what-s-the-point-when-our-world-is-so-messed-up-sermon-notes

What’s the Point When Our World Is So Messed Up

Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3; 8:14

I love California oak trees. When Chris and I first visited CA, we went to the Central Coast in rainy January and saw the green rolling hills populated by our oaks: (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8c/84/15/8c8415db02b603d396f30e371c9686e9.jpg).

You may know that many of our CA oaks are now in trouble. Some are diseased because of the work of western oak bark beetles that create a lethal fungus in the oaks: https://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Coast-live-trunk-infested-covered-with-beetle-attack.jpg

Others are dying because of the drought that has been plaguing CA: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green//blogfiles/20409_original.jpg. To remind you of what a CA oak should look like when it is “right”, i.e., when it is not being damaged by disease or drought, let me show you one: http://media4.trover.com/T/516b2fec26c48d7100000563/fixedw_large_4x.jpg.

I begin my message with this tutorial on oak trees because, today, we will dedicate and celebrate the new artwork on our Maple Street Children’s Center:

This piece of art is the work ofKatherine English, a recent graduate of Azusa Pacific University, done while she was completing her final year of study. At the direction of a Lake Avenue team, Kat pursued the theme of growth through the use of a tree as found in Isaiah 61:3, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

Our prayer is that all the children who enter that place will become the kinds of “oaks of righteousness” that God speaks of in that verse. When oaks have been damaged, they must first be made whole themselves. When they are whole, they begin to bring life to the area around them as growth leads to the production of other trees, of other life. That’s what we pray will happen, i.e., both that our children will come to God and be made whole and that they will grow to brings God’s life and blessing to others.

But, why did God use this image of an “oak of righteousness”? This language is taken from the condition of God’s people during a long captivity that they were to undergo in Babylon, the area now called Iraq. Judah’s homeland, and especially its capitol city of Jerusalem, was destroyed. Then, it laid for seventy years. Of course all the remains of Israel’s former prosperity under Solomon had decayed. Nothing in the land was quite right.

However, in, Isaiah 60-62, through Isaiah, God prophesied of a day when all would be made right. Isaiah 61 is at the heart of this. In 61:1-2, God says he will send a rescuer who will be anointed: to proclaim good news to the poor and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captivesand release from darkness for the prisoners…, to comfort all who mourn,and provide for those who grieve…, to bestow on them a crown of beautyinstead of ashes, the oil of joyinstead of mourning, and a garment of praiseinstead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lordfor the display of his splendor.

Who is this rescuer, this savior, who will make it possible for people once in despair to become “oaks of God’s righteousness who display God’s splendor”? I think you know. It is Jesus. Jesus took this text in Isaiah 61 and, one day in his hometown in Nazareth, said that he fulfilled it (Lk 4:14-20).

So, Jesus is the one who can turn people into “oaks of righteousness”, in this unrighteous world.

And, that declaration brings us back into Ecclesiastes today and Solomon’s deep concern that, in this world, things are not right. Remember that he was king in the most prosperous time of Israel’s history, and still he said in 3:16, “I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness…” The “place of justice” was the judicial system of Israel. King Solomon was in charge of it. Yet, he had to acknowledge that what he was in charge of was unjust.

We might say, “King, you’re the power here. You, make things right!” But, somehow, he knew he did not have the power or ability to make unjust things just “under the sun”. In 4:1, he would say, “I, the king, saw the tears of the oppressed -- and they have no comforter!” “Why, Solomon?” we ask. And he says, “Power is on the side of their oppressors -- and they have no comforter.” He goes on to say, “It’s better not even to be born into a world like this in which everything is wrong.

We might say, “But you’re the king!” And he says, “But, even I, ‘under the sun’, cannot right all the wrongs.

I think we can all relate to him. In our families (or our schools, businesses, or even churches), we often see so many things that are not yet right – that are unjust and wrong. We might think, “I’m in charge! I’m the parent in my family, the boss in my company or the Sr. Pastor in my church! Why can’t I make things right in my part of this world?” If you have ever thought that, you can relate to what Solomon says in these passages.

But, when you acknowledge all this, you will begin to understand what the Bible speaks about when it uses the word “saves”. God alone can save your life and make you right. God alone can save our children’s lives and make them “oaks of righteousness displaying his splendor.” God alone can save a world that has gone wrong and make all things right.

