Intro: Bread & Wine
I am starting a new column called "Bread & Wine." In this space I will share with you what I am delighting in.
This installment of the newsletter is where you will find what I am enjoying. You probably won’t find “spiritual” things here. Because, well… in light of my end, God commands me to enjoy what this life has to offer. And in that sense, it will all be profoundly spiritual.
It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead…
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart,
for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
-Ecclesiastes 9:2-3, 7-10
The command is clear. Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. Go. Do it. Think of the resurrected Jesus on the mountain, commissioning his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). We don’t question whether or not that is something appropriate we should do. We take Him at his word and live in obedience to the command.
Ecclesiastes nine is no different. He really meant what he said. Go enjoy what this life has to offer. It is a vain life that ends the same way for all, but in it are gems and pleasures He has graciously gifted us. And this is why I find this to be a reasonable column for this newsletter about leveraging the one thing that is certain in our story. Death is certain. Therefore, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. Delight!
Eugene Peterson makes verses 7-10 dance:
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.
God is giving me (and you) permission to enjoy what this vain life has to offer. But don’t read over that too quickly or you will miss it. He is giving me permission to enjoy this life. He will never give me permission to worship this life. He alone deserves our worship. We cannot place the weight of worship onto anything in this world without that thing or person crumbling to the ground and leaving us disappointed and broken. When our enjoyment of something turns to worship, we will sooner or later find no true, free enjoyment of that which we are idolizing. We will always be disappointed. Sin never fulfills.
It is only when we find deep pleasure in God and worship God alone that we are released to truly and joyfully enjoy his good gifts of this life.
David Gibson said it beautifully, “When we worship God and trust him and love him and walk with him, what we find is that he is not an old man in the sky who makes us bow down before him in a cold, white room, while he sits on a throne waiting to zap us when we get it wrong. No, what we discover is that God is like the host who welcomes us into his kingdom and to the most lavish of banquets for us to enjoy.”
Some words of C.S. Lewis come to mind, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things. We never get, say, even the sensual pleasure of food at its best when we are being greedy.”
“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither.”
Here’s what I hope:
I will be challenged, pushed, and held accountable by this column to really enjoy this life and what God so graciously gives me.
You will see, through my freedom of delight, hands that are open and ready to lose what I am enjoying because I am not worshiping the gift. I am worshiping the Giver.
(A glorious paradox) You will begin to enjoy this life, and what it has to offer, more fully and freely because your object of worship transfers from creation to Creator.
When we worship creation, we cannot fully enjoy it. But when we worship God, we will surprisingly enjoy his good gifts a hundredfold.
I am convinced that when our heart’s worship is given over to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our enjoyment of his good gifts overflows.
Welcome to Bread & Wine.
-Jonathan