The Calling and The Meaning of Christian Life

In Hebrews 12:1, it is written “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us…”. Who are these witnesses? If we remember in Hebrews chapter 11, these witnesses refer to figures of faith throughout the Old Testament. They are described as witnesses who are watching our lives. The question is, what is so interesting in our lives for these faith figures to witness? The writer of the Hebrew Bible describes our life as a competition arena and witnessed by figures of faith. However, we need to be aware that the competition referred to in the Hebrew book is mandatory for us. Like it or not, we have to compete in it. Whether we realize it or not, we are all competing. Therefore the writer of Hebrews says to lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely to us. In the running races, we know that we can run faster if our load is light. Hence, if we carry so much burden of sin, we will not be able to compete. We need to focus on the competition. Unfortunately, many of us often lose focus these days. They experience what is called an “anxiety disorder”. They have only been working for 10 or 15 minutes, and they already feel something is wrong. Why did it happen? This can happen because we are addicted to our gadgets. We have failed to be able to compete and carry out tasks in such a way because of this anxiety disorder. Therefore, don’t be surprised if the study time gets harder and harder, and you fail many times. This is because you lose your focus. The question is whether the things that disturb our focus are worth doing or not. Often we hear the answer that they are actually not worth it. That is why we need to contemplate once again that a good race is a race that focuses on the gifts that God has given. The problem is, often in the competition that is required of us, we want to take on burdens that we don’t actually need to bear. What are those things? For example, the temptation of wealth, fame, lust, and the pleasures of life in the world. As an illustration, many people come to Europe to work in a field that is different from the field they studied at university. They are even willing to do trivial work. Why do they do that? Is it for independent living or learning to survive? Often the answer is to maintain the comfort and quality of living here. Especially for Indonesians living in Europe, many of us do not want to return to Indonesia. Why? Because they know that they are fighting for a better and more comfortable quality of life in Europe than in Indonesia. Sadly, they are not thinking about God’s leadership. However, to make them feel less guilty, most of them always say that they are still contemplating God’s leadership. Do you think that there is no work of God that needs to be done in Indonesia? Of course there is. However, people who already have a tendency to look for “burdens” that do not need to be borne, will always try to justify their actions.

Let’s look further from the book of Ecclesiates to see that many people compete while carrying unnecessary burdens. If we read from Ecclesiastes chapter 1: 1-11, it will open our minds about vanity. We need to think about whether we are currently doing something in vain or something that is truly God’s will. Don’t say that we are doing God’s work when we are not, because that is the work of a false prophet. In Matthew 7 : 21-23, it says that many people cried out that they had done many miracles and works in the name of God, but God would say, get lost, because the one who will enter the kingdom of God is he who does the will of the Father in heaven. Many people think they are doing God’s will in their lives, but what they are actually doing is doing their own will in God’s name. They misuse God’s name and unfortunately many Christians do this. God emphasizes that people who can enter heaven are those who do the will of the Father, not the people who act in God’s name. This is a very difficult part of our life because it is a blind spot in our spiritual life. The Book of Ecclesiastes is opened with a statement “vanity of vanities” (Ecclesiates 1:2) and closed with the same statement “vanity of vanities” (Ecclesiates 12:8). We need to read this book a lot so that we can realize whether everything we do is in vain or not and at the same time reflect on the meaning of our life. The first part in the book of Ecclesiastes teaches us to realize that life is very temporary (Ecclesiates 1: 1-7). A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. I remembered that at my birthplace, there was a huge tree that existed decades before I was born. I am sure that even if I die, the tree will still be there and alive if it is not cut down. Imagine that the existence of human life is no better than a tree. The tree will remain there while we will die and be forgotten.

Many people in their lives seek fame and name. There is a saying from Indonesia: “Man dies leaving behind a name”. The question is, who will remember our names? Maybe our names will still be remembered the farthest only by our grandchildren. We ourselves cannot even remember the names and lives of our great-grandfathers. Another example, there is a student who studies hard to graduate in engineering, but in the end he works in marketing. The question is, why do people work and study so hard? What is all this for? This is an existential question for us as human beings. All the things we have built now (wealth, fame and so on) might not be able to be passed on to our next generations. Is abundant wealth often a blessing or a curse? We want to say that it is a blessing, but we also remember that it can be a curse as well. But are we willing not to be rich? Most of us would say we don’t want to. This is like someone who is obese, but still looks for sugar. This is the reality of us being enslaved by the power of sin. We know that wealth is meaningless, but we still keep chasing it. We know that God’s acceptance is more important than human acceptance, but we still seek human acceptance. We can see in many ways how people have been enslaved by sin and all of it is in vain.

