Basking in the Sun (Pt 2)

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

It has been a good week for me of striving to bask in the sun, of course. I’m assuming like you, I wasn’t necessarily planning on basking in the snow, especially after last weekend, but even with the snow, I think I was able to enjoy the process. It was fantastic. I ran on my treadmill last week on that Saturday when it was 75 and sunny and I ran on that treadmill looking out at the sun. And Friday and yesterday I ran on that very same treadmill looking at the very same garage door and was able to enjoy my run just as much looking at the dark dismal snow coming down and 35 degree temperature. And that’s one of the benefits of being on a treadmill is so many similarities no matter what the weather outside is doing, but I was thinking about that this past week.

And of course last Sunday morning we began in Ecclesiastes chapter 11. You can take your copy of God’s Word and turn there. Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verses 7 and 8 by examining the reality, the truth, the fact of life’s goodness.

Solomon gave us the metaphor in verse 7, light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. That’s a way to describe life is good. And based on that reality, God gives us something every day to savor and we have a responsibility to do that. That’s what he said in verse 8, we are to rejoice in all our days while remembering that we’re not promised a lot more days. If we have a lot, if you have many days on the planet, you’re to rejoice in them all. But even if you don’t have lots of days to come, then you should get busy now rejoicing. Now we come then to the second and more specific part of the paragraph in chapter 11 verses 9 through 10. In verses 7 and 8, we refer to basking in life, verses 9 and 10, are about basking in youth. Solomon addresses in verses 9 and 10 a specific group of people for the first time and the only time in Ecclesiastes, at least only in the sense of this section. As I said, this is part of the reason I chose to teach Ecclesiastes to begin with, because the primary audience Solomon has in mind for Ecclesiastes,

even though I think it took him obviously so long to get to this particular group he’s addressing, he is addressing this particular group for the first and only time in Ecclesiastes It’s his primary audience, and that is young people. Five times in three verses, counting chapter 12 verse 1, Solomon aims his guns at this distinct group. Young men, those who are in their youth, those who walk in the days of their youth. Again, youth and those who walk in the days of their youth. That’s a not so subtle way of making a point. You want a tip for how to study your Bible. You see a phrase or an idea or even a specific word repeated so many times within so few verses.

That’s a way to make a point. There is clearly an emphasis that Solomon is making by talking about youth and young people so much. Now who are the young men? Who are the youth? I think that you’ll find if you study the various words used in these three verses to describe this distinct group of people, a young person, a young man, a youth is somebody who is anywhere between puberty and 40. That’s a rather long length of time. But for the most part, anybody from puberty to 40 is considered, it applies to them this idea of young men or in your youth. Now that means almost everybody in this room, even Mr. Sarr, because I know lots of you think he’s 40, plus he’s not, almost everybody in this room fits into this category.

We have just a few staff who have now started going down the other side of the hill. They still have responsibility. The old people, that’s right, they still have responsibility to obey verses 7 and 8. But for everybody else, we have responsibility to bask in youth. It is ironic though that those with the most capability to bask in the sun are those who give it the least consideration. We who are young, you who are even younger, who are able to bask in the sun and enjoy your life because you don’t have to worry about whether your dentures are going to fall out when you’re trying to eat an apple. You who have the ability, the capability to enjoy your life, don’t even think about it.

You hardly give it any attention at all. I mentioned this quote from George Bernard Shaw at the end of last week. The trouble with youth is that it is wasted on the young. And I think he means the exact same thing. You don’t even think about the benefits and the advantages and then the responsibilities that you have that are attached with even your age and your opportunities in life. Often, it’s only when you get older and you get wisdom that you realize you actually weren’t as fat as you thought you were. and that your parents were actually looking out for your best interest, and that you really did have a lot of friends.

The problem is now, it’s too late to enjoy it. And you’ve wasted it. Don’t make that mistake. And Solomon is urging us, urging young people in particular, to not make that mistake. And there are three parts of Solomon’s summons to bask in youth. it, begins following the same pattern as we saw in verses 7 and 8 with rejoice and remember, and then he’s going to add a third one in here for the young to bask in youth, to enjoy, to rejoice in the days of their youth. Three parts, three actual commands that Solomon gives for basking in youth. Number one, rejoice in youth. The first part of verse 9, this This is the first, and I would say most aggressive of the three components to basking in youth.

