August 5, 2010

"So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:17-26)

Even if you're not a fan of 80's music, you've probably heard the refrain from the 80's rock band Loverboy's most famous work - "Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend." While this may be true, the older and older people get, the more we might find that they are also "workin' for retirement." More and more time is spent thinking about long range financial planning and 401k's, and if you're following the advice of the financial planners, more and more of your paycheck is going into some kind of retirement fund or funds or other investments. Of course, some of you reading this are already retired, some are getting closer, and I imagine some of you who are around my age might be wondering if retirement will even still be around 40 years from now! One thing is for sure, having the opportunity to enjoy retirement is no guarantee. A couple of weeks ago, Michael R. Bailey, a police officer who served in Chicago was shot and killed while patrolling the Mayor of Chicago's home. The officer was less than a month away from retirement. The "10 o'clock news anchor" mentioned the fact that the officer, in anticipation of retirement, had just purchased his first brand-new car, which he never got to enjoy. This Officer, "[did] his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he [had to] leave all he own[ed] to someone who has not worked for it."

Jesus advises us in Matthew 6 that we shouldn't really bother storing up the earthly fruits of our earthly labor, they're probably just going to rot or go sour anyway. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21) The moment after we take our final breath and we retire from this earth, how many vacations we took, or how many bank accounts we had, or how much earthly treasurer we accumulated will all be irrelevant - "meaningless" as Solomon would put it. It would be careless stewardship to not plan at all for retirement - but it would be much more than simply careless to make anything but planning for our final retirement in heaven, anything but our number one priority.

Paul, in our Second Lesson for this upcoming Sunday from Colossians, directs us to exactly what we should be making our priority - what we should be focusing our minds on, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (Colossians 3:2) When we retire from this earth, we have a retirement waiting for us above. This retirement is absolutely guaranteed. This retirement will be in a place where we don't have to worry about thieves breaking in and stealing, or rust or moths destroying or any other annoyance or tragedy that we currently have to deal with in this sinful world. This retirement won't last just a few years or a few decades, this retirement will last for eternity. This retirement will NOT be a reward given to us because of any toiling or striving or anything "good" we have done. No, this retirement package is strictly a gift - "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23b) Jesus is the one that toiled and endured and lived a perfect life in this world for us. Jesus' death on the cross paid in full all of our retirement dues. Jesus is the one who gave us the peace of mind of knowing exactly where we are going to spend our eternal retirement - in heaven with him. When we keep all of this in mind, we have the peace of knowing that all the meaningless wind chasing of this world is only short-lived, and soon we will be enjoying our final retirement in the mansions of heaven. When we set our minds on this, then even while we are in the midst of all the meaningless wind chasing, the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus."