WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.240 Great, let me pray as we come to God's word. Let me pray. Father, we do thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for your word. We want to thank you that we're not scrabbling around in the dark tonight trying to work out what it is that you might think, but that we can open your word and read for ourselves what it is that you have to say to us. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:41.980 So bless our time together. We thank you again that Louise is here. We thank you for our brothers and sisters at Hope Church West End. We pray that he might be the blessing to them that he has been and continues to be to us and that you'd be with him and Chris and Laura especially. So bless our time together now around your word we pray in Jesus name. Amen. 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:48.459 Okay, let me read Ecclesiastes 4 for us. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:01:00.960 Ecclesiastes 4. It's on the front of your handout and if you don't want to turn it up in the Bible or it's on page 672 if you want to see it in its wider surroundings. 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:04.960 Again I looked and... 00:01:04.960 --> 00:01:09.120 Sorry. Right, let me try again. 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:14.260 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun. 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:18.600 I saw the tears of the oppressed, that they have no comforter. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.020 Power is on the side of their oppressors and they have no comforter. 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:29.320 And I declared that the dead who had already died are happier than the living who are still alive. 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:37.480 But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:45.100 And I saw that all the toil and all achievement spring from one person's envy of another. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.380 This too is meaningless, chasing after the wind. 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.580 Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. 00:01:54.460 --> 00:02:00.760 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:05.400 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun. 00:02:05.800 --> 00:02:07.200 There was a man all alone. 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:09.219 He had neither son nor brother. 00:02:09.939 --> 00:02:14.580 There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.680 For whom am I toiling? he asked. 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:20.340 And why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:23.120 This too is meaningless. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:25.120 A miserable business. 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:30.140 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:34.019 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. 00:02:34.579 --> 00:02:37.699 But pity the one who falls and has no one to help them up. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.959 Also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:43.039 But how can one keep warm alone? 00:02:44.079 --> 00:02:46.939 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. 00:02:47.739 --> 00:02:50.039 A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 00:02:50.039 --> 00:03:01.199 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 00:03:01.979 --> 00:03:07.819 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:13.139 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king's successor. 00:03:13.859 --> 00:03:17.400 There was no end to all the people who were before them. 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.780 But those who came after were not pleased with the successor. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:23.319 This too is meaningless. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.900 A chasing after the wind. 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:28.319 Amen. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:37.680 In his book called Destiny, or Living Life Backwards as it's now called, which we have been following in this series. 00:03:38.239 --> 00:03:41.340 I say following because that sounds better than copying, doesn't it? 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:46.400 But there's an overlap between those two in this Ecclesiastes series. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.419 David Gibson divides chapter 4 into two halves around verses 6 and 7. 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:54.639 I think it's probably an oversimplification. 00:03:54.799 --> 00:03:56.719 I'm sure he would say that too. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:01.300 But it is a helpful one, and so we're going to try and follow that division of the passage this evening. 00:04:01.979 --> 00:04:10.919 He argues, persuasively I think as well, that the theme of the chapter is about living life for and with others, not just yourself. 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:18.060 It is the kind of myth of the moment, and it seems to have been the myth of the moment of the writer of Ecclesiastes as well, 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:21.120 that life is essentially all about me. 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:22.959 It's all about us. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:28.659 When we imagine the movie of our lives, we are the central character. 00:04:29.219 --> 00:04:32.299 Everyone else's role is played in relation to ours. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.859 Even when perhaps in our lowest moments we imagine ourselves passing away, 00:04:37.359 --> 00:04:40.859 we imagine what everybody else is thinking about us afterwards, 00:04:41.219 --> 00:04:46.359 because we find ourselves at the very center of our own lives and thinking it's all about me. 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:50.840 But that says Ecclesiastes 4 is not actually correct. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:57.840 But more than just saying it's not correct, Ecclesiastes 4 wants to tell you that's actually not a very happy way to live your life. 00:04:58.199 --> 00:04:59.720 It is the source of misery. 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:08.000 And what we see in the first six verses really, what happens to you when you hate others? 00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:12.440 And the second half is really what happens to you when you love others. 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:16.900 And so the first half, and these are Dave Gibson's headings, 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:22.160 if you hate your neighbor, you will destroy yourself, is the first six verses. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.300 So let's talk about those first. 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:27.980 Hate your neighbor and destroy yourself. 