Good morning. I have some good news and I have some bad news. I'll start with the bad news.
If you love your work and enjoy your work days, if you find your work satisfying and rewarding,
if in the words of Frederick Buechner you feel that in your work you found the place where your
deep gladness and the world's deep hunger have met, well then what I'm about to say may feel
like a bit like a wet blanket. However, if your work's hard and you find it frustrating,
if you lack confidence at work and question whether you even have the skills to perform,
if you are frustrated by bureaucracy and you have a hard time getting out of bed because your work
just doesn't seem to matter, well then the same message may feel like a cool wet cloth on your
tired sweaty brow. Before we get there though, let me back up and tell you a bit about myself and my
work. My name is James Fulton and I live in New Haven with my wife Kim and our five children,
four of whom we adopted from Brazil in 2009 and one who was born in 2012. We've been at Trinity since
2005. After some initial interest in being either a marine biologist or a commercial airline pilot,
I started homing in on architecture during my middle school years. At the time, a friend of mine
had a few architecture related books, a National Geographic book about large engineered structures
such as bridges and dams, and a few Frank Lloyd Wright books. I would often peruse these books on my visits
to his house and by high school I was fairly certain I would go on to study architecture and I took some
drafting and residential design electives to test the waters. After high school, I studied architecture at
Georgia Tech where I received a Bachelor of Science in 2002, married my high school sweetheart the next
weekend, and moved with her that summer to New Haven to pursue a master's degree from the Yale School
of Architecture. Two years into my three-year program, I interned at Picard Chilton, a mid-sized architecture
firm on Chapel Street across from the Green, and when during my last year of grad school they offered
me full-time employment upon graduation, Kim and I decided to settle in New Haven. I accepted the job offer
and we bought our first house. I worked at Picard Chilton for about eight years before moving to Yale
University where I have been working in the facilities planning and construction department for about six
and a half years. Whereas before I was the architect, now I hire the architect and am responsible for
representing the university's various interests including financial and programmatic while balancing a
complex web of competing desires from various constituencies across the university. My job is to synthesize these wants and
needs into a clear direction for the architects and their design teams during the design process and to make sure their
designs fit our requirements. There are others in my same or similar position and together with our colleagues on the
construction side of things, we touch hundreds of millions of dollars of capital projects each year. When Pastor Greg reached out to me about
speaking to this class, I was initially hesitant, but I told him I'd meet him for lunch before saying no out of hand.
At lunch, I elaborated on my hesitancy. I've been feeling unmotivated at work lately and I don't feel I'd have anything to offer the group.
Work has been so frustrating lately and some menial tasks have been sucking up the time I'm generally able to spend on the larger projects in my portfolio about which I feel more confident.
The bureaucracy of my position is feeling oppressive lately and I feel like I'm stuck doing things of little consequence.
Well, James, he said matter-of-factly, it sounds like you could speak to us about Ecclesiastes.
That's right.
I'm not sure whether Pastor Greg knew this before we met, but having just led my small group through Ecclesiastes within the last year,
I found myself suddenly fresh out of convincing reasons to say no.
And so here I am in front of you speaking to myself as much as I am to you this morning.
Any questions before we move on?
All right.
Ecclesiastes 2, 13 and 14 says,
Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness, and yet I perceive that the same event happens to all of them.
I have put around some papers that have all the references, so I hope you've found those.
As I'm slowly discovering along my Christian walk, we often have lots of unfair preconceptions about books of the Bible until we read them, study them, and meditate on them firsthand.
The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes was certainly a book that had a particular reputation in my mind.
Perhaps, as I did, you imagine Ecclesiastes to be pessimistic, even hopeless at worst, or at least melancholy at best.
At first blush, Ecclesiastes is certainly a bit of a downer, what with all that meaninglessness that's announced here, there, and everywhere.
However, in a short time of reading and reflection, the hints of unmatched beauty in its poetic prose shine through as it pursues its almost singular point,
and one notices a richness they might otherwise miss by simply pulling tweet-length verses out of context.
And if your only experience with Ecclesiastes is the Byrd's 1965 folk hit and anti-war ballad, Turn, Turn, Turn,
well, then you're missing a huge opportunity to wrap yourself in the sober comforts of this book.
Ecclesiastes shows us a lifetime of wisdom from an individual known in Hebrew as Kohelet.
Often translated as preacher or teacher in English, Kohelet refers to an individual who speaks at a gathered assembly or congregation.
