The Earthy Piety of Providence

6 · The pastor expounds Ecclesiastes 9:12, using the fish-in-a-net metaphor to illustrate the suddenness and unpredictability of disaster in human life

And now he paints a word picture that humanity,

human living is like being a fish in the sea.

Everything seems fine, and then one day,

you notice this thing drawing in on you, and it's a net.

And before you can realize what's happening to you, it's done.

Verse 12,

For man does not know his time,

like fish that are taken in an evil net,

and like birds that are caught in a snare.

So the children of man are snared at an evil time,

when it suddenly falls upon them.

7 · The pastor pivots from exposition of the problem (uncertainty and unfairness) to the solution the preacher will offer, returning to the original experimental question

So this is his observation throughout his experiment,

throughout every single chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes,

life is uncertain and seems unfair.

Now, he has realized this,

and now he still has to answer the question that he set out with,

and that is, what are we supposed to do?

What does life come down to?

How are we supposed to live?

8 · The pastor synthesizes the book's answer into four categories—work, wine, wife, worship—and defines each

And he begins to stipulate four categories of a good life

that we'll walk through over the next three weeks.

Those four categories I'm calling work.

There are, my goodness, I've got all the verses here.

Dozens of verses on work in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Wine, also dozens of verses.

Wife, and worship.

Those are the four categories that he says make up a good life.

Work, this is a category now, don't get too literal.

Toil, effort.

Maintaining, resisting entropy.

Investing in the future through sowing in tears

and reaping in joy.

Work, broadly speaking.

It's one of the things that makes a good human life.

Two, wine.

What he means by wine, and we'll see this here in a moment,

is all lawful pleasures, lawfully engaged in,

but I would almost call it,

the writer of Ecclesiastes wholeheartedly commends

a kind of micro-dosing of celebration

where you crown each day

as another day that God has made

and as another day that you're glad that God has given you.

So wine serves a celebratory function

in not only Ecclesiastes, but throughout God's Word.

By wife, we mean spouse, but also companions.

People to work alongside, to be committed to,

and share with.

And finally, worship, we mean

worshiping God as the one who knows the answers

to all of the questions we do not know.

And I would say that it's important probably to add

that in Ecclesiastes, worship is really almost always

described as the fear of God.

And we use the fear of God definition

from Joel Beeky last week, which just to remind you,

Beeky writes,

to fear the Lord is to be deeply aware

that everything I do, say, and think,

or fail to do and say,

is open to the all-seeing eyes of God,

my Creator, Father, and Judge,

and therefore to be genuinely concerned

to live in such a way as to please Him

and keep my conscience clear before Him.

And really, worship is the attitude we have

while we do these other things.

It's the attitude we have toward God

as we live our lives.

It's the atmosphere that we live in

as we engage in these activities.

9 · The pastor sets up the pattern he is about to demonstrate: Ecclesiastes repeatedly juxtaposes the observation of life's uncertainty with the prescription of these four categories

Anyway, the preacher gives us these four categories

over and over again in Ecclesiastes,

side by side to his observation

that life is full of uncertainty and unfairness.

He says, these are the things.

These are the things we must be about.

10 · The pastor cites Ecclesiastes 5:18 as an example of the preacher partially listing the four categories (work, eating, drinking) and explicitly answering the book's central question

Ecclesiastes 5.18.

Sometimes he mentions things partially.

He doesn't go through the full list all the time.

In fact, very rarely does he go through the whole list.

But Ecclesiastes 5.18, he says,

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting,

he's answering his question from chapter 2,

what should man be about?

What I have seen to be good and fitting

is to eat and drink and find enjoyment

in all the toil with which one toils under the sun

the few days of his life that God has given him,

for this is his lot.

11 · The pastor cites Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, the book's conclusion, showing that worship (fearing God and keeping commandments) is the overarching framework for human life, with work and judgment referenced implicitly

Ecclesiastes 12 is more of a worship-focused reminder,

but all the categories exist there as well.

