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Phil Campbell MPC, 27^th Feb 2000.

It's a bit after 2 o'clock on a typical Thursday afternoon back in Maclean. The police are at the door; they want me to come with them to help break some bad news. A 12 year old boy's been hit on his bike. He's in hospital on life support. There's no hope. And they're wondering if I'd mind coming with them to tell his mum.

And as we're knocking on the door of the little run down house to tell Robbie McDonald's mum the worst ever news, I'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Let me tell you, if ministers are meant to like this sort of thing, then I'm in the wrong job. And as we broke the news to Sheryl and she struggled to come to terms with what we were saying, I was just desperately wishing I could be somewhere else. THIS IS NOT FUN.

I mean, sure, you've got your people like Helen Steiner Rice who writes those nice poems in the sympathy cards that tell you death's a beautiful transition like the blooming of a flower in the spring time. But when you've been there, you know. It's a lie. It's not like that at all.

Death is cold. Death is hostile. Death is terribly permanent. And so most people say, it's best not talked about. Let's just avoid it, and have some fun. If it comes to a choice between sharing someone's grief and having a good time, which one are you going to choose.

Because the fact is, we live... in a DEATH AVOIDING WORLD. It's like the old story about the guy who goes to the fortune teller. She says, ten dollars; you can ask me ONE QUESTION. So he hands over the money, and he says to her, "Okay, here's my question. Can you tell me WHERE I'm going to die."

And the fortune teller says, "that's an unusual question," she says "Most people want to know WHEN they're going to die." He says, "Well, I don't know what's the good of that." He says "You to tell me WHERE I'm going to die, and I'm just going to make darn sure I never go there."

We live in a DEATH AVOIDING WORLD. We don't want to go near it. We don't want to talk about it. And the last thing we want to do is BE THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS.

You know, there's a reason I'd rather be doing anything else than knocking on the door of Robbie's mum. There's a reason I'd rather be watching TV or reading a book or going to a party. It's a reason the teacher here in Ecclesiastes sums up in a few simple words. The reason is, I'M A FOOL. You can call me that later if you like... because it's true.

And you can see that if you read the first few verses of Ecclesiastes 7. If you've got your bible open, and I hope you have, read verses 2 to 4.

You'll remember if you've been here the last few weeks, Ecclesiastes is a book about WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT. About WHAT'S REALLY REAL. It's a book that leaves no stone unturned, looking for the meaning of life. It's a book written by someone who calls himself THE TEACHER. As he explores THE THINGS THAT COUNT. And here's what he says. Ecclesiastes 7, verses 2 to 4...

"It is better to go to a house of MOURNING that to go to a house of FEASTING, for death is the destiny of every man; THE LIVING SHOULD TAKE THIS TO HEART. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, BUT THE HEART OF THE FOOL IS IN THE HOUSE OF PLEASURE."

And I'm a fool. Because given the choice, I'd always rather PARTY. Than spend time in the house of mourning. Give me the house of pleasure any time. Don't care WHAT SORT OF PLEASURE IT IS.

See, you know what the fool does? The fool avoids reality. The fool buries himself in the house of pleasure. The fool spends his time in the lounge chair in front of the telly watching the sitcoms night after night. The fool goes DOWN TO THE CLUB. Where plenty of beer. The fool goes SHOPPING. Or to the movies. The FOOL is desperate to ESCAPE... no matter how. Get a laugh. Switch off. Get comfortable. Find a HIDING PLACE. And where-ever there's a hiding place, where-ever there's a house of feasting, where ever there's a party, the heart of the fool... is there. But the heart of the wise, says the teacher, the heart of the wise knows reality. And faces it. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning.

When I first moved to Maclean, our first church, people warned me; they told me about a woman who was a bit of a local identity. They told me she came to EVERY FUNERAL. Not just at our church. Every funeral in town. No matter who died, no matter what church. She'd duck in, and she'd sit at the back. And at the end, she'd slip away before anyone else. You know, people thought she was a little bit unusual. People laughed. Said she was crazy. But according to Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 4, I wonder if she was the wisest person in town? Because while everyone else was at a party, she'd be at a funeral.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. And the reason that's where the heart of the wise is, says the teacher, is that it's a great reminder... of where all of us are heading.

All of us.

BECAUSE DEATH CLAIMS EVERYONE...

And you see that if you turn over a page to chapter 9 verse 2; see what he says. Chapter 9. The second verse. "All share a common destiny - doesn't matter who you are - the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who don't. As it is with the good man, so it is with the sinner, as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them."