Kohelet is a wise, Solomon-like individual and has been traditionally identified as King Solomon.
I mention Kohelet's wisdom here, and so it's important to place Ecclesiastes in the broader context of its genre,
namely Hebrew wisdom literature, which also includes Proverbs and Job.
In fact, these three books, in the order Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes, and finally Job,
provide a bit of a narrative arc and work together to present us with a nuanced and well-rounded overview of biblical wisdom
that we might miss by looking at one book alone.
Charles Spurgeon said,
Knowledge may be dangerous if unaccompanied with wisdom, which is the art of rightly using what we know.
Knowing the content of these three books, then, could be considered knowledge.
Knowing how to balance them is wisdom.
As the pastors described so well in last year's sermon series,
Proverbs provides a sort of practical template for what it might look like to live a God-pleasing life.
In the world of Proverbs, the wise seem to be rewarded for adherence to God's instruction,
while the foolish, who carelessly ignore or blatantly reject wise living, tend to get their comeuppance.
But lest we forget that Proverbs is a book of Proverbs and not promises,
Ecclesiastes comes along, shakes its head, and says,
Yeah, about that, I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't always work that way.
The verse I read just a few minutes ago is indicative of this overarching theme.
In numerous places throughout Ecclesiastes,
Kohelet notes the value of the wise individual over the fool,
but he also matter-of-factly acknowledges the apparent disconnect
that often the same thing happens to both,
or even the opposite of what we might imagine should occur happens to each.
When Hugh Hefner died last year at age 91,
I was amazed by all the celebrity endorsements and flattering obituaries.
I just couldn't imagine, especially in the Me Too age,
that men and women alike were fawning over man,
who built an empire and an industry that diminishes the God-designed beauty
of sexual relationships by treating women like sex toys and men like base consumers.
But then Ecclesiastes 7.15 came to mind
and made some sense of the madness, at least observationally.
In my vain life I have seen everything.
There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness,
and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
It is Ecclesiastes, then, that starts to tease out what happens
when the neat and tidy edges of proverbial wisdom blur
and the ends of our lived experience under the sun begin to fray.
Rounding out this long arc of biblical wisdom,
started by Proverbs and Ecclesiastes,
Job comes along and, well, all bets are off
when we meet unimaginable suffering
and lose sight of everything we thought we knew about ourselves,
our relationship to God,
and what it means to live a good life.
But that's a whole other story.
As with the other wisdom books,
Ecclesiastes is heavily observation-based.
Oftentimes, Kohelet is not saying
whether particular situations are good or bad,
but simply that they occur,
and we have to come to grips with them
as we live a life bracketed by extremes.
This is a fair reading, for instance,
of Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 8,
the famous turn, turn, turn verses,
where the world described
has us inhabiting the broad spectrum
between birth and death,
planting and reaping,
weeping and laughing,
loving and hating.
Does anybody have any questions so far?
Okay.
There'll be time at the end, too.
All right.
Ecclesiastes 1, 2 and 3.
Vanity of vanities, says the preacher,
vanity of vanities.
All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
English author Anthony Burgess said,
Translation is not a matter of words only.
It is a matter of making intelligible
a whole culture.
Any study of Ecclesiastes requires
careful consideration of one word,
which, if understood poorly from its translation,
risks skewing our understanding of the text.
Understood correctly and with nuance,
however, this word,
which is used 38 times
in 12 short chapters,
will help us notice
the message of Ecclesiastes better
than if we went by the face value
of the word in the translation
we happen to be reading at the time.
I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles
to Ecclesiastes, chapter 1.
So I'm wondering,
in verse 2 of chapter 1,
how many people have meaningless
in their translation?
Okay.
Anybody else have meaningless
in their translation?
Okay.
A few.
All right.
So as an example,
meaningless,
this is how the New International Version
and the New Living Translation
translate the word
we're going to be talking about.
How many people have vanity
in their translation?
Okay.
Quite a few more have vanity.
So this is how English Standard Version
and the King James Version,
among numerous others,
translate the word we're looking for.
Does anyone have anything else
other than meaningless or vanity?
Okay.
That covers it.
Well, the International Standard Version
says pointless.
The New English Translation
says futile.
The Good News Translation
says useless.
And there are a lot of others as well.
All of these words
beat around the bush
as the Hebrew word here
lacks any concise English translation.
