Approaching What Isn’t Vapor | Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 | 07/05/26

All right. Well, grace and peace. It's

great to be with all of you this

morning. Uh, if you don't know me, I'm

Josh. I'm one of the elders and teaching

pastors here. And it's, as always, my

the great privilege and pleasure of my

life to get to go open God's word with

you and transmit what I have received.

So, I hope you all had a nice fourth.

It's been an interesting month. The

World Cup is being hosted in our country

for the first time. And maybe is this

the first time ever it's been hosted

here or no? No, I was here once before.

One of the interesting features of the

World Cup being here that I never in a

million years would have expected, but

I'm really enjoying, I don't know if

you've seen this, is seeing video clips

of people not from this country,

experiencing things about our country

for the first time. Have you seen any of

this? And it's kind of amazing because

some of the stuff you expect, you know,

people trying brisket in Texas for the

first time and they're like, "Oh my

gosh, this is the greatest thing ever."

Or or, you know, standing in front of

the Grand Canyon just being in awe. You

know, stuff that we would all agree is

amazing. But what's been even more fun

and special is seeing people be in awe

and wondering at stuff that we just take

for granted all the time. So seeing

people from Europe just being

flabbergasted that they can have as many

refills of their drink as they want

or you know tasting Chick-fil-A and

being like I've never had this much

flavor in meal before. Um you know

people being aruck that there's AC on in

all the buildings they go into or that

we put ice in all of our drinks. These

things that you just we just take for

granted. We don't even think about them.

We think to say thank you. It's just

pres, you know, I actually I I read this

long- form tweet by a a Japanese person,

citizen who was here and it was this

beautiful poetic reflection on being

given free chips and salsa at a Mexican

restaurant. And this person was just

like in our culture there's like this

highly nuanced like beautifully

calibrated

like when you give someone something a

gift it creates an expectation and that

expectation ought to be met in due time

at the appropriate season in correct

proportion and there's all this stuff

about when you give something you expect

to get something back and he's like then

you sit down at a Mexican restaurant and

they just give you free chips and salsa

before you've paid them anything and it

for him it was like, you know, this just

communicates, we're glad you're here and

we trust you.

And

it was it was really I'm not doing it

justice. I didn't memorize it before I

walked up here, but it's been kind of

just incredible watching people from

outside of our context come into our

context and wonder at it. Right.

So this morning we're going to talk

about the context of worship, the sort

of normal things of worship that you and

I do all the time. Giving, praying,

promising, committing to do things for

the Lord. And what's so interesting

about that World Cup example is, you

know, you see people who are not used to

these things just be in awe of them in a

way that we forget to appreciate.

And when you think about your life and

the things that maybe you fail to be in

awe of and wonder at because it's common

place. I mean, gosh, our relationship

with God, right? Prayer.

We fail to properly value the holiness

of God.

We fail to

remind ourselves that we live in

perpetual response to his greatness and

holiness and glory and love.

This morning, Cohelith, the author of

Ecclesiastes,

is going to walk with us down to the

temple, and he's going to start pointing

at different people doing different

things. And he's going to invite us into

the shock of people praying carelessly,

of people babbling,

um, people vowing and not resolving to

actually do it.

He's going to show us people doing

things in God's presence that when you

think about it objectively seem

horrendous and terribly irreverent.

And yet they're just like the kinds of

things that you and I can fall into the

pit of doing if we're not allowing

outside voices, voices from outside of

our context, outside of our world to

come into our world and remind us of how

great and glorious and wondrous it is to

live in fellowship with the creator of

all things. The source of all life, the

maker of all cells and galaxies is our

Lord. It invites us to commune with him.

This brings me to what I believe is the

main point of the passage today. Main

point from Ecclesiastes 5.

Because God is holy, because God is

holy, our whole lives must be shaped and

reshaped in response to him. Because

God's holy, our whole lives must be

shaped and reshaped in response to him.

Please open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

We're going to pick up where we left off

last week. So, we have been considering

together for several months now.

The question that this author has been

wrestling with,

what really matters? What ultimately

matters? What can I grasp onto in this

world that's going to have significance

beyond my own lifetime?

And his answer has been shocking. All

the things that all humans in all places

and times tend to naturally assume are

the most important things are what

really matters. It turns out none of

those things hold any lasting value.