Look at the beginning of verse 9. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. An imperative, a command, hurdles across the page starting verse 9. It’s a command, it’s a requirement. Rejoice. He said it already in verse 8, but here Solomon narrows the call for rejoicing from all the many years of your life. That’s what he said in verse 8, let him rejoice in the many days of his life. Now specifically Solomon says, rejoice in the days of youth. He’s not limiting rejoicing only to youth. If that were the case, then he couldn’t have made the call in verse 8 for everybody, even if they get to be old to rejoice in all of their days.

He’s not saying that you can only rejoice in your youth, but he is emphasizing that you should be glad especially in your youth. When we get to chapter 12 verses 1 through 7, we’ll see some specific reasons why the days of your youth are better, and part of it is because your body starts to fall apart. And you actually lose some of the capability to rejoice in your days, so rejoice in your youth. Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. The way to say that is, bask in the sun while you’re young. Enjoy life. Enjoy the opportunities that you have that come when you are young. The NAS translates this, Rejoice Young Man During Your Childhood.

I think that’s a little bit confusing. I like the way that the ESV translates it. It keeps the flow. It’s a little smoother. Rejoice, young man, during your childhood. Almost kind of gives you the impression that you could go back and do that. And obviously, that doesn’t work. You can’t go back in time. Anyway, like I say, I like how the ESV does it. Rejoice, oh, young man, in your youth. It isn’t that you rejoice because you’re young. It’s that you rejoice when you’re young. That’s the best time. Don’t try to hold on to youth. That’s a major mistake that I think the cosmetic industry makes. Trying to hold onto youth rather than being happy in your youth.

There is a certain time to enjoy life, especially when you’re young, and the goal is not to stay in that time forever, but to really enjoy while you have it. I mentioned the illustration last week of the ice cream cone. Attempting to save an ice cream cone for later is messy now and futile. It doesn’t even work. You have a small window of time to enjoy an ice cream cone, and you’re supposed to enjoy it now, not try to save it for later. The same is true with youth. Enjoy it now. Let your heart cheer you. means buck up, cheer up, don’t worry, be happy, said Bobby McFerrin when I think we were in high school, is that when that came out? He goes even further in the next phrase when he says, walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. I kind of wondered maybe what’s the difference between walking the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes, what’s the difference between that and rejoice in your youth. Maybe one of the distinctions is you’re supposed to be happy on the inside and the outside.

So you’ve got the heart and you’ve got your walk. One is internal, one is external. One maybe only you see, the other everybody else should see. But do those things. Live your life in an obvious way that you are basking in youth. Walk in the ways of your heart means go after the things you want. What is in your heart? What you desire? Walk in the sight of your eyes is the second part, and that’s just a way to talk about typically the window of the heart is the eyes. So you’ll see certain things, that’s what all advertising is based on. You’ll see certain things, and then you’ll want that. So the window of the heart is the eyes.

So walk in the ways of your heart, walk in the sight of your eyes.

you see that looks good, what you then ultimately want in your heart, go after it. The point is don’t hold back, go for it. Don’t waste time, act now before it’s too late. Now this thought of letting your heart cheer you and then specifically walking in the ways of your heart and in the side of your eyes, that idea upsets some people so much that they argue a couple things. Some of them argue that the end of verse 9, which talks about remember that you’re going to be judged for all that, some people conclude that the end of verse 9 was actually added by somebody other than Solomon to correct the first part of verse Verse 9, they are so afraid at Solomon’s call to Baskin youth and do what you want and go after what you want, they’re so afraid of that that they think somebody else after Solomon came in to correct Solomon’s command by adding, oh, and you’re going to be judged for whatever it is that you do. Other people actually have added to the command, they’ve added two words to the command itself to make it better, less scary for them. For example, one of the

earliest Greek translations added two words in to kind of tone down the call, and it actually changes it completely. They translated like this, walk in the ways of your heart blameless and not in the sight of your eyes. That’s totally different between go after what you want and go after what you want blameless, that’s adding in to temper the command, and then not in the sight of your eyes is a way to answer the concern that, well, people are just going to do whatever they want, whatever they see they’re going to go after if they obey Solomon’s command.

Solomon couldn’t possibly be urging young people, young men, young women to do what they want. Because we all know that what they want is typically wrong, inappropriate. And yet there is no other, I believe, legitimate way to understand the sentence. First of all, the Hebrew doesn’t include the word blameless, walk blameless, and not in the in the side of your eyes. It doesn’t include that. Most of the best Greek and English then translations don’t include those two words either. And based on everything that he said, it’s an obvious message. I mean how else could Solomon make the point then by saying it three times in three similar but different ways? Rejoice in youth, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and and then walk in the waves of your heart and in the side of your eyes.

I mean, those are three similar ways to say the same thing. Bask in youth. Rejoice in your youth. There is, however, a second command. You are responsible to rejoice in your youth. Young men, young women, that’s your obligation. You have a second obligation and responsibility as well, and that is to remember coming judgment. We find that in the second part of verse 9. This is the second and probably the weightiest of the three components to basking in youth. Chapter 11 verse 9, the second part, but know for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. Rejoice, but rejoice. Live it up. for it, but remember that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. The first part of verse 9 is relatively easy for the young people. Live it up. Hey, I can do that.

I can have some fun. The second part, the second command though, is something we would less predict about young people that they’re eager and ready to practice, and that is remembering coming judgment. There is so much to learn here. I just want to give you three, I think they come from the verse itself, but three specific ideas about this judgment. First, remember that judgment will most certainly come.

is something that is guaranteed, it’s certain. Remember that judgment will most certainly come. At times in Ecclesiastes, we may have suspected that Solomon did not believe in an afterlife. Based on some of the ways he described death and what happens when you die, we kind of got the impression that he didn’t believe in the afterlife and yet we know better. One of the reasons we know better is because Solomon himself says that God has put eternity into our hearts. Chapter 3 verse 15 I think says God has put eternity into every man’s heart. And even the fact that there is this coming judgment implies that something happens after life. Judgment will most certainly come. If getting old was the judgment, some people have suggested that. Well, what he means by remember that for all these things God will judge you. Some people suggest well that just means because then you’re gonna get old. But if getting old was the punishment, if getting old was God’s judgment, then everybody must have just totally blown the command to rejoice in

youth because everybody gets old. The only people who don’t get old are the people who die when they’re young and that couldn’t possibly be better, that can be escaping the judgment in Solomon’s eyes. So the only other way to understand this, that there is coming judgment, is to realize that this is something that happens when our life on this planet is done. And even though he doesn’t tell us because he doesn’t know when the judgment is coming, he does tell us that judgment is coming. Remember that. Judgment will most certainly come. But secondly, remember that judgment is no afterthought. Thinking about judgment is not something you’re supposed to do when you die. It’s something that you’re supposed to be thinking about Now, the point is to be aware of the coming judgment right now during your youth.

When he says the second part of verse 9, no, that’s parallel to remember in the previous verse in verse 8, and it prepares us for remember in chapter 12 verse 1. You’ve got remember in verse 8, you’ve got the word no, command no in verse 9, and And then chapter 12 verse 1 says, remember again, we are to be aware, conscious of certain facts, namely judgment. It’s not to be an afterthought. We can take it to the bank that judgment is coming and we are commanded to always be conscious of the fact. Chapter 12 verse 14 says the same thing, God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

And for Solomon, judgment was always on the horizon, and he was always living in light of that judgment that was coming. Solomon is not saying in the first part of verse 9 that we should do absolutely whatever we want regardless of the consequences, all the while sitting back laughing at us knowing rejoice! Live it up! While he’s sitting back over in the corner, kind of laughing and mumbling to himself, but you’re really going to get it. How stupid are you to have obeyed the first thing I said? That’s not his point. It’s just the opposite. By considering the future account we have to give to God, we can avoid judgment by basking in the sun appropriately.

