Ski Machine (DEV)

Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

[Friends of ours, Joe and Jamie are in Colorado skiing this week. In honor of them, I thought I could relate a story of mine, loosely tied to skiing. It’s the story of the Ski Machine.]

Good evening. I would like to welcome you to the Purpose-Driven Anonymous meeting.
Hello. My name is Rob. I am a purpose-driven addict.

“Hello, Rob.”

Before we get started, I would like to ask you to turn off your cell-phones and pagers. Jim, please put down your Palm Pilot…you can go over your calendar after we leave. Pastor John, drop the book. Donna, your husband requests that you please come home from church some night this week before 9:00. Now, let’s get started…

There has been a lot of talk lately regarding being “Purpose-Driven.” For the most part, it’s a good thing. Way too many people run around in a perpetual fog of meaninglessness and purposelessness. For people like this, God has jobs: Meaningful, fulfilling occupations of purpose. I really like the idea. In fact, like some others I know, I may like it way too much. There are people who try so hard to minister and to lead lives of purpose that they neglect the living of their life and they even end up doing a bad job of ministry. They end up getting unhappy in their ministry because they aren’t having fun with it and they feel too much pressure. They, me included, need to remember that fun is good. God designed fun. And sometimes that fun falls outside of the realm of their ministry.

Several years ago, I learned that valuable lesson from a video game. It was the Ski Machine at Tumble Drum. I’ve never skied. I would like to, but a good ski run in Missouri takes about five seconds from top to bottom. Plus, there are very few days with snow and there is often traffic at the bottom of the good hills. Then there is the problem of lifts.

We had taken the kids to Tumble Drum for a birthday party or something and I saw the Ski Machine and it looked like fun. Now, bear in mind, I had pretty much sworn off video games. Why? Because I was a purpose-driven snob. Video games have no purpose. I couldn’t be wasting God’s precious time by mindlessly moving some joystick around and by killing digital invaders with the push of a little red button. I was a Purpose-Driven Dad at Tumble Drum. My job was to bring a book and learn about how to reach lost friends and enemies while the kids had fun. But there was that Ski Machine, tempting me.

Okay, now I’m going to exit the realm of high theology for a minute and tell you that I think Satan learned the art of temptation from God. Not his twisted, sinful form of temptation, but the art of enticement. After all, God moves us to action when he wills it. The Holy Spirit is the Great Enticer, the Master of searching and winning hearts and minds. We know that we are "called" by God. We also know that God wants us to be happy, so I’m going to theorize (and I don’t think this is a stretch) that sometimes the Holy Spirit pushes us toward that which He knows we need to do, whether that is jump in a pit, board a boat (Acts 13:4), or get on the ski machine.

So, pushed as I was, I stepped onto the dual-footed platform of the Ski Machine and placed my quarters in the slot. I then did what all good indoor skiers do -- I moved my body back and forth in some kind of freakish dance based upon the animated images projected onto a big television screen.

And it was fun.

I was then on the road to recovery. Mindless fun seemed to have meaning on the Ski Machine. In fact, I kept going until some dumb kid made me get off because he wanted a turn.

So in light of my experience, I began to ask myself this question,

"Is there a place in our lives for that which has no purpose?"

Yes. Absolutely. We learn in our passage today that we should find joy in our work and we should be happy in the fruits of our labor and there is nothing wrong with it. Not every waking moment has to be consumed with purpose. In fact, I suppose one could say that there is purpose behind certain purposeless pursuits, such as naps and watching old reruns of Hogan’s Heroes. They both refresh us and therefore give us even more joy in the rest of our lives.

Okay, but don’t use this as an excuse to be lazy. You may be spending too much time in the Land of Purposelessness and you really DO need to find your purpose. Please stop reading and go find it.

There are a lot of great messages that come out of today’s reading. I would challenge you to list some of them in your quiet time with God. If I could pick one, overarching theme, I think it would come from verses 19 and 20.

“…when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.”

What an outstanding picture of the joy we can find in life with God.