One Foot In The Grave - Ecclesiastes 12

What scares you the most about the idea that we are all going to die? I was chatting with some pastors over the last couple of weeks about this series that we’ve been doing. And I told them what was up - we’ve been reading through this book called Ecclesiastes and it’s sort of dark and heavy, but it’s been really meaningful. And one of my pastor buddies, who serves at a church nearby, he said, “of course, you’re not going to do that on Easter, right?” And I told him - oh, no - we absolutely are in Ecclesiastes on Easter, this is the finale! You’ve got to put them together. The book of Ecclesiastes talks a lot about death, and the author vents a lot of frustration that he has with our world - and I think that’s exactly what we need to hear on an Easter morning. I think some people approach Easter Sunday - where Jesus rose from the dead after dying on the cross on Friday - and we act like today erases Friday. He rose so that makes it all better, and so (whisper) we don’t have to talk about the bad thing that happened on Friday. But what Ecclesiastes points us to, and what I hope you get from God’s word today is the fact that today is powerful BECAUSE of what happened on Friday. Remembering the death is what floods our life with meaning and purpose. We don’t use the flowers, beautiful springtime metaphors for new life, to cover up the grave - we use them to celebrate it. And so I start with the question - what scares you the most about the idea that we are all going to die? Because by the end of this service, I’m going to give you an opportunity today to make a decision about your death. 

[put a picture on the screen] - Now this is Bryan Johnson. He’s a 47 year old tech entrepreneur and he is obsessed with staying alive. Maybe you’ve seen this story - he’s been in the news a LOT in the last few years, because people are fascinated by his weirdo story - you can find articles about him on NPR, Times, Fortune magazine, the New York Times, Rolling Stone magazine. He calls himself a professional rejuvenation athlete. His goal is, plain and simple, to live forever. He spends 2 million dollars a year on “Project Blueprint”  - and his life sounds like something out of a sci-fi prison movie. He has a 8:30pm bedtime, to make sure he gets the proper amount of sleep. He follows an incredibly strict daily routine that starts at 4:30am that involves intermittent fasting, consuming high-nutrient blended foods like “Super Veggie” and “Nutty Pudding.” Daily exercise, but also daily tracking of weight, body composition, internal temperature along with regular MRI’s and blood tests. Different articles will give you different details, but he takes dozens if not hundreds of pills everyday for nutritional optimization, injecting custom serums, and using red light therapy for his skin. He has even gone so far as to do blood transfusions from his son - literally replacing parts of his body with younger options. He has taken healthy living, which I think a lot of us want to do, and has dialed it to 110%. There’s nothing wrong with eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep, exercising regularly - but for Bryan Johnson, it is literally becoming a religious devotion. In fact, in one article I read in an MIT tech review he talked about founding a new religion called the “Don’t Die” Religion. Existence in this body is the highest virtue in his life. And what’s crazy is that it is working! Doctors are saying, even though he is 47 years old, his heart looks like that of a 37 year old. He has the diaphragm of an 18 year old. He is optimizing the human physical container. His ultimate goal with all of this is something he calls “longevity escape velocity” which is basically where he hopes to live long enough for technology to outpace his physical decline - so then he can live forever.

And here’s the thing - as you look into the details of what this man is doing in order to stay alive longer - it gets easy to make fun of it, because a lot of it is very extra. It’s radical. It’s extreme. But I think it taps into a fear that all of us have at the core of our lives - and it’s not just about death. It’s more specific than that. I think it’s more about growing older. I say, “what scares you about death?” and I think most people go “eh, I don’t really think about it that much. I don’t think about death” - but if I ask, “what scares you about growing older?” - because I think we think about that all the time. 

And so does the writer of Ecclesiastes - and so if you want to grab your bible, and open up to the book of Ecclesiastes - we’re going to be in chapter 12. Now, if this is your first time with us - welcome, we are SO excited that you are here - jump in with us. I always like to encourage people to bring their bibles to church, but of course if you don’t have one - you can always grab them off the bookshelf in the back. If you don’t own a bible, please take one of those - that is our gift to you. And it works like any other book - you look it up in the table of contents to find the page number. But of course another option is just bringing it up on your phone. You can google the passage, ask siri, or if you have a bible app - those work well too. If you’re on your phone, there’s lots of different translations. The bible I’m using has the NLT translation, that’s a personal favorite, and if you want the words to match - just toggle the translation to New Living Translation, NLT. 