Ecclesiastes 12.13,

let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,

fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man,

for God shall bring every work into judgment

with every secret thing,

whether it be good or whether it be evil.

12 · The pastor reads the primary text, Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, showing that here all four categories appear together: bread and wine (celebration), garments and oil (ordinary care), wife (relationships), and work done with all one's might

But in our chapter today, he lists the full inventory.

Look at chapter 9 again, verse 7 through 10.

Go, eat your bread with joy.

Drink your wine with a merry heart,

for God has already approved what you do.

Let your garments always be 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 shoal

to which you are going.

13 · The pastor notes that the preacher of Ecclesiastes had less revelation about the afterlife than we do, yet still prescribes the same four-category life

So in all of his uncertainty, and he has, by the way,

more uncertainty about the end of things than we do,

this much further into the story of the Bible,

the preacher of Ecclesiastes wasn't clear what happened

when a person died.

That revelation continued progressively

through the time of Jesus and into the New Testament.

But he looks at all of the uncertainty and all the unfairness,

and he says, listen, here's what you have to do.

This is what a good life is.

You have to work.

You have to enjoy little pleasures.

You have to connect and commit to somebody

and share your life with them.

And you have to worship God while you do those things.

14 · The pastor explicitly connects Ecclesiastes' prescription to Providence's ecclesial identity and vision of discipleship—earthy piety as ordinary faithfulness compounded over time

That's what the book of Ecclesiastes is commending.

I think that's why we ought to end our time in Ecclesiastes

and start our celebration of Providence's 25 years

in this section,

because we here at Providence do indeed believe

in what I would describe as an earthy piety,

a simple, common, quiet, ordinary life of faithfulness

in the little things linked together day after day

and year after year.

That's the vision of discipleship at Providence.

15 · The pastor transitions into an extended exposition on uncertainty itself, introducing psychological research on intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and outlining four response types: freeze, seize, fret, and explore

Now, let's make sure we handle this text carefully,

because we're going to be moving off on,

we're going to be building on top of it

for the next few weeks.

Let's make sure we understand just how important

this first thing I said was.

I love that.

Just realize I'm saying important things, guys.

Let's make sure we don't gloss over

this idea of uncertainty and unfairness.

It's massive in the book,

and I want to make sure we give it fair treatment.

He is locked into this throughout the past,

throughout the book.

It's like this troubling way

that life doesn't work out the way

that you thought it was going to be,

the troubling brevity of life,

the uncertainty of life,

the unfairness of life.

I spent a little bit of intellectual side quest this week

studying psychological data about uncertainty.

And the reason why I was interested in that

is I have noticed, you know, leading things for a long time,

that different people react to its uncertainty

in different ways.

And I wondered had there ever been any kind of study of that.

Sure enough, so much study that there's actually

an abbreviation that's used in the literature,

and that abbreviation is IU.

And IU stands for intolerance of uncertainty.

Okay?

So there's been a lot of research on this, it turns out.

And I just want to tell you,

there's like generally,

kind of across all the literature,

that I could see,

you know, four categories.

The first person freezes in the face of uncertainty.

Uncertainty paralyzes them.

The more open loops and open tabs

and question marks exist in their mind,

the stiller they get,

the less certain they are on how to proceed.

It causes some to seize,

which this is a funny category,

and I've certainly met this person.

I think I was this person, honestly,

until I got older.

But the seize people,

they hate uncertainty so much,

they grab some evidence

and overwork it into an explanatory theory

over everything,

and then we'll defend it until they die.

You know?

And that's,

and really it's,

they have an intolerance of uncertainty.

So they grab evidence and they,

you know,

I think that this is absolutely

what I've grown out of to some degree,

but still struggle with to some degree.

And so I have to depend on the Holy Spirit

to help me when I'm doing this.

Fretting.

When they get into the face of uncertainty,

they just ruminate.

They just wonder,

like what,

they just worry.

You know,

they have anxiety and anxiousness

and so forth.

And then this is the person

I'm trying to become more like

to some degree,

and that is,

there is a kind of person

in the face of uncertainty

that just says,

well, this is fun,

let's explore it.

