Sunday Sermons
Ultimately
“When the financier J.P. Morgan was asked more than a century ago what the market was likely to do over the next few months, his answer was as brief as it was profound. ‘It’s going to fluctuate’, he said. That’s what will also happen in world and national affairs. We will have our ups and downs” (World Magazine 6-19-2004, p. 6). The Bible also mentions the same pattern of ups and downs (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). People also talk about the pendulum swinging one way and then swinging another. Poets and songwriters have often quoted the first eight verses of this chapter. In fact they served as the lyrics for a song entitled Turn, Turn, Turn, by the Byrds in the 1960’s. On the surface this seems like a nice poem, but Solomon did not consider this a comforting poem to the person insistent on living completely under the sun, rather here is another example of earthly vanity (3:9). Kidner writes, “Perhaps ‘tyranny’ is too strong a word for the gentle ebb and flow described here, which carries us all our days from one kind of activity to its opposite, and back again. Rhythm itself appeals to us, for who would wish for perpetual spring—‘a time to plant’ but never to pick---Yet in the context of quest for finality, not only is a movement to and fro no better than the endless circling of chapter one, but it has disturbing implications of its own. One of them is that we dance to a tune, or many tunes, not of our own making; a second is that nothing we pursue has any permanence. We throw ourselves into some absorbing activity that offers us fulfillment, but how freely did we choose it? How soon shall we be doing the exact opposite? Looked at in this way, the repetition of ‘a time to, and a time to’ Begins to be oppressive” (p. 38). “There’s an important lesson here and it corresponds with the theme of the book. Some people, whether they realize it or not, have made themselves prisoners of time. Their life is reduced to filling up time, marking time, living day-in, day-out, with no greater purpose in life than to get through the day” (David Posey, Notes on Ecclesiastes, p. 23).
Yet a gentle ebb and flow from one event in life to another can also be deceptive and virtually put us to sleep spiritually. We can start believing that there really is no other existence or reality than such earthly events. Like the scoffers that Peter mentions, it is easy to assume that God has never intervened and never will, “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). ‘The scoffers supported their skepticism that God would break decisively into history at the return to Christ, by emphasizing the immutability of the world. Had they been alive today, they would have talked about the chain of cause and effect in a closed universe governed by natural laws, where miracles, almost by definition, cannot happen. ‘The laws of nature’, one can almost hear them saying, ‘disprove your doctrine of divine intervention to wind up the course of history.’ Their mistake was to forget that the laws of nature are God’s laws; their predictability springs from His faithfulness” (Green p. 128).
Ultimately
The English word ultimately means finally, at the last, or in the end, and for the Christian it is a wonderful and refreshing term. It is a term that reminds us that this world will come to an end (2 Peter 3:9-10), that there will be a final judgment where all who have ever lived will stand before a holy and just God (Acts 17:30), that everyone will be judged on the basis of their words and deeds (Jude 15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14), and that the most valuable possession on that day will be one’s faithfulness to Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). In fact, notice all the Scriptures cited in the above section, the teaching of a coming judgment is not an isolated thought in the Bible, rather it is a recurring theme. What this means for the Christian is that this life is the storm before the calm.
The Blessings of “Ultimately”
· When we hear that a state legalized same sex marriage, the world “ultimately” reminds us that such a decision was not the final decision (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Joel Belz reminds us, “My own sense, for example, and I fervently hope that I am wrong, is that in our own nation, there will be more downs than ups over the next decade or two or at least as long as it takes us to remember that it is God, and not humans, who is the measure of all things. But it will be more like the scariest roller coaster ever built than like a runaway train. For with all the dips and curves and upside-down twists, our destination will never be in doubt. Still, don’t be surprised if a few of us lose our lunches along the way” (World Magazine p. 6).
· No matter what happens today in the world, no matter how discouraging things seem to get at times, the world ultimately always reminds us that there is always an “afterwards”, a “tomorrow” or an “outcome” (James 5:11). “Even though circumstances seemed exactly opposite to this, Job’s endurance enabled him to see that God’s blessings were abundant if one was willing to let God choose the time to bestow them. Eventually God doubled Job’s possessions (Job 42:10-17)”(Kent p. 180).
