You may have seen the classic film It's a Wonderful Life in that the character George Bailey struggles to believe that his hometown of Bedford Falls can give him the wonder that he desires in life.
The same enemies causes George Bailey to fidget with the mundane. He is restless to leave it all behind him. And he feels that he must travel to some other patch of this world, somewhere else, to do something worthwhile.
He's ruled by those two words, if only. He says in the film, he says, I couldn't face being cooped up for the rest of my life in this shabby office. I wanted to do something big, something important.
Satisfaction is never quite now, is it? It's never quite here in this moment.
We are a society obsessed with the new. We are a people obsessed with change, with invention, with the novel.
As someone once said, somewhere else, doing something else, is the model of our advancement.
If only I could get there, somewhere over the rainbow, my life will be alright.
If only these things could change, I would finally be happy.
Somewhere else, doing something else, being someone else.
As we open up the book of Ecclesiastes, we're going to go through it over the next few Tuesdays.
We'll probably take a break, and then maybe come back to it next year.
But what we find in this book is a teaching of a wise, godly man who is about to burst our bubble.
He's about to take us on a grand tour of the world, to make us face things that perhaps we don't want to about the world.
That there is no yellow brick road.
That there is no end of the rainbow somewhere else.
There is no shortcut to a wonderful life in this world.
But he also holds the keys for showing us the enjoyment and satisfaction in this world as a gift from God.
For where you are, whenever you are, and whoever you are, right now.
It's a grand world tour of realism, but also of rejoicing in this life.
So firstly, listen to the words of this tour guide.
The words of the tour guide.
Now the name Ecclesiastes, it's not a word we use often, is it?
It's a word that is from a Greek word that is used to translate a Hebrew word.
Meaning a collector, or a compiler, or a preacher, or a teacher.
It's named after the preacher who is featured in the book.
And we're introduced to him in verse 1, aren't we?
The words of the preacher.
The son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Now we're going to learn more about this preacher as time goes by.
But right from the beginning we are given his sermon text.
The words of this preacher's sermon.
And it's probably one of the shortest sermons that I've ever seen.
It's just three words long.
In verse 2.
Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.
That's his text.
A very, very short lunchtime talk.
He is going to unpack those three words over the whole book.
But that's his sermon.
Vanity of vanities.
Now again, vanity is not a word we use often, is it?
Some English translations of the original word there use the word meaningless.
You might find that in your Bible at home.
Others use the word breath.
Breath of breath.
That is helpful.
Anyway, vanity stands for something that is vaporous.
Like a breath.
Something that is futile.
Gone at their one minute, gone the next.
Something that is ephemeral and vacuous.
Something that is pointless and meaningless.
This preacher's text sounds odd, doesn't it?
All is vanity, he says.
As we begin on this tour, with this tour guide,
we might think somehow we have bumped into a madman
who is shouting out crazy things on the street.
He is shouting out nonsense here, isn't he?
All is vanity.
Really?
Marriage is meaningless.
Friendship is pointless and vacuous.
Really, preacher?
Is all vanity?
Come on.
He takes us on this tour, though.
And we realise as he does that,
he is not the madman,
but he is the wise man.
And he is going to show us a world
that we know, deep down at heart,
is a complex place to live in.
It is a world full of loose ends.
Where there are rules,
but there are exceptions to the rule.
Where things that should not happen, happen.
A maddening world.
A frustrating world.
Where all, at one level, is vanity.
And he is going to peel back the curtains,
as it were,
to help us to see
what is going on backstage in the world.
To see the true reality.
It's like our tour guide,
the preacher,
he is like one of those magicians
who gets kicked out of the magic circle
for revealing all of the secrets.
Now, you hear those stories, don't you?
A magician who has learnt
all of the arts and the tricks.
He's learnt the sleight of hand
and the distraction.
He is in the know
about how all of the tricks work,
but he breaks away from the system
and he reveals all.
He tells the audience
the secrets of all the tricks.
Where does the hat actually come from
when it comes out of the hat?
The rabbit.
How do they saw the person in two?
He gives us a revelation of the world.
Behind all of the smoke
and all of the mirrors.
Behind the party line
of materialism
and consumerism
and atheism.
And he gives it us straight,
undiluted,
honestly.
And we will see that
he is a brilliant,
brilliant preacher
as he does this.
Because he is like a magician
who gets off the stage
and sits with the audience.
He is a preacher
who gets down
and sits with the congregation
and asks the questions
about the world
that they are asking.
He will avoid the trite
and sentimental,
standard preacher's answers
and the dishonest answers
to bring us a healthy dose
of realism.
So he says,
on my tour of the world
I am going to give you
two things.
The first thing I am going to give you
is the genuine story.
I am going to give you
the genuine story.
Now in our little section
on our sheets this afternoon,
verse 3 to 11,
we see that the story begins
showing a world
of inscrutable repetition.
A world that goes round
and around and around
as if it's stuck on repeat.
