Catching Breath and Taking Stock
- if you ever have a summer day to spare with nothing to do, I recommend a field trip to North Bay
- your timing has to be just right, but if it is, you will encounter a most fascinating insect that will give you reason to think
- I don’t have to give you very precise directions, because you can’t help but run into this insect
- I mean what I say – you’ll run into it, so bring some extra windshield washer fluid
- the insect I am talking about is called the shadfly
- the shadfly is an insect with no sight and no capacity to eat or drink
- they live for about twenty-four hours, and their only functions appear to be flying and reproducing
- for a brief period every summer – some summers being worse than others – these shadflies recreate what appears to be an Egyptian plague and literally blanket North Bay
- you can’t walk, drive, or move, without hitting a shadfly
- just as soon as they come, they’re gone again
- now I recommend that you wear a bug net or some sort of protection, and plant yourself on a park bench near Lake Nipissing, and consider the lowly shadfly
- consider the shadfly, thou sluggard
- for the briefest of periods, they come into this world and make their presence known
- and then they’re gone
- what have they contributed? what where their lives worth? what lasting impression did they leave behind, other than on your windshield?
- from a human perspective, they’re little more than nuisances
- now sit on that park bench a little longer and consider your life
- in the bigger scheme of things, how much different are you than a shadfly?
- how much longer are you alive?
- not much
- we may be alive a few dozen years, but some of us are realizing that’s not a very long time
- what is your life contributing?
- what is the bottom line of your life?
- you and I are not too different from shadflies
- somebody has called the nineties the decade of “cashing out”
- “Stop the nineties, I want to get off”
- we’ve all heard of some fast-track, hard-driver who suddenly abandons his briefcase and resurfaces at some cottage or ranch or boat
- people are checking out, and asking themselves what they’re really doing
- they’re asking what is honest, what is real, what is valued, what is really important
- the traditional rewards of career and money are replaced with a slower place and quality of life
- somebody has said that in the seventies, we worked to live
- in the eighties, we lived to work
- and now we simply want to live – long and well
- people are now asking, “Is all this stress really worth the reward?”
- “Isn’t this life shortening my life?”
- and the clincher: “Is this all there is?”
- they’re asking questions that need to be asked
- and by the way, they’re not waiting until they are forty or fifty to have their mid-life crises
- people who are in their thirties are taking stock of their lives and asking serious questions about the direction of their lives
- now friends, I don’t have the answers, but it’s important to realize that the Bible does
- the Bible has the answers to these questions
- it may surprise many people to discover that the Bible grapples with the questions of meaning and fulfillment and the bottom-lines of our lives
- for six sermons, we’ve been looking at an Old Testament book called Ecclesiastes
- the name means “preacher”
- we’re now half way through this book
- I had a choice to make this week: I was going to plow on and enter the second half of the book of Ecclesiastes, but I’ve made another choice
- as we’ve finished this first half, I thought it would be useful to stop and sum up what this book has said thus far
- it struck me that we shouldn’t rush over the critical message of the first half of this book, which has very real application to you this morning
- you, if you are like other human beings, are looking for meaning
- and Ecclesiastes speaks to us more clearly than even a shadfly of the real meaning of our lives
- so brace yourself for five summary statements that I want to drill home this morning as the Bible’s answer to human questions on the meaning of life
- five simple statements with huge implications for all of us
- STATEMENT NUMBER ONE
- whatever man usually calls the “goods” of life are of their nature incapable of giving man full satisfaction to his craving for happiness
- or put another way, we don’t find satisfaction in the “goods” of life
- health, riches, possessions, material and sensual pleasures, honors, career, prestige – all these things are incapable of giving full satisfaction to our cravings
- they just don’t deliver what they promise
- all achievements and all possessions all with time return to dust
- as Ecclesiastes says:
- (Ecclesiastes 1:2) “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
- (Ecclesiastes 2:1) I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.
- (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
- and I could go on
- Ecclesiastes drives home the point that our souls are hungry for something
- and we usually look to pleasure or health or riches or possessions or prestige – what we call the “goods” of life – for satisfaction
- and it doesn’t work
- the shadfly, like other bugs, is drawn to light
- and we, like glorified shadflies, are drawn to these things
- but they just don’t satisfy
- so why do we still look to them for satisfaction?