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:32.320 I don't think there can be any doubt of the truth of verses 1 to 3, 00:05:32.520 --> 00:05:38.460 of the horror and injustice that is in our world is very difficult to look at. 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.220 I saw the tears of the oppressed. 00:05:40.340 --> 00:05:41.320 They had no comforter. 00:05:41.780 --> 00:05:46.460 Power was on the side of their oppressors, and they had no comforter. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:47.780 No comforter. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:49.320 No comforter. 00:05:49.700 --> 00:05:52.080 There's no positive spin on this. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.000 Now, I don't have to really give you many examples. 00:05:55.140 --> 00:05:57.620 I'm sure you can think of all of your own only too quickly, 00:05:57.760 --> 00:06:02.640 and many of you here have had front row seats to the injustice and horrors yourselves. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.040 Sexual abuse. 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:06.280 Torture of children. 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:10.540 The sort of mindless trivialization of life by the gangs around us 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:14.760 that coach teenagers and younger people even to carry knives with them. 00:06:15.260 --> 00:06:18.300 The senseless wickedness of a power-hungry dictator. 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:22.140 The brutality of war and the death of innocent people caught up in it. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:23.280 Through no fault of their own. 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:27.360 The trafficking of young women to work in the sex trade. 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:31.060 The truth is, if you think of any of these things for too long, 00:06:31.139 --> 00:06:36.020 then you will end up with the writer saying what he says in verse 2, 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:40.360 that actually the dead are better off because they don't have to think about it anymore. 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.600 But better than both those are those who have never been born and never even seen it, 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:46.580 never even engaged with it. 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:52.019 Now the writer doesn't say that because he's kind of ambivalent about these things 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:54.599 and just thinks, well, just not knowing it would be better. 00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:02.779 The writer isn't really talking about what we should do kind of structurally about justice and suffering in the world. 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:08.060 He's not writing to say this is what you should do if you're in charge of a workplace 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:12.079 or in charge of a country or in charge of a family or whatever it is. 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:16.699 Rather he's trying to notice not so much what is right or wrong, 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.519 but what we're going to do to live in that world. 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:23.639 How do you live in a world where injustice is going to happen? 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:29.079 I have to say, I think personally I've been really slow on this lesson. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.620 I have been very naive over the years. 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:36.800 I think just to recognize that the world is not always going to work out right. 00:07:37.039 --> 00:07:38.839 You cannot fix every problem. 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:41.360 You cannot solve every injustice. 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:45.199 Perhaps this is a challenge to you too. 00:07:45.579 --> 00:07:49.279 If you're from a stable, largely good and fair home, 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:54.399 you might be surprised when the world presents you with injustice. 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:59.379 That's not fair is what kids say, isn't it? 00:08:00.219 --> 00:08:03.199 And what adults say is, no, you're right. 00:08:03.419 --> 00:08:04.699 The world is not a fair place. 00:08:04.899 --> 00:08:06.219 Get used to it and suck it up. 00:08:07.659 --> 00:08:09.659 There is an element of truth in that, isn't there? 00:08:09.659 --> 00:08:13.099 We do have to learn to live our lives in an unjust world. 00:08:14.139 --> 00:08:16.159 And we shouldn't live as if it's not. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.280 And so if you jump down to verse 4, 00:08:19.400 --> 00:08:23.620 you can see then a little bit about what is behind some of that injustice. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:24.820 Verse 4 says, 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:27.600 And I saw that all toil and all achievement 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.820 spring from one person's envy of another. 00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:35.920 This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.800 Now I think the connection between verses 1 to 3 and verse 4 00:08:40.800 --> 00:08:45.060 is either that behind much injustice is envy, 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:49.019 in other words, it is the envy that one has over another 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:52.079 that leads to injustice and unfairness in the world, 00:08:52.719 --> 00:08:56.599 or the envy becomes the sort of go-to mechanism 00:08:56.599 --> 00:08:59.879 for most people to live in an unjust, unfair world. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.899 As if, how am I going to possibly cope with a world 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:05.839 where injustice is happening all the time? 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:07.759 Well, maybe envy is a good motivator. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:10.119 Now perhaps it's both of those things, 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.919 and you can see how both of them might work out. 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:14.839 You know, if we're in a place where people are oppressed 00:09:14.839 --> 00:09:16.959 and people have no power and there's no comforter, 00:09:17.379 --> 00:09:20.000 then really getting all the power for yourself, 00:09:20.839 --> 00:09:24.500 taking it off others and accumulating influence for yourself, 00:09:24.939 --> 00:09:27.479 is the way to control and protect yourself. 00:09:28.099 --> 00:09:31.199 You know, this is the damaged child who becomes the controlling parent, 00:09:31.319 --> 00:09:34.120 or the revolutionary who becomes the dictator. 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:38.220 But whatever the exact link, verse 4 is telling you that envy, 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:40.240 self-centered, self-preservation, 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.279 is a massive driving force behind lots that's done. 