“Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!”
Thus says the Preacher of Ecclesiastes.
What is vanity?
Well, if we do something in vain,
then there's no point in doing it.
There is no value in the outcome.
Something is done in vain
if it changes nothing.
So what does Saint Paul mean
when he says that
Creation is made subject to vanity?
[PAUSE]
It looks as if Saint Paul is saying
that our suffering is worthless.
If creation is subject to vanity,
then it can change nothing.
Creation has no effect on what is happening.
Our suffering,
which Saint Paul says,
is not to be compared with heavenly things,
is a thing of creation.
So it appears that whatever we do,
there is no point to it.
There is nothing we can do.
Our creation produces nothing.
[PAUSE]
It can't mean that can it?
If all our actions are worthless,
why are we commanded by our Lord
to preach the gospel at all?
Why does Saint Paul himself
offer himself up to all the
humiliations,
sufferings
and pain
even to martyrdom
if it is of no avail?
Saint Paul is very clear that,
in order for anything to have worth,
it must be given Grace
because Grace perfects Nature.
This means that
because God is the only One
Who deserves worship,
He gives worth to whatever
He is involved with
just by being involved in it.
Creation of itself
produces nothing that is eternal.
If modern cosmology is correct,
the Universe will
expand
and expand
and expand
until all the things are
far apart, cold and lifeless.
In this Universe,
at the end of time,
there isn't even dust.
As far as this Universe is concerned,
we are worthless
because there is
no lasting worth to give.
[PAUSE]
Saint Paul says that human beings
face the same corruption and decay
because we are things of Creation
but, crucially, we are given Hope.
Hope is not a vague emotion.
It's not the hope of,
“I hope it's not going to rain today.”
It's about looking to the future
with all its uncertainty
while holding the hand of God.
We have no knowledge
of the future
except that it is all destined for dust.
With our hand in God's,
we find ourselves
with the possibility of true worth,
because God alone possesses all worth.
He alone is to be given worship.
The world tempts us to lose hope.
We see that in the way that
important issues like
climate change
and how wars are progressing
and whether there is a threat
of a nuclear explosion.
Modern news services
seem to be alarmist in nature,
designed to take away the hope
that human beings should have
for the future.
But for the point of view of Creation,
it will all end as dust
and be blown
and scattered to the furthermost reaches
of the Universe.
Our Lord says there will be wars
and rumours of wars.
He tells us of pestilences,
famines,
invading armies
and even of the destruction
of the Temple.
That is what this Creation offers us apart from God.
But Grace perfects Nature.
The active presence of God
gives Nature its purpose
and an end that is filled with His glory.
If we trust Him,
then our universe ends in God
for eternity.
God subjects his creation to vanity
in order to give us hope that,
being freed from sin,
we might be washed,
justified,
sanctified,
and glorified in Him.
[PAUSE]
Without the Cross
our hope is vain.
Without the Cross
our future is dust.
Without the Cross
our suffering,
pains,
terror
and misery
mean nothing.
In God
all our sufferings
become as much badges of honour
as the wounds on
the hands,
feet
and side
of Our Lord.
All suffering in hope
becomes something
of which we can be proud
because it is a sign of
our perfection in God's grace.
The Cross is not vanity.
In Grace, neither are we.
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