Nothing we can do will ever truly change

anything. Nothing we can do can ever

fully satisfy us. Nothing we can do is

new. And nothing we can do will be

remembered. Our lives, he's told us in a

bunch of different ways, are trapped.

They're trapped beneath the restless

powers that are greater than us, the

ongoing cycles of creation, the

unrelenting march of time, and the dark

tyranny of death.

We can't escape these things. But as we

follow Cohelith, as he's explored all of

these matters, we found that amidst that

tragic reality where he can't see what

really matters, we can see that there

are things that do in fact matter,

things that are in fact good.

Last week we saw the interdependence in

human relationships. They matter.

Humility matters. Wisdom matters. Even

if they themselves aren't ultimate

issues, they are goods in this world.

Just the fact that they're not ultimate

does not make them meaningless.

Well, this morning we're going to

reflect together on how we relate to God

because for Cohelith that matters.

In chapter 5, beginning in verse one,

with that said, let's humble our minds.

Let's open our hearts for the reading of

the word of the Lord.

Guard your steps when you go to the

house of God. To draw near to listen is

better than to offer the sacrifice of

fools, for they do not know that they

are doing evil.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let

your heart be hasty to utter a word

before God, for God is in heaven, and

you are on earth. Therefore, let your

words be few. For a dream comes with

much business and a fool's voice with

many words. When you vow a vow to God,

do not delay paying it, for he has no

pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It

is better that you should not vow than

that you should vow and not pay. Let not

your mouth lead you into sin. And do not

say before the messenger that it was a

mistake. Why should God be angry at your

voice and destroy the work of your

hands?

For when dreams increase and words grow

many, there is vanity.

But God is the one you must fear. God,

would you help us to bring these words

down into our very selves that we might

be changed forever? Amen.

So, as I was reading through there,

maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't, all

the settings that he's observing and

talking about are all worship settings,

things that you would do in the temple.

And so, I'm looking at this through the

lens of worship specifically, but all of

it is going to apply to all of life. So,

we're going to look at four things this

morning. First, giving versus receiving

in worship. Second, careful versus

casual worship. Third, faithful versus

fickle or faithless worship. And four,

what should we practically do with all

these lessons? So, let's start with

giving versus receiving in worship.

Looking down at verse one, guard your

steps. It says when you go to the house

of God,

there are a number of ways you could

translate that word guard in the

passage. It means to be careful, to pay

close attention to, to watch with

concern for your safety. You know, if

you try to think of an village village

in the ancient world, you'd have a

watchman and his goal was to survey out

into the night and pay careful attention

that no enemies were coming to try to

ransack your town and steal your

children and your wife and so forth.

Whatever that guy was doing on guard,

that's what he's telling you to do here

in this passage.

Be on guard as you approach the house of

God. Being on guard has a sense of

urgency to it. Pay care pay careful

attention to your motives, your

intentions, and especially to what you

touch along the way to the house of God.

So, in a minute, it's going to become

painfully obvious that the author has

heart attitudes involved. Uh, that's his

real issue here. But for him and for his

first listeners, guarding your steps as

you go to the temple plays out in real

physical and concrete ways, tactile

ways.

If you were careless with your body on

the way to the house of God, you could

accidentally or carelessly render

yourself ritually or ceremonially

unclean.

For instance, if you accidentally touch

a dead body or a dead animal, or if you

fall asleep in a tent with someone who's

sick and then they die, or you come into

contact with a woman who's having her

time of the month or who just gave

birth, there's all kinds of situations

and circumstances in which proximity to

or physical touch of something renders

you unclean and unfit for worship and

purity rights in the temple.

It's not that anyone sinned. It's it's

not like a moral dimension to it. But it

in a world where God is being very clear

that sacrifice and purification is the

only way to the restoration of this

fellowship. Preserving that symbolism

was very important to him.

I mention all this because this is

probably the first thing that the

readers of this text would have thought

of when they heard the words guard your

steps. Be careful where you step on your

way to church. And while Coheliff is

about to take this a step further, I

would just like to gently point out for

us as modern readers,

we should be careful.

We should pay attention.

We should be on guard with how we come

to church for worship.

When you make your way to the place

designated for God's praise and you come

prepared to offer your sacrifice of

praise, be deliberate,

be thoughtful and attentive to how

you're doing that. How might this apply

to you? Well, it might apply to your

process for getting ready to come to

church.