- why do we still think that if we only earned a bit more, owned a bit more, felt a bit healthier, experienced a little more pleasure, gained a little more respect, that things would be any better?
- why do we look to these things to satisfy the hunger in our souls?
- SUMMARY STATEMENT TWO
- these goods are not stable or reliable; if we trust in them we are in danger of losing them
- Ecclesiastes is clear that life is fragile and transitory
- what we possess today may very well be gone tomorrow
- so what we call the “goods” in life are not deserving recipients of our trust
- (Ecclesiastes 2:20) So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:21) 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.
- (Ecclesiastes 5:13) I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
- (Ecclesiastes 5:14) or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him.
- (Ecclesiastes 5:15) Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.
- (Ecclesiastes 6:12) For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
- Jesus said:
- (Matthew 6:19) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- don’t depend on that which can so easily be taken away!
- your bank balance – it could disappear tomorrow
- your job, your reputation, your health – all of it could be gone at the snap of a finger
- (Matthew 6:20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
- (Matthew 6:21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- SUMMARY STATEMENT THREE
- the pursuit of happiness does not necessarily bring happiness
- this is illustrated throughout the book
- Solomon observed people trying to find fulfillment and happiness, and concluded that it is out of their control
- a word that Solomon uses a lot is “striving”
- people are striving for happiness or fulfillment, and what does it gain them?
- (Ecclesiastes 2:3) I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly–my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:4) I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:5) I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:6) I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:7) I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:8) I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well–the delights of the heart of man.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:9) I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:10) 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.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:11) 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.
- (Ecclesiastes 2:22) What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?
- (Ecclesiastes 2:23) All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
- related to this is
- SUMMARY STATEMENT FOUR
- man is powerless
- man is utterly unable to penetrate and understand the laws of government and the universe in this world
- (Ecclesiastes 3:11) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
- (Ecclesiastes 6:12) For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
- (Ecclesiastes 8:17) No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.
- memorize these words: “I don’t know”
- they will serve you well
- we don’t really understand life, do we?
- as one hymn says, “I am not skilled to understand, what God has willed, what God has planned”
- and that’s true of all of us
- when we are faced with an illness, when a mother has a stillbirth, when a child is taken away in an accident, when we lose a job – there are many questions and few answers
- and Ecclesiastes reminds us that we are ultimately powerless and unable to understand the complexities of life and providence
- summary statement five is the most important
- after all I’ve said, it would be easy to fall into despair and conclude that all things are hopeless
- but that’s not the course of action recommended in Ecclesiastes
- SUMMARY STATEMENT FIVE IS THIS
- cease striving, avoid all speculation, and put your trust in God
- set aside all anxious striving and labor
- avoid all speculation on God’s ruling of the world – don’t second-guess God
- and be thankful to God for whatever satisfaction he gives you, valuing and measuring everything as a gift from him
- never forget that although you are not in control, God is, and we will have to render strict account to him
- stop trying to be God; let God be God
- (Ecclesiastes 2:24) 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,
- (Ecclesiastes 2:25) for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
- (Ecclesiastes 3:12) I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
- (Ecclesiastes 3:13) That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil–this is the gift of God.
- (Ecclesiastes 5:18) Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him–for this is his lot.
- (Ecclesiastes 5:19) Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work–this is a gift of God.
- Ecclesiastes helps us accept that what could drive us to agnosticism and skepticism can really drive us to God
- as we recognize the difficulty and complexity of life, we can understand God’s presence and lift our lives onto a higher plane where a solution is believed to exist, although we might not understand it
- God loves us and cares for us
- he makes everything beautiful in his time
- we can trust him and enjoy his gifts
- this is the message of Ecclesiastes
- I speak to you this morning as a shadfly among shadflies
- we’re alive for only a brief time
- don’t look to the “goods” of life for satisfaction
- they don’t satisfy, and they’re only transitory anyway
- recognize that you can’t bring yourself happiness
- you’re powerless and you don’t have the answers
- but recognize this morning that God does
- turn your life over to him
- seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you
- learn contentment at God’s hand
- be still and know that he is God
