Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 5, starting at verse 8, and we're
going to go to Ecclesiastes chapter 6, verse 12.
We've been in this sermon series for a couple months now.
It's been a wonderful series, a humbling series, and it really is my joy and privilege to preach
God's word to you.
I say that to you every week, and I mean it every week.
It's an honor, and I can't believe that I get to pastor you guys and get paid for it.
Serving God and getting paid for it, it's amazing.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Heavenly Father, you know that nobody sitting here needs any word from me.
They need a word from you.
So we open up your word because we want to hear from you.
We are clinging to your every word because man does not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
Lord, you're in this sermon.
So feed us, Father, now.
Help us to behold the Jesus in all his glory, his love, his grace, his mercy, so that we
might be humbled to live in a manner that pleases you, that we might be able to receive life
humbly as a gift as you teach us to do so in this word in Ecclesiastes 5 and 6.
Give us listening ears, open hearts.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Please stand, and if you are able, in honor of God's word, as I read Ecclesiastes 5, 8 to 6, 12.
Amen.
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness,
do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there
are yet higher ones over them.
But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields.
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.
This also is vanity.
When goods increase, they increase who eat them.
And what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of
the rich will not let him sleep.
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun.
Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.
And he is a father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.
As he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again, naked as he came,
and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.
This also is a grievous evil.
Just as he came, so shall he go.
And what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and anger.
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.
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them
and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God.
For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind.
A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,
yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.
This is vanity.
It is a grievous evil.
If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many,
but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial,
I say that a stillborn child is better off than he, for it comes in vanity and goes in darkness,
and in darkness its name is covered.
Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.
Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good, do not all go to the one place.
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?
And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before living?
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wondering of the appetite.
This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is,
and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.
The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?
For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life,
which he passes like a shadow?
For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated.
After many millennia of lived experience,
we might expect humanity to have learned the lesson that wealth does not buy happiness,
that it does not make people happy.
But according to a survey conducted by a financial services company called Empower,
still, to this day, six in ten Americans answer yes to that question,
can money buy happiness?
Similarly, researchers at the University of California lost an annual survey every year.
Guys, is my mic going in and out?
Yes.
Yeah.
So, you got another one?
Okay.
Thank you, Gary.
Similarly, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles,
conduct an annual survey asking incoming college students what their highest priorities are,
what their goals are, objectives for their time in college are.
And there's something that's been on the top or near the top of their priorities list every single year,
and that is being very well off financially.
But Ecclesiastes 5 to 6 teaches us a truth that is far deeper and far wiser.
It tells us to forsake the vain pursuit of wealth and enjoy life as a gift from God.
And there are two imposing rocks of reality upon which the preacher of Ecclesiastes builds his case.
And these two twin truths are this.
One, the uncertainty of wealth, and two, the certainty of death.
And we're going to explore those two things in turn.
And the first reality is the uncertainty of wealth.
Wealth is undependable for many reasons.
And the first reason highlighted in this passage is injustice.
It says in verse 8,
The word oppression literally is robbery.
The preacher observes that the robbery of the poor by the powerful,
by the ones who have authority over them, is all too common.
It is the norm and not the exception.
And therefore you should not find that to be remarkable.
You should not be amazed by it.
Proverbs 10.15 says,
A rich man's wealth is his strong city.
The poverty of the poor is their ruin.
The rich use the resources at their disposal to protect themselves.
They hire the best lawyers.
They build for themselves literal fortresses sometimes on the highest hill of the city.
They take advantage of the poor.
They can bribe the judges in their favor.
The poor, on the other hand, are powerless.
They have no such recourse.
And so their own poverty becomes their ruin.
They are more likely to be oppressed and violated because there's not much they can do about it.
And the end of verse 8 gives a reason why this happens.
For the high official is watched by higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.
The reason why there's this robbery of the poor throughout the world,
and why that's allowed to go on,
is because there is an official who is supposed to safeguard justice and righteousness who is corrupt.
Well, how does he get away with that?
Well, because there's a higher official who's supposed to be keeping that official accountable,
but he's corrupt too.
So he watches his back.
They have each other's back, so to speak.
So there's this hierarchy of impunity,
which enables those in power to abuse their power without accountability.
We see an example of this in 1 Kings 21.
King Ahab, he's the king of Israel,
he covets this vineyard.
He really likes his vegetable gardens.
And he says, you know, that land looks really nice.
And it's really close to my palace.
I really want to grow my vegetable garden there.
