In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
There are few things more disconcerting than listening to the jaded old guy who has seen everything twice and tells you nothing works and civilization is crumbling around us. In my worst moments, I am that old guy but there is at heart, a ring of truth in it that coincides with the Bible. The Preacher speaks to the humanist man in these verses that thinks man can make sense of a world that is senseless due to the fall. If this world was all there is, he says, the righteous die with no reward for their righteousness and the wicked prosper with no punishment for their wrongdoing.
The world can make sense only in the knowledge of the plan that its Creator reveals for it. The hope of the righteous man rests not in his goodness but in God’s mercy by sending Jesus to the cross for the wicked; us. Too often we Christians think like the humanist man in these verses and seek recompense for our good deeds and seek revenge on the wicked. Neither one is in our power or skill set. We will mess that up in record time. Today, may Jesus Christ teach us the meaning of the world.
Dear Lord, thank you for the world and all that is in it. Teach us to love the world and not be of the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church