You would take your Bibles now and open them
up to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes
chapter 11. We're gonna look at verses just one
through six today. And as you turn there, you're
probably going to see that we're getting towards
the end of this wonderful book of wisdom, but
we're not done. By no means. This is an important
passage for us as they all are and So would you
now give attention to the reading of God's word?
Ecclesiastes 11 1 through 6 Cast your bread upon
the waters For you will find it after many days
Give a portion to seven or even to eight. For
you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves
on the earth. And if a tree falls to the south
or to the north, in the place where the tree
falls, there it will lie. He who observes the
wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds
will not reap. As you do not know the way the
spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman
with child, so you do not know the work of God
who makes everything. In the morning, sow your
seed. In an evening, withhold not your hand.
For you do not know which will prosper, this
or that, or whether both alike will be good.
This is God's Word. Let us pray and ask for his
help and understanding Father we do bless you
and we thank you for this word But Lord as many
of these verses and passages and chapters and
Ecclesiastes are they can be difficult And so
I ask you to open up our ears our hearts and
our minds to hear from you now Give us understanding
we pray for Christ's sake. Amen There was once
a Bible study that was going on in the student
lounge of a college dormitory There were two
students at the table. They both had their Bibles
open but there was a third Bible and There was
a third chair and it was open and the two students
motioned for another student to join them. Hey,
come on that student walked over sat down and
and looked down at the open Bible and he saw
Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 3, specifically
the part about the tree that falls to the south
or to the north and the place where the tree
falls there it will lie. And the student immediately
knew upon reading that verse that he was the
fallen rotting tree just lying there on the ground.
And the student went back to his room, and he
pleaded with God for mercy, and God was merciful
to him. And the young student was converted that
night. He became a believer in Jesus Christ.
Friends, that student was the late R .C. Sproul,
who said that he's probably the only person in
all of history to be converted through Ecclesiastes
11 3. Indeed, I would imagine nobody within this
sanctuary has Ecclesiastes 11 .3 as their life
verse. But this shows the power of God's word.
It will not return void. If it were up to us,
truly up to us to convert people. Well, I would
at the very least take them down the Romans Road
not Ecclesiastes 11 3 actually if it were truly
up to me I would say Jesus you must perform a
miracle in front of this person right here and
right now to let them know that you are real
But that's not what God did in that situation
actually the normal means for God to change and
transform hearts is by his word And as this opening
illustrations shows, his entire word, his whole
counsel is used to convert hearts and to strengthen
faith. Only God could save someone through a
text like this about a fallen tree on the ground.
But as we look at this passage, we may wonder,
what is this all about? And so perhaps a theme
will help us, a summary statement. And so it
is this, since God's ways are higher than our
ways, we must learn to trust him and serve him
with all diligence. Let me show you what I mean.
Look at verses one and two. Cast your bread upon
the waters, it says. Are you imagining now a
loaf of bread floating down the river? What good
would that be? And so we need to figure out what's
going on here. There are a few different interpretations
of verses one and two. I'm going to share just
two interpretations with you now. Some believe
that casting your bread upon the waters has to
do with philanthropy, of almsgiving, of giving
to the poor. And as it says seven or eight, it's
saying be generous with your wealth. Be generous
in helping those in need. Indeed, I think we
would all agree with that. We should be generous
with what we have. But also it says that you
don't know when disaster may happen on the earth.
And so what some believe here is that this is
talking about casting your bread on the waters,
giving to the poor, because there may be a time
when you yourself will need to be the recipient
of somebody else's help. If that is the true
interpretation, it's very similar to the parable
of the shrewd manager. Do you remember that one
from Luke 16? There is a master who has a servant,
and the servant does the work for the master,
but the servant has been doing it dishonestly.
