Birds, Byrds, and Shakespeare

Proper 13C

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

St. Matthias

August 4, 2019

Well we have another first this Sunday.  A couple of weeks ago was the first time I can remember including my brother in a sermon and this Sunday is the first time I can remember ever preaching on the book of Ecclesiastes.  It only comes up in the Sunday cycle of scripture readings once every 6 years.  Compare that to the Book of Isaiah which we read from 17 times just this year alone.  I looked back in my files and I didn’t find any Ecclesiastes sermons from years past and so I decided I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity.    Besides, Ecclesiastes is interesting – fascinating even.

You probably know more about this book of the Bible than you think you do.  Remember that song from the 1960’s TURN, TURN, TURN by The Byrds – well the lyrics come from the 3^rd chapter.  It’s the passage that talks about there being a season and time for every purpose under heaven.  And then our reading this morning is more often thought to be a quote from Shakespeare.  Vanity of Vanities!  All is vanity.  But, it’s from Ecclesiastes.   Never even made it into one of Shakespeare’s plays.  Ecclesiastes is the 18^th book of the Bible and you will find it between Proverbs and The Song of Solomon.  There are just 12 short chapters spread across only 10 or so pages.  It’s the only book of the Bible written originally in a Persian Hebrew dialect from the 3^rd century BC.  Think of it as Israel’s version of "How to Speak Southern."  The very word “Ecclesiastes” is a Latin transliteration of a Greek translation of a Hebrew word.  For a long time, the Church thought that Ecclesiastes had been written by King Solomon except he lived 700 years earlier in the 10^th century.  Actually, we have no idea who wrote it or who he was writing about except it might be one of a bunch of folks who were claiming to be king of Israel at this point in history.

But the writing reads like poetry and the message is powerful.  Abraham Lincoln once quoted from Ecclesiastes in an address to Congress.  We read this morning:  I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.  Here’s the basic story – this king of Israel is looking back on everything he has done – everything done by everyone he has ever known – and he has decided that it was all for nothing.  All the wealth – all the fame – all the power – it just doesn’t mean anything.  Like the rich man in our Gospel lesson, you can build bigger barns and more barns and fill them to the ceiling, but then all you can do is sit back and look at what you’ve got, and you can’t take it with you.  Fame is an illusion and power is fleeting.  It’s like chasing after the wind.  And why – because it’s all about us.  It’s vanity. 

Phyllis and I were watching another of the Father Brown Mysteries on Thursday evening and in it Father Brown tells the Aesop Fable of the Eagle and the Jackdaw.  Now just in case you haven’t watched this Father Brown episode, a Jackdaw is basically a gray crow found in England.  And the story goes that one day a Jackdaw was flying near a herd of sheep when suddenly a great Eagle swooped down from the sky, caught a small lamb in its claws and flew away before the shepherd could do a thing.  The Jackdaw thought to himself that surely he could do the same and more and eat well for a week or more.  And so he too swooped down from the sky and landed right on the back of a very large ram.  He immediately began flapping his wings BUT went nowhere.  The ram hardly realized the crow was even there.  The harder the bird tried to lift, the weaker his wings became and then his claws got entangled in the ram’s wool.  The shepherd had plenty of time to grab the bird and clip his wings.  He took the crow home to his children who were delighted with this new pet.  His son asked, “What kind of bird is this, Papa?” to which his father responded, “It is just an old Jackdaw trying to be an Eagle.”

Vanity of vanities!  Trying to be God is like trying to fly with a ram stuck to you.  It just doesn’t work.  It’s also not what we are meant to do in life.  Instead, Ecclesiastes tells us to let God be God and we should be God’s children and follow.  There is a time to grow and a time to harvest and God gives us the passing of the seasons, the sun and the rain, and the day and the night so that we may feed ourselves and others with plenty left over for our barns SO that no one need ever be hungry.   There is a time to be born and a time to die and dying to ourselves is something we need to do each day so that our Savior may live in us and give to us the gift of eternal life.  We only know the value of anything when we can watch as it is multiplied in the kingdom of Heaven right here and right now.  The book given to the students at Southview Elementary School will be read over and over again and students will learn.  That bag of beans and rice you pack and share will feed the body and souls of families and neighbors and friends.  The person WE love WILL share that love with everyone they know SO that God’s love grows outward from St. Matthias.  Then it all becomes Holy and that is NOT vanity.  Who knew there could be SO much in such a strange little book?  Share with someone this week that you know what a Jackdaw is and that a Jackdaw should never try to be an Eagle.  Dwight will be proud of you.  And read Ecclesiastes.  You don’t need to wait 6 more years.  AMEN.