And that word is hevel.
Hevel is a noun
which personally makes
my grammarian self
want to issue
meaningless, pointless,
futile,
and other adjectival translations.
But Strong's Concordance
defines the word
as vapor or breath,
which are close in concept
to the Hebrew
but not so popular
in translations.
Vanity is a reasonable translation
and seems to be
one of the most popular.
It is at least a noun.
And when defined
not as inflated pride
in oneself
or one's appearance
but rather something
that is vain,
empty,
or valueless,
it comes close.
Vain being defined
by Merriam-Webster
as marked by futility
or ineffectualness.
Keeping in mind
the idea of futility
or ineffectualness
while we read Ecclesiastes
yields a more faithful
interpretation
of the original text
than we might get
from meaningless
or even vanity alone.
As alluded to
by the Strong's definition,
Hevel may physically refer
to smoke or a vapor,
which is actually
a pretty good image
to consider
as we try to get
the gist
of this complex word.
So if we imagine
smoke for a second,
we can see it.
It seems to have a form,
but if we try to touch it,
we can't.
The moment we try
to grasp it,
the quicker it changes
or it dissipates
or it moves.
Depending on context,
then,
this word extends
to imply a seemingly
pointless venture,
a paradox,
an enigma,
something that cannot
be grasped,
something that seems
to defy human understanding.
Other uses of Hevel
in the Old Testament
are variously translated
in the ESV.
Job 7.16 says,
I loathe my life,
I would not live forever,
leave me alone,
for my days are a breath.
Proverbs 31.30 says,
Charm is deceitful
and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears
the Lord is to be praised.
From Jeremiah,
the instruction of idols
is but wood,
they are worthless,
a work of delusion.
And Zechariah says,
for the household gods
utter nonsense
and the diviner see lies
that tell false dreams
and give empty consolation.
So meaningless,
vanity,
a breath,
worthless,
empty,
futility,
smoke,
all of these words
have been used
in an attempt
to express Hevel
in English,
and each is reasonable
and yet incomplete.
Ecclesiastes is for the most part
defined by a particular mood
and holding Hevel lightly
and surrendering
to the poetry of that mood
allows for a richer reading
of the book.
All this to say,
with regard to the wisdom
of Ecclesiastes
as it touches on our work,
well,
it's complicated
and confusing
and a bit hard
to get a handle on.
But one thing is clear,
it would be far too simplistic
to sit back,
glance at Ecclesiastes
and call our work
meaningless.
Any questions there?
Pause for a second.
Alright.
So,
our work may not be meaningless,
but it sure is frustrating.
As we learned
in Pastor Greg's introduction
to this class,
the origin of work
is good.
However,
after the fall,
our work was subjected
to futility,
and we now often experience
our work as toil,
a word which,
by my count in the ESV,
Kohelet uses 32 times.
In chapter 2,
we find Kohelet
in the midst
of a search for meaning.
I searched
till I might see
what was good
for the children of man
to do under heaven
during the few days
of their life,
he says.
He first tries pleasure
and laughter.
Enjoy yourself,
he says.
But alas,
Hevel.
Wine?
Nope.
Also Hevel.
I like this next one.
He moves on
to making great works,
houses,
vineyards,
gardens,
parks,
trees,
pools,
forests,
you name it,
he built it.
All Hevel.
He buys up slaves
and builds up
a massive household.
He increases
his flocks
and herds.
He amasses
great treasures.
Nope.
Hevel.
He tries to find
meaning in entertainment
when he hires
male and female singers.
Perhaps Jerusalem
scout talent,
I don't know.
He even avails
himself of
many concubines,
yet even that
is Hevel.
At this point,
Kohelet has quite
literally pursued
wine,
women,
and song
to find some
deeper meaning.
He opines,
So I became great
and surpassed
all who were
before me
in Jerusalem.
Also my wisdom
remained with me
and whatever
my eyes desired
I did not
keep from them.
I kept my heart
from no pleasure
for my heart
found pleasure
in all my toil
and this was
my reward
for all my toil.
Then I considered
all that my hands
had done
and the toil
I had expended
in doing it
and behold,
all was vanity
and a striving
after wind
and there was
nothing to be
gained
under the sun.
Do you notice
here what
Kohelet is
ultimately seeking
through his work?
He's expecting
that fulfilling
his every desire
will give him
pleasure
and for a time
it does
but of course
as we might
suspect
it doesn't last
and something
finally dawns
on him.