Chapter 12 starts out, [read v.1-2]. Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your creator! And they're very intentional with that word Creator. Remember your creator. The hebrew word they use is BARA which is specifically used in those moments where something is created out of nothing. Sometimes they’ll talk about God shaping things like a potter with clay or doing things in the world - but those moments have other, separate, hebrew words. But this word Bara, specifically means creating out of nothing. And it’s significant because that is the only thing that is exclusive to God. If you talk about God taking something and shaping it like a potter working with clay, well - we can do that! We can take stuff and shape it - we do it all the time! We can take stuff and do things with it - but for all the cool stuff we can come up with, for all the creativity of humanity - the one thing we cannot do, is create something out of nothing. That’s the fundamental difference between created (hit chest) and creatOR (point up).

Take it all the way back to the beginning of the bible. [Read Genesis 1:1-2]. The earth was formless and empty and God created. Now we’re not going to go through the whole story, but do you remember the creation account? Every day God makes stuff, and at the end of the day - there’s a phrase they use, a phrase they repeat over and over at the beginning of the bible. Do you remember what it is? God made some stuff, and then he saw that it was _____. Good! When the teacher in Ecclesiastes says remember your creator - he means, remember that there is a God out there, and he makes things that are good. He makes the stars, and the oceans, and the land, and the animals. And he saw that the stars were good. And the ocean was good and the land was good and the animals were good - except the mosquitos. Everything he creates - it is good. And at the end of that little episode, he takes his two favorite humans - adam and eve, and he sticks them where? In the garden. That was sort of the original plan - God hanging out with the good people he created, in the garden. Watching over them, taking care of them. 

(put your arm up) - So we start out with creation. And it’s good, it’s so important to highlight that it starts out good! Then what happened to Adam and Eve? They mess it up! They sin. They disobey. They were given one rule and they broke the rule. We call that the fall (put arm up, angle downwards). Creation, and then the Fall. And it’s an epic story from the beginning of the bible, sure - but it’s also how you lived your life last week. God made you for good. God created you with a point and a purpose, he made you to be a part of HIS goodness. Just like everything else in creation - the oceans, the land, the animals - he created you to be good. To be a part of his good plan. And every single one of us - maybe we started out and we were having a good day, we were on track, living right - and then somewhere along the way, we fell. Maybe we lied. Maybe we stole. Gossiped. Lusted. Maybe we were greedy or selfish or hateful. Maybe we worshipped things other than God or maybe we just failed to love. Some of us have big sins, some of us have little sins - most of us have both - the important part is that at some point, you fell. God made a good world, and we are the ones who broke it. And do you remember the punishment? Adam and Eve, they got kicked out of the garden - but also they died. Falling. Sinning - that introduced death into the world. All of creation was broken away from its creator. Adam you’re going to work the land for food, Eve you’re going to have pain in pregnancy - and both of you will decline. Your bodies will now fail you. 

Back in Ecclesiastes, he starts to describe how getting older, your body starts to fail. Now this is where translation becomes sort of important - it might be a little confusing, but basically he’s using the metaphor of a house falling apart over the years to describe our bodies falling apart. Take a look, verse 3, don’t forget your creator, [read v.3]. I don’t know why - but it just tickles me that he refers to teeth as “your few remaining servants” [read v.4-5]. You know those days when you’re feeling really tired and you just drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper? (laugh), And I’m not touching the caperberry thing. But basically what he is describing is what growing old takes away from you. Your legs start to tremble, your shoulders stoop, your teeth stop working and your eyes see dimly. There’s a realization that grief over what we have lost in this life starts way before you die. I have sat with a lot of friends over the years in nursing homes and on death beds and mourned with them all the things they lost before they died. And here’s what I want you to realize - Life will take everything away from you. No matter how much money you put in the bank account, or investments or properties. No matter how much you work out or eat healthy - no matter how beautiful you are. No matter how much fame, no matter how many followers you have - life will take everything away from you eventually. 

But then remember what the teacher said in verse 1. [read v.1a]. Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your creator. When we are young, we take everything for granted. Our health, our eyesight, the strength in our legs. And I think a lot of people read Ecclesiastes and think - this is really depressing stuff. But the Teacher is not trying to bum you out. He’s not a cranky old man yelling on his front porch, “Youth is wasted on the young! You kids have it so good, get off my lawn.” I think that’s how some people read Ecclesiastes, but they’re missing it! He doesn’t want you to bemoan what life will take away from you, he wants you to remember the one thing life can never take away - your creator. The point of this whole series was not to bum you out by staring at some of the bleak facts of life and death - no, no, no, the purpose of this series is to point you to the one thing that is worth holding onto. We have to realize the deficiencies of this world if we are ever going to reach for something better. To connect you closer to God.