· The concept of “ultimately” prevents us from having tunnel-vision where we begin to naively think, “it will always be like this”, or where we are only looking ahead in our existence for about the next ten or twenty years. How many people are convinced that the most important thing in my life is happening right at this moment? Or, how many people are making very serious choices based on how they feel at a given moment? “That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected” (Hebrews 12:16-17). This is one way that Esau demonstrated his godless attitude. “Esau was so involved in the immediate satisfaction of his momentary hunger that he treated as of negligible value his rights as a firstborn son, and his responsibility as the heir to receive the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant” (Kent p. 268). Note that God views one as godless when they place the things of this earth ahead of spiritual considerations, do we make the same type of mistake that Esau made (Matthew 6:33)? Notice as well that Esau’s desires changed drastically. What he gave up for virtually nothing, he wanted back with tears. Desires are fickle things. Christians need to remember that desires are much like the weather in Oregon, just wait a little when you are being tempted, and your desires will probably change. Thus, the concept of ultimately helps keep us from being deceived into thinking that I need to forfeit everything of value for some momentary desire. “Fools mock the fear of God. Or they debate it in convivial (while feasting and drinking) conversation. I have seen men mill around open caskets and discuss the weekend’s ball game, unmoved by their own mortality. What scales have you put on your eyes, that the ordinariness of sensory experience oft seems more real that questions of eternal destiny, with millions lulled to death by their complacency?” (World Magazine 3-15-2003, p. 43).
The Ultimate Test
· Before I offer an excuse or rationalization for either engaging in something wrong or in not maturing spiritually and being involved as I should, even though some human beings might accept my excuse or at least not bother me, how will this excuse hold up before the all-seeing and all-knowing God at the judgment? (Hebrews 4:12-13)
· If I feel that the elders or some other Christians have been hard on me, compared to this human examination, what will the final judgment be like if I do not change?
· Before I get excited and angry when watching the news, hearing that the wicked are prospering, seeing the injustices in the world, or hearing people ridicule God and His truth, I need to remember the final reckoning (Jude 15), and that I will answer for how I have lived as well (James 5:9). “Troubles tend to make the impatient complain against even those closest to them” (Roberts p. 194). “Hostility from others is not easily endured. James was well aware of the human propensity to lash out in retaliation, or at least to complain against real or imagined instigators” (Kent p. 178). Instead of viewing ourselves as victims, we need to remember that Jesus sees us all as sinners—unless we repent (Luke 13:3). Revelation 20:12 and 15 might be helpful verses to copy and then paste near your television set, it might help keep everything in perspective.
· The ultimate reality also helps us see through complicated issues or problems. Christians know there are plainly just two genders, some non-Christians wonder whether there are may be three, four, or even more. Christians know that divorce is bad, and God says that He hates it (Malachi 2:16). The world argues that it depends on the circumstances, and “that you will probably never fully understand all the difficult things that were going on, and that you will probably never know how much these people have suffered. The tendency to keep at least the big things simple is rooted in the character of God Himself. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. There was the Tree of Life, and there was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve could be in the garden, or they could be thrown out. You were either on Noah’s ark, or you drowned in the great flood. Psalm 1 juxtaposes a godly man against one who is called ‘unrighteous’. And so on. Jesus, too, drew wonderfully simple pictures. There were five wise virgins and five foolish virgins. A wise man built his house on the rock, while the foolish man built on the sand. A farmer went out to sow. He used a child to illustrate greatness” (World Magazine, 11-9-2002, p. 5). So many issues that the world would call a “muddle” become extremely clear when viewed in light of the last day.
· The word ultimately also keeps one rooted in the Scriptures, for we will not be judged by human standards, trends, or opinions but by the Scriptures (John 12:48). Andree Seu wrote, “Give an argument on the insanity defense that begins with the question ‘What does God’s Word say?’ Even if a few bugs need to be worked out, I will be more edified by it than by an elegant web spun of the thread of autonomous human imagination. Let me hear reasoning from the right starting place, and then we can talk” (World Magazine, 4-20-2002, p. 33). In like manner, we need to ask people if they have a Scripture to back up what they are claiming before we have to endure a lot of what they think or feel. “Among all the reasons why you want to do such and such can you give me at least one verse where God gives His approval?” Remember, one Bible verse always overrules 1001 human reasons why—God’s authority always wins. When people ridicule us for the idea of having authority for all that we practice, they are no longer thinking in terms of ultimate reality (2 John 9). The more that people argue that obedience is not crucial in our salvation the more their minds and hearts are anchored on the moment, earthly pleasures and this world (Hebrews 5:9).
· The concept of ultimately also helps me lead a very uncomplicated life (John 14:15; Matthew 7:12; 22:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:11). Someone noted that when Ebenezer Scrooge changed, he said, “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel. I am as merry as a school boy”. Every repentant man is a child again (Luke 19:8). It is really a very simple thing that man is asked to do—to repent, obey and trust in God’s love. Yes, belief in the ultimate brings about a very uncomplicated life.