In the end
seeking cheap
pleasure
is all Hevel
impossible to grasp
fleeting
a striving
after wind.
I wish
this was a lesson
we would take
to heart
by listening
to Kohelet
rather than
trying to find
meaning for ourselves
and things
that can never
provide ultimate
meaning.
Instead
we're often
like the child
who has to
touch the hot
stove
even though
we've been
told
it will burn
us.
I can relate
to Kohelet
a bit here
in a lesson
I learned
quite by accident.
Come to think
of it I suppose
many valuable
life lessons
are learned
by accident.
The firm
I worked
for
Picard Chilton
has a
well-deserved
reputation
for designing
large commercial
structures
often high-rises
and they're
very good
at it.
Since first
sketching
the distinctive
spired crown
of the Chrysler
building from
photos years
before I'd
ever been
to New York
City
skyscrapers
have long
been an
interest of
mine.
How exciting
it was then
to find myself
just out of
school
immersed in
the design
of soaring
structures
that could
change the
skylines
of their
respective
cities
for years
to come.
In a short
time I found
myself traveling
frequently for
work,
often times
internationally.
The expense
was my
firms but
the frequent
flyer miles
and hotel
points were
mine to
keep and
use for
my family.
I presented
a competition
in Copenhagen.
I traveled
to Malaysia
for a single
face-to-face
meeting where
my time in
the air
getting there
and back
was way
longer than
my time
on the
ground.
And I
went to
Italy twice
to look
at stone
slabs
at the
same quarry
where the
block
Michelangelo
used for
David had
been cut
in the
15th
century.
For my
last five
years at
the firm
I was
involved
with my
longest term
assignment
which had
me traveling
bi-weekly
to Calgary
for meetings
and site
visits for
the design
and construction
of a
50-story
office tower.
It was
fun,
it was
exciting,
it was
glamorous,
especially when
I started
getting upgraded
to first class
almost every
time.
In many
ways I
was living
the dream
but of
course it
wasn't always
a dream.
I mean
this in the
most humble
way possible
but once
a bit of a
young star
in the
office things
started to
change when
Kim and I
adopted our
children and
I started
showing hesitancy
to put in
the hours
that other
mostly unmarried
employees did
without
balking.
My teammates
started questioning
my commitment
to our
projects and
the politics
of the office
started to
become tedious.
I began
to receive
low marks
on my
peer reviews
for my
work ethic
and when
I tried
to address
this with
my supervisor
by telling
him I
was often
in the
office several
hours before
the rest of
my team
and so when
I left
by 6pm
I had
already been
there 10
or 11
hours instead
of their
7 or 8.
His answer
was,
well,
perception
is reality
and their
perception
is you're
not here
enough.
When I
found out
that some
younger
employees who
had been
at the
firm less
than I
had and
who were
not yet
even licensed
architects
were making
more money
than me,
I really
started to
question the
smiles and
nods and
pats on the
back from
my bosses
and eventually
I started to
consider alternative
employment.
I hadn't
gone into my
first job
looking for
my life's
meaning per
se.
I wasn't
on a
mission like
Kohelet is
in chapter
two.
Rather,
it just kind
of happened
that I was
doing pretty
much exactly
what I had
wanted to
do for so
long.
When I
left,
I was sad
not so much
that I was
leaving the
firm,
but because I
felt I was
leaving the
firm,
disillusioned
by the
way I had
been treated,
whether
consciously or
unconsciously,
by my
colleagues.
But I like
to say now
that I am
thankful that
God gave me
my dream job
right out of
school,
because then I
could do my
dream job for
a while,
set it aside,
and move on
to something
else.
Had I not
had the
opportunities I
did at the
time,
I might still
be searching
and striving
for a dream
that could
never provide
any ultimate
fulfillment.
I might
still not
have learned
Kohelet's
lesson.
My current
job is hard
to compare
to my
old job.
They are
in the
same industry
and I am
dealing daily
with architecture
and buildings,
but they are
like apples
and oranges.
There are
some things I
miss about my
old job and
some things I
could do
without in
my new
job,
but the
move overall
has been a
good step
for me and
my family.
Practically
speaking,
it has allowed
me to support
a family of
seven on one
income.
The benefits
are above
average,
the hours
are fewer
and more
predictable,
but it's
also a job
and it feels
like a job
most days
too.