And they are positively stimulated

by uncertainty,

but of course that has

a backlash as well

because you will find yourself

manufacturing crisis

and areas of uncertainty

and intentionally opening

loops

just because you like

the stimulus of the unknown.

And I can hear my

oldest daughter saying,

Dad, that's totally you

right now in her head.

We're mind melded sometimes.

Anyway,

so those are the four things

that I saw

when I did this little side quest

on this whole idea.

I didn't know there was such a thing

as intolerance of uncertainty.

And I kind of intuitively knew

that certain people respond

to uncertainty in certain ways,

but, you know,

learned that, yeah,

that's actually also well studied.

A preacher is saying

that none of those are ideal

and none of those are really a life.

I think that's a really good point.

None of those,

some more positive than others,

but none of those constitute

an actual life.

That's just a reaction

to something.

That's not a proactive vision.

16 · The pastor delivers a complex theological argument distinguishing the Christian view of uncertainty from atheism, paganism, Epicureanism, and existentialism

And so,

he promotes these four categories

as the proper response

to uncertainty.

These are things

that I would challenge you

young people,

well, really everybody,

that, listen,

if you're holding off

on pursuing one of these W's

because of uncertainty,

you're missing the prescription

that the preacher's giving.

He's saying these are actually

prescriptions for uncertainty,

not things you hold off on

until you get perfect clarity.

Okay?

So,

he also is able to do this.

This is huge.

He's able to say,

you know what,

yeah, life is weird,

it's uncertain,

who knows what's going on,

because he doesn't believe

that that is true

of fundamental reality.

In fact,

his first move

when he talks about

the uncertainty of life

is to let you and I both know

that it appears uncertain to us,

but the world is not

actually running loose.

It looks like it is

from the place that we stand,

and where we stand

is actually the issue.

We are creatures.

We see a small piece

of a very large thing,

a very small piece of a pattern

can sometimes look like

no pattern at all.

So,

what I want you to understand

is that when he ignites

uncertainty,

he does not acknowledge it

in the way that an atheist would,

who believes that everything

really is just chance

and randomness,

or a pagan who believes

that there is always

this big Donnybrook,

sorry,

that's a fight

for you young people.

There's always this fight

between all these deities,

and we don't know

how things are going to play out

because we don't know

who's going to win

the fight today.

Joy Davidman,

C.S. Lewis' wife,

she wrote a book

called Smoke on the Mountain,

and it's all about

the Exodus,

and she deals

with this competition

of worldviews

that was happening

when monotheism emerged,

you know,

in some ways

through Moses

and intruded itself

upon the pagan perceptions

of the Egyptians,

and she does

a marvelous job.

I'd like to tell you,

just go get that book

just to read

that little section.

That's a pretty good book

in general, actually.

So,

paganism believes

in a kind of true randomness

because we don't know

who's going to win

the fight

between the pantheon.

Epicureanism

is really kind of

built on this.

In fact,

a lot of what I talk about

and how I talk

sounds like an Epicurean,

but the distinction is

I'm telling you

to go live the good life

and embrace the simple

and embrace your friends,

not because the world

is truly random,

but because it's above

your pay grade.

And so,

Epicureanism would say,

no,

it's totally,

it's totally off

or unpredictable

at a fundamental level.

The preacher's not saying that.

Existentialism,

it's like the universe is silent,

it's up to us

to impose meaning on it.

Christianity doesn't believe

that the world

is truly random,

but we do acknowledge

that from our

creaturely perspective,

it really feels like it is.

A lot.

And a lot of the inputs

that we think would lead

to certain things don't.

And it's confusing.

It often feels unfair.

Look back at chapter 8.

I didn't lead you

all the way through this

the first time,

but he really nails it

in chapter 8, 16,

going into chapter 9.

Look at verse 16

of chapter 8.

When I applied my heart

to know wisdom

and to see the business

that is done on earth

and how neither day

or night

do one's eyes sleep,

then I saw all the work

of God

that man cannot find out

the work that is done

under the sun.

