Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Main Idea: God is holy, and so are His people.

Text:

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the pace that we often try to maintain in life today. The world we live in today seems to value keeping ourselves constantly busy and making great accomplishments. Sometimes I can get sucked into that, and I find myself getting so incredibly busy in order to feel like I’m being productive, but then after a while I find that my life is spinning chaotically out of control, with no clear direction, chasing far too many things.

And of course, idle hands are the devil’s playground, and we don’t just want to waste our lives in laziness. But our society has made busyness and accomplishments almost the highest ideal to pursue, at the expense of resting in the work of God.

So I’ve been encouraged by the example of people like Mr. Rogers just to slow down a bit and focus on what truly matters.

Our culture used to treat Sundays as sacred. Businesses would be closed on Sunday, people would go to church, and no sports teams would even think about scheduling any games on Sunday. But that’s mostly changed over the years, hasn’t it? Businesses often see Sunday as any other day, a lot of sports seem to prefer to schedule games on Sundays now because that’s when people are free to play and watch, because people are making church less and less of a priority, and that even includes Christians.

We, even as God’s people, have become very casual in how we treat God and His church. It used to be seen as necessary to belong to a church not just for your spiritual development, but also for your social and professional development. But now it seems that even Christians see church as less and less necessary in their lives.

Now, I say all this not to shame us about our commitment to attend church, because I think that’s only a symptom of an even bigger issue. Because I wonder if the problem isn’t so much that we’ve unprioritized gathering together, but rather that we’ve completely misunderstood what the church even is, and what God is doing. I think for the most part, we’ve misunderstood our role in the church, and even who we are in relation to God.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong. Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Just as dreams accompany much labor, so also a fool’s voice comes with many words. When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? For many dreams bring futility; so do many words. Therefore, fear God. (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

Father, help us to know who we are in relation to You, and to have a biblical fear of You in the way that we live. Help us to know You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

You often hear people say that being in a church doesn’t make you a Christian, just as being in a garage doesn’t make you a car. And that’s true. However, I would also say that if you have a garage, it would be foolish to leave it parked out on the street when you know there’s a hailstorm coming.

Life is full of storms. And we need the constant encouragement, hope, and direction that we get when we gather together as a church, whether we think we need it or not. Because even when things are going well for a while, and we don’t think we need the support of other believers, we never know when the next storm is coming, and it’s important to have that support system in place when you need it most.

Now, strictly speaking, our passage in Ecclesiastes today isn’t talking about going to church. It’s talking more about how Jews were to view their involvement in the synagogue, since this is an Old Testament passage written by an Israelite king. And yet, it does say a lot about how we do church today, although maybe not in the way that we might immediately assume.

We might assume that we can apply everything from the synagogue worship order to our church service worship order, but that would be a mistake. In the Old Testament, the Temple, and by association, the synagogue was called the house of God. So much of the Hebrew Bible was devoted to showing how God is holy, and they couldn’t just approach God however they desired. They were taught that God is separate from us because of our sin. But God had made a way for them to meet with Him, and it was at the Temple. So when Jews went to the Temple or to synagogue, they were going to the house of God.

But even at the Temple, it was clear that you could not approach God however you desired. There was a heavy curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where God’s presence was said to dwell. So even at God’s house, it was clear that we were separate from God.

But when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom, because God did the tearing. We’re no longer separate from God. So the Bible’s message is that we don’t go to the house of God, we are the house of God.

The New Testament says that your body, our body, is a temple. When you place your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, and we are the house of God.

So when we read this passage, it’s true that a lot of this applies to how we do church when we gather together, but not because it’s the same thing as the Old Testament Temple or synagogue. It’s not because this building is the Holy Place, or even the Most Holy Place. It’s because we are made holy by grace through faith in Jesus.

So there are at least two levels that this passage applies to us today. On the first level, we can understand it as instructions in terms of our church gatherings, and certainly we can gain a lot by thinking carefully through what we do together as a church body. But in the truest sense, this passage is talking about how each one of us relates to God.

Verse 1.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

In addressing an error in the thoughts of many Israelites, the Teacher in Ecclesiastes also addressed how we ought to go about worshiping God as well, even on both levels that we’re talking about.

The error that many Israelites believed was that as long as they offered their sacrifices, it didn’t matter how else they lived. And like almost every lie, there’s an element of truth to it. God did command that the Jews participate in this system of sacrifices, which showed that their relationship with God demanded a blood sacrifice because they couldn’t just do enough good to make themselves perfect. But the sacrifice itself wasn’t the point. The point ultimately was simply that they look to God, receiving His grace. Isaiah 29:13 says:

These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me. (Isaiah 29:13)

I wonder how many times our church services in our Southern Baptist Churches would receive the same rebuke. Because I think we’ve certainly allowed human rules to sometimes direct our worship: when and where to sit, when and where to stand, when to raise your hands, if it’s even allowed at all, when to dance, even when to sing or shout in praise.

