[Ecc 7:1-4] Sorrow Is Better Than Laughter(Lim)

John C Lim

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

 ¹ A good name is better than fine perfume,
       and the day of death better than the day of birth.

 ² It is better to go to a house of mourning
       than to go to a house of feasting,
       for death is the destiny of every man;
       the living should take this to heart.

 ³ Sorrow is better than laughter,
       because a sad face is good for the heart.

 ⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
       but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

             As Solomon lived through his life here on earth, he had gained much wisdom from his various encounters in life.  Although he was given special measure of wisdom from God, he realized many things simply from observing routine events in the course of life as well.  Here we see Solomon taking a little walk through common destiny of all men we know as death.  He spends some time on this topic and offers some insights that we want to think about.  He begins this chapter by emphasizing the value of what is internal rather than external. He talks about what is intrinsically more important than anything else in a person’s life, a good name. Look at verse 1.

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

            Fine perfume is a way of depicting a life of abundance in wealth.  Fine perfume is rather expensive and is not something that people in general would be able to spend their hard earned money on.  When providing for basic necessities of life is pressing, there is not enough to go around to buying extravagant item such as fine perfume.  So, we can draw a quick conclusion that he values a good name over life of wealth and abundance.  A good name is mainly about a person’s reputation. 

            We need to think about good name in this verse 1.  What does a good name entail?  A good name describes a man of integrity and principle.  No matter what vocation we are involved with or engaged in, we are building our own reputation every day through everything we do.  People get to find out who we are and what we are like as they interact with us in all kinds of setting.  From our work to our social networking terrain, people develop certain mental images about us through their experience in dealing with us.  

            As Christians, we represent Christ who is our Lord and Savior.  A good name means a great deal.  It really is about the essence of the person.  When people in ancient times spoke about Boaz, the husband of Ruth, people would have known that he was a man of integrity and character.  His reputation precedes him.  He is a well known person widely respected by his contemporaries.  They would most likely give much credence to Boaz when he spoke in public.  This good name is not something that automatically happened but it is a result of many years of building one’s reputation.  A good name is not something that we can wear like fine perfume but it is something that has been forged and earned through life’s challenges and struggles. 

            Fine perfume can be bought if we have money.  Fine houses and fine cars can be bought with money but a good name cannot be bought with money.   Fine perfume is used to cover up.  In French courts during the Renaissance period, aristocrats wore expensive perfume to mask their body odors.  Externally they may give off pleasant fragrance but internally, they could be as odorous as rotting fish.  But a good name is exactly that.  Either we have a good name or we don’t.  There is no way to mask our essence or our reputation. 

            And then, Solomon now brings second part of this 1^st verse by saying that the day of death is better than the day of birth.  We have to get into Solomon’s frame of reference to appreciate what he is saying here.  Day of birth is normally the time when everyone gets excited about the newly born baby.  The day of death is when everyone mourns and puts on a sad face.  However, if we think about this, how appropriate Solomon’s comment is on this!  Indeed the day of death is better than the day of birth. 

            When a baby is born, we have no way of knowing how this baby will turn out.  We can imagine how everyone in most cases gets excited about the birth of a child.  Birth represents bright hope and better tomorrow.  Death on the other hand signifies the end of life.  There are people in jail serving time for horrific crimes committed.  When they were born, we can be sure that their parents were excited and happy about the births of their kids.  Who would have known that one day their kids will have grown up to be shameful citizens of our society as they are spending their time behind bars instead of doing their part in contributing to the general well being of our society? 

            On the other hand, when a Christian passes away, we gather around the family and share our mutual sorrow as well as our mutual joy of life well lived.  When a believer dies, we can be confident that he or she is now with the Lord and that he or she is now spending eternity in a place that has been prepared by our Lord Jesus Christ.  At such service, fellow believers share special joy and gladness knowing that our friend no longer suffers in this world but having ran the race now can rest as that race has come to an end. 

            While we live our life here on earth, we have our lifetime to build our good name through all that we do and all that we have become.  Obviously the most important in this good name is that we are labeled as a Christian more than anything else.  Often times, we see people identifying themselves with a favorite sports team or favorite organization.  They would show their support of their favorite team or favorite company by wearing the caps or shirts emblazoned with team logos and company names.  They would be willing to go the distance to prove their loyalty to such teams, players and companies.  I wonder how many of those teams, players or companies truly think or worry about these people. 

            We have Jesus Christ who was willing to die on our behalf on the cross to save us from our eternal condemnation.  He not only died on the cross but went before us to prepare a place for us that we might have eternal home.  This is our Lord who knows each one of us by our name and cheers us to the end of our time here on earth.  He is encouraging us to finish the race of life strong and in honor of His Name.  As we go through life, don’t we want to build such a name as a Christian that we would bring glory to God through all that we do?  For the greatest sacrifice made on our behalf, wouldn’t we want to live our life to bring honor to our Lord Jesus Christ?