You know, after Jesus died, he was crucified on a Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday - on the third day, he rose from the dead. And it’s funny, because we talk about it SO much - Easter, Jesus rose from the dead, woah, cool, yay, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans - I think we forget just how mind blowing and stunning that was. Death took everything away from Jesus. Jesus’ death took everything away from his followers. They really thought death had won. And then there’s this moment in a garden. Maybe you’ve heard these details before. Jesus was laid in a tomb, and they put a big rock in front of the tomb. And when the women went to the tomb on Sunday to embalm the body - the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. John chapter 20 tells it in verse 11 [read v.11-13]. When he body was missing, she assumed what all of us would assume - not that he rose from the dead, but that someone STOLE his body. And then, [read v.14-15]. Ah, it’s so good - it gives me goosebumps. She thought he was the gardener. Where’d you take his body? Please, it’s fine - April Fools joke, haha, hilarious - I’ll go get him, just tell me where he is. (pause) And then he says her name. [read v.16-17]. This is what we call Redemption. There is always creation. Whether we are talking about the narrative arch of the entire cosmos, or your life last week. There is always creation. And then there is a fall. Death creeps in. We mistakes. We do something wrong - sometimes on purpose. There is always a fall. And we know Jesus never sinned, but he took YOUR sin, paid the price, died on the cross. And if you stop there, it’s a really depressing story - it’s the book of Ecclesiastes. But the last step is redemption. Where Jesus steps out of the grave, leaving sin and death powerless. Jesus turns to Mary - he says her name. And then, did you catch what he said? That last phrase? I’m ascending to my father… AND your father. My God… AND your God. When Jesus rose from the dead, he gave you direct access to the God of heaven. Who created you for good, he sees your fall, he sees your sin, and he is offering you redemption. 

Think about it like this - (hold out your hand). Creation. Then we fall. (draw the line down) We sin, we screw up. We are further away from God. And then there is redemption. Forgiveness. Repentance - where we say sorry to God for our sins and accept his forgiveness and a new life, and we live differently. (Draw the line back up). Creation. Fall. Redemption. See if you can catch it. If we live every day choosing God, throwing away sins and remembering our creator. His mercies are new EVERY morning. (draw the heartbeat line) Creation. Fall. Redemption. Creation/Fall/Redemption. What is it? A heart monitor. If you take the beating of your heart and depict it on a little monitor - you are witnessing the story of our universe, told in its simplest form. I’m not going to get up here and lie to you. You were made for God’s goodness, and you have fallen. And I’m not attacking you - I have fallen too. I’m cutting in front of you in line for “chief of all sinners.” There’s an equality of brokenness. We are sinners, destined for death and decay. But Jesus said Mary’s name. And he says YOUR name. And he says, “I’m going to ascend to MY father… and your father. MY God…and your God.” Jesus gives us access to our creator. If you want to defeat sin and death in your life - if you want to have a connection to the one who made you, to your creator - all you need is Jesus. 

Mary thought he was the gardener. And I think about Adam and Eve, put in the garden by God. Maybe he is a gardener. If your life was a garden, and maybe you’re in here today - and your garden is a mess. Plants are dead, overgrown. Or somehow overgrown AND dead. Maybe it looks like this. [show some pictures]. This is my tiktok algorithm, by the way, I just love lawn/garden transformation videos. I don’t know why, but it makes my OCD so happy. Because it’s nasty before. There’s trash caught in the weeds, somethings decomposing in the corner - and for some of us - we look at the weeds in life, and we just want to torch the whole thing. Nobody can fix this overgrown mess. Nobody can clean up my life. One of my wife’s favorite books as a kid was the Secret Garden, and the classic 1993 movie of the little girl who discovers an overgrown garden and restores it - bringing new life to the whole house. And because my wife likes it, my children love it. It was a lot of work, clearing out the garbage, planting, watering, tending to it - but the beautiful growth and flowers, the result is stunning. So let me ask you - in your life, do you need a gardener? Do you have weeds in your soul? Sin in your heart? Thorns on the rose? 

Because, here’s the thing - think about a garden for a second, picture it in your mind. Close your eyes if that helps [put up a picture of the garden] Think about the vibrant colors, the ivy on the walls, the fragrance in the wind. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Now I want you to imagine a flower withering [video]. A garden can be full of life and beauty, but the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But what I want you to realize is that there’s nothing original there. There’s nothing of substance to evil. You can only do that stuff to something good that already exists. Sin is not a thing all by itself - it is only ever a corruption of what is good. You, in your life, you were made for GOOD. You were made to have a rich and satisfying life - and even if the sin is completely overgrown in your garden, and you can’t even see the house anymore - that can only happen because there was something good to corrupt. If someone is stealing - that means there is something of value. If someone is killing - that means there is life. If someone is destroying, then something good was built. If you have brokenness in your life, that means you have something Jesus can heal. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. BUT, Jesus says, I have come to give you a rich and satisfying life. Remember what we said about God as a creator. He is the only one who can make something out of nothing. The good news that I have this morning is that Life is going to take everything from you. Death is a thief. But Jesus offers NEW life.

