PENTECOST
11
August
3-5, 2013
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18-26
“FROM MEANINGLESS TO MEANINGFUL”
1.
Everything
really is meaningless without Jesus.
2.
Everything
becomes meaningful with Him.
Ecclesiastes
1:2; 2:18-26 (NIV 1984) "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says
the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 18 I hated all the things I had
toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after
me. 19 And who knows
whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the
work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is
meaningless. 20 So my
heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with
wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who
has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the
toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain
and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. 24 A man can do nothing better than
to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from
the hand of God, 25
for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up
wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a
chasing after the wind.”
Sometimes it’s nice to learn from
other people’s mistakes. Sure, it’s true that often we learn best from our own
mistakes but isn’t it nicer to learn to watch your speed by passing the other
guy who’s stopped with flashing lights behind him? Isn’t it better for you to
remember that snow driving is slow driving by seeing the other guy fishtail or
spin out rather than yourself? Today we get a chance to learn from someone else’s
mistakes. Actually we get to learn from a teacher. Not just any teacher but a
man who calls himself the Teacher, the one God used to write the Bible book of
Ecclesiastes. Many people believe this teacher to be King Solomon because of
the way the Teacher identifies himself as the son of King David, a king
himself, living in Jerusalem and having great wisdom and great wealth. What do
we get to learn? How to avoid being meaningless.
The Teacher had found life to be
meaningless. "Meaningless!
Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is
meaningless." That’s one of the
main thoughts of this entire book. The Teacher then went on to describe how he
had tried to find happiness, meaning in life by pursuing earthly wisdom and
learning and when he learned it all. He was still feeling empty. Meaningless.
Then he tried to find meaning by pursuing pleasure. First he tried neutral
pleasures, laughter and entertainment, building projects and gardens and parks.
He amassed great wealth and tried sinful pleasures of all kinds. He summed it
up this way in chapter 2:10-11 “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no
pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all
my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had
toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
In our text the
Teacher contemplated something that takes up a good portion of our lives,
working and acquiring things. “I hated
all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the
one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a
fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort
and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.”
I guess that about sums it up. You work hard all your life. You save and take
care of your things. You die and someone else gets your things. They may not
value them like you do or take care of them. You can be frugal and save money
and your heirs might waste it. That's it. Life is meaningless.
Or it can be. We
probably haven’t gone down all the roads to meaningless that the Teacher did
but you can recognize the times we have been there. You know how when you make
a purchase and you got a great deal and how good you felt? But that feeling doesn’t
last. Kids, remember that toy you had to have for Christmas, or that video game
you had to have? Still using it? Oh yeah and how about that work thing. If all
there is to life is an endless cycle of working to pay bills and keep your head
above water and stress about things all night, life is meaningless. Working
hard and saving up and building things only to have the next generation ruin
and waste it all is meaningless. The Teacher is right. Everything is
meaningless.
Or should we
say, he was half right. Everything can be meaningless. But it doesn’t have to
be and should not be for people like us. What will make the difference? Jesus,
Jesus, only Jesus. “A man can do nothing
better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I
see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”
Did you catch it? “Without him who can find enjoyment.” Without whom? The
Savior God. The Lord. In Old Testament times the Teacher, or Solomon, simply
knew their Savior as the LORD, the powerful God how saves and promised to send
a Savior. We know that Savior is Jesus Christ. While everything really is
meaningless without Jesus everything becomes meaningful with Him!
There is more to
life than eat drink, work and die. There is eternal life. Life on earth can
seem meaningless because it is messed up by sin. Our loving heavenly Father
does not want us stuck in a sin filled world so when Adam and Eve messed it up
by sinning and we continue to mess it up with our sins God stepped in with a
new plan. Let this home go to pot and give us a new one. We generally call that
heaven. We can’t get there on our own. We don’t belong there as sinners. We
need to be cleansed of our sins so God planned and promised and fulfilled the
sending of Jesus who lived for us and took our sins away and gives to every
believer in Him the gift of eternal life in heaven. That’s coming but it
changes now. Now everything for us believers is meaningful. Jesus said in John
10:10 “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.” Knowing
Jesus is your Savior, that heaven is your home, that Hell is real and where
those who don’t believe in Jesus condemn themselves to changes everything about
this life and it becomes meaningful. Take eating. It is meaningful because I
get to express my thanks to the Lord for providing. I can realize that He is
strengthening me physically to do what I need to do to provide for my family
and be a witness where I am at. Take work. With Jesus I see it as a mask for
God to provide, something for me to do my best at because it’s for the Lord. I
can look for opportunities to talk about Jesus. Just a couple of weeks ago I
got that opportunity at the credit union service center just because my
checking account says “Pastor Timothy Spaude.” How about your legacy? If
God blesses you to have more than enough instead of fearing what you leave
behind is meaningless you can make sure you entrust it to those who will use it
to honor God by taking care of your family or funding Gospel work so people
believe in Jesus and are saved instead of lost forever in Hell. With Jesus
everything becomes meaningful.
There’s an old Gospel Hymn that says, “Turn
your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” Try that
sometime and see how everything is kept in perspective and meaningful with
Jesus. That present you really wanted, that video game you had to have, that
great bargain you got…hold it up next to Jesus. See how it shines next to Him
and you’ll be able to enjoy it in a meaningful way. A temporary joy as a
blessing from Jesus. The illness you have, that ongoing problem in life, the
not enough money existence…hold it up next to Jesus and watch the sting of it
grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
When my folks were still stuck living
here rather than in heaven poor Chris had to listen to some Timmy stories way
too many times as they got older including this one. It’s the one where I was
the last of the 8 urchins left at home. All the rest were in school. My mom was
scrubbing the floor with one of those squeeze sponge mops in the old metal All
bucket. She had paused and being the nice little boy that I was, I was going to
help her. So I took the mop and promptly spilled the whole bucket all over the
floor. My mom was exasperated. At which point I was reported to say, “Mama,
that wouldn’t have happened if Jesus hadn’t let it.” Now we can talk about my
theology there another time, but what’s a spilled bucket of wash water compared
to your child expressing trust in Jesus? “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full
in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the
light of His glory and grace.” Everything’s meaningful with Him. Go and live
life to the full. Amen.
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