In the very few moments we have, let me show you how this message, rooted in Solomon’s thinking about a world gone wrong that God alone can make right, is put together in Scripture. I’ll use the acronym, SAVES:

The Standard – God is the benchmark of what is just.
The Assessment – Everything else under the sun falls short of God’s standard.
The Vow – God promises a time when all will be made right.
The Exoneration – God has found a way to make the unjust just.
The Summons – Those made right are to display God’s splendor in the world.

#1: The Standard – God is the benchmark of what is just.

Only God can do what Solomon talks about in 3:16-17: In the place of justice—wickedness was there… God will bring into judgment…

In American society as a whole, we have little idea about what words like “justice” and “righteousness” mean. When people use the word “justice”, they think about politics. People committed to justice are often thought of as “liberals” who only want “payback” for times they feel wronged. And when we use the word “righteousness”, if people have any idea at all of what we mean, they think we are speaking about keeping a bunch of religious rules. The righteous person, “doesn’t smoke, drink, miss church”, etc. etc.

So, don’t miss this: The word “justice” and the word “righteousness” in the Bible are the very same word! Our translators have just translated the very same word from the Hebrew in the OT and the Greek in the NT in two different ways at different times. What this word means is that everything is right, everything is the way it’s supposed to be. And the only thing that is perfectly right in the entire cosmos is God himself.

Psalm 25:8-14 declares, “Good and just is the Lord” so that only he can instruct and guide those who are not right with him. This is affirmed in the NT in 1 Thes 1:6 and Rom 3:25-26, i.e., only God is perfectly righteous so that he alone can judge. That’s where we start when we think of salvation, i.e., with God.

# 2: The Assessment – Everything else “under the sun” falls short of God’s standard.

I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there… (3:16). Under the sun, the righteous get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked get what the righteous deserve (8:14).

Injustice (or, if you prefer, “unrighteousness”) is systemic. The affects of evil are everywhere in our world. And they’re in you and me too. So, we cannot be arrogant. We cannot honestly say, “I’m OK. You’re OK.” No, if we want to know what is OK, we have to look to God’s ways and to God’s character as Solomon did.

What did he see in his kingdom that was especially unjust? He tells us in 4:1 -- I saw the tears of the oppressed -- and they have no comforter. Power was on the side of their oppressors—and the oppressed have no comforter!

Do you see it? King Solomon is sounding like the great prophets of God who would come after him? He and they looked at God and how he treats people and then they looked at their own nation and what was going on. What did they see? That people were not living in keeping with the ways of God. What was the clear evidence of that?

Amos preached against those who “oppress the poor” and “crush the needy” (4:1).
Ezekiel spoke against the mistreatment of the stranger, of the immigrant, within the nation (22:29).
Zechariah called for the protection of the widows, orphans and poor (7:9-10).

But, “under the sun”, Solomon, at the end of his reign, saw growing injustice and longed for someone to use whatever power he or she possess to comfort the oppressed. Twice, he lamented that no one could offer any lasting comfort to them.

I think this has so much to say to us in this election year about the kinds of candidates we want to elect. First, none of them will be perfect. But, we should long, as Solomon longed, for those in power to value what God values. In application: Prayerfully, consider in the next months whether one candidate or another better shares God’s love for the poor and needy as Amos called for, whether they will treat the stranger within the nation well as Ezekiel called for, whether they will seek to protect widows and orphans as Zechariah called for.

No one will do so perfectly for only God is perfectly right and just. And, as we will see, this must be done through God’s people who spread these splendor-filled ways of God in this world. But, I think that using God’s measures of goodness will be a good starting point for us in this election year.

So, second, salvation calls for an honest assessment of your life in light of God’s ways and commands.

#3: The Vow – God promises a time when all will be made right.

In 3:1-15, Solomon had said there is a time for every activity under the sun. But notice that he specifically takes on our topic of things being made right in 3:17: “God will bring into judgmentboth the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

People say they don’t like this message that all evil must be judged or there is no real justice – but that’s simply not true. Deep inside us all, we believe that evil must be judged. Have you followed the outrage in Palo Alto after the young man who violently and sexually assaulted a young woman received only a six-month jail and probation sentence? I won’t comment on the judge’s decision. I only mention that our nation has been outraged by what people call injustice! Over 1M petitions have been sent to say the verdict was unjust!

