Ecclesiastes: The Wisdom of Hevel

Remember...Before The Bowl Breaks

March 28, 2021 • Dave Romoser

The Teacher from Ecclesiastes closes his book with a poem - an artful description of his final thoughts as he looks back over his life and observations around "vapor management" in his old age. In these final words, there is an urgency in his conclusion that we dare not miss

The Divide & Yet Universal

March 21, 2021 • Lindsey Apple

Wisdom - it’s something we all think we have, until we realize we don’t. The teacher in Ecclesiastes is self-examining, self-disclosing as he reflects over his life recognizing that he has been both capable of wisdom and folly, good and evil. However, the King, insulated by power, privilege, & prestige, was unable to truly see his own folly, until it was too late.

Wisdom Makes The Journey Better, But Promises Nothing

March 14, 2021 • Grant Romoser-Claunch

Focusing on chapters 8 and 9 of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher is going toe-to-toe with our illusions of control. In chapter 8 he knocks down the sense that we can control any of the stuff, or vapor, of life. In chapter 9 he dismisses any notion of control over how long our lives are, ultimately saying that "time and chance happen to us all." By dashing these illusions of control of all of our external stuff, he leaves us with the reality that the only thing we can control is our interior life. We can no longer look to the stuff of vapor to try to earn God or the good life, but we can look through the vapor to the God who is always present. What this takes is a shift in our interior lives, a change of perspective, to see God through all things.

Wisdom Through Action

February 28, 2021 • Lindsey Apple

Ecclesiastes opens us up to acknowledge our own experiences and how they influence our perspectives and understanding of the world. The teacher says, “There is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” Questions of “why?” and “now what?” are common and welcomed by this wisdom teacher in the discovery that “doing good is itself a pathway to wisdom”.

Balance and Wisdom Beyond the Wisdom

March 7, 2021 • Dave Romoser

For all those who've worked hard to stay on the right path, follow all the rules, check all the boxes and that thing you were hoping for and counting on still fell apart... there is a wisdom beyond the wisdom that offers insight for how to manage all that is "vapor under the sun"

The Meaningless Message

February 21, 2021 • Grant Romoser-Claunch

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, the worship wasn't able to be included in the recording. We apologize for the inconvenience! In this introduction to the book of Ecclesiastes, we see the Teacher's wisdom is words from his own experience. The book serves as a "Yes, but..." to the wisdom found in Proverbs, nuancing and demanding that we see that wisdom is found in and through our own experiences. They are our first and final teacher by which we grow in wisdom. Experiences are not something to be ignored, skirted, or numbed, but leaned into. When we do we can see that the Teacher's claim that everything is "hevel" (meaning, "fleeting and/or senseless") is an urging for us to prioritize what actually matters while not getting caught up in the senseless and fleeting things.

Newsong Fellowship