PPic: Oberon Golf Course - Links Pro Am 2006

PGA Chaplain Bible Studies

Weekly Study No 12 - 09/06/2009

Ecclesiastes Ch 4:1-6

“Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed- and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors- and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. And I saw that all the labour and all the achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbour. This too is meaningless, a chasing after wind. The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and a chasing after the wind”. (Ecclesiastes Chapter 4: verses 1-6 NIV).

No One Likes To Be Held Down?

A worker from Parramatta Mission came to our church one day to speak about the homeless and asked our young people at church how many were planning to be homeless when they grow up? Not surprisingly, no one put up their hand. Very few if any, plan to be homeless, but many end up there. I must admit that I have never known what it is like to be homeless or powerless in a significant way. Most Australians do not know what it is like to be homeless, to be robbed of our dignity, to be overtaken by a powerful enemy or nation, or to grow up in a home without love and support. Unless we are really in the shoes of those who have been homeless, oppressed or dispossessed, I don’t think we can really understand what people are going through.

In recent times we have seen large numbers of suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular. We ask ourselves; how could anyone do such a thing? Part of the answer is those who feel oppressed, powerless to change your present circumstances; preferring death to life.

Some of that sentiment we can see in the pessimism of our author this week. He feels for the oppressed and despises the oppressor. Better off to be dead than to live in misery. Better still, never to have been born!

Another reality he sees as meaningless is that of the competition to be better than your opposition; to work so hard to be the best. Is it really worth working my butt off, getting ulcers, losing the joy of life to get to the top? Some may say yes because of the desire to be successful, but then again how easy it is to lose; especially in our climate of bad returns for our money and greater un-employment. In sport we love to win, to beat the opposition; but then again there is no one worse than he who boasts of himself.

To work our butt off to get to the top is seen as a chasing after wind by our author. However, the opposite is just as bad; to fold our hands. The fool in verse 5 who refuses to work will also end in ruin because, without purpose; without effort; our body and mind goes lazy.

Verse 6 provides some kind of balance regarding work for us. Work is an important part of life but it is not everything. There needs to be time for peace in our life, for enjoyment, time to think about others than just ourselves.

One of our greatest challenges in life is to look beyond ourselves to the welfare of others around us; to have genuine concern and compassion. I hope that for each of us we can see the tears of those hurting and not walk away. This is how God has reached out to us through Jesus, so let’s try to help those who are oppressed.

Gracious God, Help us to always look at life not just from our own perspective, but also of others. Help our competitive spirit and desire to be successful to have the appropriate humility and fairness. Amen.

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