And when the master finds out what the manager
has been doing, he seeks to fire him. But knowing
that this is coming, the manager of the master's
money goes to the different clients. And he changes
their contracts. He changes what they owe. Because
he's thinking, if I show this kindness to them,
perhaps they'll show kindness. to me. Now there's
something commendable and there's something incommendable
about that passage. One, being dishonest and
wasting your master's possessions, that's not
good. But the part that is commended is looking
out for your future. And so perhaps that's what's
going on in Ecclesiastes 11, one through two.
Be generous with your wealth, help other people,
for you may need them to help you at some point
in the future. But the second possible interpretation
is that this is referring to international trade.
So the word that's used here in the ESV, the
word cast, it's very literally the word send.
Send your bread on the waters. And so what many
people believe about this passage is this is
saying send out your grain, send out your products,
buy ship, send them far away, dealing in trade
and business. and then you will receive a good
return. Now, this could be it. Indeed, I think
this is probably the correct interpretation.
The NIV has it very literally. It says ship your
grain across the sea. After many days, you may
receive a return. But there's something we should
understand if this is the correct interpretation.
This is actually risky business. Okay, they didn't
have Amazon Prime two -day shipping in those
days and so what this would be with Solomon or
whoever it would be putting their goods onto
a ship and sending it very far away and It could
be months It could be years before you get something
in return and along the way what might happen
to the ship it could it could be sunk right but
if you don't Go for it You don't receive a good
return Solomon indeed I believe was engaged in
this kind of thing because of first Kings in
that book it says that Solomon engaged in this
very kind of venture with his own fleet of Ships,
and so he knows what this is like and he also
knew that it was risky business Commentator Sidney
Gridanus says this was a risky business, especially
in those days The journeys were long and hazardous
and the owners had no idea how their ships or
goods were faring. Many shipwrecks dot the bottom
of the Mediterranean Sea. But friends, this is
not a message about sending your grain by ship.
I think we need to take this and apply it to
our spiritual lives. Philip Riken says the preacher
invites us to handle our spiritual business the
same way. What we invest in the kingdom of God,
our time, our talent, our treasure is never wasted.
God calls us to exercise our gifts for the good
of his kingdom. Now I've already mentioned one
parable. Here's another one for you that Jesus
tells. Do you remember the parable of the talents?
Within that parable there is a master who has
to go away for a time and he's got some servants
and he leaves them with money. The word talent
there is referring to a unit of money, of currency.
And so to one servant he gives five talents.
To another servant he gives two talents. And
to the third servant he gives just one. And as
I said, the master goes away, but he intends
to come back. And he intends for those servants
to do something with what he gives them. And
the first two do a good job with it. The first
servant is able to multiply the five talents.
And so he's able to present to the master 10
talents. He's doubled what he was given. The
second servant does the same. He multiplied his
two through wise investment. And so he's now
able to give back four to the master. Well, do
you remember what the third servant did with
his talent, with his money? He buried it in the
ground, didn't he? He buried it in the ground.
And Jesus speaks strongly within that parable
when he says, for to everyone who has will more
be given and he will have an abundance but from
the one who has not even what he has will be
taken away and cast the worthless servant into
the outer darkness in that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth to our ears that
perhaps sounds like strong language but friends
it should because that third servant knew what
was expected of him And yet he was too afraid
to use what was given to him for good. He was
paralyzed by fear, not from love and obedience
toward his master. He knew what was expected
of him, and yet he did nothing to accomplish
it. Instead, he actually, within that parable,
blames his inaction on the master himself. And
he just hides that talent in the ground. Friends,
We should do something with our lives. We should
do something with that which God gives to us.
Perhaps it's helpful to think of our lives as
an investment. How much should you invest in
living for God? All of it. We should invest all
of ourselves in living for God. And so let me
ask you, how are you investing yourselves in
kingdom living and work? Friends, God expects
us to use our lives for his kingdom. When Jesus
returns, what will he find us doing? Whether
you go on a mission trip or whether you start
a Bible study or whether you get together with
somebody who just needs prayer. Whether you share
the gospel with somebody, every time you do that,
you are investing in the kingdom of God. Why
don't we though? Why don't we invest all of ourselves?
