September 14, 2025
The Cynic and the Saint: Why Do We Gather?
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
Many of us are pretty good at identifying things that are out of place. I’d say if we handed out a piece of paper with 100 arrows on it, 99 arrows pointing left and only 1 pointing right, most of us could pretty quickly pick out the one that is different. I’m not a hunter, but I’ve been told that this type of observation acuity (keen perception) comes in handy when you have to track an animal. The ability to watch for twigs and branches that have been recently broken, the ability to notice grasses that have been pushed down, and the ability to see rocks that have been recently disturbed can help in knowing what kind of animal you are following, what direction they are going, and how fast that animal is going. Our ability to pick out the odd one can be triggered in all sorts of situations. So let me ask you a question — have you ever been reading the Bible and ran into something that seemed out of place? For me it’s the book of Ecclesiastes. It just stands apart from most of the Old Testament and it’s especially noticeable if you are reading straight through the Bible. If you do read it straight through up to Ecclesiastes you would have been exposed to many different writing styles and genres. You would have read historical books, books of the law, books filled with prophecy, books that were poetic writings, and wisdom writings. However, when you get to Ecclesiastes, even though it’s considered a poetic/wisdom book, there is something that makes it seem out of place. We know it was written by King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 1:1), who wrote 2 of the Psalms (Psalms 72 & 127) as well as the majority of the Book of Proverbs. In the Book of Ecclesiastes his tone has taken a dramatic turn. The seemingly excited optimistic tone that is found in many parts of Proverbs has given away to the pessimistic cynicism of someone who can only see the bad in the world. This change can leave us confused and wondering why this book is included in Scripture at all. However, there is something we must understand, even though it might seem out of place to us — it is the Word of God. God included this book in His Word to us for a purpose. That reason is to equip followers of Jesus (or saints) for every good work that He has prepared for us like we are told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. This morning I want to start a brief series in which we will be looking at the writings of the cynic and see how they relate to us as saints, but I don’t want to start at the beginning of Ecclesiastes. Instead I want us to first start in the middle, so if you have your Bibles please turn with me to the 5th chapter of Ecclesiastes.
When we look at the Book of Ecclesiastes we see it is written from the perspective of an older wise King who is revisiting the places and situations he found himself in frequently during his life. As he revisits each of these places his thoughts are not very positive concerning many parts of his life. We will be visiting some of those places that are mentioned in the first 4 chapters of Ecclesiastes in the next couple of weeks, but today we are visiting the House of God that Solomon mentions in Chapter 5. When Solomon mentions “The House of God” in this first verse, he is speaking of the temple in Jerusalem. King Solomon was very instrumental in its building. If you remember it was an endeavor that his father King David wanted to pursue (2 Samuel 7), but God said it was going to be a descendant of David that will be used to build God a house. Solomon oversaw the construction of the temple that ended up taking about 7 years to complete and dedicate to the Lord (1 Kings 6). The temple was built right next to Solomon’s palace. Not only was it easier to oversee the construction of the temple, he would have gotten to see the day to day operations of the temple. There are some extra Biblical sources that give us an idea that at the time of the writing of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon would have been able to observe the activities at the temple for 50+ years. During those 50 years and undoubtedly relying upon his own personal experience, Solomon saw things happen at the temple that should never have been happening and he bluntly confronts them here. While he addresses many different aspects concerning worship at the temple, this morning I would just like to look at two of them.
Preparing for Worship - Ecclesiastes 5:1
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.
Solomon first addresses the attitude of the people that came to the temple. The temple was the place where the Ark of the Covenant resided inside the Holy of Holies. It was the place where God met with the Chief Priest once a year to atone for the sins of all of Israel, but for the average Jewish believer the temple was different. It was a place where they would come to worship God, to make sacrifices for their sins, to give tithes and offerings, to pray, and to celebrate the annual festivals of the Jewish Nation. What Solomon saw was far from what was supposed to be happening there. The behavior he points out that was happening at the temple has a lot in common with someone who he mentioned often in the Book of Proverbs. That is the person whom he calls “The Fool”. In Proverbs 18:2, Solomon says it is the fool who wants to run their mouths and air their own opinions while they do not try to seek after understanding. In Proverbs 10:8 we are told that the same babbling fool doesn’t want to listen to sound advice. Those two characteristics of a fool are exactly what Solomon is referring to here when he tells those who have come to worship to keep their ears open and their mouths shut. He knew that many who came to worship (including himself) did so with foolish intentions and followed through with foolish actions. He follows this with a statement that should have grabbed everyone’s attention, “It is evil to make mindless offerings to God”. There is no doubt that Solomon called this evil because he had experienced it first hand. There was a time in his life where Solomon would have gone through the motions when it came to worshiping at the temple. He just did this to look the part, without much thought or intention because his true devotion was elsewhere. We are told of this specifically in 1 Kings 11, when we are told the wives of Solomon had led the heart of Solomon away from the Lord, just like God said would happen. Solomon even built pagan shrines so his wives could worship their false Gods. This included the god Molech whom children would be sacrificed to. This disobedience in worship is what led the Kingdom of Israel to be split into two Kingdoms and what led Solomon to call out the actions of the worshipers, because it wasn’t just his foolish behavior that he was calling out. Over the years he saw countless other individuals/fools who would just come to the temple without being prepared to truly worship in the temple. It might have been because it was “what they were supposed to do” or maybe they just went for social reasons. Whatever their motivation they missed the reason why they go to the temple. They should have come to worship the Lord God almighty — the one who is worthy of all praise. They should have come broken because of their sin and make a sacrifice to atone for their sin. They should have come with a grateful heart ready to give an offering to the One from whom all blessings flow. It was a time to come and cry out to the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe, but true worship was far from their hearts. When they approached worship in this way, they were foolishly holding back the true worship that God deserves.