Who of us
then can
relate to
Kohelet a
little bit
farther into
chapter 2?
Verses 18
through 21.
I hated
all my
toil in which
I toiled
under the
sun,
seeing that
I must
leave it
to the
man who
will come
after me,
and who
knows whether
he will be
wise or a
fool.
Yet he
will be
master of
all for
which I
toiled and
used my
wisdom under
the sun.
This also
is vanity.
So I
turned about
and gave my
heart up to
despair over
all the
toil of my
labors under
the sun,
because sometimes
a person who
has toiled with
wisdom and
knowledge and
skill must
leave everything
to be enjoyed
by someone who
did not toil
for it.
This also is
vanity and a
great evil.
This has
got to be one
of the biggest
frustrations I
have in my
current job,
and one of the
biggest motivations
sucks that I
battle every
day.
That is,
feeling like the
work I do
today will be
inconsequential in
a few years.
Each day it
feels like I'm
fighting to make
wise decisions for
the future,
at the same time
I'm fighting
against unwise
decisions from
the past.
The most poetic
way I can think
to describe my
current job is
that I'm one of
the stewards of
Yale's built
environment.
One of the
reasons I wanted
to work at Yale
was because of
the legacy of
great buildings
that make up
its campus.
From Sterling
Memorial Library
to the Yale
Art Gallery
to the Yale
Whale and
everywhere in
between, Yale
is littered with
amazing architecture
and has shown
itself at times
to be an
institution with
great architectural
vision.
But all that
glitters is not
gold.
For every
well-maintained
building on
campus, there are
at least two or
three that need
serious work.
Each of which
got to that
point over time
by many people
making many
decisions, both
big and small.
Generations that
have come before
me and generations
that will come
after me will
attempt to be
wise in the
spending of
large sums of
money on
buildings at
Yale.
But we will
also always
miss the
mark.
Things we think
are wise
expenditures today
will be moot
when a new
faculty member
or a new
dean or a new
provost or a
new president
decide that
priorities have
changed.
I never know
whether one of
my projects will
be neglected
and relegated
to second-rate
care or
re-renovated
in a couple
years at
great expense
because someone
has changed
their mind
on its
utility.
Oftentimes, in
the interest
of financial
decisions today,
we're asked to
defer work, which
only exacerbates
other issues
in the future.
I'm actually on
the receiving end
of one of these
issues right now.
A few years ago,
what we call
the NAVE, that
is the main
hall of the
church-like
Sterling Memorial
Library, underwent
a $20 million
restoration.
The project is
stunning, really.
Though I wasn't
involved in the
project at the
time, the library
is one of my
responsibilities now.
At the time, a
decision was made
to defer
replacement of
some rain
leaders, pipes,
that bring water
down from the
roof through the
stone walls to
the stormwater
management system
below.
Instead, the
lines were
scoped with a
camera to look
for damage and
then protected on
the inside by
synthetic lining
rather than
replaced.
I'm confident
this was done to
save money, keep
a schedule, and
avoid the hassle of
invasive stone
work.
However, considering
the age of the
building and
otherwise comprehensive
renovation that
touched everything
else surrounding it,
it would have been
the perfect time to
replace the leaders
with the least amount
of impact on
operations in the
long run.
Instead, only a few
short years later,
the lining is
suspected to have
failed at what was
likely a weak joint
to begin with, and
rainwater has been
entering the cavity
between the inner and
outer stone walls and
their brick core for
months, telegraphing
moisture through to
the interior stone.
The flash flood
level rain we had a
few weeks ago didn't
help, and the
failure has now been
catastrophic and the
issue has become
critical.
An easily ignored
problem that was
deferred then now has
water leaking through
and staining the stone
in one of the most
prominent public
locations on campus.
And what I'm sure
will be hundreds of
thousands of dollars
of work that will
impact the public
space of the library
with construction noise
and hassle could have
been prevented for far
less expense and
impact when the space
was renovated in the
first place.
The decision that led
to this problem wasn't
mine, but it's my
problem now nonetheless.
Unless I get too full
of myself, I'm sure I
am making decisions I
feel are wise now that
will become someone
else's problem in the
future.
So when faced with
these frustrations,
when we realize that we
can't place ultimate
meaning in our work,
when we can't count on
future stewards of our
work to care as much
as we did, and when
even our wisest decisions
today will be thought
foolish in the future,
what are we to do?