However much man

may toil in seeking,

he will not find it out

even though a wise man

claims to know

he cannot find it out.

Verse 1 of chapter 9.

But all this I laid to heart

examining it,

how the righteous

and the wise

and their deeds

are in the hand of God.

The universe is not

truly random,

but man,

it sure feels that way.

17 · The pastor stakes out the uniquely Christian epistemological posture: we acknowledge feelings but submit them to facts

The uniquely Christian

perspective is to acknowledge

that it feels that way,

but again,

we are neck deep

in a religion

that emphasizes

facts over feelings.

And so we would say,

yeah,

it feels that way,

but God is actually

in control.

And because God

is actually in control,

we can start thinking

differently

about how to process

the uncertainty

and the randomness,

which leads me

to the next section,

which is what I refer to

as the Augustinian heat map.

18 · The pastor introduces a 2019 psychological study (Waits, Haight) that gave participants 100 credits of care to allocate across concentric circles from family to universal concerns

What if I told you

that before all the chaos

of 2020,

a study was published

in a prominent journal

that predicted

all the conditions

for the chaos itself

and also all the massive

ideological splits

that we observed?

Well,

in 2019,

a team of psychologists

led by Adam Waits,

Jonathan Haight

was also on this team

if you've ever read

any of his writings,

they produced a journal

or produced a study

where they went to people

that were self-identifying

as conservative,

self-identifying as liberal,

and they said,

we will give you

a hundred credits of care,

a budget of a hundred credits

of care,

and you have to spend these

on stuff,

on this chart.

And the chart was

family,

city,

you know,

and it moved itself outward

to, like,

universal rights,

to, you know,

things like all the way

out in space.

And so,

the liberals took their credits

and they placed them down

on their concentric circle,

and the conservatives

took their credits

and placed them

on their concentric circle,

and what we wound up with,

I think we have a slide for it,

so the one on the left

is,

the conservatives

placed most of their credits

in the center

on their actual family,

on their actual community,

on their actual city.

And liberals reliably placed

their emphasis,

their credits of care,

on the exterior of this.

19 · The pastor applies the illustration by claiming many Christians—particularly those shaped by college ministries—adopt the wrong concentric care model, focusing on distant missions while neglecting immediate duties (finances, work, dress)

Now,

that's interesting,

but I would say that

I know so many Christians

who live

with this one on the right.

In fact,

I would say anybody here

who went through

a college ministry

was probably led

by somebody

who had a broken

concentric care circle

and were overly focused

on missions

and ministry out there

to the expense

of just, like,

dressing well,

getting your finances

in order,

and showing up

to work on time,

like,

just the basics.

I think that most Christians

here that went

through campus ministries,

even if those campus ministries

were really strong,

those were usually led

by people

with a non-biblical

level of commitment

to the way

that God tells us

to live our life.

God tells us

to live our life

focused on those things

which are most immediate

to us.

And I bring this up

not to bash on liberals.

I don't even think

it's consistent

across liberals

and conservatives.

I think the categories

are different.

I bring this up

because, in reality,

what Ecclesiastes

is doing

is he's saying,

no,

the one on the left

is right.

That's the correct version.

And that's because

you don't have

the ability

to take care

of everything.

You're a creature.

You have a limited

ability to love.

And therefore,

you must focus

on those things

which are

in proximity to you.

And the reason

I call it Augustinian

is because

long before

all of this ever happened,

when Augustine

was writing

on Christian doctrine,

he says this,

all men are

to be loved equally

but since you

cannot do good

to all,

you are to pay

special regard

to those who,

by the accidents

of time

or place

or circumstance,

are brought

into closer connection

with you.

He doesn't mean

accidents

in the real

fundamental way.

He means it

in the providential way.

But he's saying,

you don't have

unlimited abilities

to think about things,

to love them,

to tend to them,

to care for them,

and so you have

to focus

on those things

that are most

proximate to you.

