Ecclesiastes closes with a poem about old age in which every image has to be decoded: the trembling keepers of the house are the hands, the bent strong men the back, the dimmed windows the failing eyes, and the almond tree blossoming white the greying head (Ecclesiastes 12). If youth is about doing, old age is about viewing, and that is exactly why we dread it. Yet this chapter overturns the measure, because the worth of a life is decided not by how much you manage to do but by how much you are loved. Listen if your worth in your own eyes still depends on what you managed to tick off today.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Ecclesiastes 12:2-7 the Preacher describes old age through a series of images: trembling keepers of the house, dimmed windows, shut doors, a blossoming almond tree. Which of these images speak to you most, and what do they say about the passing of life?
- In Ecclesiastes 11:9 the author encourages the young to rejoice, yet reminds them that God will bring them into judgment. How does the speaker understand this combination, and why does he call awareness of God's judgment a grace rather than a reason for fear?
- The speaker claims that youth is often driven by a fear of missing out on experiences or achievements. How does this fear shape your decisions, relationships and sense of guilt?
- The picture of learning to drive shows that you learn the rules first and only then get behind the wheel. How can we as a community, as parents or grandparents, teach young people to tell right from wrong before they go out into the world?
- The sermon says the value of our lives is not determined by how much we do but by how much we are loved by God in Jesus. In which areas of life do you find this hardest to believe, and why?
- Remember your Creator, and fear God and keep his commandments: this is how Ecclesiastes ends. What one concrete step this week will help you live with that awareness, whatever your age?