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.639 In fact, it says, it's not a driving force behind lots that's done, 00:09:47.740 --> 00:09:50.820 it's the driving force behind all that is done. 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:53.799 I think he's speaking proverbially, isn't he? 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:57.080 But that all toil and achievement are driven by this. 00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:59.000 But it means that he just sees it everywhere. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:02.860 Envy driving people to work hard and achieve stuff, 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:04.559 I see it everywhere, he says. 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:07.460 It's worth just thinking, isn't it, 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:10.340 that there is a difference between envy and jealousy. 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:16.100 That jealousy is wanting what someone else has for yourself, right? 00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:18.740 So, you know, you have a nice coat, 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.899 I would quite like that coat for myself, 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.779 and say I go and get one. 00:10:24.059 --> 00:10:25.919 Or you have a nice bike and I want a bike, 00:10:26.019 --> 00:10:26.779 so I go and get one. 00:10:27.740 --> 00:10:28.879 But envy is different to that. 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:30.720 It looks at what someone else has. 00:10:30.819 --> 00:10:32.360 It doesn't only want it for itself, 00:10:32.459 --> 00:10:35.100 but it wants you not to have it as well. 00:10:36.259 --> 00:10:38.899 It gets more excited, 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.559 or at least as much excited, 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:42.819 by depriving you of the thing 00:10:42.819 --> 00:10:44.559 as it does gain in it itself. 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:48.179 Gibson, in his book, 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:51.919 references Victor Hugo's famous poem about greed and envy. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:52.740 I don't know if you know the poem. 00:10:52.839 --> 00:10:54.039 I'm not going to read it to you, it's too long. 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:59.980 But he, she imagines these two characters, 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:02.899 greed and envy, being personified. 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:05.179 So, and in the poem, 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:08.599 the narrator of the poem invites greed and invites envy 00:11:08.599 --> 00:11:11.419 to ask for whatever they wish. 00:11:12.099 --> 00:11:13.379 You can have whatever you want. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.899 The only condition is that whatever you ask for 00:11:17.899 --> 00:11:20.079 will be doubled and given to the other person as well. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.300 And that obviously causes them a huge dilemma in the poem, 00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:26.860 because, you know, well, if I'm greed, 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:29.460 and I ask for lots of money, 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:31.120 but I know that envy over there 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.720 is going to get twice as much money as I am, 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:33.540 I'm not going to be satisfied. 00:11:34.540 --> 00:11:36.280 And envy knows, well, if I ask for lots of money, 00:11:36.420 --> 00:11:37.840 and then greed gets double the money, 00:11:38.040 --> 00:11:39.639 that's not going to make me happy either. 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:41.340 And so there's a silence in the poem. 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:43.820 And then the silence is broken by envy. 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:45.320 When envy says, 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:50.360 I want you to remove one of my eyes. 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:54.520 And that's envy, right? 00:11:55.180 --> 00:11:59.940 Because it is not so much driven by its own success, 00:11:59.960 --> 00:12:02.320 but also by taking down of others. 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:04.500 And the writer says, 00:12:05.140 --> 00:12:08.080 envy explains a lot that's done in our world, 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.360 and why our world is so unjust, 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:11.940 and it's not good. 00:12:11.940 --> 00:12:13.580 It's not good. 00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:16.800 In verses five and six, 00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:18.380 the writer moves on to two other ways 00:12:18.380 --> 00:12:20.600 that this me focus works out in our lives. 00:12:20.760 --> 00:12:22.160 One is laziness. 00:12:23.060 --> 00:12:23.960 Verse five. 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:29.140 Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. 00:12:30.040 --> 00:12:31.660 You know, if you're working mostly for me, 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:32.580 if it's all about me, 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:34.640 then I will just do the very minimum 00:12:34.640 --> 00:12:36.100 that is required of me. 00:12:36.540 --> 00:12:38.760 I'll do even less if I can get away with it, right? 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:41.260 But that leads to ruin, says verse five. 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:44.159 Again, that's just a really familiar idea in wisdom literature. 00:12:44.319 --> 00:12:45.919 I think I put it on your handout. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:47.639 Proverbs 6, verses six to 11, 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:50.779 is the famous passage in Proverbs about this. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:52.319 Go to the ant, you sluggard. 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:54.439 Consider its ways and be wise. 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:55.519 It has no commander, 00:12:55.939 --> 00:12:57.299 no overseer or ruler. 00:12:57.700 --> 00:12:59.740 Yet it stores its provisions in summer 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:01.700 and gathers its food at harvest. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.379 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:06.379 When will you get up from your sleep? 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:08.480 A little sleep, a little slumber, 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.220 a little folding of the hands to rest 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:12.500 and poverty will come on you like a thief 00:13:12.500 --> 00:13:15.100 and scarcity like an armed robber. 