20 · The pastor synthesizes the argument: the writer of Ecclesiastes repeatedly redirects the listener from abstract concerns about global uncertainty back to immediate, concrete duties—house, meals, worship, spouse, church

And that's the preacher's

answer to the

perceived uncertainty.

He keeps bringing us

back to our house.

He keeps bringing us

back to our meals,

to our worship,

to our walk with God,

to our spouse,

to the people

we've committed to,

to our church.

He keeps bringing us

back there.

21 · The pastor introduces the biblical concept of the busybody as the opposite of the Ecclesiastes prescription

Now, there is an

antitype to this

in the Bible,

and I think it's

worth talking about,

and that antitype

is known in the

New Testament

as the busybody.

And I think we should

talk about the busybody

at least for a second,

because it's the opposite

of what the preacher

is telling us to do,

and it's something

we can fall into

quite often.

In 1 Thessalonians 4,

Paul tells the people

there to aspire

to live quietly

and to mind

your own affairs

and to work

with your hands

as we instructed you

so that you may

walk properly

before outsiders

and be dependent

on no one.

Aspire.

This is where

your ambition

ought to go.

That's the word

for aspire.

Make it your ambition

to live quietly

and to mind

your own affairs

and to work

with your hands

as we instructed you.

That's the positive

vision of what

the preacher's saying.

22 · The pastor expounds 1 Peter 4:15, unpacking the Greek term for busybody as a compound word meaning one who makes himself a bishop over affairs not his own

Now the negative vision

comes up in something

Peter writes,

and he says this

in chapter 4

of his first epistle.

Let none of you

suffer as a murderer

or a thief

or an evildoer

or as a busybody.

And the term

for busybody there

is the term

for bishop,

and it literally means,

it's a compound word,

it literally means

stop making yourself

the bishop over things

that don't concern you.

Stop making yourself

the overseer

of things

that don't concern you.

And notice the company

that the busybody

keeps.

Let none of you

suffer as a murderer

or a thief

or an evildoer

or as a bishop

over someone else's affairs.

23 · The pastor cites 2 Thessalonians 3:11, highlighting Paul's wordplay in Greek: the busybodies are not working but working around working—meddling in other people's business rather than attending to their own work

In 2 Thessalonians,

Paul writes,

we hear that some

among you walk

in idleness,

not busy at work,

but busy bodies.

In the Greek,

that's a pun.

He says essentially

in the Greek,

not working,

but working around working.

Working in other people's work.

Working in other people's business.

24 · The pastor returns to Old Testament wisdom literature, citing Proverbs 26:17, which uses a vivid metaphor to illustrate the danger of meddling: it is like grabbing a passing dog by the ears—foolish and likely to result in harm

And Proverbs 26,

back to the wisdom literature,

says it this way,

whoever meddles in a quarrel,

not his own,

is like one who takes

a passing dog

by the ears.

25 · The pastor applies the warning about busybodies to contemporary life: those who violate the Ecclesiastes pattern become terminally online, consumed with politics and distant concerns while neglecting their own homes and relationships

So if you do the opposite

of what

Ecclesiastes is commending,

you're going to be

one of those people

terminally online,

for instance,

and you're going to know

a lot about politics

and you're going to know

a lot about this,

a lot about that,

while your own home

and your own relationships

are probably not

as well maintained.

26 · The pastor diagnoses the root motivation for busybody behavior: pride and avoidance

The reality is

is that

the preacher

and the whole council

of God's word

is aware

that there is

a tendency

of pride

in the human heart

to try to use our brain

outside of our pay grade,

and that there are

various motivations

for this,

but I think

we probably all know

that there's usually

a person

whose own house

has fallen

into some disorder

and that situation

at home

or in their heart

is so unattended

and so sad

and so hard

that the only relief

available

is to look out

the window

and find some other

household

to critique.

Managing

someone else's

household

becomes much easier

than managing theirs.

27 · The pastor identifies a second category of busybody: the metaphysical busybody who demands to audit God's accounts, questioning why some prosper and others suffer

And then there is

the metaphysical

version of that

where the metaphysical

busybody

spends his time

trying to get

into God's business.