The kinds of thing like what kinds of

things do you listen to and fill your

mind with before you walk in here on

Sunday?

What are the kinds of things that you

talk to with each other on the way out

the door? Are you doing things, saying

things, focusing on things that are

going to make it easier for you to

worship God or things are going to make

it more challenging?

This could probably be its own sermon,

but I really encourage you to to to

think about that this week. Like, am I

do I pay attention to what I'm doing

before church and in preparation to go

to church and on my way to church? I

whatever I'm doing, am I doing it on

purpose or is it just sort of like a

consequence of I just feel like doing

that today? Am I trying to get myself

ready to have communion with God? Or am

I being careless and flippant about it?

Let's move on. Cohelith, having warned

us to take heed, to be careful, is now

going to call our attention to two

different kinds of people who walked

into the temple.

The first guy shows up with nothing in

his hands. He shows up with no animal

for a sacrifice, no gift for the altar,

apparently no coin for the offering. He

shows up simply to listen.

To listen, presumably to the law being

read and to the prayers being offered.

And then he points the camera toward a

second guy. The second guy walks up with

all the correct stuff. He's got the

right animal. He's animals the right

age. It's unblenmished. So on and so

forth. And yet his sacrifice,

his gift to God is not a good sacrifice.

It is labeled by Cohelith as the

sacrifice of fools. And what they are

doing in that sacrifice, he says, is a

moral evil.

That's pretty serious.

Let's try to think carefully about what

is being said here. The contrast is

between a man who approached to listen

to hear

and the guy who came to offer a foolish

sacrifice. And for some reason, what the

first guy is doing is better than the

second guy because the second guy

doesn't even realize that what he is

doing is evil.

So what could this be about? Well, you

add the fact that the word for listen or

hear

is one of the fundamental commands of

the law. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your

God, the Lord is one. You shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, mind,

and strength. To hear is

almost a synonymous idea of obedience.

You're actually listening to God.

This what's being implied here is that

the first person, I think, came to the

temple with a heart that desires to

listen, learn, repent, and obey even

though he had no sacrifice. Whereas the

second person came to the temple with no

desire to listen, learn, repent or obey,

but he had the best sacrifice you could

bring.

And Bo's point is that it's way better

to be the first guy than the second guy.

And this is something that matters.

The way you approach God matters.

It's a great evil to come bringing gifts

to God, to put on the costume of a pious

person, and to act like you were serious

about your faith when you are not.

Jesus calls that hypocrisy.

Jesus says that the person who does

things like this to be seen by people,

to be praised by people,

all that they get for having done that

is what they get in this life.

>> Cool. People are impressed with you.

That's all you get for your sacrifice.

That's the full extent of your reward.

God is not pleased with that kind of

sacrifice and all you will get is that

which is fleeting and passes away.

But this text teaches us something deep

and profoundly true. God would rather

give to a receptive person than to

receive from an unreceptive person.

I'm going to say that again.

God would rather give to a receptive

person than to receive from an

unreceptive person.

God would rather impart good to the

humble than to receive mountains of gold

from the proud.

God stands over us in a posture of mercy

and with a desire to help and heal us

and to build us up. But in order for

that to happen, something has to happen

first. We have to humble ourselves.

We have to accept his verdict over our

life that we are sinners and that we

need to repent of the ways that we fall

short of his word.

God does not look at our relationship

with him as a bilateral.

It's not like we're partners or

something.

He is so much greater than us. It's

difficult to even articulate.

What he wants from us is for us to

humble ourselves and to listen to him,

to hear him when he speaks to us.

Without humility and repentance, there

can only be foolish sacrifice.

There will only be the kind of sacrifice

that God desires when there's first been

humility, contrition, and obedience.

That's the first big point. God rather

give than receive from you in worship.

That doesn't mean he doesn't desire that

we give and serve and sacrifice. Of

course, he wants that. But he doesn't

want the foolish kind. He wants the real

kind. The kind that comes from a heart

that desires obedience and faith.

There is literally, it's literally

better to bring nothing and to be humble

before him than to bring everything

without a willingness to be humbled.

Let's now transition. So that's giving

versus receiving in worship. Let's now

transition from careful versus casual

worship.