00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:19.019 The opposite extreme is no better, really, 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:20.600 and that is in verse six. 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:23.740 Toil, to fill both hands, 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:25.639 is a chasing after the wind. 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:26.860 Staying up late, 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:28.440 working to get to the top, 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:29.399 to get ahead in the field, 00:13:29.680 --> 00:13:31.060 to be the one that gets the promotion, 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:32.120 the one that gets the bonus, 00:13:32.500 --> 00:13:34.279 to see others writhe with pain 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:35.440 as they see you succeed. 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:38.259 That also is as pointless as laziness. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:41.700 Laziness and busyness are not commended. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:44.480 There's a great little quote 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:46.539 in Dave Gibson's books 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:46.919 when he says, 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:48.639 Workaholics are often warned 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:49.620 that on their deathbed 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:50.340 they will not wish 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:51.879 that they'd spent more time at the office. 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:53.259 True, right? 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:55.139 Ecclesiastes warns us 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:56.539 that certain people on their deathbed 00:13:56.539 --> 00:13:57.539 will wish that they had spent 00:13:57.539 --> 00:13:59.159 at least some time at the office. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:01.919 Also true from Ecclesiastes. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.100 And so laziness and busyness 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:05.899 are presented there 00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:07.419 as the two different options 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:09.419 which the me-centered life 00:14:09.419 --> 00:14:10.620 presents us with. 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:12.899 But it hints at one which is better 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:14.360 in verse 6a. 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:15.899 But better than both, 00:14:16.219 --> 00:14:18.799 sorry, verse 6, 00:14:19.099 --> 00:14:21.379 better one handful with tranquility 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:23.559 than two handfuls with toil 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:25.079 and chasing after the wind. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:28.879 It is better to just fill one hand 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.279 and enjoy the tranquility 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:32.779 that comes from contentment 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:35.879 than it is to toil to fill both hands. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.799 And that is a meaninglessness. 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.259 Of course, this is Paul's point, isn't it? 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:44.820 1 Timothy 6, verse 6, 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:45.620 Paul says, 00:14:45.779 --> 00:14:47.240 Godliness with contentment 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:48.279 is great gain. 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:50.360 Interesting that the gain 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:51.539 that people are looking for 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:52.679 in material possessions 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:54.620 is actually found in godliness 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:55.799 with contentment, says Paul. 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:58.159 The thing that you are striving for 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:59.860 that you think you've filled your hands with 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:00.779 when you've got all that money 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:02.480 is actually not there. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.960 Contentment is really the gain. 00:15:05.800 --> 00:15:07.220 Godliness with contentment 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:09.000 rather than filling both hands. 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:10.039 That's the tranquility 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:11.600 of Ecclesiastes 4, verse 6. 00:15:11.680 --> 00:15:12.279 That's the win. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:14.159 Now, I think that is, 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:15.899 I mean, it's massively countercultural, isn't it? 00:15:15.920 --> 00:15:16.960 I'm sure it's countercultural 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:18.320 in the writer's day, 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:19.659 but it is definitely countercultural 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:20.259 in London. 00:15:20.259 --> 00:15:22.819 But the point is that we should enjoy 00:15:22.819 --> 00:15:24.240 living the life that we have 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.000 rather than wishing for one that we don't. 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:28.939 And we should avoid the extremes 00:15:28.939 --> 00:15:31.419 of laziness and frantic activity 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:33.759 between obsession with trying to do 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.279 as little as possible or nothing 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.439 and also trying really hard 00:15:37.439 --> 00:15:38.519 to fill both hands 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.419 as if that was the purpose of life. 00:15:40.939 --> 00:15:42.379 And that contentment, 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:43.799 when you find it, 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:45.419 godliness with contentment 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:46.879 will be a huge blessing to you. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:48.799 Now, I just want you to chat 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:49.919 to the person next to you 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:50.939 or a couple of people around you. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:51.840 Where do you think 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.779 you find yourself driven by envy? 