So he says, hey, give me that piece of land.
Or you could sell it to me.
The owner's name is Naboth, or Naboth.
And Naboth, remembering that these lands are ancestral lands
that God has given to various tribes of Israel,
and therefore are not meant to be sold outside of their tribe,
refuses to relinquish his God-given property.
Says, this is not for sale.
I can't give this up to you.
And then Ahab goes home disappointed,
and he's refusing to eat.
And then his wife, the queen, the wicked queen Jezebel,
sees him, and then she mocks him, saying,
do you call yourself the king of Israel?
Get up and eat your food and cheer up.
I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite.
And then first she writes letters in the king's name
to the elders and the leaders of the town that Naboth lived in,
in the city.
He instructs them to convene a gathering,
and at that gathering to seat Naboth at the head of the table.
And then he tells them to hire some worthless men
who will be false accusers and perjurers in that gathering
to accuse Naboth of cursing the king and cursing God.
They do that.
They stone Naboth to death.
And then she tells Ahab,
arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite,
which he refused to give you for money,
for Naboth is not alive but dead.
The elders of the town were able to violate justice
and righteousness and rob the poor
because they had the backing of another higher official
watching over them, namely King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
Many poorer countries, if you read the news,
throughout the world, they're run,
they're basically narco-cleptocracies,
basically governments that are heavily influenced by
or run by those who are involved in the drug trade.
Gangs, so on.
The closed electoral system rewards
and keeps corrupt officials in power,
and then these corrupt officials then use the justice system
that is at their disposal
to punish those who oppose them,
the whistleblowers and honest members of the city
and the media that cry out for justice.
Of course, wealthier countries are not immune to this problem.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant
for Vladimir Putin,
which, of course, is symbolic at best.
Most election observers note
that at least 22 to 31.6 million votes
are manipulated in Russian elections in recent years.
But there's this hierarchy of impunity
with no accountability.
Even in our country, right?
We're witnessing Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City,
being indicted,
the first sitting mayor of New York City to be indicted.
The charges haven't been proven yet,
and I don't presume that he is guilty,
but they're accusing him of misappropriating
more than 10 million in public funds
during his election campaign in 2021
and receiving benefits from the Turkish government
in return for favors
that he was giving them in his official capacity.
We don't know if that really happened or not yet,
but this is a reminder to us
that these kind of things really happen,
and they have happened before.
In contrast to this reality of corruption,
verse 9 says,
but this is gain for a land in every way,
a king committed to cultivated fields.
This is hard to translate, interpret,
and many different interpretations have been proposed,
but based on the context
and the contrast from the high officials
who pervert justice,
the last clause seems to mean
that a king who recognizes
the importance of cultivated fields
is good for the land.
Unlike the high officials
who oppress the poor and the weak,
a king who recognizes
that the food producers
at the bottom of the societal hierarchy,
the manual laborers,
the farmers,
the ruler who recognizes
that these people are foundational
for a healthy kingdom,
a king who takes an interest
in the cause of the common laborer,
is gain for the land in every way.
I think we can take this interpretation even further.
The last clause can be translated,
a king who cultivates the field,
which is the way the NASB translates it.
A commander-in-chief
who no longer marches out into battle
with his soldiers,
can forget the painful toll of war
and the sacrifices that his men make
daily in the field.
This is precisely what we see
with King David in 2 Samuel 11.
He remains in his comfortable palace in Jerusalem
while his men are dying
and shedding their blood for him.
And because of that,
he takes that for granted
and he treats them like mere numbers,
disposable numbers in his war game.
Similarly, a king who never cultivates the field
can lose touch with the day-to-day realities
of his subjects and servants.
But a king who gets his hands dirty once in a while,
a king who surveys and familiarizes himself
with the plight of his subjects,
that kind of ruler is gain for the land
in every way.
This reminds me of the invaluable counsel
that I received from David Powelson
on pastoral counseling.
He writes in one of his books,
talking with people is the best way
to measure the pulpit ministry's effectiveness.
Does what you know, believe, and preach
actually help people?
Talking one-to-one about what matters in life
is the only way you'll ever really get to know people.
And knowing people is the only way
you'll ever learn to preach to them.
And then later he says,
my second rule of thumb is that you should
always be involved with a few people
who are slow movers, with strugglers.
The temptation is to counsel leader types,
gifted people who want to grow,
people who are a quick study,
people who get it,
educated, independent, competent people,
influential people.
Such people often make for efficient counseling,
though not necessarily.