I think I know why. Because we're scared. We
are scared. We don't know. The outcome. We don't
know what's ahead. And we're scared because we
can't control all of the situations in which
we find ourselves. And that's where verses three
and four are going. Look there. It seems that
Solomon is not just a king, and not just a wise
man, but apparently also a meteorologist. Because
he's talking here about the wind, right? And
he paints this picture of a farmer looking up
in the sky, looking at the clouds, observing
the wind. The farmer here is endlessly assessing
situations. This farmer is always looking at
the weather channel. He's always reading the
farmer's almanac. This farmer is always at Home
Depot talking to his buddies about when is the
best time to plant. Friends, certainly there
is real wisdom in timing. Ecclesiastes 3 shows
us this. There's a time to plant and a time to
pluck up what is planted. But the one who never
plants because the conditions are not perfect
is the one who will never reap a harvest. And
the person who will never plant because the ideal
conditions are never good enough. This person
is doing what this passage is warning us against
he is afraid He is afraid that the situation
is not perfect for what he needs to do And I
think we act in this way because we just don't
know what's ahead And we can't control all things
a few years ago. I was in my backyard and I was
cutting some limbs from a tree I had these two
trees in the yard. I got more than that. But
this this one tree fell into another tree. And
so tree number two is holding up tree number
one. So I climbed up in tree number two with
my chainsaw, started cutting away the limbs.
So tree number one would continue following.
But at that moment, I looked up and I noticed
the sky was getting really dark. I mean, really
dark. And I thought I I got to get out of here.
So I hopped out of the tree I started walking
briskly with my chainsaw back to the house and
I heard this loud crash and I looked behind me
and it was like something out of just an intense
action movie as Tree number three gets struck
by lightning falls into tree number one and tree
number two And a year later, Helene came and
tree number four would fall on what was left
of tree one, two, and three. Friends, the whole
point of this is stay away from my backyard.
The second point of this is you don't have control
over some of these things, do you? You don't
have control over the wind. The lightning did
not consult with me first, did it? when we observe
these things and we're petrified by them, this
is us not trusting God. And the good news is
that when we don't know what's ahead, or we don't
have the control, we can trust in the one who
does know. and who does have the control. These
are God's incommunicable attributes, which I
know is a big phrase. Basically what it refers
to is God has some attributes like omniscience
and omnipotence and omnipresence and immutability,
sovereignty, that he does not share with us.
We don't have those attributes, but he does share
with us other attributes that he has, like the
ability to love. and have knowledge and wisdom
and to even speak, right? But there are things
that just belong to God and to God alone. And
this is actually good news for us because the
one with infinite knowledge is also the one with
infinite power. And friends, where the rubber
meets the road here is to recognize this world
is broken and yet we can't fix it all, can we?
That is the work of God. Indeed, that work has
already happened because Jesus has fixed it,
promises to make all things new, because Jesus
went to the cross to redeem people for himself
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. When we
think about the things we can't know and can't
do, consider this, Jesus knew exactly what he
was getting into when he came to save us from
our sins. Philippians 2 says it best, he emptied
himself by taking the form of a servant, being
born in the likeness of men, and being found
in human form. He humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on
a cross. Jesus knew exactly what he was getting
into for you and for me. So you see, this is
about trusting God. who can do what we cannot
do, and he knows the things that we cannot know.
And that's where verses five and six are going.
Look there. Just as we don't know the way of
the wind or how the bones form in the womb, we
cannot fully grasp the work of God. Now, being
that scripture uses the same word for spirit
and for wind, it's a little bit difficult to
discern exactly what verse five is talking about.