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:55.080 That's a tough question, right? 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:56.639 So you might not want to be super honest, 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.080 but you can be as honest 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.340 as you feel like you're happy to be. 00:15:59.779 --> 00:16:00.960 Where do you see it in others, 00:16:01.019 --> 00:16:01.639 in your workplace? 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:02.960 That's easier to point the fingers 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:03.919 at other people, isn't it? 00:16:03.939 --> 00:16:05.100 So maybe you can speak about that. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:07.659 How does it cause the injustice of our world? 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.639 Maybe not just on a grand scale, 00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:11.740 but even on a micro scale around you 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:12.980 in your friendship groups, perhaps, 00:16:13.059 --> 00:16:13.840 or in your workplace. 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:16.279 Do you find yourself drawn to laziness 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:17.399 or frantic activity? 00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:18.579 What lies behind that? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:20.379 What might help you stop it? 00:16:21.199 --> 00:16:22.679 Okay, just go for those for a few minutes, 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:23.919 just to land some of those ideas 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:25.600 practically in your lives, 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:27.100 and then we'll look at the second half. 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:33.419 Sorry to interrupt your conversations. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.699 Anyone want to feedback? 00:16:35.699 --> 00:16:39.120 Anything from their group? 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:44.379 Maybe not. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.279 Sorry, I'm afraid you're... 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:48.959 I'm going to interrupt. 00:16:49.459 --> 00:16:50.839 She works in sales, 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:53.179 where she's, I think, 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:54.959 meeting targets. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.259 Only a sound that depends on you 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:59.000 beating others. 00:16:59.079 --> 00:16:59.459 Yes. 00:16:59.459 --> 00:17:00.000 Because there's a tsunami. 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:01.919 We're talking about 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:03.399 the thing that I'm using the heart issue. 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:04.700 Where is this flow in the phone? 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:05.160 Yes. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:07.440 So could still be the one 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:08.920 to sell the top seller 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:10.579 and still keep doing that. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.319 Yes. 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:16.220 So workplaces end up 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:18.000 pinning salaries 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.579 on the kind of envy motivator, 00:17:20.659 --> 00:17:21.000 don't they? 00:17:21.379 --> 00:17:21.519 Yeah? 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.339 So that success, 00:17:24.439 --> 00:17:25.019 we were talking about this, 00:17:25.179 --> 00:17:26.879 success is a zero-sum game. 00:17:26.879 --> 00:17:30.079 So if your colleague 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:32.319 has got nine success points, 00:17:32.439 --> 00:17:33.299 you can, by definition, 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:34.859 only have one success point. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.460 If they can have five, 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:37.559 then you can have five. 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:39.759 So you have inevitably 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:40.839 got to take them off them 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:41.839 in order to get them. 00:17:41.879 --> 00:17:42.059 Yeah. 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:43.240 And that's a very, 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:44.339 very tough place to be. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.220 And although it might drive 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.399 massive, what does he say, 00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:54.480 achievement and work rate, 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:56.839 it doesn't bring joy 00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:00.859 or community or friendship. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:02.619 And if those are your markers 00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:04.960 for success more than just money, 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.220 then, yeah, 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:08.380 it's tough. 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:08.620 Yeah. 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:09.259 Yeah. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:10.980 I suppose 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:12.180 I was talking to you 00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:13.059 about this, 00:18:13.120 --> 00:18:14.400 but envy, 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:16.500 a relapse for covetousness. 00:18:16.660 --> 00:18:16.880 Hmm. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:18.420 But covetousness can be 00:18:18.420 --> 00:18:20.059 retention of what God 00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:20.779 wants you to give 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:22.340 as well as what others 00:18:22.340 --> 00:18:22.860 think will have. 00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:23.420 Okay. 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:24.920 So covetousness can be 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:26.079 a retention of what God 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.079 wants you to give away 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:28.200 as well as wanting 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:28.840 what others have. 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:29.140 Yeah. 00:18:29.539 --> 00:18:29.940 Interesting. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:32.100 Wow. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:32.860 I need to think about that 00:18:32.860 --> 00:18:33.160 some more. 00:18:33.340 --> 00:18:33.559 But yeah. 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:35.559 Yes. 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:42.119 I will let you do that 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:43.579 and you can get back to me. 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:45.639 Thank you. 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:47.720 Yeah. 00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:49.859 Thanks. 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:52.259 I would rather think of it 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:53.940 as just having one handful 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:54.839 with tranquility. 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:00.919 Anybody else? 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:02.680 Ethan, yes. 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 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00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.140 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:15.860 I think the envy of the ease with which people get to do stuff. 00:19:15.860 --> 00:19:16.380 Okay. 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:18.280 Yes. 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:22.640 I work really hard with this, but somehow you've got to do it with yourself. 00:19:22.820 --> 00:19:23.259 Yes. 00:19:23.840 --> 00:19:24.360 Yes. 00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:26.360 I don't want you to be able to do that with them. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:27.100 Yes. 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:31.800 So we envy the ease with which others find success, seemingly. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.240 So I worked really hard. 00:19:33.520 --> 00:19:34.680 You didn't seem to work very hard. 00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:36.560 And we only did the same at the end. 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:38.180 Why is it easy for you? 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:38.880 It's difficult for me. 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:39.280 Yeah. 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:39.900 Yeah. 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:41.580 Yeah. 00:19:42.020 --> 00:19:44.320 That's the case I was making here with my wife. 00:19:44.560 --> 00:19:47.720 I envy the way she's able to do things for me to me. 00:19:48.120 --> 00:19:49.840 I think all the time to watch. 00:19:50.020 --> 00:19:50.340 Right. 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:53.120 Well, there you go. 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.980 We'll have a counseling session later, you and me, Clifford. 00:19:57.300 --> 00:19:57.460 Yeah. 00:19:58.520 --> 00:19:58.960 Great. 00:19:59.060 --> 00:20:01.480 Let's move on so that we make sure we finish the passage. 00:20:02.120 --> 00:20:04.000 Second heading then from verse 7. 00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:06.259 Love your neighbor and love yourself. 00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:15.220 In verses 7 and 8, you're introduced to a success story of fame and fortune, which turned 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:16.660 out to be miserable and pointless. 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:19.240 Again, I saw something meaningless under the sun. 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:22.360 There was a man all alone who had neither son nor brother. 00:20:23.060 --> 00:20:26.800 There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:28.740 For who am I toiling, he asked. 00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:30.599 Why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:32.359 This, too, is meaningless. 00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:33.819 A miserable business. 00:20:34.620 --> 00:20:38.880 It's like a guy or a girl at the top of their career having an epiphany in their penthouse 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:40.680 apartment in the city. 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.360 They're jumping up and down at all their great success. 00:20:43.560 --> 00:20:46.840 And then all of a sudden, they go, but I'm on my own. 00:20:47.660 --> 00:20:49.000 I have no friends. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.059 I have no one with me. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:57.500 And then they realize that the reason that they have been doing all these things just 00:20:57.500 --> 00:21:00.079 doesn't really carry any kind of weight at all. 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:03.900 Again, the problem is not really just the money, is it? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.519 Rather, it's the person who's been so in love with money and with making money that they haven't 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:14.380 realized until it's too late that money without friends or community or family is actually 00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:15.320 not worth having. 00:21:16.560 --> 00:21:22.700 There's a story in the book where Gibson quotes Matt Chandler in a sermon. 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:24.420 And he's giving an illustration. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:32.160 He says he has never had a woman in his office complaining that her dad dropped her off at 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:38.500 school in a beat up old car or that her dad didn't buy her a pony or didn't send her on 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:39.740 the school skiing trip. 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:44.960 But, he says, I have had lots of women in my office who had dads with nice cars who bought 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:49.240 them ponies and sent them on skiing trips but never spent any time with them and who 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:52.779 as a result had a thoroughly warped perception of their own value. 00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:54.960 That's it here, isn't it? 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:01.359 That actually money with no friends or no relationships or with warped friendships and warped relationships 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:02.680 is a wispy vapor. 00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:09.519 But more than just the kind of vapor meaninglessness, it is actually what he says a miserable business. 00:22:10.139 --> 00:22:10.519 Miserable. 00:22:11.660 --> 00:22:16.980 The teacher's point, then, is that life is not about money but relationships with others. 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:21.720 So, verse 9, two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:24.519 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:27.139 But pity the one who falls and has no one to help them up. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:30.859 Verse 11, also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:32.700 But how can one keep warm alone? 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:35.559 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:37.980 A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:41.039 Here again, the benefits of working with others. 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:42.920 You have a better return for your work. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:49.740 You may end up not only not being alone, but you may end up actually getting more of the material success 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:51.200 that you also were looking for. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:57.620 I think it's common to read verse 12 as being the third cord, being the Lord. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:59.080 But I don't think that's the point. 00:22:59.660 --> 00:23:01.920 I don't think it really fits with the style of Ecclesiastes. 00:23:02.059 --> 00:23:03.420 I think it's a bit twee for the writer. 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:09.800 I think the idea is that a three cord strand is just a stronger rope than a two cord strand. 00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:13.060 And a four cord rope would be even stronger. 00:23:13.660 --> 00:23:17.100 You know, so two is better than one, three is better than two, four would be even better. 00:23:18.060 --> 00:23:21.300 It's the same idea, I think, in these last verses of the chapter. 00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:26.360 And I have to confess that I'm not sure that I understand right down to the bottom of what these verses are talking about. 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.839 But the old king, I think, also seems to be selfish. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.659 He seems not to be able to heed a warning any longer. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.759 So he seems to be that old guy who thinks that he knows it all, and so he doesn't need to listen to anybody. 00:23:39.179 --> 00:23:40.879 He assumes that he can go it alone. 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:48.559 But he is outdone, even by a young man, even one from poor origins, even one from prison, whom everybody loves. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:51.539 But even their love can be fickle in the end. 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:54.959 So community is better than individuality. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.840 A collective rule is better than an isolated, self-interested, self-confident king. 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:04.559 We'll go to the groups bit in a moment. 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:07.980 I'll go for my conclusion first, and then you can talk about that a bit as well. 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:11.940 Let's try and just put some of the pieces together from what we've done for the last few weeks. 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:18.240 The message of last week, if you might remember, was that the Lord has placed eternity in our hearts. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.980 We have a longing for more of life than we are physically able to live. 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:26.400 We have a longing for eternity, but we only have time in our hands. 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:29.160 God has put eternity in our hearts and time in our hands. 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:35.059 And so we are unable, with what we are given, to build anything that lasts for as long as our heart desires. 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:38.460 Only God builds what lasts for eternity. 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:44.460 So ultimately, our satisfaction is only really ultimately going to be in the Lord. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:52.480 So the point of life is to enjoy what God has given us, the time blocks, if you like, for the period that he's given them to us. 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:58.460 So we are to eat, drink, find satisfaction in our work, knowing that this is what God has given us to enjoy for now. 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:11.920 Now is the time for eating and drinking and working and finding satisfaction, because that is all that we have for now as we wait to enjoy and inherit what the Lord has built, which lasts forever and ever. 00:25:12.539 --> 00:25:24.960 If that's true from last week, then the point of this section is that the way to enjoy those gifts that God has given us for the time that he has given us is to enjoy them with other people. 00:25:25.819 --> 00:25:26.860 That's the key here. 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:35.779 In other words, eating and drinking and finding satisfaction in our work is not possible for you if you are self-obsessed. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:37.599 That's the point. 00:25:37.899 --> 00:25:39.579 You can only do it in community. 00:25:40.939 --> 00:25:44.759 Now, of course, that self-obsession really is the root of sin. 00:25:45.219 --> 00:25:49.299 Sin, in Martin Luther's terms, was an inward turn. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.699 Sin is curling in on yourself. 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:52.580 Sin is the root of sin. 00:25:52.580 --> 00:25:57.319 And so what should have been sought from outside of yourself is sought from inside of yourself, right? 00:25:57.400 --> 00:25:59.880 So actually, that's what we do with the Lord, isn't it? 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:01.720 God is out there. 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:07.660 And yet when we sin, we turn and look in as if God is in here and we get to decide and choose. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:13.759 And so liberation from self-interest and self-sufficiency is not through wise advice, 00:26:14.180 --> 00:26:16.460 but through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:26.640 You will not be able to find joy in community without a gospel of grace and forgiveness to transform you from the heart and turn you outwards. 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:32.860 And so we know, don't we, as whole Bible readers, that we need not just a recalibration, but we need the gospel. 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:43.519 Yet still, right, envy, selfishness, the me first attitude is entirely possible by Christians who are still works in progress today. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:47.859 And so we need to be careful, don't we? 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:59.000 It is possible for us to be making the mistakes of Ecclesiastes 4, working really hard to fill both hands without the peace of one hand and contentment, 00:26:59.379 --> 00:27:04.700 or working really hard to get everything and then realizing that we haven't worked as hard to build community. 