David Powelson here echoes
the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 5.9.
Are you a manager at your work?
Or are you a parent in the home?
Or are you a professor at a school
with people under your charge?
If so, are you in touch
with the day-to-day realities
of the people that work for you?
Do you actually know them?
Do you understand their struggles?
Do you see your authority
as a means to serve them
or as a means to get them to serve you?
So to summarize verses 8 and 9,
rulers who use their positions and power
for their personal benefit
are bad for the land,
but a ruler who seeks the benefits
of the people who serve,
that he serves,
is good for the land.
And unfortunately,
the latter is rare
and the former is all too common,
according to Ecclesiastes.
And it's this injustice of the world
that robs the poor
that makes the pursuit of wealth
vain,
futile.
But what about these people
who have power
and are oppressing people
and robbing the poor
and enriching themselves?
Surely they're getting what they want
and surely they must be satisfied, right?
No.
Verses 10 to 12 tell us
that even they are not satisfied.
It says,
He who loves money
will not be satisfied with money,
nor he who loves wealth
with his income.
This also is vanity.
When goods increase,
they increase who eat them.
And what advantage has their owner
but to see them with his eyes?
Sweet is the sleep of our laborer,
whether he eats little or much,
but the full stomach of the rich
will not let him sleep.
Ultimately, money is dissatisfying.
He who loves money
will not be satisfied with money.
If you doubt this,
take a look at this graph
from the Wall Street Journal.
This was people's answer
to a survey question.
How much does your annual salary
need to be
for you to feel happy,
to be less stressed?
People who make $25,000 a year
said,
Oh, I just need to make $50,000
in order to be happy.
Okay, well, so then let's ask
the people who make $50,000
if they're happy.
They say,
No, no, I need to make $75,000
in order to be happy.
Well, okay,
then let's ask the people
who make $75,000.
Maybe they're happy.
They say,
No, we need to make $100,000
in order to be happy.
Well, and then let's ask
the people who make $100,000.
No, they say,
No, we need to make $150,000.
And then people who make $150,000
say they need to make $200,000.
And people who make $200,000
say they need to make $350,000.
And it's not on this graph.
There's another survey
that asked millionaires,
Do you feel happy?
Or how much money
do you need to make
in order to be happy?
And they say,
We need to make $10,000,000
in order to be happy.
It's a never-ending hamster wheel.
You think you're getting somewhere.
You're spinning your wheel.
But you're actually
in the same exact spot
you've always been at.
He who loves money
will not be satisfied with money,
nor he who loves wealth
with his income.
This also is vanity.
Once I make this much money,
once I get to this stage
of my career,
once I get to,
you fill in the blank,
then I will finally be satisfied.
That is a pernicious lie
that humanity has believed
ever since the fall in the garden
when Adam took that forbidden fruit.
17th century English pastor
Jeremiah Burroughs
distills the wisdom of God's word
when he writes this in his book,
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.
He says that the way to contentment
is by subtraction,
not by addition.
What does he mean by that?
We find satisfaction
not by bringing our possessions
up to the level of our desires,
but by bringing our desires
down to the level of our possessions.
By subtraction,
not by addition.
If you can't afford
to take beach vacations
in the Caribbean,
then instead of trying
to earn and earn
and grind and grind
so that you could afford
a vacation in the Caribbean,
learn to enjoy
a vacation at Cape Cod.
Learn to enjoy
Revere Beach.
I love Revere Beach.
It's a lot cleaner
than it used to be.
If you desire fine dining
and wine tasting
at expensive restaurants,
instead of trying
to bring your wealth
up to the level
of your desire,
learn to appreciate
and enjoy
the pleasures
of simple food and drink
that's at your dinner table.
Bring your desires down
to match what you have
because having more
will not satisfy you.
Verse 11 continues,
When goods increase,
they increase who eat them.
And what advantage
has their owner
but to see them
with his eyes?
The more money you make,
the more things
you find to spend money on.
Now that you have
so much money,
things that you never
used to notice
catch your eyes.
Those luxury handbags
and jewelry
and perfumes
and watches
and cars.
Now that you have
so much money,
you buy a bigger house.
And now that your house
is so big,
you need to hire someone
to clean it for you.
And now that you have
so much money,
you need a financial advisor
that you need
to pay a financial manager
to invest your funds
for you.
Now that you have
so much money,
you need a vault
and then you need
a security system.
Now that you have
such a high net worth,
you need bodyguards.
