Ecclesiastes 5:1-9
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:1
With today’s reading I feel like we have stepped onto holy ground, and I am reminded that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Pr. 9:10) Yet far too often we treat the Lord casually, and we fail to recognize holiness. For example, at the entrance to the sanctuary at St. Andrew’s we have a sign posted urging us to enter silently so as to prepare our hearts for worship, but the sign is widely ignored, and there is constant chit-chat before the service. Any notion of guarding our steps seems absent, and I fear that we may well offer the sacrifice of fools more often than we draw near to listen.
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:2
We tend to exercise our mouths much more than our ears, not only with one another, but also with God. We ask Him for this, and we ask Him for that, and we may even praise Him and thank Him. And we should. But perhaps we use too many words, and perhaps we hide behind our words, and perhaps we’re not entirely honest in our words. But God sees through all that anyway. So take some time today and find a quiet place where you can simply be silent before God and just listen.
One more thing…
Today is Election Day — or perhaps more accurately now, today is the end of voting season — and we’ll (begin to) learn actual election results and not just opinion polls. So in anticipation of those results, I’d like to encourage all to bear Ecclesiastes in mind. If things tend to go your way, I’d like to say to you, “Congratulations! Praise God that His will was done!” And if your side goes down in defeat, I’d like to say to you, “Congratulations! Praise God that His will was done!” Be neither overconfident in victory nor despairing in defeat, for this nation known as the good ol’ U.S.A. is not the Kingdom you are looking for. It is God who raises up and God who tears down, and it is He Who is the one true King, so trust that He is in control and knows what He is doing.
That does not mean that we should just stay home and not vote. Far from it. As citizens we have the right to vote. And as conscientious citizens we have a responsibility to vote — a responsibility to seek the Lord’s guidance and to make the wisest choices we can for the good of all (which may or may not align with our own personal self interest). Voting is a way to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we should act accordingly. And that means thinking and praying seriously about your vote, and not just acting on the basis of soundbites and rhetoric. It means using true wisdom, and not being swayed by fear, bribes, or emotionalism. Choose life or choose death. Choose the status quo or seek change. Make your decision and cast your vote in the fear of the Lord. But in the end, we must leave the result to the Lord. Anything else is just so much more vanity and striving after wind.