So the quicker we remove
ultimate meaning from our
work, the quicker we are
free to see it for what
it actually is.
But what is it?
Fortunately, Kohelet
presents both the problem
and the solution in almost
one breath.
He says,
What gain has the worker
from his toil?
I've seen the business
that God has given the
children of man to be
busy with.
He has made everything
beautiful in its time.
Also, he has put eternity
into man's heart, yet so
that he cannot find out
what God has done from the
beginning to the end.
I perceived that there is
nothing better for them than
to be joyful and to do good
as long as they live.
Also, that everyone should
eat and drink and take
pleasure in all his toil.
This is God's gift to man.
That's Ecclesiastes 3, 9
through 13.
And then Ecclesiastes 2,
24 and 25 says,
There is nothing better for
a person than he should
eat and drink and find
enjoyment in his toil.
This also I saw is from the
hand of God, for apart from
him who can eat or who can
have enjoyment.
So did you catch what it is?
Our work is a gift.
And not only is our work
itself a gift, but the
ability to enjoy its fruits
is also a gift.
Oftentimes, I do not
experience my work day, nor
reflect on it afterwards as
a gift from God.
So know that I'm talking to
myself here as much as I'm
talking to you.
But when confronted with the
issues raised by Kohelet, I
can see that it is a gift.
It is a gift that allows me
to provide for my family.
It is the gift that allows
my wife the space to take
educating and mothering our
children seriously.
It is the gift that allows us
the time and resources to
open our home to a small
group.
It is a gift that provides,
as I say to my children,
all of the things we need and
many, many of the things that
we want.
In light of the frustrations of
our work, and perhaps despite
of it, we are wise to see our
work, whatever it is, as a
gift from God and be
grateful.
I have a feeling that embracing
our spirit of gratitude may
even begin to soften some of
the frustrations surrounding
our work.
But I want to go a bit further
than Kohelet does and try to
bring together some larger
biblical themes here.
Ecclesiastes ends by
summarizing Kohelet's arguments
and exhorting the reader.
Ecclesiastes 12, 13.
The end of the matter, all has
been heard.
Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man.
This got me thinking about God's
commandments, and as it relates
to our work, one particular
imperative came to mind from the
New Testament.
In Colossians, Paul writes,
Whatever you do, work heartily,
as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the inheritance as
your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ.
But what is this inheritance?
What do we know that Kohelet didn't?
As we saw from chapter 2, Kohelet
illustrates that one of the main
frustrations for us in our work is
that what we work so hard to create
often gets left to someone else.
Kohelet is not the only biblical
figure to notice this.
The prophet Zephaniah says,
Though they build houses, they
shall not inhabit them.
Though they plant vineyards, they
shall not drink wine from them.
Another prophet, Amos, says,
You have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them.
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
Similarly, Deuteronomy says,
You shall build a house, but you
shall not dwell in it.
You shall plant a vineyard, but you
shall not enjoy its fruit.
There are other instances as well,
but the general theme seems to be
thus.
Disobedience of the Lord results in
the inability to enjoy the fruit of
our labor.
This certainly gels with our
understanding of work as toil, as
the corruption of a good thing after
the fall.
It is this world we live in post-fall
that we have seen Kohelet trying to
grapple with as he observes a
frustratingly unfair world.
Deuteronomy describes the consequences
of disobedience.
Zephaniah and Amos describe judgment.
However, there's another prophet who
uses the houses and vineyard to
describe restoration and promise.
In his description of the new heaven
and the new earth, Isaiah says,
They shall build houses and inhabit
them.
They shall plant vineyards and eat
their fruit.
They shall not build and another
inhabit.
They shall not plant and another eat.
And my chosen shall long enjoy the
work of their hands.
Finally, at last, there will be a
restoration.
Not one that takes away work, but one
in which our relationship with it will
be made right.
When we shall again enjoy the fruits of
our labor as God intended.
No more as Kohelet will we be subject to
an unfair world.
As the Jesus Storybook Bible says, every
story whispers his name.
And so we know that scriptures like
Isaiah point to Christ.
And we know that this promised restoration
is offered in the person of Christ.
It seems to me that the promise of this
future restoration of the right
relationship of labor and fruit is what
gives a dignity to our still frustrating
work today.
A point I should very much remember when
I'm most disenchanted in my job.
Thankfully, ungrateful sinner that I am
in my daily work through Christ, I don't
have to obey perfectly to gain the eternal
reward.