Now that you have
so much money,
like thousands of people
or thousands of people
come calling,
asking every single day
for donations
to this cause
and seed money
for this company.
Now that you have
so much money,
there are people
who want to sue you
for various things
to take your money.
So now you need
to pay for lawyers too.
When goods increase,
they increase who eat them.
And what advantage
has their owner
but to see them
with his eyes?
When your wealth grows,
the number of people
who want a slice
of that pie
also grows.
And instead of feasting
on your pie
with your mouth,
you are left feasting
on it with your eyes only.
As you look on
as all these mouths
are feeding on your pie.
Wealth ultimately
cannot satisfy us.
not only does it fail
to satisfy us,
wealth also gives us
indigestion
and insomnia.
Verse 12 says,
sweet is the sleep
of a laborer,
whether he eats
little or much,
but the full stomach
of the rich
will not let him sleep.
This is personal for me
because it's not
because she eats a lot.
My wife doesn't
eat that much,
but she does have
a physical condition
that has restricted
blood flow in her body,
so she often has
indigestion.
So I'm very often
massaging her stomach
at night
so that she can sleep.
She can't sleep
after she eats.
And most of us
don't do too much
manual labor.
Manual labor,
I'm sorry,
I shouldn't have
shared that.
And this is,
sometimes you just
have to say no
to the thought
that comes to your mind.
And then,
wait,
I was talking
to some people today.
We don't do a lot
of manual laboring.
Most of us sit
in front of a computer
all day.
But when you've done
hard labor,
a hard day
of good manual labor,
let's say on the day
we moved the Borens
and Aubrey in,
for example,
like I remember
Kevin,
where's Kevin?
At the end of the day
he worked for probably
like eight hours straight.
And he's just sitting there
and he's like,
I think this is the definition
of a hard work day,
of an honest day's work.
And I bet you anything
that he slept
really well that night.
And that's the case.
For all of us,
we sleep well
when we work
with our hands.
But the full stomach
of the rich
will not let him sleep.
This is literally true
and figuratively true.
If you have a full stomach,
the undigested food
can flow back
into the esophagus
and then it causes
heartburn
and acid reflux.
You guys have experienced
this before.
Makes you uncomfortable
and you can't sleep.
It makes you gassy
and makes you feel bloated.
And even if you do
end up falling asleep
because your body
is working so hard
to digest
all that food,
you can't get into
the deep
REM cycles
of sleep.
So you don't wake up
refreshed
and rested.
And figuratively,
wealth of possessions
means you have
more to worry about.
I have a friend
who invested
early in Bitcoin.
And I told him
that he must be
quite happy
with the returns
that he has had
from this investment.
Bitcoin used to be
worth less than a cent
and now it's like
$65,000 per Bitcoin.
But he told me
something really interesting.
He says it gives him,
it nearly gives him
heart attacks
like every other day.
Because now that he has
so much money
invested in it,
like one day
you gain tens of thousands
of dollars
and another day
you lose tens of thousands
of dollars
and then you're just
glued to the screen
and checking the ups
and downs
and the fluctuations
of the stock market.
You lose sleep.
The full stomach
of the rich
will not let him sleep.
I think the 19th century
English pastor
J.C. Ryle
got this exactly right.
He says money
in truth
is one of the most
unsatisfying of possessions.
It takes away
some cares no doubt
but it brings with it
quite as many cares
as it takes away.
There is trouble
in the getting of it.
There is the anxiety
in the keeping of it.
There are the temptations
in the use of it.
There is the guilt
in the abuse of it.
There is a sorrow
in the losing of it.
There is a perplexity
in the disposing of it.
Two-thirds
of all the strifes,
quarrels,
and lawsuits
in the world
arise from one simple cause.
Money.
That brings me
to another related reason
why the pursuit
of wealth is vain.
The impermanence
and the insecurity
of wealth.
He says in verses 13 to 14,
there is a grievous evil
that I have seen
under the sun.
Riches were kept
by their owner
to his hurt
and those riches
were lost
in a bad venture.
And he is a father
of a son
but he has nothing
in his hand.
Some people
gain wealth
and try to keep wealth
at great cost
to themselves.
Sometimes even
at the cost
of their integrity,
at the cost
of their relationships,
at the cost
of their health.
That's what's
in view here.
Riches were kept
by their owner
to his hurt.
But despite the fact
that he made
so many sacrifices
and hurt himself
in the process
of gaining
and keeping
this wealth,
they're lost
in a bad venture.
He has nothing
to leave behind
for his son.
