The Wicket Gate

Good Morning! This week we will continue our examination of Don’t Waste Your Breath by Brian Borgman. Chapter eight of the book addresses Ecclesiastes chapter six, aptly titled “Life without a Can Opener.”

“The prevalent evil in view is as overwhelming as it is common. God gives a man everything. This man lacks nothing. He not only has everything he needs but everything he desires. But one thing is missing, and it is that God has not granted him the grace to enjoy the abundance…What advantage has the man to whom God has given everything and yet not the grace to enjoy it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” (98) 

Chapter six of Ecclesiastes is an escalated repetition of the Teachers argument. He has addressed offspring, land, money, and work, all a breath to be enjoyed in enjoyment of God, the giver. Not the gifts themselves. The answer to question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism reads that we are to “Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever” this is the chief end of man. This answer has been altered a little by John Piper and others to read “Glorify God by Enjoying Him Forever.” This is how I view the catechism question, and in light of Ecclesiastes chapter six this answer requires further elaboration. 

How do we enjoy God? It is clear from the text and Borgman’s thoughts that we could be blessed and fulfilled and not find any joy in this life. “Riches, wealth, and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires…fathers a hundred children and lives many years…lives a thousand year twice”(Ecclesiastes 6:2,3,6), all blessings that cannot be enjoyed by man without the grace of God. The teacher goes as far to say that the stillborn is better off than this man who cannot enjoy the blessings of God, “better the miscarriage than he.” (Ecclesiastes 6:3). Borgman states “The stillborn never sees the sun, that is, never has a chance to enjoy life. But the stillborn is still better off than our guy…because at least the stillborn finds rest”(99). The teacher uses very evocative language to get his point across, life without the grace to enjoy the gifts of God is not worth living at all. 

The metaphor used by Borgman for this state is having a warehouse full of cans of peaches, but no tool to open a single can(99). A stark metaphor that strikes hard and lingers in my mind. Further into the chapter the Teacher addresses hunger that is not satisfied, street smarts, and men full of wisdom, all of which are striving after the vapor/wind without the grace of God (100).  Borgman calls the last few verses (Ecc. 6:10-12) “hinge verses” they will connect the second part of Ecclesiastes with the first (101). 

Last, Borgman views verse twelve as a staple in the argument that “hebel” is not meaninglessness. “This verse tells us that we have only a few days and spend them like a shadow…The sage of Ecclesiastes has already answered this question. The wise man who knows God knows what is good. The good is to see life as a gift, enjoy it as a gift, and then leave what comes after to God” (101-102). I hope through the first six weeks of this study thoroughly expounded on this idea; we enjoy the Giver through his gifts. We accept His sovereignty over all things good and bad, and his plan to sanctify us by the Holy Spirit throughout our lives.

Borgman talks about this passage as a “dark forest” (102), and I can confirm, yes, it is. The dark forest is provocative and disturbing, life full of family, friends, money, and good times that is never satisfying nor enjoyed. All of these things are from God, gifts to be rightly enjoyed, but without His grace they will never bring satisfaction.  

The imagery of a dark forest reminds me of The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. Tolkien. Frodo and his friends enter the forest, dark, frightening, and full of danger. After some time Old Man Willow(an actual tree for those who have not read LOR yet) gets ahold of the travelers by casting a spell, and nearly ends their journey. Then Tom Bombadil arrives with authority and power to end the Willow’s attack. Tom takes the travelers back to his home, where they enjoy his and Goldberry’s company. That dark forest is in my mind the dark forest of life without the grace of God. We might say “come on you are clearly blessed, enjoy it!”, in the mind of someone without grace to enjoy it there is no way to “just enjoy it”. There is always an empty feeling or a desire for more. The travelers were saved by Tom, who has power over the forest. The group travels with Tom to his house, where they enjoy fellowship and good sleep. Tom is useful as an illustration in many ways, I am not sure this is the best one, but it is useful in seeing the seemingly inescapable dark forest put into submission and order. The dark forest of disorder is not something that natural man can put into focus on his own. We require the grace of God, his Spirit he has placed within us to desire His glory with all of our being. The Trinitarian Fulness of God alone has the power to rightly order the dark forest of life. 

This chapter of Ecclesiastes makes man cry out “WHY does it have to be this way?” The answer is straightforward, so that we may in part understand our need and dependence on God. So we can in part see His Glory. God need not give us anything, for we deserve nothing, and yet He gives some gifts and the grace to enjoy those gifts. This is grace, unmerited favor, all of mankind deserve nothing and yet he gives freely to show his mercy to some. This showing of mercy generates within the Christian thankfulness, appreciation, and worship in a state of humbleness. This contrast reveals the glory of the attributes of God, his mercy and love. Without the lack of enjoyment we would not understand enjoyment. 

We are thankful in life and in death, because we deserved nothing, and He gave His only son (Romans 5:6; Ephesians 2) that we might not fear poverty or death but say “God’s will be done”(Job 1:21) because He has revealed in the Word His will to bring about greater glory with Him forever. Regarding the bigger picture, God’s plan for greater glory, we may not be able to see His plan clearly just as the Israelites could not see in all the things that transpired the coming Christ. Yet the Trinitarian Fullness of God was working ALL things to Christ, and from then to now until the second coming and the restoration of all things(Romans 8:18-25). 

“ For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” Romans 14:7-8

So what to take away from the dark forest in chapter six? Those who are already in Christ (Romans 6), glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Not enjoying the gifts separate from the Giver, for gifts will come and go. The trials will come and go, the hardships will come and go- Christ will see us through by the sanctifying work of His Spirit. Enjoy your children, years, works, street smarts, health, and all other blessings- by the grace of God. If you are restless and struggle with the need to keep up with the Joneses, pray for Godly contentment. Last, pray for those in your life who have not confessed Christ yet, that they would be drawn by the Father out of the dark forest and into Christ.  

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:1-7