This should amaze you in light of the fact that we live in a world in which many people say there is no absolute right or wrong. Where are those who usually say that morality is subjectively determined – that we all individually decide what is moral and immoral? No, when we see what we believe is evil, we want it to be judged. Human beings have a deep intuition that evil should be punished.

Back to my 1st point: God is the standard of what is right and wrong, just and unjust. He appoints authorities in this world to work for justice. But, our world’s authorities often fail. So, God promises both in the OT and NT, “Vengeance is mine,” declares the Lord, “when there is injustice, I will repay (Dt 32:35; Rom 12:19).”

That’s what Solomon is promising us here. God has made a vow to bring justice. He will do it in his time.

#4: The Exoneration – God has found a way to make the unjust just.

Solomon did not know how God would – or even could – do this. He only knew that all the powers under the sun he knew of were not acting with justice and compassion for those under their authority.

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of those who lived before Jesus came? Those who were perceptive saw what Solomon saw, i.e., that everything under the sun was messed up. There was injustice and evil everywhere. How could the just and holy God do anything but judge and destroy the entire world he had made – but that had walked away from him? “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). So, how can God say that we who have sinned are now right with him and all our sins are exonerated? Will he just ignore them and sweep them under the proverbial carpet? The question is this: How can a just God say that the unjust are just and still be just himself?

Of course, we know the answer: “God made the One who never experienced sin to become sin for us that that we might be declared right with God (2 Cor 5:21).”

Jesus died for our sins. He bore the punishment we deserve so that we might be set free and live. He alone lived a fully righteous life – a life that was just in every day. When we see how he lived, we see how life is o be lived. Then, listen to the Apostle Peter’s words, “Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’ (1 Pet 2:24).” Hallelujah!

#5: The Summons – Those made right by God’s grace are to display God’s splendor in the world.

“They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor (61:3).”

This brings us back to Isaiah 61:1-3. In the first 2 verses, a Rescuer is going to come who will take all the wrongs and injustices in this world, and, when he is done with his work, will make it all right. He will heal the sick, give sight to the blind, set those in prison free, and bring comfort to all who are living under the oppression of sin. Jesus said that he is that Rescuer.

Then, in v.3, those who follow that Rescuer, that Savior are to be known as “oaks of righteousness who display the splendor of God. When we follow Jesus, we align ourselves with his standards of what is right justice/righteousness and are called to “display his splendor”.

That means that those who are rescued by faith in Jesus must grow, as oaks must grow, to become completely whole and just ourselves. We are all still in that process of God transforming our lives so that we might be what God intended us to be before sin entered the world. But, through the work of the Holy Spirit and the nurture and instruction in wisdom in the local church, we are promised that God will complete his work, he will make you and me complete in Christ.

And, while we are growing and being made right ourselves, he calls us to be involved in our world. We are to give witness to Jesus so that others may believe. We are to work for God’s justice in this world as Jesus did.

And I believe, one of the main things we must do as individual Christians and as a church is lead our children to Jesus – and then invest in their growth.

I’ll end with this: I was speaking with a botanist about this message and he pointed me to an online article about oaks called The Natural Healing Power of Oaks and Acorns. Here’s part of it:

Recent research confirms that oak possesses the following healing properties: astringent, fever reducing, tonic, antiseptic, anti-viral, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory actions. In addition, oak has been used to get rid of worms and other parasites (Dr. Patricia Bratianu, Botanist).

(Put up pic of artwork). When we say that we pray our children will become “oaks of God’s righteousness, we are not only saying that we pray that in our church they will come to know Jesus and become whole people themselves. We are also saying that we pray that they will become people who make a positive difference in every part of this world – bringing encouragement and comfort to those who need it, working against all that has gone wrong in the world our Father loves, and calling people to find eternal life in Jesus.

And, in case you wonder, I’m praying the same thing will happen in us adults as well. Then, we will surely “display God’s splendor.” We and all the children who enter this church family will find that Jesus SAVES – and our lives will grow to display God’s glory to Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley and the world.