The Hype May Not Always Turn Out To Be Ripe

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(9) Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. (10) Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.’ (Ecclesiastes 9:9-10); ‘And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Colossians 3:17)

We often anticipate big things, but then those big things often turn into ‘nothing burgers.’  We get hyped up on things like the Super Bowl, a new car, or the newest gadget advertised at Home Depot, then we realize the hype building up the expectation was greater than reality. It can happen in churches as well; I remember back at another church we attended many moons ago, where the late Pastor Jerry Falwell was invited to hold a ‘God Bless America’ rally.  Being a relatively new Christian, I remember the expectation that this would be spectacular. 

The evening of the event came, and while it was a good gathering with all the patriotic songs and tributes played, when it came to Jerry Falwell I was underwhelmed.  His sermon lacked enthusiasm, and, to me, it came across as a sales’ pitch for his ‘personally-crafted and autographed’ study Bible.  To be fair, I do not know how many of these rallies Pastor Falwell did before ours, or if he was perhaps under the weather, or if it was me and my expectations perhaps unrealistic. 

As a teacher of the Word, not every lesson is always received or comes across as a profound message, and not everyone will respond in that fashion, either.  Some were eager to get the study Bible, and I had listened to other messages Pastor Falwell did on TV prior to his passing.  They were captivating and his accomplishments for the cause of Christ are indeed noteworthy. 

But having things ‘anticlimactic’ is not always a bad thing.  We want normal experiences in shopping for food and other staples. I would like it if the news was presented without everything being ‘BREAKING!’, as most news is not.  Informative, yes; earth-shattering, no.  We should also tailor our expectations that not all events, big or small, are going to wow us.  What we should look what is being conveyed, what should we be taking from these events, and are we prepared to properly respond if necessary.  Even though Pastor Falwell did not ‘knock my socks off’ in his sermon, I was at least there to participate and listen.   What does the Bible say about events when they are ‘anticlimactic’?  Hmmm…

This is not a statement regarding any pastor or teacher as causing boredom or any church or organization holding anti-climactic events.  Your pastor or teacher may be boring at times (or boorish, as perhaps some of my Life Group folks may describe me at times), but this is not the message of today’s Word-of-the-Day.  Removing the emphasis on pastoral or Biblical instruction, the message is simply not everything in life will be spectacular.  Each generation always seems to say, ‘we’ll do it better, and life will be filled with excitement!’, and typically things progress, but things also stay mundane. 

Many say in combat, time on a battlefield is typically 99% boring and mundane with 1% pure excitement, and life is no different.  We do have the occasional ‘big moment’ in our lives – marriage, achieving a goal, winning a prize (BINGO!), but our lives are usually routine.  Big events usually are rare.  We build up events to give us an adrenaline rush, only to have the event become more like life typically is – mundane. 

Solomon, being wise, understood this when he wrote Ecclesiastes 9 (and Ecclesiastes as a whole).  He used the word ‘meaningless’ throughout the Book.  But he also gave this answer to giving life meaning, if not to give life ‘pizazz’ to give it a purpose, in Ecclesiastes 9:10.  Paul’s writing to the Colossae church adds to Solomon’s statement; we need Jesus in our lives to provide meaning throughout, not just during ‘the big moments’.  Now is the time to do something while we are alive, and as Paul states in Colossians 3:17, whatever we do we need to do it for the cause of Christ, for the sake of Christ. 

Acts of a Christian may be boring; it’s not always a ‘yippy’ time when working on a lesson plan, or to get ready to go teach.  I have mentioned there are those lessons that I really don’t have a clue how I’m going to provide them in a meaningful fashion.   But yet, I present those lessons, and every time the Spirit can carry the message even though I can’t.  I’m certain those who clean the church are not doing jumping jacks or handsprings when they go scrub the bathrooms or vacuum the floors.  Solomon and Paul both say, though, do what needs done, to the strengths of your God-given talents, for the benefit of Jesus and his Gospel message, and praise the Lord for the ability to do so. 

Also, we need to look for the excitement that is in what we do or the situations we’re in.  Work can be mundane as can daily life; so can the ‘same old’ shopping trip.  But one can make it less routine is to add the Love of God into them.  Say hello and share God’s Word to the greeter, or the stockers.  Provide Scriptural encouragement to your workmates when you can.  Don’t let the 99% of the typical routines of life overshadow what happens in that 1% of joy!