And we know that, don't we. The famous. The infamous. The good and the bad. And we know it from personal experience, don't we. And we've grieved over it. That death is no respecter of who you are. Of how righteous you are. Or how bad. Or how talented, or how ordinary, or how young or how old. How beautiful. How popular. As it is with the good man, so it is with the sinner.

Verse 3, the teacher says, "That's the problem." He says, this is what I've been on about all along. He says, "This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: the same destiny overtakes them all." Let's change the THEM for a moment. Make it US ALL. Make it, "the same destiny is going to overtake ME." And those I love. Every one of them.

And he goes on to paint a terrible picture. A picture of life in a world that's limited by death. A picture of the sort of life that's lived without the hope of anything more. He looks around, and he sees sin. And he sees death. And this is what he says. We're still in verse 3 of chapter 9. He says "The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live... and afterwards, they join the dead." And death, from his point of view it's hopeless. If you're someone who counts SUCCESS as important, if you're someone who's devoted to WEALTH, if you're someone who wants to LEAVE YOUR MARK on the world, if you're a person of PASSION and EXCITEMENT... death brings it all undone.

Verse 5 and 6. The dead know nothing. They get forgotten. Their love, their hate, their jealousy, their passions, the things they strived for... all gone. Long since vanished. And never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun." When you're dead, he says, you're dead. You're written out of the soap opera of life. Your name is wiped off the credits. Even if it's carved in stone, soon enough it's gone. And forgotten. We say GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. But it's a lie.

UNDER THE SUN

And that's LIFE. At least, that's the life the teacher calls life UNDER THE SUN. Rmember, it's the phrase he uses over and over again, we've seen it every week. UNDER THE SUN.

The life bounded by BIRTH AND DEATH. With nothing more. The life that says, what you see is what you get. That little glimpse of sunshine that stretches from the time you open your eyes at birth. To the time you close them at death.

And overall, says the teacher, if what you see is what you get, if that's all it is, then IT'S NOTHING. Death strips it all away. And if you try to make out that there's meaning in the little flash of sunshine, if you try to pretend there's some sort of significance in a universe that someone once said was just a mixture of matter and movement in space and time, you're kidding yourself.

Because death makes a mockery of everything you count good; and everything you count precious. Everything you value. Because it RIPS IT AWAY. I mean, think about it... if you're a person who loves your house, your car, your job. Which wouldn't you trade for the life of someone you love? Death takes THE MOST PRECIOUS THINGS OF ALL... doesn't it? And in the end, TAKES YOU.

Which is why the fool keeps on PRETENDING. Pretending it isn't real. Avoiding the facts. But can I say to you, the person of wisdom - and I'm not talking about whether you're a Christian or a non Christian - this applies to EVERYONE - the people you live with, the people you work with - the THINKING PERSON has to face the fact that in a world without resurrection, in a world that says THIS LIFE IS ALL THERE IS, then what we're looking at is a deadly accurate picture. That leaves you with only one option. IF THIS IS ALL THERE IS, then the only thing worth doing is to take the option spelled out in the next few verses. Suck life dry. Squeeze it for everything you can. Enjoy yourself. Seize the day. Make the most of it. Because if this is all there is, you're going to be a long time dead.

Run your eye down from verse 7 in chapter 9. He says enjoy your food, drink your wine, wear your best clothes, put on your aftershave and your hair oil. Verse 9. Enjoy life with your wife, who you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has give you under the sun - all your meaningless days. Because no matter what you say - it IS MEANINGLESS. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labour under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." He says Get into it, guys. Make the most of it. Eat, drink and be merry. For tomorrow we die.

It's like he's saying you've been pushed out of a plane without a parachute. But hey, you might as well enjoy the view on the way down. I mean, what else can you do. Wave to your friends. Take some photos. Not much point doing anything else, is there. You can flap your arms a bit. Enjoy it. Make the most of the few moments you've got left before you hit the ground.

RESURRECTION

Well, that's a happy little message, isn't it? And I guess we could leave it there, and just walk out of here and get on with it. Eat, drink and be merry. Put on a smile, be nice to your wife, put on your best suit and some after shave, and make the most of what's left of your meaningless life. To which you'd have to say, what's the point? Why not just kill yourself now and be done with it?

Now isn't it interesting, when you think about it, that the Apostle Paul says EXACTLY THE SAME THING. The apostle Paul, commissioned by Jesus, sees it exactly the same way. And you can find what he says right about the middle of 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 32. You might like to turn over there and have a look. Famous words. If the dead are not raised, says Paul, LET US EAT AND DRINK - for TOMORROW WE DIE.

Couldn't get much blunter than that, could you? And exactly the same sentiment. If this life is all there is, if the dead are not raised, if there's no resurrection, you might as well live it up. Cause you're going to be a long time dead.