Now throughout the book
of Ecclesiastes
there are two refrains
that the preacher uses
for his two main messages.
And the first refrain
we see in the title
for his genuine story
of the world
in verse 3.
What does man gain
by all the toil
at which he toils?
Under the sun.
That's shorthand
for life in this world
as it really is.
Everything that is
from a human perspective.
And life under the sun
he says
is fundamentally
repetitive.
It is ultimately
fading
and futile.
Look at verse 9 there.
What has been
is what will be
and what has been done
is what will be done
and there is nothing new
under the sun.
It is a world
where people
and their achievements
are endlessly
being rehashed
and re-photocopied
over and over again.
In the film
Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise
plays the character
of an army officer
who is captured
by a strange
alien power.
I don't know
if you like sci-fi.
But it forces him
to relive
the same day
over and over again.
And it is the day
when humans
plunge themselves
into a war
with another race.
Now at first
Cruise
tries to fight.
He uses this day
to try and learn
and train.
He uses this one day
to advance
his combat skills.
One day
to defeat
his enemy
to develop.
only to wake up
and have to do it
all over again
the next morning.
The catchphrase,
the catchline
of the film
is live,
die,
repeat.
He is living
and dying
and repeating.
And in the film
it's a harrowing
and weary
experience
that he has to
find a way
to escape.
Now spoiler alert,
he does find a way.
So it's a good ending.
But the preacher
shows us here
that there is
only escape
from the living,
the dying
and the repeating
in a Hollywood film.
Because that is
exactly how
this world is
under the sun.
Listen to him
in verse 4.
A generation
goes
and another
comes
but the earth
remains forever.
Lifetime
after lifetime
we live,
we die
and we are
forgotten.
Think about that.
The vast majority
of people
who have ever
lived in this world
we have never
known one
single one of them.
How many of us
know our
grandparents
by name
or our
grandparents?
And the few
people that we
have known
are soon
forgotten.
In a clever
use of language
the preacher
shows our
transience
in comparison
with the earth
that we live
on,
doesn't he?
In verse 4,
the earth
remains forever.
The constancy
of the earth
shows our
repetitive life.
The same
earth
lived on
by generation
after generation
swept away
by the tides
of time.
the same
earth that
Socrates
walked on.
Constantine
has been
here.
Shakespeare
and Leonardo
da Vinci.
Michael
Jackson.
The earth
has seen
them all
come and
go.
They've all
walked on
the same
earth
and they've
all seen
the same
sun that
we see
that rises
and goes
down and
hastens to
the place
where it
rises in
verse 5.
We see
that sun
every day
don't we?
But the
sun won't
necessarily
see us
every day.
We will
die
and the
whole thing
will start
all over
again.
Moses
writes in
the Psalms
we bring
our years
to an
end like
a sigh.
The years
of our
life are
seventy
or even
by reason
of strength
eighty
yet their
span is
but toil
and trouble
they are
soon gone
and we
fly away.
The preacher
tells us
that even
inanimate
nature
itself
feels the
futility
of this
repetition
in verse
7.
All
streams
run to
the sea
but the
sea is
not full.
To the
place where
the streams
flow
there they
flow
again.
Even
the sea
is constantly
being filled
but is
never full
it's never
satisfied.
Round
and round
emptying
and filling
emptying
and filling
and we
know this
is real
don't we?
We feel
this
inscrutable
repetition
in all
that we
do.
Just think
of the
events that
have shaped
our lives
the events
that we
remember
events that
children now
can only
learn about
in a
textbook
the flight
of the
Concord
the handing
over of
Hong Kong
back to
China
September
the 11th
and those
children
will have
the same
conversations
and the
same
elections
and the
same
constant
debating
and the
same
problems
to solve
over and
over.
The
constant
search for
the new
is itself
an ancient
and much
repeated
search.
Verse
10
Is there a
thing of
which it
is said
see this
is new
it has
been already
in the
ages before
us.
Now don't
get the
preacher wrong
here he is
not wearing
Nike trainers
is he
and he has
not written
this on
an iPad
he is not
saying that
there will
never be
any
inventions
or
technological
advances
but he
is highlighting
the absence
of any
real game
that these
inventions
provide us.
We often
hear those
words quoted
in verse
10 don't
we?