We can rejoice rightly in the days of our youth in a way that avoids punishment and judgment. Rejoice and be cheered and walk in your youthful heart in such a way that acknowledges God and anticipates coming judgment. You’re to be always aware of it. Coming judgment is not an afterthought. It’s not something that you think about once you hit 40 and you’re no longer a young man. It’s not something that you think about when you are taking your last few breaths, probably because you don’t know when that’s going to be anyway. We’re always to be conscious of this and therefore, Solomon’s call it the first part of verse Verse 9, is not a call for reckless abandon, or mindless self-indulgence, or following every possible fleshly indulgence you can come up with.

That’s not the point. Avoid regrets and punishment by remembering coming judgment. So remember that judgment will most certainly come. Remember that judgment is no afterthought.

third, and I think this is most compelling to me out of everything under this point, remember that judgment will be for all these things. That’s specifically what he says in the verse, but I want you to really consider what it means when he says, judgment will be for all these things. We immediately figure, and I think we figure it based on knowing our own sinful tendencies that are in our own hearts. We know from experience that we are prone to wander, that left to ourselves, if we didn’t know that there were any consequences, we would do the things that make us happy and they would not be righteous. And so we immediately figure that the reason Solomon has included this part at the end of verse nine is to point out that God will judge us for walking in wrong ways and for going after sinful wicked immoral things and certainly that’s part of the point. I think the conjunction but, the NAS translates it yet, so rejoice but. Rejoice yet, no, or remember the conjunction but certainly tilts us in that direction,

that Solomon is adding in this call to remember coming judgment, because he fears our tendency is to blow it. However, the conjunction just as easily could be translated, and. I’m not against translating it, but or yet. It could be translated, and. And when you combine that with the point of verse 7 and the point of verse eight and the point of verse nine already so life is good that’s reality we have a responsibility to enjoy life and we have a responsibility to enjoy youth everything he said so far has actually been positive what if the end of verse nine then to remember coming judgment is not as much a point of telling us judgment is coming for when we do what’s wrong, but telling us that judgment is coming for not properly rejoicing.

That’s big. God will also bring us into judgment for failing to bask in youth, not just basking in youth the wrong way. If we are reluctant or rebellious from basking rejoicing in youth, included in all these things God will bring us into judgment for. The unabashed urging of Solomon is to enjoy the process. And he is so serious about us enjoying the process that he threatens judgment if we will not do it. If we will not bask rightly and fully, we’re threatened with judgment. There is a right or righteous way to do it, but if If we don’t do it at all, we will be judged just the same. Why is that? Can’t we just do non-s sinful things and be miserable?

Why wouldn’t God be happy with that? Well, at least I didn’t lie. I am pouting about it. I hate it, but I told the truth. God be happy that I obeyed His command to not lie. You realize that God’s glory to some extent depends on our basking in the sun. God’s glory depends on our basking in life and our basking in youth. We’ve talked about it before that God has shown most spectacular when we are happiest in Him. It is a punishable, a judged offense for us to see the Son another day and to not rejoice in it. That’s just as wrong. The reason for that is because it reflects on God in an unacceptable way. God shows His greatness. He gives us the Son.

He gives us life, He gives you youth, and you don’t enjoy it, then you are reflecting on Him in a way that’s untrue, that’s not right. It shows that God must not be that great because what He’s given you, you don’t appreciate and you don’t enjoy.

And I think God will bring us into judgment not only for rejecting the can of peaches, that illustration early in Ecclesiastes, he’ll bring us into judgment not only for rejecting the can of peaches that is doing evil, but for failing to use the can opener he’s provided. And digging in, we are responsible. God will bring us into judgment for all these things, including if we fail to give him glory by not enjoying and rejoicing in what he’s given. I think this is a severe kick in the joy pants. I know that we don’t take this seriously enough, let alone practice it well enough, but whether or not we rejoice in the days of our youth is a godliness issue. Godly people, godly young people rejoice. It’s easy to fall to one side or the other. Most people do fall to one side or the other. Some people love and prize rejoicing and not remembering.

