‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’. The book of Ecclesiastes is rarely read in church on a Sunday and is included only once in the lectionary over a three year period. In some ways that is not surprising because this is a difficult book. It was probably written in or around Jerusalem after the people had returned from exile in Babylon by a teacher or wise man in Israel.

It is part of that great strand of writing in the Old Testament that we call the wisdom tradition and, like the other books in that tradition, reflects on wisdom and on wise and foolish behaviour. However, unlike those other books it is very negative in emphasis. Much of the book suggests that the human lot is one of vanity, by which the author does not mean pride, but purposelessness, futility, striving for the unattainable.

There are lighter moments in which wisdom is seen as a great prize, there is hope, and thoughtful actions bring their reward. However, much of the teaching in the book can best be summed up by the phrase, ‘Let us eat and drink and enjoy ourselves, for tomorrow we die’,

a sentiment which is sharply challenged in other parts of the Old Testament.

And indeed it is challenged by St Paul in our New Testament reading this morning. In the letter to the Colossians, Paul makes it clear that the job of the Christian is not to accept the world as it is and to try to find happiness within it. Rather it is the responsibility of those who follow Christ to look beyond the world its vanities and to focus instead on the works of God.

Therefore we are to seek the things that are above, where Christ now dwells with God, and to set our minds on these things. And this requires that we die to this world, a process begun in our baptism, so that we can rise to new life in Christ. But this dying is a sharp and painful process that requires us to turn aside from all kinds of bad and inappropriate behaviour that is hurtful to God and to other people and embrace a new way of life. This is of course a process that remains hidden from the foolish who look no further than the world and its vanity. But it is the basis of our life in Christ, a life that demands that we are transformed in the way that we treat each other and our world.

In John’s gospel the last thing that Jesus said to his disciples before they faced the trauma of bereavement and loss was, ‘love one another’, and love one another as friends. In other words, grow up in love so that you can begin to reflect the love God has for you which is open, unconditional, and knows no boundaries. And as St Paul knew, this kind of love creates communities in which all the old social, ethnic and religious divisions are overcome.

To coin and adapt a phrase, ‘Its all about relationships stupid’. And that is why Jesus won’t get drawn into a family dispute about an inheritance in our Gospel reading this morning.

The relationship has become dysfunctional and greed has taken over. Instead of loving and supporting each other, the brothers have both tried to get what they can at the expense of the other. And this is always true of our bad behaviour.

And St Pauls warns us against fornication, impurity, greed, passion, evil desire, anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive language because this kind of bad behaviour always hurts other people. It is always personal. It is always designed to take away something that rightly belongs to another, be it their possessions, their confidence, their dignity, their security.

But to love another as a friend in Christ is to give to another life giving support and strength.

There is a moving article in the Church Times this week by Grace Sheppard, the widow of Bishop David Sheppard. It recalls the strength of their growing love and friendship during the time of his terminal cancer and the way God’s grace was revealed to her through this experience. She concludes by saying, ‘We all have to die one day. The important thing is to be ready, and then we can get on with living’.

And as Paul knew, to be ready to die is to be ready to love, because to die to Christ is to live for other people. And as Jesus teaches us in the parable in today’s gospel, to be ready to die is not to store up goods for yourself, it is to serve the needs of others. All is indeed vanity until love transforms our lives in Christ. Because, to be rich towards God is to give all we have and all we are in the service of others.

Amen