I've officiated several funerals in the past year. Just between you & me, I've thought about funerals a lot in the past year! Can I share something you might find odd: I appreciate a good funeral. Don't mistake my meaning. A family loses a loved one. People mourn. And I hope you understand the theology here: death is the outcome of sin. But without minimizing these things in any way, I do appreciate a good funeral. Can you think why? Because a careful funeral not only gives closure to a family and honor to loved one, it gives serious pause for reflection to every soul that's gathered. In fact, a wise old man once wrote: "It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to go to a house of feasting." It's better to take that dark suit out of the closet, than send the bright party dress back to the cleaners.
As we read Eccl 7:1-14, we have come to the half-way mark, and a transition, in Solomon's documentary on his personal pursuit of fulfillment: satisfaction under the sun. He hasn't found it! (He isn't really going to…under the sun.) But the wise king has learned a lot, and he's now he's moving from describing his searches to sharing his conclusions. Today, Solomon weaves his wisdom around the idea of "better than." In the original text, seven statements begin with the word "better." As in, "It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to go to a house of feasting." These key words point to...
Five lessons the king learned from his search for meaning.
1.A funeral is better than a party.
2.A rebuke is better than a song.
3.The end is better than the beginning.
4.Wisdom is better than wealth.
5.Contentment is better than complaint . |