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:14.420 And I think the challenge for you and I, where we are particularly, is I think we live in a particular part of the world where it is much easier, 00:27:15.259 --> 00:27:21.200 although it's not easy, it is much easier to make a career than it is to make a community. 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:28.860 And so actually, we are invited and persuaded to work hard at careers, 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:34.000 but we are not really persuaded or encouraged to work hard at building community. 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:37.799 So I just want you in your groups for a few minutes as we finish, just to think, 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:39.960 in what ways can you build community in your everyday? 00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:42.299 What are the challenges to that and why is that important? 00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:48.519 The other question, if we know that working really hard but having no friends is a recipe for misery, 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:53.000 why do people, like, why do I have a friend who finds it so tempting? 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:55.960 Go for that, just for a few minutes with the person next to you. 00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:03.100 Okay, I'm really sorry. 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:05.259 I know that's not long enough to talk about it, 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:11.279 but you can carry on your conversations after we've closed in prayer. 00:28:12.019 --> 00:28:16.079 Does anyone want to share anything particularly useful shared by their group? 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:21.039 Yeah? 00:28:21.679 --> 00:28:22.859 Working in community. 00:28:24.439 --> 00:28:25.500 Come to Catalyst. 00:28:27.879 --> 00:28:28.319 Tomorrow? 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:30.099 Nine o'clock? 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:32.500 M&S biscuits. 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:32.579 M&S biscuits. 00:28:37.699 --> 00:28:46.019 We were talking here about sometimes we mistake socialising for community. 00:28:47.459 --> 00:28:56.059 It's possible to have a really busy social schedule, I was going to say, or social life, 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:58.500 and actually still be quite lonely and lacking in community. 00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:04.799 Because I don't think what the writer of Ecclesiastes is talking about is going out and pretending that you're somebody. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:09.500 It's more relating to someone every day and being real like that, isn't it? 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:17.500 And actually, again, I don't want to misquote somebody in our group, but we were saying, in a way, that's much easier as a Christian. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:22.039 Because when you're a Christian, you are able to be honest about who you are and what you're like. 00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:26.160 Because the gospel gives you and liberates you from having to put on a face. 00:29:27.900 --> 00:29:29.059 Anything else? 00:29:29.059 --> 00:29:29.159 Yes. 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:42.859 We were just talking about, like, our friends who are friends as well, and how it must be hard for them, 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:44.919 and someone who's buying community, because it's chips. 00:29:45.099 --> 00:29:47.159 That's a natural sense for community. 00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:53.660 And the fact that we all have shared values and a shared faith in Jesus who loves us, 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:57.540 it gives us the ability to be, like, more vulnerable and honest with each other, 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:00.640 because we know it's safe in relationships. 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:01.080 Yeah. 00:30:01.080 --> 00:30:06.740 But for people who aren't friends, unfortunately, it's harder for them to find a journey in a community like that. 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:06.880 Yeah. 00:30:07.660 --> 00:30:13.540 Yeah, so the church community makes lots of this happen, and it should do, shouldn't it? 00:30:13.540 --> 00:30:16.560 You should expect the gospel to build a community. 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.340 Which is harder outside the church. 00:30:19.820 --> 00:30:25.840 It's why I think one of the strongest apologetics for the gospel is the church community, isn't it? 00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:31.779 It's as people see the love that we have for one another, that they want to come and investigate crime. 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:40.680 I guess another typical part was balancing all that promotion that really helped with raising that second child. 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:41.259 Yes. 00:30:41.259 --> 00:30:43.279 Like, what is worth it? 00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:45.259 Yes. 00:30:45.259 --> 00:30:55.920 So the question here is that basically it leads to some sort of ethical conundrums about trade-offs between, you know, 00:30:55.980 --> 00:30:59.879 the need for money and the need for time and, yeah, all those sorts of things. 00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:00.359 Yeah. 00:31:00.740 --> 00:31:05.779 And Ecclesiastes, he's not, he's, the writer here is not silly enough to give you a straight answer to all of those questions, is he? 00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:09.299 He's wise enough to say, here are the principles. 00:31:09.879 --> 00:31:12.000 Go, go work it out. 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:12.399 Yeah. 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:17.420 Let me pray for us as we finish, and then you can carry on with conversations afterwards if you've got time. 00:31:17.420 --> 00:31:29.279 Heavenly Father, thank you that it is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that liberates us from self-interest to be concerned, genuinely concerned for others. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:38.440 And that it's as we are genuinely concerned for others that we find greater joy and contentment in this world as we wait for Christ's return. 00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:47.920 So please, we pray, help us, help us in our busy lives to prioritise building friendships and community, especially in the church, 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:57.059 that we might keep going with the Lord Jesus and that we might be able to invite others to come and see what Jesus is doing amongst us. 00:31:57.059 --> 00:31:59.859 And so we pray this for his glory and in his name. 00:32:00.399 --> 00:32:00.779 Amen.