            When we hear of incidences where believers have smudged the reputation and good name of our Lord through their sinful pursuit of money and pleasure, we are deeply saddened.  People who dishonor the name of God through their shady practices at work are not forging good name.  A ship starting out on a long journey does so with ticker tapes and much fanfare but the ship coming into the harbor after a long journey does so without much fanfare when in fact there should have more glorious celebration as ship docks after a long journey for we have no idea when the ship that starts off on a long journey will make it back safely.  The returning ship has proven its mettle through the ocean voyage.  A good name is like that for us as well. When we started off in life, we were unproven in every which way but as we continued on, we built our good name.  When we are seen by others as Christians, we carry this name with us.  We want to honor our Lord Jesus Christ as we are called Christians. 

            Solomon continues to elaborate on this point in verse 2.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

            Indeed, Solomon says it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting.  When people get together for a great feast, we are elated.  Conversations are light and cheerful and there is plenty of food to go around with drinks.  People drink and eat while laughing and talking.  Everyone wants to get into this action.  When we go to a house of mourning, we don’t hear much laughter and the mood is usually very somber.  There are quiet conversations taking place among several groups of people who gather around to talk.  And yet in this house of mourning, we become more reflective and pensive.

            We are confronted with the sheer reality of death.  Death stares us down through the person who now lies in a coffin.  The dead person whom we considered a friend now speaks to us through his silence.  We can talk to him but he will not respond.  He can no longer hear us and will no longer be able to feel the heat of the day or the cold of the night.  He can no longer eat or drink among us while sharing laughter or two.  He has finished his race in life and will no longer be active participant in our remaining life.  This is a great opportunity for the living to take to heart that indeed life is finite and that this finite life has a definite endpoint.  Young often do not think or dwell on death for they may feel it is such a foreign and distant concept but as we get older, the reality of death looms ever larger as days go by.  Indeed death is the destiny of every man.  We, the living should take this to heart.

            Solomon also exerts in verse 3 that in this context, sorrow is better than laughter.

Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

            When we are sad, we become more introspective.  When we are in sorrow, we become more in touch with what is truly taking place in our hearts as our hearts are weighed down.  In midst of our sorrow, we redefine who we are and what we are doing here on earth.  At certain times in our life, it is profitable for us to become more introspective and re-examine and re-assess our life thus far.  At times, we are so busy trying to build our life here on earth we forget that we have life after this life.  When we are so caught up with what is going on with our lives here and now, we can easily miss what lies ahead.  And sorrow associated with death brings this reality closer to our hearts.  We are confronted by death to think about what we are doing here.  Heart represents something that is much more internal than what is external.  Laughter may seem like the person is happy and cheerful on the outside but it may merely mask what is truly ailing him in the heart. 

            However, a sad face actually tells a story of someone who is more concerned about the internal issues taking place inside of the person and may turn out to be much more beneficial to the person’s overall well being.  A person who is willing to contemplate the serious subject of death and spend time in processing such grave issue may do better for himself than someone who is completely oblivious to such deeper thoughts.  Through the hard work of confronting the issue of death, we become more convinced than ever how great is the work of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us.  We end up having a greater appreciation for the gift of eternal life which God has given to us through His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

            As we think about the heart issue, we also question ourselves if we have resolved the internal conflict in our hearts.  Have we made the decision to deal with our eternal life?  As we contemplate the finiteness of life here on earth, have we come to that point of making a decision to receive Jesus Christ into our lives?  Have we invited Christ into our heart that He may dwell with us?  Laughter can keep us away from making the important decision to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  If our current sad face leads us to Christ as we think about the inevitability of death that comes to all men, we would be better off.

             Finally, look at verse 4.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

            House of mourning is where people go to share the sorrow with the families of those who lost their loved ones.  This is the place Solomon says is where the heart of wise is a while the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. 

            It is only natural for people to prefer laughter over sorrow.  Laughter enables us to postpone what is inevitable.  It helps us to occupy our mind with lighter and cheerful things.  Though there is time for this, we cannot perpetually live without thinking about the seriousness of impending judgment.  Just because we are ignorant or blind to what will eventually take place does not exempt us from the potential consequences of such inaction.  If a volcano is giving signs of imminent eruption, we need to take action now.  Even in midst of spewing smoke, if we are to ignore the acting volcano, we do so at our own peril and demise.  When there are obvious signs of what will take place, we need to take the warning seriously. 

            As we live here on earth, our days are numbered.  As we think about this finite time we have, going to the house of mourning periodically reminds us of this reality.  Foolish people do not want to think about such eventuality.  They would rather busy themselves with trivial issues in life.  They surround themselves with little toys that money can buy and live in the bubble not willing to think about what is coming. 

            As Christians, we want to remember that we are here on earth for a finite time and that we will return to our heavenly home someday.  While we live here on earth, we want to live as believers who live to glorify God and to bring honor to Him.  We cherish our name more than fine perfume that only lingers in this life.  We are more interested in life eternal as we are reminded through the death of others around us.  We are not willing to forget those seemingly unpleasant realities of death but are willing to ponder and reflect on our finite life here on earth.  May we live our life here on earth with great joy while remembering that our life is finite here on earth!