I remember
after what we now
refer to as
the Great Recession
of 2008,
2009,
there was a string
of suicides,
dozens of
high-profile suicides
by formerly
extremely wealthy
people who lost
a fortune
during the Great Recession.
Even when you
try to grasp
hold of it,
sometimes chasing
after wealth
is like chasing
after wind.
It just slips
through your fingers.
As verses 15,
16 say,
as he came
from his mother's womb,
he shall go again,
naked as he came
and shall take
nothing for his toil
that he may carry
away in his hand.
This also is
a grievous evil.
Just as he came,
so shall he go.
What gain is there
to him who toils
for the wind?
We don't stand
to gain anything
from our toil
on earth
because in the end
we can't take
anything with us.
And not only
is there no gain
for our toil
at the end
of our lives,
throughout our lives
there is much
difficulty,
as it says
in verse 17,
all his day
he eats in darkness
in much vexation
and sickness
and anger,
toiling and toiling
to earn and earn.
But why do we
toil so for wealth
that we cannot keep?
Naked come,
naked go.
Zero in,
zero out.
That's the reality.
Life is like
a balanced budget
that always ends
in zero.
I know that's
what you wish
your budget
was like sometimes,
but life is like that.
It always ends
as a balanced budget
in zero.
There's never a surplus.
There's no carryover
into the following
fiscal year.
Death is a thick
black sharpie
that zeroes
everything out
at the end
of your life.
And we never know
when death will come.
That's the point
of the parable
of the rich fool,
right,
that Jesus tells
in Luke 12.
This rich man
has so much produce
that he doesn't
have enough barns
to keep all his wealth.
So he's like,
okay,
well then,
I'll just tear down
all my barns
and build new,
bigger ones
so that I can keep
all my wealth
to myself.
And then God
says to him,
fool,
this night your soul
is required of you
and the things
you have prepared,
whose will they be?
So is the one
who lays up
treasure for himself
and is not rich
toward God.
I don't know
if arcades still use this.
Chuck and Cheeses
are still around,
right?
They use these
Chuck and Cheeses coins,
arcade coins.
You guys know
what I'm talking about?
If you go to an arcade
and they have arcade coins,
you have to exchange
your money
because your money
is not,
you can't use
your money
in the arcade.
You need to exchange
your money,
pay money
to get these arcade coins.
And with those arcade coins,
you can do many things.
You can play games
and you can buy food.
But imagine,
you know this arcade
is shutting down tomorrow
and you've exchanged
all of your money
for this arcade coin.
Would you keep that?
It's going to lose
all of its value
when that arcade closes.
All of it.
It's expiring currency.
And that's what
money on earth is like.
All of it.
All the money on earth
is expiring currency.
And yet,
we like this foolish kid
in the arcade
just hoards
this arcade coins.
Like,
it's going to take us somewhere
when it's all coming due.
That's why God tells us
not to store up
treasures on earth,
but to store up
treasures in heaven
where it does not rust.
It's not stolen by thieves.
Let Job's profession
in Job 121
be the starting point
of your perspective
on money,
your relationship
with money.
He says,
naked I came
from my mother's womb
and naked shall I return.
The Lord gave
and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name
of the Lord.
It is the Lord's prerogative
to give and to take away
and he has ordained
that we can't take
anything out with us
when we die.
If that's the starting point
of your relationship
with money,
then you will have
God's wisdom
to guide you
in all your earning
and saving
and spending
and you will forsake
the vain pursuit
of wealth.
That brings me
to my second main point,
the certainty of death.
Wealth is uncertain,
but death is certain.
He says in chapter 6,
verse 7,
all the toil of man
is for his mouth,
yet his appetite
is not satisfied.
Proverbs 27, 20 says,
Sheol and Abaddon
are never satisfied
and never satisfied
are the eyes of man.
These are two things
that are never satisfied,
our desires in life
and death.
Life never gives us enough,
we're never satisfied.
Death never stops
taking enough.
We always die.
The grave,
like our mouths,
never stops being hungry.
In light of this,
what advantage
has the wise man
over the fool?
The preacher asks
in verse 8,
And what does the poor man
who knows how to conduct himself
before the living?
In other words,
what good is wisdom
when both the wise
and the fool
die in the end?
There's a slight qualification
in verse 8.
Better is the sight
of the eyes
than the wandering
of the appetite.
Remember from verse 8
that the preacher
is here comparing
the wise man
and the fool.