But will you notice with me that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul's actually wanting to ARGUE with the sort of people who say there's NO RESURRECTION. People who are saying "When you're dead, you're dead." And when he says IF THE DEAD ARE NOT RAISED, he's talking from the position of someone who knows that the DEAD ARE RAISED. Because of the RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

Come back to the start of the chapter. 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says to them, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you. Which you received. Which you've taken a stand on. From verse 3. 1 Corinthians 15. He says "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance - that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; that he was buried. But get this. That he was RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY according to the scriptures. And then he appeared to people. To Peter. To the twelve. To 500 of the brothers at the same time.

So how can you say, says Paul in verse 12, how can you say there's no resurrection of the dead? How can you say THIS IS ALL THERE IS?

It's complicated logic. He's saying if there's no such thing as resurrection - follow from verse 13 - then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ hasn't been raised he says, our preaching is futile. We Christians are just a pathetic bunch of wishful thinkers who are wasting our time. Verse 19; that's what he says. If only for THIS LIFE we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

Understand, friends, we're playing for high stakes here. If you're here this morning because you're a Christian, if you've made COSTLY LIFE CHOICES because you're a Christian, if you've set your life directions on the basis of trusting Jesus... if instead of gratifying every lust, you've said NO, because you're trusting Jesus... then Paul says, you're pitiful. Unless... unless of course, Jesus HAS been raised from the dead.

Which Paul and the witnesses he already mentioned are absolutely convinced of. Verse 20; the big turning point. BUT, says Paul... BUT CHRIST HAS INDEED BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD. The firstfruits - the start of something new. The first apple ripe on the tree. And in due course come the REST OF US. Those who have taken their stand on the gospel. And hold on to it. Who can be CONFIDENT that death is not the end at all.

And that's VERY GOOD NEWS, isn't it. That planted in the middle of history, you've got a genuine case of not just resuscitation. Not just a NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE. But RESURRECTION. Witnessed. And attested. And passed on down to us.

Paul finishes 1 Corinthians chapter 15 with some practical advice. It's a long chapter. All the way to verse 58. And it's the GREAT ANSWER to the teacher's question in Ecclesiastes. What's worth doing? Everything he tries, if death is the end he gets the same answer. Meaningless Meaningless. In the old translation, VANITY, VANITY. And all that's left to do if you're wise enough to FACE UP TO DEATH, all that's left to do in the face of futility is to suck life dry while you can.

But Paul says IN THE FACE OF LIFE WITH THE PROSPECT OF RESURRECTION... then EVERYTHING changes. And if Jesus really WAS RAISED, suddenly there's the possibility of a whole new set of meanings. And values. And Jesus himself... suddenly has a whole new significance. As the one who makes it possible. So Paul says, the thing that's REALLY WORTH DOING...is committing yourself to HIM. And make what's like a new CAREER CHOICE... to work FOR HIM. Instead of for the pleasures of the moment.

And in serving HIM, there's eternal value. That you don't get anywhere else. So verse 58, Paul says, do something that's going to last FOREVER. And give yourself to SERVING HIM. Verse 58. Here's how he puts it. "Therefore, my dear brothers - and sisters as well - stand firm. Let nothing move you. And get this. ALWAYS GIVE YOURSELVES FULLY TO THE WORK OF THE LORD. Because you know that your LABOUR IN THE LORD... is not in vain. When everything else... IS.

Friends, can I say to you this morning, if you ARE SOMEONE who already knows what it means to TRUST IN THE LORD JESUS... then you've put yourself in SAFE HANDS. So serve him with all your heart. Because it's the one thing you can do with a value that's going to LAST FOREVER. Give yourself FULLY... to the work of the Lord. Because your labour in the Lord is not in vain. Get things in perspective. The things you're so worried about... the things you're chasing... in the light of eternity, they're nothing.

But if you're someone who hasn't taken that step yet... if you haven't put your trust in Jesus... and I guess there are some of you here... can I say to you, the first thing you need to do before you give yourself to the WORK OF THE LORD... is GIVE YOURSELF TO THE LORD. Find out what it means to trust the one who gave his life at the cross, who had God's anger poured out on him, so your sin-account can be cancelled. Your slate wiped clean. More than that, the one who CAME THROUGH DEATH... alive. With God's authority to RULE THE WORLD. And rule YOU.

If you want to be wise, CONSIDER DEATH. And then if you want to be REALLY WISE... CONSIDER CHRIST. If you're not going to do that, then eat, drink, and try to be merry. Try all you can not to think about it.

But you'll always remember... THE HEART OF THE WISE IS IN THE HOUSE OF MOURNING... but the hearts of the FOOL... is in the house of pleasure.