I heard that during the recent military campaign in Iraq there were in the region of 4000 journalists in the country, covering the war from almost every angle for newspapers, radio and TV. A few of them will have made their names during this conflict. Their reporting grips us. War is fascinating. We have seen unforgettable images of statues of Saddam Hussein toppling in Iraqi cities. 

Yet ultimately much of the news coverage could be described in the same terms that Solomon uses for all that is under the sun – ‘vanity’. So much has been speculation and guesswork. In an important sense ‘vanity’ also describes the events themselves. Billions of dollars were spent destroying the country; billions will be spent re-constructing it. One tyranny is gone, another will rise. The main thing for us - our pre-occupation - must be with what is real and substantial, i.e.. that which God has revealed. Solomon reminds us in this passage of what we do not know and directs us to practice what we do know. Four times in these six verses we hear, You do not know…. Such ignorance is proper for created beings. We are not to know what God is doing. We are therefore directed to the things that are our plain duty. The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29). Just as in the Gospels we find that not knowing the time of the Lord’s return is a motivation to watchfulness and prayer, so here our lack of knowledge is not a reason for passivity but a spur to action. Specifically we are called to:

1. Evangelistic generosity

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth. (vv1-2)

Britain is a prosperous country now. Many people’s standard of living has improved dramatically. But many have been left behind. They need time, care, understanding, hospitality. God loves a cheerful, spontaneous giver. An act of kindness may seem wasteful to some, but it will not be lost in God’s scheme of things.It is foolish to assume that tomorrow, or next week we will be in a better position to give or to help. We just don’t know what may come, so do good whenever you can!

2. Evangelistic busyness

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap (vv3-4).

These enigmatic words surely teach us that there are things that are bound to happen and which we cannot alter. We live in a fallen world, full of wars, disasters, disease and death, sometimes very close to home. Evil is inevitable, but the Lord does not want us to be preoccupied with it. Worry can easily come in and we become paralysed by fear.

We all find reasons - both as individuals and as churches - to defer a gospel enterprise for a better time. ‘We’ll wait until the church is more united.’ ‘We’ll wait until we have improved the toilet facilities.’ ‘I’ll wait until I feel more holy.’ ‘Once my home life is more organized…’. ‘Once I’m free of this particular problem…’.The logic of Ecclesiastes is surely the same as that of Paul: Be ready in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). We are to concern ourselves with our plain duty for today.

3. Evangelistic variety

As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good (vv5-6). 

Just as God’s works in the natural realm are mysterious, so it is in the spiritual realm. The Holy Spirit works as he wills and where he wills. We cannot analyse or predict his sovereign operation. When Peter is exhausted from a long and fruitless night’s fishing Jesus tells him (Luke 5) to launch out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch. This was not Peter’s idea of good practice. But the result was a net bursting with fish! The key thing is that Peter was prepared in faith to obey the Lord and try something new. We are always to be proclaiming the one eternal gospel but we cannot fasten on to one particular method of outreach. If we knew that God would always give success when we followed one particular kind of evangelistic activity, gospel work would be our domain. We would know ‘the secret’, and we would claim the credit, robbing God of his glory. Often the Lord is pleased to give increase quite unrelated to any specific activity. I heard of a church which had a concerted evangelistic campaign over a number of days which bore no obvious fruit. The next person to be converted found out about the church through looking in the phone directory! We would not react to this example by abandoning all our evangelism because although that particular blessing was not directly related to anything the church did, it was directly related to the church’s diligence in the gospel task. There is no reaping without sowing.

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