This next section at first glance looks

like it's addressing a person who's in a

big hurry. But I think when you look at

it a little more closely, it's

addressing the person who's being overly

casual or maybe careless is a better

word in how they pray. Verse two says,

"Be not rash with your mouth, nor let

your heart be hasty to utter a word

before God."

That idea of being rash is more like

being thoughtless.

Being too quick and careless about what

you say. I originally read being hasty

is like being in a hurry. But I think

it's better. It's closer to say it's

like doing things before you've really

thought it out or saying things before

you really considered what it is that's

coming out of your mouth.

And the reason he gives us for saying

these things is staggering.

He says, "For God is in heaven and you

are on earth.

He's above you looking down at

everything

and you're down here looking around and

trying to look up.

Watch what you say. Be slow to speak

because God is in heaven. You are on

earth. Therefore, let your words be

few." There's a kind of bigness and

vastness and transcendence about God in

that sentence that's probably difficult

to overstate.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard? Isaiah the prophet

asks us in Isaiah 40 that Yahweh is the

everlasting God. He's the creator of the

ends of the earth. He doesn't faint or

grow weary. His understanding is

unsearchable. The nations are as dust

before him.

That's who you're talking to when you

pray.

When you commune with the most high, you

are addressing the wellspring of

galaxies

and existence,

the maker of all things to whom all

things will one day give an account. He

is in heaven. You are on earth.

Therefore, let your words be few.

So then he makes this interesting

connection that I wrestled with the

whole week and I think I got it but

maybe I'm wrong but he says for a dream

comes with much business and fool's

voice with many words.

So what is that talking about? Well it's

intrinsically related to what just came

before but it does it's it wasn't

immediately obvious to me like what the

words in that sentence are doing. Um, I

opened up a handful of commentaries on

it and it's crazy that there every

perspective you can imagine exists out

there. So, let me just quickly say what

I think Cohelith is saying here,

admitting on the frontand that this is

debated and I'm not totally sure. I

don't think the word for dream here, one

of the reasons it's easy to get confused

is often when you hear the word dream in

scripture, it's typically talking about

like a dream that God gives. And so if

you assume it's that, you're like,"Whoa,

what could this be talking about?" And

and that sort of spun me for a while.

The word dream can also be a reference

to fitful, disturbed sleep.

In the same way the anxious busy person

is constantly dreaming in their sleep,

in the same way that the restless sleep

is a result of a busy life, so in the

same way many words in the presence of

the most high is the result of a foolish

heart and mind. I think that's what he's

saying. The fool is the person who

doesn't listen or hear from God. In this

passage, there's a sacrifice of fools

and now there's a prayer of fools. The

fool is saying in his heart, I'll be

heard for my many quick words. I if I

pray just right, I'll be heard. But the

wise man thinks to himself, I'm

addressing the King of all kings. I'm

going to be honest. I'm going to be

reverent.

I think it's possible that for Cohel he

has in mind a person who is rambling on

and on because he hasn't thought much

about what he wants to say. That's an

unwise heart. That's someone who fails

to hear and consider God and his

character and his power.

Whereas the wise person, I think, thinks

ahead of time. He's going to guard his

steps. He's going to pay attention to

how he approaches God, whether in

sacrifice or in prayer. And when he

prays, he will pray as though he is

addressing the God who is in heaven as a

creature here on earth.

So

I don't know what you're thinking based

on what I just said, but you probably

are thinking something like what I

thought, which is like, well, okay,

reverence check. God's a great king of

ask, but doesn't like the gospel change

how I think about this? Doesn't the New

Testament sort of soften some of these

things at least a little bit? Doesn't

Jesus himself teach us to pray our

father?

Are we really meant to enter God's

presence in a serious, guarded, careful

way, or are we meant to draw near the

way a child freely runs into the arms of

their parents? And the answer, I think,

is yes to both of those things.

I think we're supposed to come to him in

love and freedom and with confidence

with humility, with care, and with sort

of a deliberate, reverent

intention.

I'm going to guess for the purposes of

the people in this room, our ten

tendency is probably more towards

lacking a proper sense of reference than

lacking intimacy when we address God.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that

would be my guess. And let me be really

clear about what I mean.