And so my challenge to you this week - straight from the teacher in Ecclesiastes - let death remind you of your creator. Let old age remind you of your creator. Let all of the life you experience every single day remind you of your creator. Remember the one who made you. In the New Living Translation - they repeat that line over and over. When your eyes grow dim - remember your creator. When your legs feel weak - remember your creator. And the reason they repeat it over and over is really simple - BECAUSE WE FORGET. The excitement of youth causes us to forget our creator. I think when it comes to cleaning up our life - we always think we have so much time. I know I should be more generous - I’ll do it after this next vacation. I know I should be honest with my co-workers, but it’s so much easier if I just lie a little bit - I’ll come clean after this next project. I know I should give up pornography and try to stay faithful to my spouse - but it’s just easier this way, maybe it’s not that big of a deal. We procrastinate, we put it off - we forget the face of God over and over, and meanwhile weeds grow all over our garden. You always think you’re going to have more time to figure this God stuff out. 

Some of you know, last week, my family had a bit of a tragedy. Wednesday night, we were having dinner together as a family. I was getting ready to come in for worship practice. I let the dog out - we’ve got a fence around our yard. I was about to go grab my shoes, when my neighbor knocks on the door. His name is Dylan, he’s a great guy. I open the door and he goes, “hey, is Raven in there?” No, I just let her out - what’s up? His second question clued me in, “are your kids listening?” Step out onto the porch - what’s going on? There’s been an accident. I think it was your dog. You see, Raven loved to wriggle under the fence, go running through the neighborhood. We put a board covering the hole, she popped it off - tried to cross Eastern Avenue. Death was instantaneous, the car was gone when I got to her. I don’t even know if they stopped. Text Katie - I’m not going to make it to worship practice. And you know, we used to have two dogs - her sister was named Daisy. And Daisy got cancer - big ol’ tumor on her neck. And we had time to adjust to that. We saw it coming a long ways off. But Raven was so healthy. I remember at her last appointment the vet was so impressed. When I said she was 11, the vet did a double take. She looks GREAT for 11. That’s amazing. It’s like the doctor saying - wait, this is a 47 year old man’s heart, that’s amazing - I thought this heart was from a 37 year old guy. (laugh) We thought she had years left. And look, I want to be really clear - I’m not trying to scare you into making a decision to follow Jesus. But I just - please don’t put this on the back burner. Don’t assume you’ve got all the time in the world to figure this out. Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your creator. Don’t wait. If you’ve got breath in your lungs, it is not too late to accept Jesus as your lord and savior. But some day it WILL be too late. So my challenge to you is remember. Remember that there is a God out there, and he makes things that are good. He made YOU for good. Creation. Remember that we took what was good, and we broke it. Fall. And then remember that Jesus came to fix what was broken. Redemption.

I said at the top that I was going to give you an opportunity today to make a decision about your death - but before we get to that, I have one last thing I need to show you. God put Adam and Eve in a garden at the beginning of all things. Mary met Jesus in the garden after the resurrection. But there is one more garden. In the very last book of the bible, a book called Revelation, in chapter 21:3, [read v.3-7] and then in the next chapter, we get a picture of what the garden looks like. [read Rev. 22:1-3]. If you’ve never heard that before - that is a depiction of heaven. It all started in a garden, it moves through a garden, and it ends in a garden. And we don’t know what’s metaphor and what’s literal - but my favorite part is 21, verse 4. He will wipe every tear. There will be no more death. Death takes everything from us, except what God can give you.

And so if you are here this morning, and you’ve been feeling a tug on your heart - in just a moment, I want to give you an opportunity to give your life to Jesus. If you are ready to take death seriously, to tend to the garden of your soul. In a minute, I’m going to invite you to stand. We’re not going to put a spotlight on you, we don’t have a card to fill out, we don’t stick a microphone in your face. And I know we have people joining online - wherever you are. I want you to stand too. Or if you’re on a plane or car or something - maybe just open your hands to receive God’s mercy. And for those who already follow Jesus, if there is someone standing near you - please extend a hand towards them. Join us in the prayer, because these words are for all of us. If you are ready to claim Jesus, to repent of your sins and begin following Jesus - please stand and join me in this prayer - we’ll put it on the screen.

Dear Jesus, our garden is overgrown. Our life is full of death, and we are in desperate need of a gardener. Please pull out the weeds in our soul. I am so sorry for my sins. Please forgive me. I know that I cannot save myself, and so I ask that you save me. Please send your spirit to transform my heart, so I can live a life honoring you. From this day forward, I dedicate my life to following you. Please help me always remember that you are my creator, and you made me for good. In Jesus’ powerful name I pray, Amen.