However, consider it could be talking about both
here. As it talks about the wind, it may also
be talking about the work of the spirit, but
consider also what it says about the bones in
the womb of a woman with child. Have you really
truly reflected on just how amazing it is that
children are born? A few years ago, when Brittany
was pregnant with Hazel, a good friend of mine
texted me and he said, your daughter, is the
size of a kumquat right now. We can know the
stages of development within a child in the womb,
but how does it really work? I don't know, and
I'm married to a neonatologist. Friends, this
is the work of God, isn't it? It really is. And
as you look at verse five and you see this thing
about the wind and all, actually I believe that
what's happening here is actually gonna be picked
up later on by Jesus himself. Do you remember
Jesus talking with Nicodemus in John three? Nicodemus
asks, how can a man be born again when he's old?
And Jesus says this, which again I think sounds
a good deal like Ecclesiastes 11 .5, the wind
blows where it wishes and you hear it sound,
but you do not know where it comes from or where
it goes. So it is with everyone who's born of
the spirit. And so Jesus does the same thing.
He uses the word for wind to teach us about the
work of the Holy Spirit. And friends, talk about
something we cannot do. We cannot save ourselves.
We cannot regenerate ourselves. The Spirit works
faith into our hearts just as God gives us the
physical birth, and we don't have anything to
do with that. You cannot make yourself be born.
You also cannot make yourself be reborn. It is
the work of God. And Ecclesiastes 11 .5 highlights
the work of God. Look there at the end of the
verse. You do not know the work of God who makes
everything. The word that's used there in the
Hebrew for make is also the same as the word
for do. And the point is this, God knows and
does what we cannot. Namely, He saves us when
we were dead in our trespasses. But friends,
sometimes we think we bring a lot to the table.
Sometimes we think that we're more powerful and
more intelligent than we really are. And when
we start to behave like that, we need to put
ourselves in the sandals of Job. Do you remember
towards the end of the book of Job when God finally
speaks and he starts asking questions of Job?
He says to Job, where were you when I laid the
foundations of the earth? It's a rhetorical question,
but the implied answer is, I wasn't created.
Have you commanded the morning since your days
began and caused the dawn to know its place?
No, can't say that I have. Where is the way to
the dwelling of light, Job? I don't know. Job,
have you entered into the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you,
Job? No. Can you lead a constellation, Job? No.
Can you send forth lightning, Job? No. Then answer
me this, who are you to contend with the Almighty?
Friends, when we start acting like we know everything
about God, when we start behaving like we have
more power than we really have, friends, this
is not strength. This is not intelligence. This
is foolishness. God's ways are higher than ours.
And because God's ways are higher, verse six
gives us our course of action. Look there as
I begin to close. It says, so in the morning
and in the evening, for you don't know which
will succeed by God's providence. And just because
we don't know all things and we can't do all
things, does that mean we just give up working
and serving God? Of course not. That's actually
what Solomon here is saying not to do. But some
of us live so paralyzed by the fear of failure
that we wait for the perfect ideal conditions
before we'll serve somebody else. Before we'll
trust God to do what he has called us to do.
Before we'll share our faith or use any of our
gifts. But friends, when we behave like that,
when we're always looking for the perfect moment,
it'll never come. Let's say that you work with
somebody and they need to know the gospel. And
you say to yourself, I'm gonna share the gospel
with them, but I gotta wait for the right day.
Friends, if that's your mentality, it's always
gonna be a little bit too rainy. a little too
windy, a little too overcast. You're not gonna
feel it. And then one day that coworker will
up and leave the department. The coworker may
leave the company. The coworker may leave this
life. Friends, God does not give us spiritual
gifts to be hidden. And he does not call us to
a task without ordaining. the outcome. He is
the one who saves. Our part is to be obedient
to share the gospel and trust him with the result.
Christian, do not be paralyzed by the unknown.
Recall Ecclesiastes 11 3 and the student who
was converted through it. Proof that God's word
accomplishes its purposes. Let us be faithful
then. to cast our bread on the waters, trusting
God even when we cannot see the outcome, and
leaving the results to Him. Amen.