – the second Person of the Trinity – to take on the sins of the world so that we might be saved and have eternal life; love the Lord God above all else; love each other out of Christ’s love; through obedience to the One who saved us by His grace through the gift of faith, we hold to His Word and sacrament as the means of continued grace and the wellspring of our daily lives until we enter into eternity.

Life on earth is a short-lived (thankfully) gift from God. Regardless of the day, month, or year, my personal goals are meaningless if I’m not first anchoring myself to the One, True God in all I do. And I fail at it daily. My life would be very different if I were more obedient. My ongoing resolution, regardless of time and space, is to get out of the way of the Holy Spirit – the third Person of the Trinity – and let Him move me to His will.

My earthly pursuits will someday become nothing at all

My pursuits are a “striving after the wind” in and of themselves. Worries about career, pay, friends, family, clothes, house, car, etc., is foolish. It will all come to an end…except for the one, true Triune God of eternity, and my salvation by grace through faith. If all my efforts aren’t aimed to His will and glory, then they are vain and pointless. And…I’ll die someday (e’en so, Lord Jesus) and all for which I’ve worked – except that which is for His kingdom and glory – will go to dust. I’m still called to find joy in it…joy in the Lord in my toil. Tall order.

²⁰ All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹ Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

²² Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:21-23

As a father, I worry (seriously) about whether I’m making enough money and giving my family all I can for their enjoyment, education, etc. The latter is more righteous than the former. However, I am told in His Word to NOT worry about these things. Jesus, Himself, references Solomon, as captured in the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, while addressing our worries about what we’ll have or gain in this life. Both verses are the same, so I’ll grab Matthew’s writing:

²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

Matthew 6:28-30 (also ref. Luke 12:27-28)

In the following verses in His Gospel, Jesus – God, the Son – says, “Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:31-32 and Matt 6:32-33).

Jesus also says in Matthew:

” ¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[e] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

So…who I am as a husband and father, and how I go about my vocation as a child of God all should line up to fearing and loving God above all things (Jesus references this a great deal in His Gospels and while guiding Moses and His people throughout the Old Testament). I even instruct my children to love God more than they love me or anyone else. If they love God more, then they will know how to love others more effectively…and vise versa.

The ultimate aim: fear God and find joy in my vocation and His gifts provided to me

All His gifts, whether I find them meager or mighty – knowing I’ll fail at both the fearing and finding joy, and by knowing this impending failure not getting all wound up in it. Instead, I want to relish in the eternal grace and mercy of our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In order to truly “relish” and find joy in all I do, I need to first ensure that I’m generous with what God has given me. Jesus says in Luke:

³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Luke 6:38

Jesus also says in Luke:

⁴⁸ … Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Luke 12:48

I’m not great at this. Yes, I work hard and I do all I can to make good on my commitments. Am I being generous with my gifts in a way that brings glory to God? Not so much. There are things I’ve said, “not now,” to God that are still hanging there, unresolved. They are unresolved because the Holy Spirit, thanks be to God, is still pressing me for what I know to be the truth.

If I truly put God first in all things, I know life would look materially different. In all honesty, it would probably turn my world upside down. And I don’t like that. Now you know what’s always on my mind…and I don’t have it sorted for this post…

Of course, all this anchors back to ancient history. This is reiterated in different ways throughout scripture. The Son of God reiterates it while in the flesh, as written in the New Testament. He tells Satan to his face when he’s trying to tempt our Lord. Jesus says, “Be gone, Satan! You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Pretty clear to me. And He continues to reinforce this throughout His Word to all who would have ears to hear when he was on earth and in His Word left for us so that we may continue to be fed by it.

• Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s deception, putting their own pursuits; the knowledge of good and evil, which seems like a noble pursuit, was contrary to God’s command; they put themselves before God. Look how that turned out…
• The Son of God then provides the commandments through His servant, Moses, to His people, Israel. The very first one: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
• This idea is thrummed repeatedly through His prophets, priests, and kings through the ages, up until the silent years between Malachi and the coming of Christ (about 400 years with no new prophets from God)
• The Son of God shows up in the flesh among us (Emmanuel) to drive home the point through teaching, admonishment, and His ultimate death and resurrection. He is God. Follow Him. Done.

He is clear in his message to His people as captured in John’s account in his beautiful Gospel…which complements everything up to and after that point. I love how God’s Word interprets itself. Praise God!

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.^[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

…and…

¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father...”

John 14:6-7, 12

So…does this mean we don’t create goals or aspire for things? Not at all. This year was a wake-up call to focus on personal health. I had goals to recover from surgery. I have a goal now to figure out how to work more effectively so that I don’t drum up even more health problems that are lurking in my spine. I will tell you this, reader: these health problems likely wouldn’t have existed if I had my priorities straight; namely, I made gods of things that have allowed to betrayed me.

Time to take those gods off my altar, toss them in the fire, and focus on Him. What does that mean? Who knows. But if those who know me don’t see a remarkable shift, then it means those gods are still sitting on the altar and my Savior is shaking his head while he lovingly moves me back into the fold…time and time again… Praise God that He has me even when I’m constantly wandering!

He makes all things new, all things clear, and all things possible – for His glory and our joy!

So…Happy New Year? Sure. It’s fun to say and I wish all the best. For me, though, it’s…in all hope…Happy New Life, celebrated every day God gives me breath!