[Note: In a funny providence, I wasn’t able to give this homily, but Pastor Wilson kindly did in my absence.]
“Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun” (Eccl. 9:9).
Initially, this verse seems a bit cynical. Live joyfully all the days of your vain life. Live joyfully with your wife all the days of your meaningless existence. But the word often translated vain or vanity actually means something more akin to vapor or wind. The point isn’t that life is meaningless, but that it is fleeting and mysterious.
As the rest of Ecclesiastes points out, there is nothing under the sun that is certain, nothing under the sun that is fixed. It is all wind and vapor. What the KJV translates “vexation of spirit” modern translations have improved with “striving after the wind.” Or even better, the word for striving is closely related to the word for shepherd. This world can often feel like we are trying to shepherd the wind. Try to get a handful of wind or vapor, much less herd it into a pen. Our attempts to plan our future, our attempts to understand world politics, even Solomon in all of his glory who could do virtually anything he wanted came to the conclusion that since everyone dies in the end, whatever you work for has no guarantee after you go. And many calamities happen in this life. Life under the sun is vapor and wind, shepherding the wind.
Nevertheless, the wise man concludes: “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd” (Eccl. 12:11). Because there is a God in Heaven who will judge all things, and because He shepherds the wind and sovereignly rules over every detail under the sun, wisdom is still real, and we are set free to enjoy this life for the gift it still is. There’s nothing better, the wise man says, than to live joyfully, to enjoy your labors, your wife, bread and wine, and to fear God. Everything is in the hand of God. And wisdom acknowledges this and rests in this.
So the charge is to live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vaporous life. And implicit is the inverse: live joyfully with the husband whom you love all the days of your wind-blown life. And it might be tempting to think that this lowers the bar: just survive, just make it. But the wise man says that the words of wisdom are like nails fastened, and are given by the One Shepherd. While this world is a windy and uncertain place under the sun, the Word of God found in the Bible is firm and sure. It gives us nails that secure things in this life that are otherwise impossible to secure. God is still sovereign, and we rest in His wisdom. But the instructions that God gives are nails from the Shepherd of the Wind, so that in small ways we can be faithful under-shepherds of the wind with Him.
So what are some of those nails?
Noah, the Scriptures clearly teach that you are called to take responsibility for your wife and family. When things go wrong, do not be like Adam who blamed his wife. Do not be like Aaron who blamed the people, or Saul who did the same. Be like the Good Shepherd Jesus who gave His life for His bride. Jesus Christ was the only man who had the right to say it wasn’t His fault, and He refused. He took responsibility. And by taking responsibility, He led us to the cross where all our sin and guilt was put to death. In all the wind and vapor of this life, the Cross has been planted in this world and it can never be moved, and when you lead your wife to the cross, there is a great calm, a great peace there that can be found nowhere else. Loving your wife like Christ has loved the church does not mean doing whatever she wants to do; if that was love, then we would not have let Christ die for us. No, love is doing what your wife needs in order to become more holy and pure. And from this day forward, it is your God-given responsibility to find out what that is. And as you dwell with your wife with this understanding, you do her great honor, and your lives take on great gravity, greater glory because they are fastened with nails from the Good Shepherd of the Wind.
Libby, the Scriptures clearly teach that you are called to submit to your own husband and respect him in the Lord. When things go wrong, you will be tempted to panic, to try to seize control, to be fearful or insecure, but 1 Peter 3 says that your task is to help your husband not through panic or grasping, but through your chaste conduct coupled with fear. And I take this to be talking about the fear of God. If you fear God, you need not fear any man, much less any calamity. And if you fear God, you trust the nails He provides for securing everything good in this life. In Proverbs 31, it says that favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain (or vapor or wind), but the woman who fears the Lord, shall be praised. The fear of God allows you to continue at your station when it gets really windy. When the kids are challenging, when finances are tight, when your husband makes a decision you’re not sure is the right one, you can keep on submitting and respecting because You know that there is a God in heaven who sees all things and He is watching over you in the wind.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Photo by Jordan Arnold on Unsplash
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