They would just as soon forget about the whole remembering part. Hey, let’s just rejoice. Others, probably the lesser group, the smaller group, the minority, focus all on remember and have a difficult time putting the rejoicing into practice, and yet both are absolutely necessary. While it is possible to place an inordinate, that is an excessive, an exorbitant, and outrageous amount of hope on joy, while that’s possible, we also dare not place an inadequate amount, too little amount of emphasis on joy as well. We need to rejoice and remember.

Both of those are key, and one of the reasons we need to remember is that if we don’t rejoice. That’s part of what God will bring us into judgment for. So, enjoy youth vigorously and righteously. That leads to the third component of basking in youth. Rejoice in youth. Remember coming judgment. And then third, remove all obstacles. That’s verse 10. This is the third and most awkward component to basking in youth, look at verse 10, remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. There are actually barriers to basking in the sun. There are obstacles, things that get in the way of us enjoying the process.

In fact, there are too many things we ourselves have put in the way of the sun that eclipse the sun, that keep us from being able to see it and to rejoice in it. Solomon calls us to remove those distractions. He says, remove vexation from your heart. The word vexation makes frequent appearances in Ecclesiastes. This is the fourth or fifth time he’s talked about vexation, and it refers to things that irritate us, things that anger us, things that perturb us, things that disillusion us, things that make us fret or worry. All of those are included in the idea of vexation. Remove from your heart things that cause you worry and anxiety and frustration and disappointment.

Remove those things from your heart. Now there’s plenty of vanity under the sun that inflames that vexation, but joy is so important that we are called to clean the plate off so that we have more room for joy. You only have so much room on the plate. Remove the bad so that you can really enjoy the good. So stop stressing. Do what it takes to stop stressing. Some of us act like victims of vanity. If you go and get counseling someday from a psychologist and you tell them, I’m just a victim of vanity, they’re not going to understand what you’re talking about, but if you come to my office, we can talk about it. But sometimes we act like victims of vanity, like there is nothing we can do about the various frustrations and irritations, the problems that we have of life under the sun.

We act like there is nothing we can do about the things that steal our joy. But that would be kind of like if you left your iPod outside overnight and it rained and got destroyed. Don’t blame the rain. If you leave your iPhone on the table in Starbucks, you forget it there, and you come back six or seven hours later and it’s gone, don’t blame the kleptomaniacs. Wow, I just can’t believe the society that we live in. All these people just looking to steal stuff. If you eat an entire bag of chips ahoy before dinner time, don’t blame your mama’s cooking as the reason for why you didn’t need up the good stuff that she made.

Don’t complain about things you didn’t take care of in the first place. And my point is that sometimes we have no one else to blame for vexation than ourselves because we haven’t unplugged from it. Now let’s be honest. Hopefully, that’s what we want to be. Sometimes we’re not that honest with ourselves, with others. But when it comes to vexation, let’s just agree to something. I think it’s a sane moment right now, here on a Sunday morning in 128. So let’s agree to this. You can’t do it all. You good with that? You can’t do it all, namely because… and I think this is really the killer reason, you’re not God. As soon as that happens, come back.

We’ll actually have another thing to talk about. But you, me, we can’t do it all. And our brain is fried because we’re exhausted from having tried to do it all, and then we’re discouraged that we didn’t actually get it all done. Now, we just agreed that we can’t do it all, And yet, for some reason, when we leave here, we act like we can, and then we get exhausted from trying to do it, and then discouraged that we didn’t do it. Can I say that for the sake of your joy, you are responsible? For the sake of your godliness, you are responsible to when it’s appropriate, say no. To say no. You have a responsibility for your joy, for your godliness to say no.

And can I remind you that it isn’t just bad things that cause vexation, saying no to good things that cause vexation is as necessary as saying no to bad things, it just takes more wisdom. There are lots of good things that you can try to heap onto your plate that are going to cause you vexation and crowd out your joy. And you have no one else to blame but you. Schedule, stuff, expectations. We’re the ones who are, in a lot of cases, keeping ourselves from basking in the sun, basking in youth, because we’re not saying no. Because we’re not removing it, removing vexation from our hearts. In addition, we’re responsible to put away pain from our bodies.