Auditing accounts

he was never

given access to,

demanding to know

why the man

prospers

and why this one

suffers.

Running heaven's books,

running a heavenly audit

on the work of God

and why God,

why?

Go home,

get back to work,

drink a little wine,

be good to your spouse

and worship God.

That's the message

of earthy piety.

Put down what isn't yours

and pick up what is

and do the best you can

with it

with all your might.

28 · The pastor transitions to the climactic theological observation: the preacher of Ecclesiastes is surveying a world marked by the fallout from the fall of mankind—a world not as it was supposed to be

What I find so interesting

about the conclusions

of this experiment

in the book of Ecclesiastes

is that the preacher

is running this audit,

figuring out what man

should do

and I think

what he finally

winds up seeing

is that there is

a lot of fallout

from the fall

of mankind.

A lot of fallout

from the fall

of mankind.

The world he observes

is not fundamentally

the way it's supposed

to be.

29 · The pastor delivers the sermon's central theological claim: after surveying the broken world, the preacher of Ecclesiastes rediscovers that the good life is simply doing what humans were originally created to do in Genesis 1-3

With that in mind,

pay careful attention

to the conclusion

that he reaches.

The world is broken.

What are we supposed

to do?

And here's what I find

him doing

which is amazing.

He says,

man should do

these four things.

They should walk

with God worshipfully.

They should do some work.

They should be kind

to the people

God's put in their lives

and they should crown

each day

with a little sip

of joy.

Over and over

and over again

he does that.

Now here's what

is crazy to me

is he essentially

rediscovers

basic human programming

that is described

precisely

in the first three

chapters of Genesis.

He runs the experiment

what should a man do

and what does he find

after his careful

investigation

that a man should do

what a man was made

to do in the first place

and that a woman

should do

what a woman

was supposed to do

in the first place.

In other words

all of the uncertainty

and difficulty

and brokenness

of the world

the way that it feels

random

the way that it feels

unfair

it doesn't deter us

and should not deter us

from our fundamental

programming

we received

when we were created

out of the dirt.

Worship God.

Do your work.

Celebrate the little things

and be faithful

to the people

God has given you.

30 · The pastor shares a personal story from October 2001, a month after 9/11, when he walked through lower Manhattan and observed the pervasive layer of dust covering everything far from ground zero and the dazed look in people's eyes

back in 2001

in October of 2001

I was in New York City

probably a little more

than a month

after the towers came down

in lower Manhattan

and there was a layer

of dust over everything

the rubble was still

smoldering

and everybody

on the subway

and as I walked

past them

on the sidewalk

had a dazed

look in their eyes.

The wound was still

really fresh

and the thing

that I think

was most impactful

to me

when I was there

was the layer

of dust

and how far

that dust

extended

from the original

site

very far up

into the island

of Manhattan.

31 · The pastor applies the 9/11 dust metaphor to the fall of man: the preacher is surveying a world struck by original sin, a world covered in the dust and rubble of the fall

I think

after studying

Ecclesiastes

extensively

for this series

I would say

that the preacher

is surveying

a place

that has

kind of been

struck

by original sin.

He's surveying

the world

as it is

now that sin

and death

have entered

the world.

He's surveying

a cursed world

and he sees

the layer

of dust

on everything.

It's like

a bomb went off

which you know

really metaphysically

speaking

probably speaking

in every sense

that's what

the fall

of man was.

It was

it was a bomb

that went off

and literally

wrecked everything

to one degree

or another.

And I think

that the writer

the preacher

in Ecclesiastes

is surveying

all of this

fallout

and all this dust

and you know

what he winds

up saying?

This is

I think this is

just such a key

phrase men

if you're

leading your

homes.

You know

what he winds

up concluding?

Kind of

I think

accidentally.

Here's the phrase

do Eden

anyway.

Do Eden

anyway.

Is it

harder?

Yeah.

The word

for work

is now toil.

it's all

harder.