The sight of the eyes
here is a metonymy
for wisdom,
the wisdom
that the wise man has.
And the going
of the appetite
or the wandering
of the appetite
represents the hedonistic
fool's life
driven by appetite.
And the preacher
admits here,
he qualifies
his thesis statement
a bit,
saying that it is better
to have
the sight of the eyes.
It is better
to be wise
than to be a fool
who is driven
by his appetite.
Nevertheless,
he concludes,
the wise and the fool
both end up in the grave.
That's why he says
in verse 9,
this also is vanity
and a striving
after wind.
This parallels
Ecclesiastes 2,
13 to 15,
then I saw
that there is more gain
in wisdom
than in folly.
Wisdom is better
than folly.
As there is more gain
in light
than in darkness.
The wise person
has his eyes
in his head
but the fool
walks in darkness.
And yet I perceive
that the same event
happens to all of them.
Then I said in my heart,
what happens to the fool
will happen to me also.
Why then have I been
so very wise?
And I said in my heart
that this also is vanity.
Imagine two trekkers
who are stuck
in the wilderness.
One person
has eyes,
he could see,
the other person
is blind.
The one,
the trekker
who can see
can avoid
the bears you see
or if you're like Josh
you can run into them
and if you're,
or they could
avoid the pitfalls,
they could
cross the streams
but the blind
trekker
is falling over
root
and rock
and scraped
all over.
Which is better?
Well obviously
the one who has eyes
is better.
it's better
to navigate
the difficulties
and the complexities
of life
with wisdom
to be able to see
where you're going
and to understand
what's happening
that is better.
But this is the kicker.
They're both gonna die
in the wilderness.
So why?
What's the ultimate benefit
of wisdom
over folly?
Death is coming
for us all.
That's the point.
Verses 10 to 12
continues this line
of thought.
Whatever has come
to be
has already been named
and it is known
what man is
and that he is not able
to dispute
with one stronger
than he.
The more words
the more vanity
and what is the advantage
to man
for who knows
what is good for man
while he lives
a few days
of his vain life
which he passes
like a shadow
for who can tell man
what will be after him
under the sun.
The expression
whatever has come
to be
has already been named
that phrase
naming
is used
in Psalm
147.4
and Isaiah
40.26
to refer to how
God
has determined
the number
of the stars
and has named them
given to all of them
their names.
Scientists
estimate
that there are
200 billion
trillion stars
in the known universe
the observable universe
which is about
10 times
the number
of cups
of water
in all of
the earth's ocean.
Imagine
moving
all the water
in the ocean
with a measuring cup.
Yet God
has numbered
all of those stars.
God has named
all of those stars
and add to that
the fact that
these stars
are light years
away from us.
The constellation
Andromeda
is 2.5 million
light years away.
But we can see
it with our eyes.
That means
that light's been
traveling for
2.5 million
years
at the speed
of light.
That's how far
away it is
and that's how
big this universe
is.
And God
knows all the stars.
He's named
all the stars.
He has numbered
all the stars
and he has numbered
all our days
and he has numbered
all the times
of our lives.
Who are we?
Insignificant creatures
that we are
to try to take
control of those
times.
And that's the
point he's making
here.
He is not,
man is not able
to dispute
with one stronger
than he.
Who is the one
stronger than us?
It's the Lord.
Job says in
Job 9.19,
if it is a contest
of strength,
behold,
God is mighty.
If it is a matter
of justice,
who can summon him?
Our lives pass
like a shadow
and it is not
our place
as finite creatures
to grasp
the infinite
mind of God.
So he calls
for surrender.
So if that's
the case,
how then
shall we live?
That's the question
that the preacher
asks in the middle
of this passage.
In chapter 5,
verses 18 to 20
and chapter 6,
verses 1 to 6,
there are two
contrasting pictures,
profiles,
and they are
connected by this
key word,
enjoy,
or joy,
rejoice.
Both sections
begin with what
the preacher
has observed
and it begins
with the phrase
I have seen
and then both
sections concern
someone to whom
God has given
wealth and possessions.
You can see that
in 5.19 and 6.2.
However,
there is a crucial
difference between
these two people
whom God has blessed
with possessions
and wealth.
He says in 5.19
that God has given
one man
a power
to enjoy
his wealth
and possessions.
But in contrast,
6.2 says that
God does not
give the other man
power to enjoy
his wealth
and possessions.
And this makes
all the difference.
It says of the man
who doesn't know
how to enjoy
his wealth
in chapter 6,
verses 3 to 6,
verse 3.