For a follower of Jesus, this last statement should stop us in our tracks as well. Honestly, how many times have we come to church without being ready to worship in Spirit and in Truth as we have been commanded (John 4:23-24)? How many times do we come to church without a sense of anticipation of what God will do in our presence through His Word and through His people? Do we come to church because it’s something we feel like we are supposed to do, or are accustomed to doing. Are we coming to lift up our voices to sing the praises of the One who deserves all praise? Do we come to worship the way God calls us to worship Him by giving the first and best of what God has given us because God deserves it? This includes our time, our talents, and our money — all given as an act of true worship. Do we understand that when we pray that we actually have an audience with the King of all Kings and the all powerful ruler of all and treat that time as such? Are we preparing ourselves before we ever step into the service for the truth of what worship is actually a response to — a response to the majesty and glory of God? There’s a song we sing based off of the old Hymn, “Just as I am”, and the version we sing adds a beautiful chorus. I want to take that chorus and turn it into some questions that we all need to answer personally when we come into the House of the Lord to ensure we are ready to worship. Do you come into church broken to be mended by God? Do you come wounded and anticipate being healed by the Almighty? Do you come to worship God, desperate for Him, knowing it’s only God who can rescue you from your current state? Do you come empty knowing only Jesus can fill you? Do you know you are guilty of sin and sin can only be forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ? When we come to the house of God, we need to come ready to worship, to truly worship in all of the elements of a service. We can no longer just go through the motions each Sunday. If we want to see God move in our midst and in this country, we must worship in the House of the Lord. We are going to have to worship outside of these walls too. There is something that goes hand in hand with that and it is sincerity in our worship.
Sincerity in your Worship - Ecclesiastes 5:2
Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.
The theme of mindless and robotic offerings continues as Solomon writes verse 2. There are two things that Solomon is trying to communicate from his observations on worship in this verse. The first is concerning people rashly bargaining with God. This is one of the understandings of the phrase “bringing matters before God”. I’m sure we have all bargained with God at some point in our lives. It is telling God we will do something for Him as long as He does something for us. It’s natural for people to bargain in times of crisis, so much so it’s been recognized as one of the steps in the grieving process. Just remember grief can be experienced outside of death, it can happen when we experience any type of loss. Solomon calls this type of behavior rash and hasty because we have forgotten the truth of our situation. God is mighty enthroned in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3) and we are just here on earth. To understand this a little more deeply, we need to understand a little about negotiations. In order to negotiate with someone we must have something to leverage during the process, something that the other person needs in order to get what we need. When it comes to God and our relationship we have nothing to bargain with. Everything we have is just a blessing from God. We must understand our true position in this world and operate from there. We are wretched sinners who come in awe of an awesome God who is full of grace and truth. We desperately need His grace and mercy. When we understand this, it takes us from a position of trying to bargain to a place of worship when we respond to all of the blessings God has given us — way more than we ever deserved.
The other observation Solomon is making about worship is that people who came to the temple did not truly mean what they were saying during their time there. Sure they said the proper things like everyone else did and I’m sure they even had actions that might have even matched those words in the context of worship. However, Solomon saw these same people in his courts and around the community. When he saw the actions of these people (as well as his own), he knew there was no way they understood and meant what they were saying because their lives said something totally different. That’s why he called their words hasty and rash. We can be guilty of this as well, we can speak without realizing the implications of what we are declaring during our worship. This is more than just things we say when we try to bargain with God (even though this is definitely included). This goes into all the parts of our worship in and with our lives. I think that it's most noticeable in our praise. If we are honest there are times we will hear a praise song, maybe in church or on the radio, and we start singing along because it's either familiar, something we grew up with, or maybe it's something catchy. We sing along because we like it. In those moments do we really listen to the words and mean the words in more than just a superficial way? Are we truly worshiping through those songs or are we just being entertained by them? Do we really think through the implications of the praises that we are bringing to God? Let me give you an example by taking one of my favorite worship songs that I have struggled with in this manner. The song is “Build my Life.” Do you realize the implications of proclaiming just one line of that one song? “I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken.” Whoa… do we really trust in God alone or is our trust in other things when it should be in God alone? Then what about the declaration that “I will not be shaken”? I can’t tell you how many times I might panic for no good reason over situations that don’t matter in eternity or be shaken by simple inconveniences. Now we are not infallible human beings so we are going to struggle with these things. Have we really thought through what we are proclaiming and the truth that declaration is based upon? Not only must we truly mean what we are proclaiming during worship in God's house, we have to do it outside of God’s house as well. Our entire life is supposed to be worship (Colossians 3:17) and if we asked people who know us well, family or coworkers, I wonder if they think we truly mean those words as well?
Despite how these two verses look on the surface, these verses contain some deep truths about worship that should cause us to stop and think about our worship. Solomon had seen and participated in this behavior during his time at the temple and knew this is not what God called us to and definitely not what God deserved. Do we prepare for worship properly? Do we intentionally come to worship or do we come for another reason? Do we really bring all of our worship in all parts of our lives with sincerity or are we just idly speaking?
