OH THE SUSPENSE!
The election is just a few days away. Is anyone feeling anxious? In Ecclesiastes 2:2a Solomon says, "Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the King's successor be like? . . . " Solomon was a king himself. Yet he was fully aware of the political hopes of the people. Who will King's successor be? What will they be like? What policies will they implement? What problems will they solve? What good or bad things will come from their reign?
People of every age, of every nation, put (perhaps) their greatest hope in political power, and political change. So, leave it to Solomon to deflate the air in our political balloons. Ecclesiastes 2:b, "{They} will do. . . { Drum Roll. . . } what has already been done." Solomon is like a wise old grandfather here. He has this rather sober, lackluster view of power.
There are three things Solomon says he has taken into consideration. The three things are wisdom, madness, and folly. With man there are flashes of wisdom, flashes of madness, and flashes of folly. The flashes of “wisdom or brilliance” you put on your political highlight reel. The flashes of “madness” you hope get forgotten, and don’t end up in our opponents political ad. Your flashes of “folly”, your “stupid" policies... you hope there aren't enough ill-effected people out there to undermine your campaign or overthrow your reign!
Power and politics have worked the same since the beginning of time. What will the next four years hold? A mixture of wisdom, sheer madness, and folly. Now obviously, there is an advantage to wisdom. Ecclesiastes 2:13 Solomon says, “. . .the advantage of wisdom over folly is like the advantage of light over darkness.” How we long for a competent, wise king, to lead us through this evil age. A wise king can make the difference of night and day, of light against darkness. But sadly, that truly wise leader is not likely on the ballot. For all the hope we put in the leaders of men... for all the money we spend to elect leaders (a trillion dollars?)… Solomon warns, "{ they } will do what has always been done."
A friend of mine mentioned a couple of things I found helpful. He's a pastor near Chicago; I'm a pastor in Springfield. I think people feel more strongly about their political affiliations than their religious affiliations. I also think people more stubbornly resist political or ideological conversion more than any other kind. He put more hope in men than we do in Jesus. We do more evangelism for our politics than we do holding out the name of Jesus. We risk far greater alienation in relationships for politicians than we do holding out the pure and holy name of Jesus.
Here is what my friend said. The chances of you or I converting someone politically are near zero. Whether you like it or not, there as many Christians red as there are blue. Don't hear that as me drawing some moral equivalency between parties and candidates. There is nothing morally equivalent about either candidate or parties. What we can do is what Jesus did—we can “be salt” and “be light"—we can be a conscience to those with whom we most affiliate. If you are red, you should be the conscience of the red. If you are blue, you should be the conscience of the blue. And if you are willing to be the conscience of red or blue you will probably end up some odd shade or purple.
Here is what I mean. I maintain a set of lists in my conscience. Can you and I, truly consider, with complete integrity, with a high degree of divine objectivity—what is the wisdom of our party, what is the madness of our party, and what is the folly of our party? If you think your party is as pure and wise as the wind driven snow you are deceived. Can you with integrity state without raising a fist of anger the good, very bad, and very ugly of your desired king?
We ought to hold those to whom we politically affiliate accountable. We ought to humbly yield to the truth (good, bad, or ugly) of our desired king. We ought to moderate our speech, and anxiety, and hope and say with Solomon, “The only good, perfectly wise, capable King Jesus Christ is not on the ballot… but should have our first and most ultimate vote.” To be a conscience isn't to measure one candidate against another, but to measure them against Christ, and then for us to call our fellow political enthusiast into a fear of Christ, and obedience to Christ. Be a conscience for Christ.
Something else my friend said--I'll say it more pointed than he. He said, “What do you get when you mix politics and religion?” You end up with politics. So more critically, what do you get when you mix politics and Jesus? No where in the New Testament does the church hold out any other name, than the pure unadulterated name of Jesus. Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
In Ecclesiastes 4:13 Solomon again tries to sober us up. "13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings." Notice that Solomon is contrasting “a young wise man” with an “old but foolish king.” The poverty of the youth makes him wise--his hardship grounds him, his pain humbles him, his disadvantages, the injustices he endures... all of this strengthens his moral compass. But the old foolish king is foolish because he's stopped listening. He no longer pays attention to warnings. Solomon doesn’t say who's warnings, or which warnings. But maybe it doesn't matter. There is a way that seems right to him, but in the end it leads to death. This old, foolish king becomes untethered from the everyday realities of the lives of those he serves. Probably the longer a person is in power, and the more elite they become, the more disconnected they get from their roots and plight of the common man!
