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The ABC of Sunday Matters

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Eighteenth Sunday of the Year

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21

One could say that the author of the book we call Ecclesiastes and which the
Hebrew tradition calls Qoheleth (the preacher) is the first sociologist in the bibli
cal period. The book is generally thought to be a late work and probably reflects
the impact of Greek thinking. Whatever the case, our author functions rather like
a modern scientist, outlining the various experiments he undertook, the results
he collated, and the conclusions he drew. Like most of us, he wanted to measure
the vagaries of life and gain some knowledge of things so as to plan life. His sci
entific conclusion is expressed in this Sunday's reading. The translation 'vanity of
vanities' is now regarded as somewhat inaccurate; the Hebrew word hebel has the
same consonants as the name Abel in the Cain and Abel story (Genesis 4). Like
Abel, whose life was cut off before its time, frustrated and unfinished, it may be
better to translate the preacher's verdict as 'it's very frustrating'. The doubling of
the word signals, as in a number of languages, the superlative. Despite his best
efforts to measure life, it escapes his categories, particularly the measures of jus
tice and fairness. One cannot be sure or secure that one's best efforts (the invest
ment) will realise an appropriate outcome (the interest). There is something
there but the frustrating thing is that one cannot control or measure it. The read
ing and the larger book provide a suitable setting for reflecting on the Gospel
reading and the reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians.
Human beings have tended to go for two main responses to the uncertainty of
life. One is outlined in the Gospel reading; it is the attempt to 'create' a world of
certainty and security and exclude the insecurity and uncertainty. It is a favoured
option in our modern materialistic world. We are encouraged to plan our career
right through to retirement (the investment that will bear measurable interest);
you can even prepay your funeral! Some kind of planning is sensible of course
but we can become obsessed with it; the ironic thing is that the more we try to
secure our life, the more we are admitting that it is insecure. What do I need so

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many assurances, so many signs of security? Is all this worry enhancing my life
or diminishing it? What should my priorities be? jesus' parable of the rich man
makes this point and points in its turn to where we can make investments that
are really secure- our relation to jesus and our attention to the kind of things
he wants us to do rather than what we want to do.
The second option is to plan as best one can to get out of this unsure, insecure
world into another really secure one. Do not invest in this world; invest rather in
the next or other world and you are guaranteed of a high return. This is or can be
the option of religion, particularly the great Semitic religions of Judaism, Chris
tianity and Islam. They all proclaim belief in another life beyond this one. But we
can confuse lives with worlds and if we pay attention to what Paul says we can
see how this happens. Paul urges his audience to keep their eyes on the things of
heaven where Christ is sitting at God's right hand, and not on the things that are
on the earth. If we take this literally we can come to think that God inhabits
another world that we call heaven. But God doesn't inhabit a world or a creation
because that would make God a creature in some way. Heaven is not a place
where people wander about and sit down. Paul is using what we call metaphors
and these are a way of saying something about realities that cannot be described
directly. We use them all the time: 'poor Bill, he's blown a gasket'. Heaven is
simply another way of affirming the presence of God to creation, like Matthew's
favoured term 'the kingdom of heaven'. God is present to everything without
being part of anything so heaven is right here or right there. God delights in cre
ation because, according to Gen 1:31, God looked on it and 'saw that it was very
good'. The human being is a creature that is in the image and likeness of God.
When Paul exhorts his audience, and us, to reject 'what belongs to earthly life'
he has specific things in mind: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires
and greed. These things corrupt us and our good creation. This is the wrong
investment to make in this world; the right one is the one jesus made, giving
himself completely for the sake of others. In this way we will become what we
are meant to be: the creature who is the image and likeness of God. Being a crea
ture also means that we never leave creation, even in the next life. If we did we
would no longer be created. We will enjoy the resurrection and be like jesus who
became a creature like one of us in all things but sin. Being in creation does not
mean that we will miss out on something of the presence of God. Rather, we will
'see' the presence of God among us in a way that is perfectly attuned to our sta
tus as creatures, part of God's creation.

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