Christ has already done the work on my
behalf.
In Joshua, God reminds the Israelites of
their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
I gave you a land on which you had not
labored and cities that you had not
built and you dwell in them.
You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive
orchards that you did not plant.
Is that not the promise for the Christian
also?
Is that not the inheritance that Paul
mentions in Colossians?
In our case, Christ has labored to build
the house for us and has planted the
vineyards and cultivated the vine so that
we might not labor in vain.
Who knows?
Maybe I like all these scriptures because
they talk about houses and the architect in
me just can't help it.
But the psalmist reminds us, unless the
Lord builds the house, those who build it
labor in vain.
Because we know that the Lord himself is
building our houses, we have the freedom
to receive even our toil, as Kohelet
suggests, as a gift from God with
gratitude.
Because what awaits us is something that
Kohelet couldn't even dream of.
When Christ brings forth the restoration of
creation, it will have us looking back on
even our worst work days under the sun and
saying with full-throated joy to hevel with
it.
Oh, I've got to groan.
That's good.
Questions?
Bleep!
You have to bleep Hebrew words?
Thank you.
Happy to take a few questions if you have
any.
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
It's actually really encouraging.
I think one of the questions I have is
how do you, you know, having been trained
in an ethic that strives for perfection
and also having internalized the faith that
sort of demands that out of you, right?
And that's very much, I think, who you are.
How do you, in your work, when you are
frustrated by decisions that you view as
incorrect, how do you put back?
How do you raise that in a way that is, you know, is godly?
Because I understand that, you know, in some careers, you know, we're talking about money
and time and aesthetics.
And in other careers, we're talking about people's lives and the success or failure of products that could impact disease and death.
So, there's a certain indignation sometimes that occurs, you know, within, I think, within me when I see the same problems.
And when I raise these objections and stuff, I can do it in a very harsh way.
And it can be very alienating to those around me.
But at the same time, you know, there's a time and place for that.
So, I don't know if you have some thoughts on it.
Yeah.
So, the question is how to sort of push back in a godly way on things that we think are unwise, perhaps.
So, yeah, money.
A lot of decisions at Yale are made based on money.
And related to that, an unrealistic expectation of what money can buy sometimes.
And so, you know, between my colleagues and I, sometimes as we're brainstorming what's going on and, like, there's a component of this project we really think is important to do, we'll be talking about it.
And I keep always coming back to, you know, it's either worth doing or it's not worth doing.
Right?
Like, if the provost really wants this, it's either worth doing here at the quality that we expect at Yale or it's worth not doing at this time because the money's not there.
So, sometimes there are those frustrations.
But more to your point, perhaps, is, you know, there are definitely occasions where something has been excluded from a project.
And not constantly but periodically over the course of design and even into construction because we carry contingency monies to cover certain changes and that sort of thing.
I will, one element in particular of a recent project, I never got it covered, but periodically I was saying, listen, I think that the right thing to do, ultimately, it's a practical, practically doing this now will keep us from having to come back in five years and do it in the same space that we're already in.
So, there's a practical, but also aesthetically for the quality of the university, like, this is something.
And, you know, I did that three or four times to try to get a certain element brought back in for a small incremental cost relative to the whole.
And at a certain point, I did all I could do, you know, I guess I had to say hevel.
Like, I couldn't, there was, there was no more to push back on because it wasn't, you know, working, working under, working to make a finite set of decisions under a larger decision-making body can be difficult.
But, you know, when I feel it's appropriate, I do push, but it doesn't always, it doesn't always work.
I don't know if that answers your question.
Kirsten and then John.
I'd like to commend you and your wife, first of all, on making the difficult decision to put your family first and make a job change, which was not popular among your peers, especially now.
So, it's something that people just don't understand.
And it's not a, it's not even a basis of whether you're a Christian or not.
It's just in a career-driven society, everyone just assumes both of you are going to have full-time jobs with extra hours.
And it's a, it's a sacrifice that you can do.
And, come to me, being a little bit older than you, we are on the other tail end of married children.
And, um, I thought I was going to go back to teaching full-time, you know, and my kids went into school full-time.
The Lord had other plans for me.
Being on this other end now, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Because that all is hebel doesn't factor in into the big picture of things, you know, for us personally.
Um, so, that difficult decision to switch to Yale and not be in the high-intensity work, or whether it's just as simple as saying yes to one job and not another.