You can talk to God in a really serious

and formal way, but your heart is far

from him. And you can talk to God in a

really casual, careful way, but your

heart is sincere and you're really doing

the best you can. I think we've talked

about this in the in the past. God looks

at the heart. Of course. Of course he

does.

It's not about the words you use, but

the posture of your heart toward him.

The New Testament teaches as Eric read

it in when he was worshiping our God is

a consuming fire.

We ought to address him with dignity and

honor. And yet under that posture, we

can include our childlike why

why is this taking so long? Have you

turn, you know, have you turned your

face away? I think all of that is

sanctioned in the Psalms. In fact, if

you want more guidance in how to express

yourself in prayer, I think the Psalms

is a tremendous resource. I think it

perfectly captures that balance between

proper reverence, a proper humble mode

of address, and honesty, openness,

willingness to just say what you really

think and feel,

but recognizing that he's in heaven and

we're on earth.

Worshipful prayer can be deeply honest

and real without devolving into

something thoughtless and casual and

careless. That's careful versus casual

worship. Let's now move to faithful

versus faithless or fickle worship.

I'm using that word faithful and

faithless in maybe a slightly different

way than you're used to. I'm using them

in the sense of loyalty. There is the

faithful one who is loyal to their king

and there is the faithless one who does

not keep faith with the king.

Looking down at verse four, when you vow

to God, do not delay in paying it. It

says, for he has no pleasure in fools.

Pay what you vow. He goes on, it's

better to not vow than to vow and not

pay.

So, let me go briefly into the world of

Old Testament vows because I don't know

if you've studied that recently, but

just let me quickly summarize it. In

ancient Israel, vows are never a

required thing from anybody.

Vows often were necessary and people

made vows often, but they weren't

required. So the first thing is, you

know, in the due course of daily life,

you and I, we make agreements with

people all the time, but we just don't

think about it. So I don't know about

you, but it's like, do you want to read,

you know, read the terms and conditions

and agree to them? Uh, do you guys read

every word of those? We're we're we're

making an agreement, but we just don't

think about it because you can click a

button and have the experience be over

quickly and move on with your life.

Um, but in ancient Israel,

you know, it's like we got to get this

house built and I need someone to do it.

Someone's like, I can do it. And so then

the question becomes, are you going to

build it first or am I going to pay you

first? No matter what happens, someone

has to move go first. And often times

that involved someone

uh assuming some kind of risk. The

builder starts building without payment

with the hope and expectation that he'll

get paid at the end. or the payer gives

the money with the hope and expectation

that the builder was going to actually

do what he said he's going to do. And so

they often invoked vows, you'd say, "I

promise to do X, Y, and Z. So help me

God. As the Lord lives before God's

face, I promise to do this thing." And

by involving God, you're basically

saying, "God sees this and if I break

the terms of this vow, God's going to

hold me responsible." That's what vowing

is in Israel. They're voluntary. They

were sacred in the sense that they

involved God and they were morally

binding.

Once you made that vow, there's no

backing out from it.

And so in this context, the author says,

"Look, if you promise to do something

either for God or for someone else,

don't delay. Don't wait for the good

time to pay it back. Do it as soon as

you're able because God isn't pleased

with folly and with people trifling upon

sacred words. If you've promised to do

something, do it. It's better to promise

nothing, to offer nothing than to

promise to not pay. I think the issue

under the issue there is it this has to

do with how you think about God. If you

think God matters, if you think God is

Lord and he is just and he is involved

in this thing and that he has the

ability to bear witness to and punish

wrongdoing, if you think that that's

true, then you are going to probably

deal with it immediately because you're

nervous about offending a holy God.

The issue is not just keeping vows. It's

not simply about the fact that when you

break a vow, you become an untrustworthy

person. It's deeper than that. If you

make a vow, you don't fulfill it. It

says, "Your mouth has led you into sin.

Your mouth has caused you to disobey

God."

Do not say before the messenger, that's

probably the priest at the temple who

listens to vows and keeps record. Do not

say before the messenger, your vow is a

mistake. To do that, this says, is to

invite God's wrath and judgment, his

anger, and the destruction of the works

of your hands.

And here's where this gets super real

for us.

It says when dreams increase and words

grow many there is vanity but God is the

one you must fear.