No matter how long
you live your life,
even if you live
a thousand years
twice over,
and even if you father
a hundred children
who will live on
after you
to follow your legacy
or whatever you want,
the destination
on our train ticket
is death.
It doesn't change.
We all go to the one place.
So what does
living a long life
and having children
who can continue
your legacy
really accomplish?
Whether your train ride
is one hour long
or one week long,
you're all going
to the same place.
In fact,
the preacher contends
that a stillborn child
is better off
than the rich man
who does not know
how to enjoy
life's good things.
They both end up
in the same place,
the grave,
but the stillborn child
has been spared
the vexations
and the injustices,
the evils
of this world.
the stillborn child
finds the rest
that ever eludes
the rich man
in his life.
But look at verses
18 to 20.
This is the contrast.
Behold,
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.
Everyone also to whom
God has given wealth
and possessions
and power to enjoy them,
and to accept his lot
and rejoice in his toil.
This is the gift of God.
For he will not much
remember the days
of his life
because God keeps him
occupied with joy
in his heart.
A man who is able
to enjoy the gifts
that God has given him
is fortified against
the evils
and the vicissitudes
of life
because it keeps him
preoccupied.
This is the third
of five Carpe Diem passages
we've encountered so far
in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Carpe Diem is a Latin phrase
that means seize the day
and it's an exhortation
to make use
of the present opportunities
and to enjoy today,
life today
while it still lasts
instead of counting
on tomorrow
which may never come.
This is different
from hedonism
which pursues pleasure
as the highest goal.
In this Ecclesiastes worldview
our highest good is God
and because we have God
we are enabled
to enjoy the good gifts
of life that he gives.
He is the giver
of every good
and perfect gift.
The wisdom of Ecclesiastes
counsels us
to receive our lot in life
as a gift of God
rather than striving
in vain for gain.
If you've been with us
in this series
you know the word gain
or profit
is important
in the book of Ecclesiastes.
It's a key word
and it's related
to the word advantage
that occurs several times
in our passage.
We humans have
an innate desire
to make a profit
to earn something
and to have something
to show for our labors
but because we live
in a world
that is mere breath
that ends in death
there's nothing actually
to be gained.
We tend to treat life
as a means for gain
as a means to gain control
as a means for self advancement
to get ahead
of other people.
We tend to use
the world around us
as leverage
for attaining our own goals
and the relationships
that we have around us
as stepping stones
we can step on
to build ourselves up
and to lift ourselves up
to gear up
for the next big thing
and to greater things.
But it's all futile
because it all ends in death.
What if God gives us
these things
not to be used
or mastered
but simply to be enjoyed?
What if our work
and indeed life itself
are not something
to take advantage of
something with which
to turn a profit
but a gift
that you freely receive
and enjoy?
this is the main point
of the book of Ecclesiastes.
We're all on a hamster wheel.
It tells us again and again
we're all on a hamster wheel
but if we know
that we are on a hamster wheel
then you're not gonna burn yourself
out on that wheel.
You can take some time
to slow down and rest.
We can take ourselves
less seriously.
This is what I've been calling
the freedom of insignificance.
The humility of wisdom.
Instead of pounding coffee
for that caffeine kick
you can actually
maybe slow down
and enjoy
a nice cup of pour over.
Instead of
yes we're all on that train
the destination on the ticket
is death
but if you know that
you don't drive the train
you're sitting on the train
as you're going on the train
then you can actually
enjoy the scenery.
If you know that
you're on a hamster wheel
if you know this then
you're not gonna see
all of your neighbors
and peers
and friends
and colleagues
as people to step on
and to get ahead
of your competition.
Instead
you can love your neighbor
and you can actually
pause
and stop on the way
to help the Samaritan.
I'm naturally
very bad at this
so
it's okay
if you're feeling
really bad
about yourself right now.
I'm with you.
I understand.
That's why
in his kindness
God gave me
Hannah as my wife.
I have to make up
for what I said earlier.
I was a
this was actually planned
I was gonna say this.
I was a college student
who survived
on a diet of rice
potatoes and eggs
most of my study abroad year.
so much for enjoying
my meals.
No this is fuel
to get by life right.
I mean that's my
that was my perspective
in college.
I was very utilitarian
my outlook
needed.
Most of the clothes
I owned
were plain white t-shirts
so I never have to think
about what I'm gonna wear.
Well I'm wearing
that same thing again.
And I was
so very stingy.
Scrupulously avoided
spending money
wherever I could.
