The Wicket Gate

Here we go! This week we will discuss chapter fifteen of Don’t Waste Your Breath by
Brian Borgman, titled “Expect the Unexpected,” which covers Ecclesiastes 9:11-18. I ran
a little more than a little over last time, lol, so I will try to stick to a few specific points as
we examine the text.

“11  I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. 12  Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them. 13  Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me. 14  There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15  But there was found in it a poor
wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16  So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded. 17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18  Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

The Teacher exclaims “time and chance overtake them all” and “The race is not
to the swift,” what a shocking statement, what do you mean Teacher? The swift, the
best, and the most prepared should be on top, successful, and winning. As Lee Corso
would say “Not so fast my friend!” Just as we have discussed death and its equal impact
on the righteous and unrighteous, so too with our striving after the wind for success.
God is working all things by His sovereign hand, where you are and what you are doing
matters to Him, you are part of creation and yet it feels unpredictable from our
creaturely perspective. “All these examples have certain expectations of success. Skill
effort, diligence, and hard work should all be rewarded.

Training and talent should pay off. But Qoheleth says there are no guarantees” (155). Borgman iterates further on page 155 that from our perspective the sovereignty of God is unpredictable to those in creation, “There are certain expectations in life based on the way things ought to be, but then those expectations are unmet because of a head on collision with the unexpected.” All the examples the Teacher uses in verse eleven could be further examined, but for this post I want to discuss the seeming unpredictability of victory. Further that this unpredictability is used by God to draw us toward balance in life and complete reliance on Christ. Winning and losing are absolutely ordained by God whether we deem it silly or not.

All of the parts and pieces that move around you completely out of your control
march on as you struggle through a game of pickleball. The guys were recently
discussing providence working through our extracurricular activities, our striving in a
game of pickleball, a seemingly lucky bounce, keeps the game going for another five
minutes, and you and your family miss a five-car fender bender on the way home. God
puts you where you ought to be, all the while allowing us to function not as robots but as
his creatures. Every decision we make places us in in God’s plan. I must clarify, we
cannot with ease discern how these moments that seem insignificant are part of God’s
plan until later. The events that seem trivial are later key moments in our lives when
seen in the rearview mirror. To circle back to the initial thought, we may fight hard, train well, and have favorable circumstances and still lose because the Lord did not ordain
victory.

You may say come on Stephen there is no way He is guiding these games, yet I
will say he controls all things and is working them for those that love Him, who are
called according to His purpose. That includes taking a loss. We could take this further
and say that God is leading those who compete at work or play to completely rely on
Him and give glory to Him, whether in loss or victory.

In light of that we must accept that even when we completely rely on Him and
give glory to Him we may still lose, and get whooped. Humility and humbleness is
perhaps what He is working in that individual. He is still working on me, to make me
what I ought to be- Sanctification. Christians don’t get to decide the method of
sanctification, but you will be sanctified in Him. The defeats, misfortune, or bodily failure
is part of the refiner’s fire. He is working us toward total dependence on Him to the point
of desire to depart and be with Him. Yet we are called to stay and enjoy His gifts and
glorify Him, growing closer to Him through His revealing of the weakness of our flesh
and the imperfections of the fallen creation, by this revealing our hearts long more and
more for complete union with Christ in greater glory. Complete reliance on Christ “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power
may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:9). Joy in strength and joy in weakness, because our hearts
and minds are in complete submission to the King.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Easiest example for me is my experience playing golf. While most of my best
experiences with my dad and brother have been on the golf course I maintain that yes,
golf is most assuredly a good walk spoiled. The perfect game is impossible, and most of
the game is a struggle. You will be on point on the driving range and a mess on the
course, you may even be on point on one hole and off the next. I could quit my day job
and practice non-stop, I would get marginally better. The beauty of golf is that I am
forced to witness my imperfect creatureliness. I am quickly humbled as soon as I begin
to puff my chest by the next mistimed shot, and I glorify God for the privilege of enjoying nature in such a way instead of questioning my existence by muttering to myself “Why am I even out here?” lol. My friends will tell you, I don’t keep score, and I rarely complete a hole, because it’s about time together with God and friends.

God can be truly enjoyed and glorified on the Golf course, if one accepts it’s not about defeating the course or your playing partners. Aha! Turns out golf is a metaphor for life, don’t lose track of God and his gifts while you strive after the wind trying to win something no one will remember (remember our discussion last post). Human glory fades, the small feeling of success fades, all that matters is Christ, the Trinitarian Fullness of God, spreading the Gospel, and the building up of the body of Christ. The swift don’t win?

My advice to the swift, enjoy God by glorifying Him in your training, relationships, and competition, this enjoyment far outshines and outlasts the win. In fact, enjoy the swiftness God has given you, enjoy the abilities that God has given to you. Don’t allow your joy to be robbed by envy of other’s gifts, or by the anxiety of losing your swiftness. It will happen, there just isn’t a point in ruining joy in constant fear of the future. Being the best isn’t everything, in fact ask your grandparents or parents about big competitions they have been in, then think who all still can remember this happening, then sadly think about who will remember ten or twenty years from now.

I can’t remember who won the Super Bowl fifteen years ago, and yet it meant
everything to those people playing that day. Same thought for games in your local
bowling league or weekly golf scramble, don’t let the moment slip away enjoying time
playing in the heat of competition that will be forgotten or misremembered a month from now. I say all that to say all that competing is ok, setting goals for achievement is ok, working the body by exercise is ok, IF God is at the center, IF we are using this time to
glorify Him and bring honor and attention to His grace- unmerited favor.

I tried to keep this post shorter than previous and keep to one piece of the text.
This blog is not formal, scholarly writing, these are my thoughts, which I welcome
discourse upon. I do not completely trust in Christ yet, by that I mean that I will
sometimes find myself halfway through the day having not given thanks or asked in
prayer for the correct path of action. I find myself in a doubtful situation and decide
without consulting the Lord in His word or in prayer. I do not want my post to make it
seem easy to do what the Teacher is encouraging us toward in Ecclesiastes. Paul writes
specifically about the mindset we should attain to as Christians by the indwelling Spirit,

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained”
(Philippians 3:12-16).