If I am correct that dreams in this

passage are a reference to anxious and

interrupted sleep and words growing many

are the result of foolish unconsidered

and foolish life. Then what this is

saying is that you're going to have lots

of reasons to be afraid of doing what

you promised to give the gift to offer

the sacrifice to help the person you

promised to help. You are always going

to have things that you're anxious about

that you feel like you've failed to

properly plan for coming up in your

life. They're going to make it costly

and scary to fulfill your vow to God

to do what you said you're going to do.

But you aren't supposed to live your

life in fear of that stuff.

You're supposed to live your life

fearing God.

And that only really becomes apparent,

manifests itself when you have to do

something you don't want to do or give

something that's scary to give because

you told God you would.

The only reason we make vows is because

being faithful to them is hard to do.

You and I are meant to live as though

God and God's pleasure in us is what

ultimately matters.

Fearing the Lord means reshaping and

shaping and reshaping your entire life

in response to him and what he cares

about.

It's about living our lives primarily

worried about him more than our business

and our worries and the hustle and

bustle of life in this world. All those

things, the point is about to be are he.

All those things are passing away and

don't really matter. But God is not

hevil.

God really matters.

Coalith has just offered us a profound

and comprehensive life correction if we

will receive it. He wants to reorient us

as receivers in worship, as careful in

worship, and as faithful in worship. He

wants you to see that you can offer

sacrifices like a fool. You can pray

like a fool. You can vow like a fool.

You can do all the right religious

stuff. You can be outwardly religious in

all of the ways God has commanded while

being utterly foolish and ignorant of

what he has attempted to say to your

heart.

Worse than that, you can do all those

outward acts of obedience in a sinful

way when it's selfish and thoughtless

and rash.

It's like he just said, you can come to

church, sing all the songs, pray with

all the prayers, listen to the sermon,

take communion while your heart is far

from God.

While your head is focused on all the

things that you were anxious and busy

and preoccupied with,

you can let all this he all around you

distract you from the one thing that we

appear to have come across in the book

that isn't he, the God of heaven who

we're called to fear.

He is Lord over us. And our whole lives

must be shaped and reshaped in response

to him.

When you get into the New Testament,

Jesus's teaching on prayer is remarkably

consistent with everything Cohel says

here. Don't think you'll be heard for

your me words. He warns us, your father

in heaven knows what you need before you

ask.

Someone might ask, well, now that Jesus

has atoned for our sins, does this

change things? Do I need to be serious

and attentive to how I worship and pray

and sacrifice? Well, the the answer is

like yes. He's died for our sins and

forgiven us and invited us in with

confidence into the holy place. But

being invited in with confidence is not

the same thing as being invited in with

carelessness,

trivially, without thought or attention.

The death and resurrection of Jesus

doesn't minimize or desacralize or

diminish in any way God's desire that

our hearts would come to him in a

posture of humility and contrition and

willingness to learn, repent, and obey.

Through the cross, God has dealt with

our sins and condemnation and he's

cleansed us and restored us to

fellowship with him in a new and deeper

way. All the former symbols of our

distance, all the the

we're going through Exodus in uh our

community group right now. And so I'm

I've been immersed in thinking about the

tabernacle and all the symbolism of the

tabernacle. All of it's meant to convey

simultaneously both that God wants to

draw near and yet there's all this

distance that still remains that needs

to be overcome through sacrifice.

God has torn down the veil that divides

us from him and he has called us into

the deepest intimacy anyone at any time

has ever known through the resurrection.

And though we are called to enter the

holy place with confidence, we are still

taught to come with reverence and awe

because our God's a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12.

God is in heaven and we are on earth.

And he has of course invited us into his

mercy and love and compassion. And a big

part of how he's trying to heal us is by

teaching us to think of him and to

regard him and to value him properly,

especially in relation to the he of this

world.

He wants us to love and fear him as a

child loves and fears their father. Not

terrified of making a mistake, but

eagerly desiring to please him.

Recognizing that he's willing to

discipline us if we engage in rebellion

and wickedness and evil.

Let's now close with a few points of

application.

I want to encourage you, really

encourage you to think about the care

you take with approaching the house of

God, approaching the worship of God.

Do you I mean, do you do anything to

prepare your heart to come here on

Sunday? I don't know if I've ever asked

you that, but it's worth thinking about.