See this
is new
we hear
those words
all the
time
every day
a new
car
a new
phone
a new
way of
travel
but the
very
repetition
of that
statement
every day
proves that
even new
things are
not really
new
they are
just updated
versions of
things that
we already
have
looking for
the genuinely
new under
the sun
is an
old
mistake
the man
who thinks
he has
found something
new
is actually
being
something
very
old
making
the same
old
mistake
of using
the new
to validate
our repetitive
existence
people do
that don't
they
I do
that
I love
the pleasure
of opening
a new
box
of something
that I've
just bought
even if it's
just a table
a table
from Ikea
last Friday
and I love
that feeling
of opening
the new
smelling that
fresh pine
smell
people record
videos on
YouTube
of unboxing
stuff
don't they
have you seen
that
the thrill
of the new
because somehow
the new
validates
my existence
it helps me
feel like
I'm breaking
the repetition
a new
table
but the
preacher says
Chris
give me a
break
are you
serious
ideas
technology
fashions
ways of
thinking
the bad
and the
good
will
eventually
disappear
and reappear
and disappear
and reappear
and the
new
things of
today
will be
the
forgotten
things
of
tomorrow
and they
will be
the
hand-me-downs
of another
generation
he says
in verse
11
there is no
remembrance
of former
things
nor will
there be
any
remembrance
of later
things
yet to
be
among
those
who
come
after
amazingly
the Bible
tells us
that even
the works
of God
in this
world
can be
forgotten
by the
next
generation
even
the
miracles
of the
plagues
you know
that famous
story
and the
rescue
of the
Israelites
those
things
were
forgotten
just a
few
generations
later
by a
new
pharaoh
and a
new
generation
of
Egyptians
because
this
world
under
the
sun
is
simply
an
endless
cycle
of
same
old
same
old
and so
the
preacher
asks
therefore
what
is
the
point
what
is
the
point
really
in
verse
three
what's
the
point
of
toiling
and
achieving
and
developing
in a
repeated
world
with a
fading
people
full of
repeated
things
now do
you see
what the
preacher
is doing
here
as he
shows us
the reality
of the
world
he is
beginning
to
convince
us
that
our
love
for
change
and the
novel
and the
new
is not
the answer
to our
satisfaction
problem
we need
to understand
that there
is no
yellow brick
road
there is
no end
of the
rainbow
there is
no
somewhere
else
doing
something
else
being
something
else
there is
no
something
truly
new
that is
going to
make you
or me
happy
under the
sun
this is
the genuine
story of
the world
he says
so stop
believing
and trusting
in that
old saying
the old
old thing
see
something
new
don't
believe
that
don't
trust in
that
to make
you
happy
now
we could
be left
thinking
that our
tour guide
is just
a depressive
we've gone
on around
the world
tour
with
Leonard
Cohen
but
in his
realism
the preacher
actually
is the
ultimate
optimist
about life
because
secondly
and
more
briefly
the second
thing he
says
is
listen to
the joyful
story
there's a
genuine
story
about the
world
but there
is also
joy
in the
world
and
this
part
of his
message
comes
in
another
refrain
that
comes
through
ecclesiastes
from time
to time
there is
this
life
under the
sun
idea
but there
is also
enjoyment
under the
sun
which
is a
gift
from
God
later
in
chapter
3
verse
13
he
says
everyone
should
eat
and
drink
and
take
pleasure
in
all
his
toil
this
is
God's
gift
to
man
seems
contradictory
doesn't
it
he's
just
said
there is
nothing
to be
gained
from
all
of our
toil
under
the
sun
and
now
he's
saying
actually
the
wise
person
can
live
under
the
sun
and
enjoy
themselves
this
is a
gift
from
God
and
the
truth
is
that
if
we
are
constantly
looking
for
change
if
we
think
that
we
can
break
from
this
repetition
in
the
world
and
in
our
lives
if
we
think
that
we
can
gain
something
by
our
changes
whatever
it
is
that
we
think
we've
gained
will
soon
disappear
and
we
will
disappear
along
with it
as
well
but
the
preacher
wants
us
to
see
that
part
of
real
living
in
the
world
is
seeing
that
and
understanding
the
true
limitations
of
this
life
seeing
that
one
day
we
will
be
forgotten
might
actually
put
a
wry
smile
on
our
face
if
the
genuine
truth
is
that
we
live
in
a
repetitive
world
there
in
lies
the
key
to
enjoying
that
world
he
tells
you
that
you
will
never
find
true
gain
under
the
sun
so
that
you
won't
have
to
enjoy
this
life
because
he
wants
us
to
desire
something
bigger
and
truer
and
deeper
those
enslaved
to
finding
gain
under
the
sun
will
never
find
it
but
enjoyment
comes
under
the
sun
when
we
know
we
don't
have
to
find
it
and
be
enslaved
to
it
when
we
know
that
we
can't
do
that
on
our
own
the
preacher
gives
us
reality
so
we
can
really
rejoice
and
this
we
will
see
as
we
go
through
Ecclesiastes
is
a
gift
from
God
not
something
that
we
can
strive
to
get
the
preacher
gives
us
reality
so
that
in
the
end
we
can
really
rejoice
this
is
a
gift
from
God
at
times
it's
going
to
be
a
painful
journey
maybe
it's
felt
like
that
this
afternoon
it's
going
to
be
hard
work
this
tour
of the
world
is
not
going
to
be
easy
and
it
may
take
a
while
for
us
to
understand
and
take
the
fruit
from
it
but
he
is
going
to
jar
us
into
seeing
reality
so
that
we
might
receive
the
gift
of
God
not
somewhere
else
doing
something
else
but
here
today
right
here
in
this
world
right
here
under
the
sun
let's
pray
together