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Remember!
Ecclesiastes 12:1, 7, 13
Things Learned a Little Too Late: When I was in junior high I was one of those kids who likes to
take things apart. One day, I started dissecting a golf ball. The outer shell was tough, but not impossible.
The next layer was tightly wound rubber string. Unwinding was slow and boring so I sought a faster way
through. A hatchet should cut the rubber bands alright. A couple whacks and the bands started to separate nicely. (Now, you may be thinking, “things I learned too late”—holding a small, unstable golf ball in
my fingers, bringing a hatchet down on them…. They’re all here!) What I didn’t realize then was that the
core of that ball was a liquid—a high pressure liquid. When the rubber layer gave way—bam!—right in
the eyeball. No idea if it was poisonous, or otherwise hazardous, but the pressure drove it hard into my
face and right eyeball. I have no conscious memory of ever looking for the remnants of the ball—I
learned my lesson. Don’t cut into a golf ball. Too late.
On a more serious note, current medical advertisements want us to learn before it’s too late. Lipitor
has a series of ads featuring people who had heart attacks. They should have paid attention to the warning
signs, but they didn’t. The tag line is: It was too late for me, I learned the hard way, but you don’t have
to. Go talk to your doctor, buy our product, etc. etc. But the point is valid. Learn from other people’s
experiences so that you don’t have to learn too late.
Solomon was a brilliant man, gifted by God to have the greatest wisdom of any person on earth.
Solomon wrote this book, Ecclesiastes, listing the lessons he learned. Focusing on the final chapter of
Ecclesiastes, Solomon would advise us: “Remember—before it’s too late.” Remember God in the days of
your youth. Remember your relationship with God.
Solomon did learn some harsh lessons, painful ones. He details many of them throughout the book.
But in particular here, Solomon emphasizes this spiritual truth: Remember God. Remember God before
it’s too late, because, for a while, Solomon forgot God.
When life is going well, it’s easy to forget God. Solomon urges: “Remember your Creator in the
days of your youth.” I can’t go back and be young again, but what is it about our youthful days that is
worth remembering? From the time a child is born, someone feeds them. Someone clothes them. Someone keeps them warm and safe. In time, we learn that our parents do all that. And in time we learn that
our parents are fallible. They make mistakes. They can’t protect us from every possible danger. So we
transfer our trust away from them.
Yet if we were blessed spiritually, our parents directed us to a greater source of strength and help.
Wise parents seek opportunities to help their children find God. In Sunday School lessons children hear
of their Creator. In VBS games, they find their Savior. As parents bring their children to Confirmation
classes, they learn the depth of God’s love and care for all. And thus, in our younger days we have an excellent reinforcement of what things can be like all our days. “Remember your Creator in the days of
your youth, before the days of trouble come…”
How untroubled our days were when we knew someone bigger and stronger was watching out for
you. There’s no one bigger and stronger than our Lord. And he gives us ample reason to trust him.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. … See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even
Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. …and your heavenly Father knows that you
need (these things),” (Mt 6:26-32). Let someone else take care of you.
After all, trusting self is misplaced trust. Solomon illustrates: “Don’t forget you’re still human.”
He speaks of the days of trouble when “strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few,”
when even “the grasshopper drags himself along.” As humans, we wear out. We can’t do it all.
I got a vivid reminder a few months back. Digging out some old bushes, cutting back some sod, I
got pooped. My body said, “No more.” It didn’t matter what my mind said. I was done. Now, I’m supposed to protect myself, and deal with the difficulties of life alone, and withstand tragedy with my own
strength—and just incidentally help my family through all the same, all by myself? Ain’t gonna happen!
But Isaiah shares, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not
grow weary, they will walk and not be faint,” (45:30,31). With God on your side, you can be young
again! You can be better than that—you can be invincible.
If you remember your relationship with God before it’s too late. “Remember him—before the silver
cord is severed…. and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave
it.”