It all

takes more

faith

and more

patience

and more

grit.

But who

we are

has not

changed

as human

beings

and the

way to

live a

good life

has not

changed

in spite

of all

the

hardship

that

surrounds

us.

The end

of the

day

the preacher

concludes

this is

what it

is to

be a

human.

This is

what you

should do

with the

days of

your life.

Yes,

death and

despair and

uncertainty

have entered

the world.

Yes,

there's a

layer of

vanity on

everything,

but none

of that

changes

what you

are

and what

you are

for.

Do

Eden

anyway.

Do your

work.

Walk

with your

God.

Love the

people God

put in

your life.

crown each

day with

the celebration

of the

fruit of

your labor.

32 · The pastor signals a transition from the main exposition to defining terms more precisely

So that's

the explanation

and introduction

to the

series.

When I

say the

earthy

piety of

providence,

I mean

earthy and

not earthly.

Those are

two different

words and

the Bible

treats them

very differently.

33 · The pastor defines earthly as the Bible's term for sinfulness—minds set on earthly things, earthly wisdom that is unspiritual and demonic

Earthly is

a word the

New Testament

always uses

to describe

something

sinful.

James says

there is a

wisdom that

is earthly

and unspiritual

and demonic

and Paul

describes the

enemies of

the cross as

those who

have their

minds set

on earthly

things.

And I

think that

the church

has done a

very good

job preaching

against

earthliness

but perhaps

at the

expense of

earthiness

which is

actually commended

throughout

God's word.

34 · The pastor defines earthy as creaturely existence—bread, wine, oil, clean shirts, someone to share with

Earthy means

that you and I

are creatures.

The word

Adam comes

from the

word dirt.

we are

creatures.

We are

made to

exist on

a relatively

brief timeline

in this

life anyway.

And

earthy means

bread and

wine and

oil and

a clean

shirt and

someone to

share it

with.

There's an

error on

each side of

this earthy

earthly

continuum.

You've got

the earthly

man who has

only dirt

and no

God but

then you've

got the

heavenly

man who

has no

earthiness

to him

at all.

He's well

read.

He has all

sorts of

esoteric

ideas but

his house

needs new

gutters.

When we

talk about

piety at

providence

it's not

just some

abstract

concept.

We mean

godliness

that shows

up in your

ordinary

life.

The old

word for

piety,

pietas,

it was

never meant

to be

a mood.

It was

meant to

be faithfully

discharging

your duties.

Faithfully

embracing

your portion.

35 · The pastor explains the first meaning of Providence: the doctrine that God is holy, wise, powerful, preserving, and governing all his creatures and their actions

And of

course by

providence we

mean two

things.

The first

is doctrine.

Every good

catechism

discusses

providence in

one way in

particular.

It is God's

works that are

most holy and

wise and

powerful and

preserving and

governing all

of his

creatures and

all their

actions.

We believe

the word

providence is

very important.

It comes from

the Latin

provider which

means to see

and advance.

God knows

us.

He knows

where our

road is

headed and

we can take

each day at

a time,

not freezing,

not seizing,

not fretting.

we can

just take

each day

at a time

because our

God has

provided for

us.

36 · The pastor shares the founding story of Providence Community Church: the original families were all gripped by the sovereignty of God in its fullest biblical sense during the same period and named the church Providence because this doctrine was glorious and undeniable to them and demanded to be acted upon

Which takes

us to the

second meaning

of the word

providence.

That's our

church's name

and it was

our church's

name and I

just want to

tell you the

story in a

few sentences.

The people

who, the

families who

founded this

church were

all sort

of turned

on to the

sovereignty of

God in

its fullest

sense, its

biblical framing

and relatively

the same period

of time.

And they

had all been

Christians for

a while but

this idea that

God was totally

in control and

that he was

good and

needed nothing

from us,

that he was

our creator and

we are his

creatures, this

was the

central heartbeat

of the

original families

that founded

this church.

And the

reason that

providence is

the name is

because this

was glorious

to them and

to be honest

undeniable to

them and

needed to be

acted upon.

