The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes

What is the church to do with Ecclesiastes, a book filled with stark words and cynical observations on life, faith, and God? What do we do with a book that claims “everything – everything – is really and truly absurd…”?

Peter Enns suggests that we dive in, embrace the tension, and let Ecclesiastes speak for itself. The book pulls no punches, but this captures an important aspect of human life that we do well to remember.

Yet Enns hastens to say that the Christian reader can go a step further. Though Ecclesiastes shows us a bleak and brutal landscape, a Christian confesses that in Christ there is another, grander landscape beyond that horizon. It is in the light of this new dawn that we might bring Ecclesiastes to bear on our individual and corporate lives.

For the next six weeks we will be working through Ecclesiastes with the Resurrection in mind — not to dull the painful words the Teacher aims at us, but rather to embrace them as Christ embraced the world.

Furthermore, as we practice this difficult, Christ-like embrace, we will be packing relief kits in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee. One kit costs $50, and materials will be present in the foyer. Our goal is to pack 100 kits total — a reminder that although life brings absurdities, the church can still act for change in the name of Christ.