“Dust you are, and to dust you shall return,” (Gen 3:19). God himself decreed that destiny as our
first parents sinned. The declaration remains in force as people continue to sin. God himself forged that
connection between sin and death. “The soul who sins is the one who will die,” (Eze 18:4). You are going back. Our bodies are going to decay into dust, and our souls are going back to God.
And what will we hear when we get there? If we don’t remember God before that time, it won’t be
good.
What might we forget? Perhaps first and foremost we forget a humble spirit. (Jesus reminded us of
God’s care in providing clothing and food.) For good reason Moses reminded the Israelites: “You may
say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,” (Deut 8:17,18). Thinking that we are so almighty good and powerful is a spirit wandering away from God.
But it’s not just a proper spirit of humility we forget. I forget the laws of our Lord. We choose our
own point of view. I turn a blind eye towards the sick, suffering, disadvantaged, ignoring our Lord’s
command to care for the widow and fatherless, the sick and imprisoned, the naked and hungry. A hymn
writer expresses that such souls “channels are for gifts and offerings, due by solemn right to you.” But
no, we don’t want our money or energy channeled in that direction. We don’t want to love our neighbor
as ourselves.
Nor do we want to remember God with worship and praise. We’ve got things to do on the weekend
or other service times. And how can I honor those in authority over me, when they’re responsible for so
much of the mess our society is in? Our sinful selves don’t think the way that God thinks. Our spirit is
definitely not on God’s path.
But that spirit is going to go back to God. Life—and the judgment on that life—are inescapably
linked. St. Paul bluntly stated, “(God) has set a day when he will judge the world with justice,” (Acts
17:31). There will be a day when every soul will stand before God for critical evaluation and decision.
Solomon would not want that moment to be a frightening one. Remember God, before the Day of
Judgment comes. There’s an easier way.
A subtle link to that truth is Solomon’s admission that all the words of the wise are given by one
Shepherd, capital “S” Shepherd. Not Solomon—but the Shepherd of our souls. Solomon was wise, but it
wasn’t his own brilliance that made him so. Numerous times in the Proverbs he encourages us to get to
know the wisdom of God.
Again, parents also know well the wisdom of this advice. There is no way we can know everything.
When our children are very young—they look to us for all answers. In time we must give them to teachers to learn more answers. Eventually they are taught how to find answers for themselves.
It is not entirely equivalent in spiritual matters. Scripture defines this truth, “No eye has seen, no
ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared,” (II Cor 2:9). We do need to be under the
guidance of someone who knows spiritual truth. For a time we put them in the care of Sunday School
teachers, or Christian grade school teachers—or both! We might send them great distances to a Lutheran
High school such as Luther Prep, or Northland. Knowing how vital that instruction is, we parents make it
happen. We all need a shepherd.
It’s no coincidence that Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. Jesus frequently identified
himself with Old Testament descriptions of God, and there are 30-some prophetic uses of the word “shepherd” in the Old Testament.
Coming through in these verses is the servant attitude. Shepherds were generally not the owners,
they were the workers. And good shepherds sought the benefit of those they served, whether human masters, or the sheep themselves. So also Christ: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many,” (Mk 10:45), “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep,” (Jn 10:11).
And what a life he offered. His life was dedicated to the downtrodden, those beaten down whether
by society or by sin. He looked in love on the sick and healed them. He fed the hungry and brought
blessing to others at the expense of himself. He showed love for neighbor beyond love for himself.
And in love, he even sacrificed his life on the cross so that he might intercept the curse of sin that
was aimed at us. He took the penalty of death. And when he was ready to return his spirit to God, he had
no fear of what he might hear. Willingly, joyfully, he cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my
spirit.”
With the same joy and confidence, he commends our spirits into the Father’s care. He is the shepherd that brings us safely back to the owner, the master. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and
they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish,” (Jn 10:27). The souls of those who
are Christ’s are brought back to God for a peaceful conclusion. That’s a wonderful relationship. You’ve
had a chance to learn that in plenty of time. Remember it. Share it. As long as there’s life, it’s never too
late.
Amen.