Yet quite ironically, we discover that Solomon's "old foolish king" was once a poor young man himself. In fact, he was once even a prisoner in his own kingdom. He was once the underdog and became the hero. He rose to power from the dark dungeons of his own empire! Ecclesiastes 4:14 says, "For he came from prison to be king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom." But now the older foolish king is a fading star.
But look at Ecclesiastes 4:15. All eyes are upon that wise, youthful man. He’s the rising star! His campaign mantra is “Out with the old, in with the new.” The people are hanging all their hope upon him! Ecclesiastes 4:15 Solomon says, "I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow [the] second youth who succeeds him. 16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind."
Do you see it? Everyone is hanging greater hope on this newly emergent, youthful leader! But Solomon observes... those who come later will not rejoice in him. Good news today, bad news tomorrow. The whole political cycle of one rising and another falling from power, is "futile" and a "pursuit of the wind." If, as you get older, you are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the whole political cycle, you’re in good company, with Solomon and God. Our great hope is not hung at Pennsylvania avenue—unless you’re a total partisan anyway.
Earlier this year, we looked at the cycle of good and bad tribal judges, that came to power in the early life of Israel. We surveyed the life of the king-maker Samuel—and the reign of King Saul, King David, and King Solomon. These kings (even David) seemed to rule the wisest and purest in youth, but gravitated toward greater folly with age (Saul, David, Solomon). We surveyed the explosion of kings who followed after Solomon. How Israel was divided into northern and southern kingdoms, and how both the north and south kingdoms were led increasingly by corrupt kings toward corruption. By the way, with the emergence of kings you had the parallel emergence of prophets. And no matter who was king, the prophets were the conscience of kingdom, speaking truth to power no matter the cost.
Many of you know the Scriptures. What about the history of the rise and fall of kings inspires such hope, such over confidence? An old foolish king is fading away, a new king is loved and adored, is being hyped up... rinse and repeat. Your king is going to do what every other king has done. And it’s futile.
Samuel was the first, but very reluctant, kingmaker of Israel. 1 Samuel 8:10-20, "Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “These are the rights of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. 12 He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground and reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. 16 He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.” 19 The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. 20 Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.” We pay trillions to elect some king, and he turns and takes trillions more.
God's response to the people' of Solomon's day was to let the people have the king they think they deserved. Look at verse 20. They supposed that some king could fight their battles, and better their lives, in the most ultimate eternal ways. But earlier in 1 Samuel 8:6-9, "But the Lord told [Samuel], “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. 8 They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. 9 Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”
A pundit pushes their party, candidate, or king imagining them to be the hope of the world--literally. We are “the ones we've been waiting for!” But maybe like Samuel, it would be best for us to play the role of prophet. The prophet points people to not just to the truth, but to only truly wise, great, and perfect King. The only hope there ever was for Saul, David, Solomon and every other king or kingdom was that we'd let Christ ascend the throne of our hearts.
Ecclesiastes 8:2-9, "2 Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants. 4 For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him. 7 Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? 8 No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.”
What we’re going to end up with on Tuesday, is what we've always ended up with. “…One person has authority over another to his harm.” There are many other verses on power in Ecclesiastes. Solomon has seen it all. He's seen the wicked praised, and wise shamed. He’s seen the hearts of people filled with evil, punishing good and rewarding evil. He’s seen slaves put on horses like princes, and princes walking around horseless like slaves. He's seen the fool appointed to great heights, and the rich remain in lowly positions.
“Be careful”, he says in Ecclesiastes 10:20, “Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom, for a bird of the sky may carry the message, and a winged creature may report the matter.” Better we pray, is what Paul admonishes in the New Testament.
But here is Solomon's viewpoint. Ecclesiastes 9:12-13, “12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before him. 13 However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.” Our path forward in this evil age is to honor whatever king we become subject to. Thank God we get a little say Tuesday. But our hope lay in revering the True King of Kings. Until Christ returns, may God save us and protect us from our kings.