What do you fill your mind with on

Sunday mornings before you come in? You

know, it's possible that Sunday morning

you wake up and you immediately jump on

your email and you start eating the

bread of anxious toil.

You start worrying about all the stuff

you have to do at work as soon as you

get back on Monday. Then you close your

laptop and you walk in here and you're

like, "Why is it so hard to

concentrate?" It's like, "Well, I

probably think of a couple reasons. It's

hard to concentrate."

You know,

let me can I just tell you what our

family does? I'm not perfect. There's

probably better ways to do it than what

we do, but just some of the things that

we do. We just don't do any screens on

Sunday morning. We try to not look at

anything, even read any news. We if

we're going to put some music on, we try

to put on worship music and then we read

scripture to each other on the drive in

here and we talk about it a little bit.

It's not some big production or

something like that. But we just try to,

I don't know, take some sort of

proactive

steps to sort of clear our minds and

help us come in here in a posture that's

ready to receive. Now, is that the

greatest thing you could do to get ready

for Sunday? I'm sure that there's

people out there that have way better

ideas than that, but that's just that

works for our family. I'm just curious

if you've thought about it.

Have you thought about preparing,

guarding your steps as you make your way

to worship? That's first.

Second,

when you pray,

I really wrestled with how to say this.

I have conversations like this all the

time. Like I want to pray. I know I

should pray more, but it's really hard

to like get myself just to do it. I

struggle just to do it. And I have that

conversation several times a week. It

feels like that's a very a very very

common struggle. And I wonder if part of

it is we think we tell ourselves, we get

it in our head that if I'm going to

pray, it has to be this big production.

It's going to be like 25 minutes of me

just devoting my mind and my heart to

this thing. And I think Coella's point

is like it actually probably shouldn't

be a big

um you should probably think about what

you need to say and say it.

And with the rest of your time, listen.

You know, think about something he said

and just ask him to help you understand

it.

and just sit there with the knowledge

that he's there with you and that he

wants to help you and that his spirit

has been given as your teacher to

instruct you and to lead you into

comfort and hope and just sit with that.

You don't need to come up with all this

stuff that you think you ought to say.

In fact, you probably shouldn't try to

come up with tons of things you ought to

say. One of the things I love about

church history is there's all these

wonderful prayers that have been

preserved. you can just look at them and

those guys are way smarter than all of

us anyway and they've already thought

through how to you know like articulate

a lot of this stuff and there's nothing

wrong with extemporaneous prayer I do

that all the time I'm just saying it we

don't make prayer this thing in your

head that's becomes this unattainable

thing that only the super spiritual do

not

a lot of times on Monday morning I come

sit in that chair right there and I just

look at that cross and I go just teach

me.

Teach me what that means. And I have

really rich communion with God

sometimes.

All right.

Final thing.

The fear of God has to shape and

continually reshape our lives.

Much of what we do, all of us, much of

what we do, we do because we're anxious

and we're we do it because we're afraid

something bad might happen.

Today it's like we had someone come into

our world from a distant country and

remind us that fearing the Lord is

amazing. Fearing the Lord is what really

matters. Why would you do anything else?

It's all hell. You have Christ res

risen. Christ resurrected and reigning

and he's here for you to access all the

time. Why would you fear anything? You

have him.

What do you spend your time worrying

about? What do you spend your life

trying to plan for? What do you spend

your money on? What is all your energy

going towards? Who in this world are you

ultimately trying to please?

I know those are kind of big questions

that can leave you in sort of

theoretical places. Let me just bring it

down to earth in a really concrete way.

Ask yourself this question when you get

home. If I'm going to live my life this

coming week as if God was the most

important thing, how would that affect

my week?

I have a week ahead. You, you, like me,

probably have things on the calendar

already. How am I going to go do that

stuff as if God is the most important

thing in my life?

And you got to let the kind of extreme

overcorrections sort of filter out. You

know, whenever Scott and I talk about

this, it's like we should quit our jobs

and go preach the gospel on the street

everywhere. That's that's an

overcorrection. Um, but you know, it's a

helpful thing to think through like what

does it mean to do my meetings on Monday

morning as if God is the most important

thing to me?

God is in heaven. We are on earth. And

we ought to let all we do be shaped and

continually reshaped by him, by his

love, by his only begotten son who he

has given that we might be saved through

him. Let's pray.