Tag Archives: Purpose

Telos (Why We Exist) – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 for Midweek Lent 5

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 111:10, 73:24-26, 19:14; Ecclesiastes 12:1-14; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; and John 6:28-29.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Throughout your life you will have different goals at different times. When you return home from the grocery store, your goal is to bring all the groceries into the house. And even that goal gets subdivided. You have to get everything that needs to go in the refrigerator or freezer or cupboards in their proper places. At work, you have different goals. You have to finish that task, talk to that client, meet that deadline. In school, your goal might be to finish that assignment, read that chapter, and study for the test or quiz. After you eat, the goal is to put all the leftovers away, do the dishes, and tidy up.

When I started this Lenten series, I had a goal of introducing you to Ecclesiastes and the Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom contained in it. The goal was never to exhaust and cover everything there is to learn from the book. Now that we’re in our final week of it, I’ve done the best I could to give you a taste. The thing about goals on this side of eternity is that there’s always more to do – more things to be completed, more tasks to be done, more goals to reach.

Hopefully through this series, you’ve seen some of the ways that God delivers joy – both in your work and in your leisure. This life is fleeting. It’s like a breath – not ‘vain,’ as it’s often translated. Life like a breath. It’s here one moment and gone the next, and you can’t put the various moments of life in your pocket only to deal with them when you decide. So, take the moments God gives you to work and let your goal be to do what God gives you to do. Take the moments God gives you leisure and let your goal be to enjoy His blessings.

Tonight, we come to the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about “the end of the matter” (Ecc. 12:13). He says, “Everything has been heard,” and this is the conclusion, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is (lit.) the all of man” [sic.].

The Greek translation of that phrase, “the end of the matter,” uses a word that is really useful (and that I would like to popularize). The word is ‘telos.’ It’s the final thing Jesus says on the cross when He cries out, “It is finished”(Jn. 19:30). The word ‘telos’ simply means ‘the end, the purpose, or the goal.’ An Olympic athlete’s telos would be to win a gold medal. To reach or attain that telos, that athlete is going to work really, really hard. They’re going to train hard, eat right, get enough rest, and all the other things that an athlete needs to do to reach that telos of winning a gold medal.

Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon described all the different ways he tried to find joy, the ways he tried to find pleasure, the ways he tried to find fulfillment, but those things did not give him joy because simply squeezing pleasure out of life isn’t why God created him or you. Accumulating pleasure isn’t the telos of mankind. Instead, the end goal, the purpose of life, the reason you exist, your telos is 1) to fear God and 2) to keep, guard, or observe His commandments. Without that, you are not what God intended you to be. You might have some fleeting, pleasurable experiences along the way, but those pleasures won’t last because they can’t, not without the fear of God.

Now, when the Bible talks about ‘fearing God,’ it is often a synonym for faith, for rightly believing and trusting in God. A right fear of God is to believe that what God has said is good and right and true. To fear God is to believe that God is the One who will judge us for what we have done. To fear God is to believe that God is working on us to make us what He wants us to be.

But we sinners didn’t want that. Instead of fearing and believing God, we chose our own way. We decided to rebel against Him. We decided to try to be more than God’s creatures. We tried to be like God. In that sinful idolatry, we broke God’s good creation. The good news is that God did not leave us in that brokenness. Instead, He sent Jesus to be our Redeemer and atone for the sin of the world. God gave His only begotten Son to bring us back into harmony with Him and with creation. And the Holy Spirit now uses God’s Word to make us holy. He continues to shape us into Christ’s image. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us on the way to our telos, to be God’s creatures. In other words, He brings us back into alignment with what God had intended for us from the beginning of creation.

Your telos is that God wants you to receive from His hand all the blessings that He gives to you and to receive those things with a good, right, clean conscience. That’s the summary of the book of Ecclesiastes and, ultimately, all of Scripture.

Look at our Gospel reading (Jn. 6:28-29) again. The crowd who had eaten their fill of the five loaves and two fish asks Jesus, “What must we do to be doing (or ‘working’) the works of God?” They want to know the things that God requires of them so that they can do those things and please God. But Jesus’ answer isn’t a long list of things for them to do. Instead, it’s singular. Jesus says that there is only one work of God. That one work of God is to believe in Jesus whom He has sent (Jn. 6:29). And that work is something that God does.

Faith is God’s gift. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So, when Solomon says here that the telos of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments, he is saying nothing more than what Jesus says. To be doing the work that God wants us to do is to believe in Jesus, and receive what God gives us. We hear from God’s Word, and we believe as the Holy Spirit works faith within us. This, and only this, makes us right with God and with God’s creation. 1 John 3:23 says, “This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us.”

Dear saints, your telos, your goal, your purpose is nothing more than to 1) believe in Christ and 2) to open your hands to receive everything else God gives you.