Again, the inner and outer parts are mentioned just like the heart and the walk in verse nine. This means you should be careful with your body. Three thousand years ago, when they didn’t have the technology or medicine or stretchy band-aids like we do today, serious injuries could easily alter and possibly even end your life. Just to get from one place to another, if you had to walk in between towns and you were by yourself and you broke your ankle and nobody came along for a long time, the amount of extra problems that could come from just that simple thing where today, you know, you’d dial up on your cell phone and you’d call your mama or the ambulance and they would come pick you up and you’d get drugs to help you with the pain and they’d put a nice cast on your ankle and you’d have a brace and crutches.

Back then it could have altered your life. It certainly possibly even could have ended your life. If you did recover, it could take weeks, months, maybe even years. But for us today, we assume that we’re just going to pay with our medical insurance. We assume that we’re just going to pay somebody to fix it. They can make it better. And we take good doctors and effective antibiotics and recovery for granted. And yet we have incredible advantages over anything Solomon could have imagined. In some respects, perhaps that makes this tougher to apply. He’s saying, for the sake of your joy, watch out what you do with your body.

And that had very real effects. For us, it’s something that we should consider as well because the truth is actually the same today as then that youth and the dawn of life are vanity. You are not invincible. You are not untouchable. As soon as you’re born, you begin to get old and then you die. We’re to remove fixation from our hearts. We’re to remove pain from our bodies to enjoy what God has given us because we don’t get it for very long but we can still enjoy it. Life is good. Verse 7. So soak it up. Verse 8. Especially in your youth. Verses 9 and 10. Rejoice, oh young man, in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. You have opportunities and abilities you will not have forever, so have a blast while you last in God. Don’t blow it with unrighteousness and don’t pout when the sun is out. You have both responsibilities. You know we have absolutely zero excuses.

We have across the board more education, more employment, more entertainment than we know what to do with. We can enjoy life. We have more conveniences, more liberties, and more securities than Solomon’s readers could have imagined. It is unreasonable and disgraceful for us not to rejoice. If Solomon expected the young men then to rejoice, in light of all of the extras that we have, if he expected them to rejoice, how much more do you think we are accountable to do the same? Rejoice and remember. Unrighteous joy is wrong. Don’t forget that. But you also can’t be truly righteous without joy. So enjoy and examine.

Play and work. Last thing I’ll say, each and every one of us in the room, younger or older, every one of us has the responsibility to bask in the sun, to bask in life, in joy, savor, something every day that God gives us. one of us who specifically fit into that group of young people have responsibility to bask and rejoice in our youth as well. But just because you have the responsibility to bask in the sun does not mean that equally all of you have the ability to bask in the sun, and the reason is because there’s only one way it can really happen. The only way you will really bask in the sun is if you are fearing God. Some of you are trying to bask in your youth flippantly. And that has nothing to do with what Solomon is talking about.

Solomon is not talking about basking in youth and frivolity and flippancy, carefree, happy-go-lucky, not thinking about anything at all kind of young life. He’s not talking about that.

The only ones of you who will properly rejoice and remember are those of you whose mindset, whose consciousness is aware and fearful of with the right attitude towards God. Because God is the one who made the Son. You’re not going to savor what He gives. You’re just going to complain about the vanity of life. You’ll find nothing to enjoy about the process unless your attitude, your heart, and your mind is aimed in the right direction and considering God, conscious of Him, His presence and the responsibilities we have before him that he will judge us for some day. And so, bask in life, bask in youth. Remember, the only way you’ll do those things appropriately is if your attitude is appropriate. And by that I mean aware and fearful, worshipful of the one who made the Son and who made you and gave you another day to enjoy it. And Father help us do that. In fact, as we are tempted to seek life in all of the stuff, even in ourselves, in things under the sun, rather than in you, we must have your spirit to take away the heart of stone and give us

a heart of flesh to appreciate that. We must have your spirit to illuminate the truth of your word to us and cause us to apply it. I ask on behalf of all those who are the young men, young women, the youth in this room that you would help us to live in such a way that we would not look back 5, 10, 40 years from now with regret. And even more than that, that we would not face judgment with regret. That we would live before you in such a way that we rejoice vigorously and righteously as it shows off and properly reflects who you are. We pray this in the name of your Son. Amen.