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Stop talking and listen carefully In chapter 4 a foolish king is one who would not listen to advice or warnings and now the teacher gives the ordinary person some wise direction also. Just like the King the ordinary worshipper needs to listen to God. In the previous chapter (4) a depressing scene has been painted where there is oppression and envy and loneliness and failure of leadership. As one surveys this world and what it offers it would be easy to lose hope. But God gives us good advice that all is not lost because we can turn to God and seek Him. However with God we need to go to listen to Him. Obviously this involves using our ears but it is more than just hearing words. Our lives can be so frantic or anxious that there is not space to receive what the Lord has to say to us. In 5:3 the writer speaks about how with many cares come dreams and so we need to come before God and stand in awe of His greatness and see the lessons that this book has been teaching us. He is big and we are tiny. This is encouraging because the Lord is much bigger than our problems. That means He has the power to deal with them. In particular the teacher warns us against making hasty vows lest we can’t fulfil our vows. When we are so preoccupied with ourselves we can be full of ideas which distract us from what is most important which is to seek the Lord. Today the place where we listen to God is through His Word the Bible as we fellowship with His people. One day one of Jesus’ disciples, Mary Matthew 10 decided to leave kitchen duties to others so she could listen to Jesus. Jesus commended her for choosing what was best. There are always many things we could be doing but we need to choose what is best. Listening to Jesus through His Word and standing in awe of Him is our greatest need. It is Jesus’ Word which strengthens us and gives us peace and direction in life. God’s Word is the most important advice in life. God’s Blessing Rev David O’Mara Continue Reading..
IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT ME In Ecclesiastes 4 the teacher examines our hearts very carefully to see what they are like. He comes up with some disturbing evidence as he looks at various things which occur amongst humans. He encounters :- 4:1-3 oppression between people, 4:4-6 envy which impacts why and how people engage in work, loneliness 4:7-12 which is not God’s plan for us and finally 4:13-16 the limitations of political leaders. God set this world up with blessing that we would go forth and multiply and be good stewards of this world but sadly ever since our disobedience in the garden (Gen 3) we have failed to not only obey God but we have also hurt one another. The 2 great commandments instruct us to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbours as ourselves but we have failed to do this. When we see our spiritual bankruptcy evidenced by the way we treat each other our hearts cry out to God for help. We can’t solve the problem of sin by political solutions nor by our own ingenuity. It is true that we need a revolution and we need the Lord’s power to come and heal our hearts of sin. The glorious Gospel of Jesus not only brings forgiveness of sins but also heals our broken hearts so we learn to love our neighbour and care for one another. One of the symptoms of our broken world is loneliness and as the Gospel of Jesus’ death for our sins is preached He deals with this loneliness by bringing reconciliation with God and with each other. His purpose in salvation is to create a new people who can love and support one another and declare His goodness to the world. God’s Blessing Rev David O’Mara Continue Reading..
GOD IS IN CONTROL This famous passage in Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 reminds us that there are seasons of life that are outside of our control. Of course we need to make good and wise choices now but only what God does endures forever - 3:14. God has put eternity in our hearts 3:11 and this reminds us that there is something better than than life just under the sun. God’s whole purpose in the various seasons of life we encounter is to humble us that we may fear Him and give Him the honour He deserves 3:14. In the second section the teacher speaks about injustice and how there is corruption in the place of power 3:16. We are created in the image of God and one of the qualities which comes from this is our concern for justice. Indeed this is at the heart of God who wants us to treat one another justly. God promises us that He will bring judgement in his time. The judgement of God gives us great hope because we know that everyone will have to give an account of their life and evil will be dealt with. Our decisions now to stand up for justice and to treat people with dignity carry significance and count and also when we have been denied justice by others we know that God has heard our cry and one day we will be vindicated. This concern for justice on the part of the teacher points us to the Cross where justice was done and our sin was punished with Jesus taking our place. God is totally just and judgement fell on Jesus that mercy may fall on us. This cry for justice by Jesus gives us confidence to face God when Jesus returns to judge all people. We must all be ready for the return of Jesus if we want to escape judgement and this means that we fear God which means to trust Him and recognise that He is in control not us. God’s Blessing Rev David O’Mara Continue Reading..
Learning to die well so we can live well. Today we embark on a new series on the
book of Ecclesiastes. In 1:1 we are told that these are the words of Qoheleth which
is teacher or leader of the assembly. This book is from the wisdom tradition and at
times reads like Proverbs. Some people see this book as a book which shows us
what it is like to live without God and then in chapter 12 we are told to fear the
Lord. The conclusion is correct but the teacher is trying to get us to really examine
life and how it works because he says that life is meaningless or a better translation
is life is like a breath or vapour. He is not saying that life is futile but that life
ultimately can’t be controlled by us. It passes so quickly. This writer is not depressed
nor cynical rather he is teaching us that there is an inevitability of life that we must
face - that we all die. As we face our mortality God is wanting to produce in us a
humility to see our need of Him. All of us want our lives to count and to have
significance but there is something frustrating about trying to “gain” 1:3 in this
world and make our mark because death humbles all of us and we are forgotten. In
Matthew 16:26 Jesus uses this idea of gain when he warns us of running after things
in the world at the cost of losing our soul. The teacher is taking us on a journey to
look at the patterns and rhythms of life so we can live realistic and fruitful lives now
and be ready to face the Lord. Living well is not just about avoiding worldly
pursuits but rather the uncertainties of life are faced by all people Christian and non
Christian and to live well which is one of the purposes of wisdom literature requires
us to learn the lessons of life we see God teaching us through this book. Too often
as Christians we learn Bible truths but this wisdom from God doesn’t penetrate our
values and our attitudes. Ecclesiastes is a book which will get under our skin and
give us the opportunity to grow in faith as we seek the Lord and apply His Wisdom
to our lives and our values and attitudes are changed and affect our behaviour. God’s Blessing Rev David O’Mara Continue Reading..
Do you want to get well ? In John 5:1-15 Jesus encounters a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. He was lying at the Bethesda pool in Jerusalem which was renowned for its miraculous powers when the water was stirred, presumably supernaturally. Jesus after learning that this man had been in this condition for a long time asked : Do you want to get well ? John 15:6. It seems an extraordinary question because one would think his whole purpose was to get well. However, sometimes we can learn to function on our disabilities and even find some sort of security in them. This is a great question and it is helping the man to face his illness and also focuses his attention on Jesus who is intimating that He has the power to help. Jesus doesn’t use the miraculous powers of the water but speaks words - Get up. Pick up your mat and walk. The man was cured and we would expect that everyone who saw him and realised his healing would be overjoyed. But this is not the case with the Jews (leaders). When they saw the man walking they told him that it is not lawful to carry his mat on the Sabbath. This healing brings the man into conflict with the religious authorities. We see that this man didn’t know who Jesus was and so when Jesus seeks him out he urges him to stop sinning or something worse may happen. We learn that God’s blessings are not ends in themselves. When we receive God’s grace and kindness God expects obedience. Rev David O'Mara
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