Ecclesiastes 12,1-7. 20 Trinity

Ecclesiastes 12,1-7           5321 

20. Trinitatis 065

Hedwig, Duchess of Poland, † 1243

17. Oktober 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father: We thank You, that of Your great mercy You have called us by Your holy word to the blessed marriage-feast of Your Son, and through Him do forgive us all our sins; but, being daily beset by temptation, offense and danger, and being weak in ourselves and given to sin, we beseech You graciously to protect us by Your Holy Spirit, so that we fall not; and if we fall and defile our wedding-garment, with which Your Son has clothed us, then graciously help us again and lead us to repentance, so that we fall not forever; preserve in us a constant faith in Your grace.  Amen. (Veit Dietrich) 

2. »Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say: „I have no pleasure in them“; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.« 

3. King Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, imparts this piece of his immense wisdom: all is vanity (12,8). That is to say: everything is worthless, pointless and futile. How many people express a similar malaise as we live with the effects of the 2020 COVID pandemic? Solomon might counsel such a question with: life is short, so remember God in your youth. 

4. Solomon furthermore exhorts people to be attentive to their parents’ instructions so as to gain insight (Proverbs 4,1), as well as to seek wisdom in God’s Word and live (Proverbs 4,4-5). But the to the detriment of our culture it often disregards the wisdom of both our elders and God. There is less and less desire to conserve the wisdom of our ancestors as the desire to progress forward all manner of new and popular ideals is in vogue. Even Solomon knew that there is no end of making many books, and much study of novel ideals is a weariness of the flesh (Ecclesiastes 12,12). 

5. The Apostle John tells us that flesh was taken up by the Word (John 1,14). The flesh is weak and weary, and Jesus the Son of God took upon Himself this flesh; Jesus experienced the vanity of flesh that we are all too familiar with, yes, the flesh with its burdens. Jesus humbly bore the yoke of human flesh and human vanity. He thus exhorts us: »take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light« (Matthew 11, 29-30). 

6. Solomon also imparts these words of wisdom: »I perceive that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it; and God seeks what has been driven away« (Ecclesiastes 3,14.15). Solomon saw what God would do in the future. God sent His Son into a world full of vanities. This Son took upon Himself our vain flesh and dwelt among us. All this He did so as to find those lost in the despair of futile existence.

7. Jesus suffered, and rose again. What He did endures forever. Our life is not pointless and we are not worthless, because God values us. He redeemed all the world’s vanity. The law shouts: vanity of vanities; everything is vanity; the gospel proclaims: value of values; everything is valuable. Jesus is the Righteousness and Wisdom of God. He gives us God’s righteousness with His death, and He gives us God’s wisdom that those who die in Christ will forever live in His holy presence. Remember your Savior when life seems to only be vanity, for Christ has brought renewed meaning to life, for God’s love, grace and mercy triumph over vanities of this world. This is most certainly true. 

8. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7).  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O Lord, who is worthy to be adored; teach as Your gospel, so that we trust in it unto the end.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.