Um, you know, are we listening to the Lord and what he has promised for us in the future?
Or are we listening to what our peers are saying and what society is saying?
And in the job world right now, with it being as competitive as it is for those new, really good jobs that are out there, it's really a difficult decision to make and not one to be taken lightly.
So, I just, you know, I, I hope that you feel that the, the sacrifice and the switch was worth it, even if you don't feel it every day.
Yes. Yes and yes.
It's okay to wake up.
Yes and yes.
I see your posts about, you know, who you're next to on the bus or what you're listening to.
And sometimes you sit there saying, man, I don't know if this is worth it.
So I understand that completely.
Yeah.
John, did you have?
Yeah.
Thanks so much, James.
That was so pointy and beautiful.
And I love the way of, um, gesture too, just kind of streaks of light and hope that we have.
Because you think of, ah, Moses' cry.
And you know, God, oh God, give permanence to the world.
That long, right?
Not just a slip through your fingers.
I think of, ah, how that gnawing kind of eats at us all.
And, ah, when I think of vanity, vanity, I mean, when those, those words do, well, kallos, the Greek, which might have a semantic range, it's a pretty close.
I think of, ah, I think of 1 Corinthians 15, 58.
Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always about in the word of the Lord.
That in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.
And the therefore is, you know, 1 Corinthians 15 is just talking about the whole direction.
God will take everything, and there is a permanent quality, and it will persevere.
So, the kingdom actually seems to be the answer to our longing, that there would be something permanent in our labors.
Though it seems like the possibility that we might not invest them well.
If, ah, in Philippians 2, ah, I don't know, somewhere around, ah, what it says, ah, would you, it's always, that I might not have labored in vain.
And he would say, but he'd know that he would not, if he held fast for the work of the Lord, that he would know that in the day of Christ he had not run, nor labored in vain.
So, we have, we feel this gnawing, but the kingdom allows us to bless in such a way that it will be permanent.
He seems like he doesn't abandon the late work of his hands, and that he doesn't even abandon the work of the hands of his people.
So, thank you for that.
Thanks.
Thanks, John.
Any last words?
All right.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Let's pray for, um, let's pray for James, and, uh, pray for others who are working in architecture, and also others who are frustrated in their work.
All right.
Lord, we thank you for, thank you for James, and thank you for the way that you have, um, brought these truths home in his own heart over the years.
Thank you, Lord, for, uh, showing him, um, that our, our dream job is not, it's not, it's not all that you've called us to live for.
And, uh, thank you for, um, uh, showing him that lesson and yet bringing him through that and, um, helping him, pray that you would help him to find contentment in you day by day to, um, to live in, in the, in the gratitude, uh, for what you have given to him to, even to enjoy, uh, the work that you've given him.
Um, uh, and to persevere through the frustrations of it.
Lord, we pray for others who are working in architecture and others who may be, uh, struggling with some of these, um, uh, tensions and, and, and difficulties that, uh, that he's spoken about today.
Uh, Lord, that you would give them wisdom, that you would help them to, to work, to, to work heartily as for you and not, uh, for, uh, not for other people.
Uh, Lord, that, uh, you would help them to, uh, to, to, to know that you are, uh, to, to find hope and joy in those promises of, of restoration that you are building.
You are building a house, uh, for us, uh, Lord, that one day we will enjoy, uh, the, the fruit of, uh, of your work on our behalf.
Uh, and Lord, we pray for, uh, pray for, especially for those who are, uh, just facing frustrations or feeling like their work is toilsome and, and even,
and empty Lord, that's all of us at one level.
Um, but I pray especially for those who just feel that, um, in an oppressive way or on a daily basis, uh, or an hourly minute by minute basis.
Um, uh, Lord, that you would draw near to them in, in their frustrations, that you would help them to bring those frustrations to you.
Um, that you would help them to, um, uh, to, to, to look, to find some of the wisdom, to find some of the wisdom in Ecclesiastes.
Uh, as well as Proverbs and, and Job, uh, to be helpful to them.
Um, uh, Lord, that they would, that, that you would, um, yeah, just give them wisdom about how to, how to live in a very, in, in very frustrating work environments.
Um, uh, and Lord, we, uh, yeah, we thank you for this, uh, for all that you've given us this morning.
Um, pray that you would help us to, uh, take it to heart, uh, and encourage one another with these words.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.