The only way to reach your telos and be rightly ordered is to believe and trust that Jesus has redeemed you. Next week, Holy Week, we will hear how He has paid the price for all of your sins. You will hear how He can rightly and justly remove you sins from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Only Jesus can make you righteous before God. And Jesus then sends you back into the world so you can live righteous in relation to the rest of creation as you order your life according to God’s will as it is expressed in the Ten Commandments.

Through faith in God’s goodness, fully and freely given to you in Jesus, you reach your telos. Through faith in Christ, you are exactly what God intended you to be, rightly oriented toward your Creator and toward the rest of His creation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Reunion – Sermon on John 20:19-31 for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

Listen here.

John 20:19-31

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Easter evening found ten of Jesus’ disciples huddled together behind locked doors. Earlier that morning, Peter and John had seen the empty tomb (Jn. 20:3-8). Mary Magdalene and some of the other women saw Jesus (Mt. 28:9-10). Two other disciples, who are not part of the Twelve, see Jesus on the road to Emmaus and have dinner with Him. At some point, Jesus appears to Peter privately (Lk. 24:34). Jesus is popping up all over the place, but the disciples are scared. They figure they are toast. Since Jesus had been killed, they must be next. At the direction of the religious leaders, Pilate had set a guard at the tomb to make sure they didn’t steal Jesus’ body. Now that He isn’t in the tomb anymore, the disciples expect soldiers can appear at any moment to drag them off to be executed.

And the interesting thing is that when Jesus appears and is reunited with them, He doesn’t promise that they won’t be killed for being His disciples. As it turns out, they will all eventually be executed for their faith in Jesus (all of them except for John). Jesus doesn’t take away the end that they are all afraid of, but Jesus does give them the courage to leave the room.

Jesus does not promise them that He won’t let them be harmed for being His disciples. He does not promise that He has taken care of the threats. Jesus does not give them superpowers to keep them safe from their enemies. Christ does not promise to protect them from dying a martyr’s death.

No, Jesus has this reunion with His disciples to give them courage to simply leave the room. And because of that courage Jesus gives them, you are saved today. How does Jesus deliver this courage? He does it through the peace and the purpose the only Jesus can give.

First, peace. When Jesus is reunited with His disciples, He says, “Peace be with you.” He says it again after He shows them His hands and side, “Peace be with you.” He’ll even say it a third time when He appears the next week when they are still in the same room with the same locked doors and Thomas is with them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus speaks that peace to them and shows them His wounds. The reason Jesus shows them His hands and side is not only to prove that it really is Him – the one who was crucified and rose again. He shows them His wounds because it was from those very wounds that He shed His holy and precious blood which delivers peace.

Whatever you are afraid of, the answer to your fear is found in the wounds of Jesus. Christ says to you in the face of all your fears, “I died for you. Your sins are forgiven. I have overcome death and the grave for you.” Whenever your courage falters, whenever you cower in fear, Jesus gives you a glimpse of His wounds in the preaching of the Gospel. Those wounds preach to you that God is not mad at you because of your sin. Those wounds preach to you that there is no judgment, no condemnation for you who are in Christ (Ro. 8:1). And this preaching of peace gives you courage. Because of the wounds of Jesus, you can face anything that threatens you now because God is on your side. The worst thing that could ever happen to you is that you die and go to be with Jesus your Savior who conquered and defeated death for you. And in that knowledge, you have peace – peace that surpasses all understanding.

So, first, Jesus gives His disciples peace, then, second, He gives them and you purpose.

A lot of people look for purpose in life. People have always been asking, “Why am I here? What am I to do? What is the meaning of it all?” I would guess that these types of questions are running through your mind even more in these days when our community, our society, our country, and our whole world is threatened by something so small as a virus. What’s the reason to keep going?

Well, dear saints, Jesus has a reason and a purpose for you to keep on. Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” Then, Jesus breaths on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus gives you the peace you need, and the purpose you need. Christian, you have a specific purpose. Your purpose is to go and give out the forgiveness of sins. As a Christian, your life is set apart to be forgiven by Christ and to share that forgiveness with others for the sake of Christ. You are to know and make known the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And in this time of pandemic full of anxiety and fear – when you can’t go to work or school or sporting tournaments or visit relatives and friends – God is giving you the perfect opportunity to share that forgiveness and peace with the people that God has put closest to you, your immediate family. I would encourage you to spend this time rejoicing as a family in the forgiveness of Jesus. Being cooped up together in your house is the perfect time to learn and practice loving and forgiving one another. It will make you better at loving and forgiving others when God sees fit for that to happen again.

This is why you are still here. This is why God is keeping you in this world. Jesus has you here so that He can love you and forgive all your sins. And Jesus keeps you here, in this life, so you can love Him and the people He puts into your life.

Dear saints, Jesus is out of the tomb. The One who defeated death is alive and reunited with you so that you can have a reunion with God. And until the day that you are reunited with God, be reunited with one another. Share the peace and purpose that only comes through Jesus’ forgiveness.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.