And we're

sitting in an

environment that

came out of

an embracing

of that

doctrine.

37 · The pastor begins the sermon's conclusion by framing the upcoming 25th anniversary celebrations as worship directed not toward any human figure but toward God, who linked together all the days of ordinary faithfulness to sustain the church for two and a half decades

So yeah,

this sermon is

a way of

initiating,

like honestly,

a series of

pretty great

celebrations,

not over

this family or

that family or

this worker,

that worker,

this pastor or

that pastor,

but over

this God

who linked

all of the

days of

faithfulness,

link after

link after

link,

to make a

thing that's

been around

for two and

a half

decades.

38 · The pastor picks up the provocative phrase from Ecclesiastes 9:7 ('God has already approved what you do') and uses it as a pivot to communion, turning the congregation's attention to Ephesians 2 as the foundation for understanding God's approval

One of the

best lines,

one of the

most provoking

lines in that

passage in

Ecclesiastes is,

he says,

for God has

already approved

what you do.

I'm thinking,

well,

preacher,

how do you

know that?

How do you

know that God's

already approved

what you do?

And I'm convinced

that, you know,

at least some of

the time,

the writers of

Scripture have

no idea what

they're really

saying,

or have one

sense,

and it's not

the sense.

But I, of

course,

immediately started

thinking about

the approval of

God, and I want

to pivot your

attention to our

celebration of

communion by

reminding you of

one of the

core scriptures

at our church.

Proverbs,

Ephesians,

or sorry,

Ephesians chapter

two.

39 · The pastor reads Ephesians 2:1-3, establishing the baseline human condition: dead in trespasses, walking according to the prince of the power of the air, children of wrath by nature

And you were

dead in your

trespasses and

sins in which

you once walked,

following the

course of this

world, following

the prince of

the power of

the air, the

spirit that is

now at work in

the sons of

disobedience, among

whom we all once

lived in the

passions of our

flesh, carrying

out the desires of

the body and the

mind, and were by

nature children of

wrath like the

rest of mankind.

40 · The pastor reads Ephesians 2:4-9, the gospel pivot: But God, rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ by grace through faith—not of our own doing, so no one may boast

But God, being

rich in mercy, because

of the great love

with which he loved

us, even when we

were dead in our

trespasses, made us

alive together with

Christ.

By grace you have

been saved, and he

raised us up with

him and seated us

with him in the

heavenly places in

Christ Jesus, so that

in the coming ages he

might show the

immeasurable riches of

his grace in kindness

toward us in Christ

Jesus.

For by grace you have

been saved through

faith.

faith, and this not

of your own doing, it

is a gift of God, not

a result of works, so

that no one may boast.

41 · The pastor reads Ephesians 2:10 and explicitly connects it to Ecclesiastes 9, observing that Paul describes believers as God's workmanship created for good works God prepared beforehand—the same works Ecclesiastes prescribes

And listen to verse

10.

It's almost like Paul's

looking back at

Ecclesiastes 9.

For we are his

workmanship, created in

Christ Jesus for good

works, which God

prepared beforehand that

we should walk in

them.

42 · The pastor completes the canonical argument by pointing forward to Ephesians 5-6, where the good works are specified: sacrificial love in marriage, raising children in the fear of God, working hard, kindness, obedience

And then if we were

to skip forward to the

end of Ephesians, we'd

see that those good

works are what, guys?

Love your wife

sacrificially.

Honor your husband.

Raise your children in

the fear and admonition

of the Lord.

Work hard with your

hands so that you have

something to give

others.

Be kind and tenderhearted

to one another.

Children, obey your

parents as unto the

Lord.

Workers, obey your

masters as unto the

Lord.

children.

It's almost like this

is what it means to

be a human enjoying

and living in the will

of God.

We worship him through

our work.

We worship him through

our celebration.

We worship him through

the people we have been

given to care for.

And God is good.

And God has been good to

us.

43 · The pastor transitions into prayer, closing the sermon and preparing the congregation for communion

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Thank you.