In verse 5, it is written that the sun rises and then goes down and this is a cycle that occurs continuously. We know that the sun plays a big role on this earth. If the sun stopped moving, of course there would be a catastrophe. Even though the sun is very big and powerful, Salomon describes it as boring. One simple question, is there any work done by humans that is greater and more important than the cycle of the sun rising and setting? If you think about it, the answer is of course no. However, is there really no work that is more important than all this? Only those in Christ know which work is more important than the cycle of the sun rising and setting. What kind of work is that? It is the work that the Holy Spirit does in our hearts that have been redeemed by Christ, work that makes us love God and His people more. Work like this has eternal value. Just imagine, a man who lived in the shackles of sin and lived in vain and then was redeemed by Christ and everything he does now in God’s grace is not in vain. Verses 6 and 7 testify to how boring everything is outside of God’s redemptive work. Verses 6 and 7 testify to how boring everything is outside of God’s redemptive work.

Verses 8-11 say everything is full of weariness and nothing is new. Modern people might say, there are indeed new things in this world, for example artificial intelligence. But do you know what is meant by “nothing new” in this verse? This means that there is no new effort that people can make to make their lives meaningful. Everything you have tried, someone else has already done. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, we see Solomon opening his house and showing all his wealth. However, he also said in chapter 2 verse 1 “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself. But behold, this also was vanity”. Solomon had tried to pursue happiness in order to live a meaningful life, but he said that it was in vain because what joy and happiness will last forever? For example, currently you have a new Ducati 1500cc motorbike. Are you happy? Yes, you’ll be happy but only until your neighbor gets a Ducati 2000cc. You can see that worldly happiness is very temporary. This is what we will see in all aspects of our lives. There is no true happiness that can be pursued from this world. In chapter 2 verses 4-10, Salomon shows all of his possessions and whatever his eyes desired he did not keep from them. Yet in verse 11, Solomon concludes that all the work of his hands and the toil he had expended in doing it, was a vanity. Solomon who already had so many things (wealth, power, etc) could say that everything was in vain. But sinful human beings will deny it and say, I have never had as much wealth and power as Solomon. So, maybe I will be happy and find the meaning of my life if I am like Solomon. Hence it is said that there is nothing new under the sun that can make our life meaningful. It is very difficult for people to say that they have enough wealth, they will always want more and more. In the book of Ecclesiastes 1:11, it says “there is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.” Many great people lived before us, but do we currently care or think about them? The answer is definitely no because it has nothing to do with our lives today. We must realize that under the sun our names will never be remembered. Yet we, who are nobodies, will be remembered by God if we do the will of the Father. Let’s think about it now, where is our life and what is the meaning of our life? Does the meaning of our life lie in doing the will of our Father in heaven or do we instead imagine the meaning of life in vain?

I want to invite us to reflect on one more part of the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 7. In verse 1 it says,“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death is better than the day of birth…” It is difficult for us to agree that the day of death is better than the day of birth. In verse 2 it also says “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting…” In Indonesia, building a club or other entertainment venue is easier than building a church. From here we know that more people like to go to parties than to places of mourning. However, do we realize that no one laughs when they’re facing death. Someone might play with the idea of ​​the Last Supper at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But when one of his relatives dies, it is impossible for him to laugh in the face of God and death. Therefore, the Bible said that it is better to go to a funeral home because there people will realize that the end of life will come sooner or later. This is what makes us increasingly aware of the meaning of life. When we know that we will die soon, what will we do? Are we going to eat until we’re satisfied or watch all the movies we haven’t seen yet? We will definitely choose to do the most valuable things first and there is only one answer, namely doing God’s will. If so, why should we delay doing the Father’s will? Why should we wait until we are almost dead? We must ask what God wants us to do in this place and do it now. Let us serve God, preach God’s Word to those who don’t know Him and bring people back to God. Our calling in society is not just to talk about trivial matters, not just to ask how the weekend was, the weather, etc. but we have a call to evangelize them. People without the gospel will experience depression and loneliness because they cannot see hope and meaning in life. All they see is injustice, suffering and the burden or struggle of life. Paul reminds us that to live is Christ and to die is gain. I hope we can live this, be a blessing to people whose lives have no meaning and may God’s name be glorified. (G.N.S.)