But I think the Bible makes it clear that God desires us to be more like David, dancing half-naked in the street, not caring if we look undignified in our praise.

Now, Paul did write that when we gather together as a church, everything should be done decently and in order, but that wasn’t to limit our worship, but to allow us all to have a place to worship freely. God wants our hearts to be changed so that we praise Him and obey Him out of overwhelming thankfulness for what He’s done for us.

You see, even though God certainly instituted this system of sacrifices for the Israelites to participate in, the point wasn’t that they think they were making themselves holy through their sacrifices, as if their own works were making themselves righteous. The point was to recognize that God forgives through a sacrifice. The point was to look to God!

Don’t look at yourself and what you can do, or want to do, or should do, look to Jesus and what He has done. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson staid; He washed it white as snow.” Our worship depends entirely on what Jesus has done for us, giving His life for us, and that’s a very sobering thought.

So on one level, if we were to read this with the understanding about how it applies to coming to church, we should not treat it lightly. It’s a very serious thing. That doesn’t mean that we should scowl as we worship and never be cheerful. Actually, just the opposite. We ought to come into His presence with thanksgiving, and not just go through the motions as if offering our required sacrifice. Because God doesn’t want your routine of going to church. He wants your heart.

And that’s what gets at the fuller meaning of this text as well. Because ultimately, it’s not just about going to church. It’s about being the body of Christ. In your everyday life, God desires your heart. Not just Sundays, and not just here, but everyday, and everywhere. And that leads to a very different kind of life. Verse 2.

Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Just as dreams accompany much labor, so also a fool’s voice comes with many words. (Ecclesiastes 5:2-3)

Worship in an Israelite synagogue was meant to be very reverent. They were to sing the Psalms. They were to read from the Scriptures. And any explanations of the Hebrew Scripture were to be brief, because if God has spoken through the Scriptures, who are we to add to it?

Once again, this applies to what we do here, and what we do out there.

Here, we need to be careful about what we teach. James says that we who teach are going to be judged more strictly. That’s why I generally write out my sermons word for word. Now, this certainly isn’t the only way to preach, and I’m truly in awe of those preachers who don’t need meticulous notes, but for me, this helps me to let my words be few, and clear, so that I would not be preaching my word, but God’s word.

But again, this isn’t just talking about what we do here. It’s also about our conversations with others no matter where we are. Every time we open our mouths, in everyday conversations, we have a decision to make. Will we honor the Lord with our words, or will we boast in ourselves, and make fools of ourselves?

Verse 4.

When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6)

It’s truly silly how quickly we make vows to God, isn’t it? A vow is just another word for a promise or pledge. I don’t know about you, but I’ve made promises to God when I’ve been in trouble, asking Him to get me out of trouble, and I’ve made promises to God when everything seemed to be going fine, thinking that a promise to Him at such a time seemed like the right thing to do in order to prove my devotion to Him. We’ve probably all made promises to God at church, even today, as we sang “_______________________.” I’ve made promises to God after sinning, before sinning, and even while sinning, saying, “God, this will be the last time.” But I’m pretty sure I’ve broken just about all of my promises.

And since I’ve broken my promises to God, the Bible calls me a fool in whom God does not delight. It says that my mouth has brought guilt on me. And the truth is, we’re all guilty before God, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death, and in Adam, all die.

But there’s good news. Because even while we were breaking our promises to God, even while we were yet sinners, God made a promise to us, and God always keeps His promises. From the very first sin, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God promised to send the Savior. And that’s exactly what He did. Jesus came, lived the perfect life that we fail to live, and then died for our sins, paying it all, so that we are washed white as snow.

So, once again, we’re encouraged not to look to our own promises, but to God’s promise. Verse 7.

For many dreams bring futility; so do many words. Therefore, fear God. (Ecclesiastes 5:7)

In other words, we often place so much emphasis in life on our own dreams and words. We really have a very high view of ourselves. We think we can make our lives mean something through accomplishing our dreams, or through our superior intellect over other creatures on the earth. But all of that is meaningless, futile, a chasing after the wind, if not for God who gives meaning to our lives. Therefore, fear God.

Fearing God, in this context, means trusting His way instead of your way. It means orienting your life so that God is at the center of your life instead of you. Instead of attempting to save your life, rest in the God who saves. Instead of busying yourself with so many things, get busy about resting in what God has done. Rest in Jesus. Rest in the grace of God given to you freely through faith in Jesus. And recognize that worshiping Him sometimes means slowing down, being ok with silence, and simply trusting God to bring order to our chaos.