But Hannah
really helped me
to loosen up
quite a bit.
She has taught me
to enjoy good food.
She's taught me
to dance
which I would never do
in my younger self.
She taught me
to hold my money
with open hands
instead of
with clenched fists.
Daniel's visiting.
Daniel's really good
at that too.
He's probably
bought me more food
than anybody I know.
Behold
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.
forsaking
the vain pursuit
of wealth
we should enjoy
life as a gift
from God.
He's so wise.
Social scientist
Elizabeth Dunn
writes this
in her book
Happy Money
the Science
of Smarter Spending
have you guys
read that
anybody?
You guys
don't read
self-help books.
That's not a bad thing.
I think that's good.
Yeah.
The people
who know how to
she writes
that people
who know how
to spend money
for experiences
that they enjoy
tend to be happier
in general
than people
who try to
accumulate things
people who buy
things.
She writes
quote
stop trying
to get more money
our goal
is to help you
use the money
you have
to get more
happiness.
In other words
don't forget
to enjoy
what you have
in your pursuit
of more.
According to
neuroscientist
Kent Berridge
his research
published in
the Journal
of American
Psychology
are wanting
something
and are liking
and enjoying
something
are mediated
by different
circuits in the brain.
So they actually
function independently.
In other words
you wanting
something
and getting
what you want
has nothing
to do
with your
actual enjoyment
and liking
something.
so don't
get lost
in pursuing
your wants
and forget
to enjoy
what you
already have
the things
that you like.
Here is
the best
this is
they published
this as like
the latest
research.
It's been in
here for
3,000 years.
But the
Bible of course
goes far
beyond
mere self-help
advice
which
when taken
to their
logical
conclusions
still ring
hollow
in light
of the
penetrating
observations
of the
despair
of life.
What's
missing
in these
scientific
papers
and self-help
books
is God.
we have
something
we can
enjoy
that goes
far
beyond
eating
and
drinking.
We have
this week
three days
of prayer
and fasting
that we do
every month.
It's a great
time to take
time to
fast
and to
pray
especially
with
significant
life events
happening
to many
of our
members.
Praying
for Jenny
praying
for the
Bournes
and Jesus
said this
about fasting
that man
does not
live by
bread
alone
but man
lives by
every word
that comes
from the
mouth
of the
Lord.
And then
Jesus
in his
last supper
with his
disciples
he broke
bread
and he
poured
wine
which is
what we
do
in our
celebration
of the
Lord's
supper
and he
said this
is my
body
which is
for you
and this
cup
is the
new
covenant
in my
blood.
Jesus
is the
word of
God
that we
live by.
Jesus
is the
bread of
life that
we enjoy
above all
other
breads
and that's
why Paul
commands
the Philippians
to rejoice
in the
Lord
Jesus
in
Philippians
4
to enjoy
the
Lord
Jesus
and that's
why
because Paul
enjoys
the Lord
Jesus
because he
eats the
bread and
drinks the
cup.
He says
I've learned
in whatever
situation I am
to be content.
I know
how to be
brought low
I know
how to
abound
in any
and every
circumstance
I've learned
the secret
of facing
plenty and
hunger
abundance
and need
I can do
all things
through him
who strengthens
me.
Here's something
that people
can't do
people of this
world without
God
cannot do
because if you
want to enjoy
the things you
have you still
have to have
something to
enjoy don't
you?
But if you
have Jesus
you can be
poor
you can be
rich
you can be
low
you can be
high
you can be
sick
you can be
healthy
and you can
still rejoice
in Jesus
you can still
enjoy
Jesus
whatever
my lot
my heart
has learned
to say
it is
well
it is
well
with my
soul
why?
Because
Jesus
laid down
his life
for us
on the
cross
why did
he die
for our
sins
on the
cross
we read
earlier
that Jesus
became
poor
so that
we in
our
poverty
might
become
rich
Jesus
died
on the
cross
for our
sins
so that
he can
give to
us
a
heavenly
inheritance
that is
imperishable
that is
unfading
kept in
heaven
for us
as it
says in
1 Peter 1
because we
have that
we can
always rejoice
in the
Lord
the Westminster
shorter
catechism
asks
what is
the chief
end of
man
and it
answers
man's
chief
end
is to
glorify
God
and to
enjoy
him
forever
that is
our lot
as Christians
and that is
our
greatest
privilege
so let's
enjoy
Jesus
and forsake
the vain
pursuit
of wealth
let's pray
together