Empty Pursuits, 17 March 2019
11 03 19 Filed in: Sermons | The Meaning of Life
Empty Pursuits
Series—The Meaning of Life
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Series Big Idea: The human heart is wired to pursue meaning in life…and the meaning of life itself only truly understood through our Creator.
Big Idea: This world is filled with empty pursuits which will never fill the God-shaped hole in all of our hearts.
There’s an old expression I’ve seen on bumper stickers: he who dies with the most toys wins.
There have been knock-offs such as she who dies with the most memories wins.
We’re blasted daily with thousands of messages that promise satisfaction if we only spend our money on their products, in their restaurant, at their store, on their website. We need more stuff, more experiences, more pleasure.
Today we continue our series called, “The Meaning of Life.” We’re looking at several passages from the ancient book of Ecclesiastes, a book likely written by Solomon, the great king we saw two weeks ago as having been given one wish or request from God.
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (1 Kings 3:5)
David’s son Solomon asked for a heart of understanding…for wisdom. God granted his wish…and gave him so much more. Solomon had everything this world could possibly offer. He had the most toys, the most memories, the most pleasure. Today we’ll see how that worked out for him.
We began looking at the beginning of Ecclesiastes:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4)
This is not terribly encouraging. But surely chapter two is more satisfying.
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3)
Pleasure, laughter and wine were not ultimately satisfying. Sure, they brought temporary happiness, but this is the man who wrote,
Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief. (Proverbs 14:13)
What a downer! He indulges in pleasures and, like Mick Jagger, “can’t get no satisfaction.”
What’s wrong with pleasure? Nothing, so long as it’s not selfish. Pleasure-seeking is usually about our desires, and selfishness destroys true joy. Even if your pursuit of pleasure doesn’t exploit others, it can lonely. There’s something called the point of diminishing returns which means the more you engage with something, often more is needed next time.
Holding hands used to be a thrill, but that led to kissing which led to…
One or two drinks used to be enough, but now it takes several to feel that good.
One hit of that drug used to be enough to get high, but now you need so much more.
When the center of your life is pleasure, you’ll always become disappointed.
Entertainment has a place, but it’s only temporary. Enjoyment and true pleasure build character by enriching the whole person, and that usually includes others.
Pleasure was unsatisfactory, so Solomon gets busy with work.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6)
He was busy! He was accomplished. He achieved. He was a carpenter and gardener. I wish he could come over to my house for a few weeks!
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. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. (Ecclesiastes 2:7-8)
This guy’s got everything! Money, sex, power, …the American Dream!
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:9)
Okay, he’s got everything, including his mind, his wisdom. What more could he want?
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. (Ecclesiastes 2:10)
There’s nothing like that feeling of completion after a job well-done. Solomon had arrived! His dreams had come true!
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 2:11)
Oops! He had wealth and wisdom and skills and success, yet something was missing. Sure, he found temporary delight, but he wanted more. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “Success is full of promises until men get it, and then it is a last-year’s nest from which the birds have flown.”
Work is a blessing from God. It was assigned to Adam in the garden before he sinned. But it cannot fill every part of our soul. So many become workaholics hoping to validate themselves, some literally working themselves to death…or at least destroying their families in the process. Those that make it to retirement are often so unfulfilled that they die from lack of meaningful activity.
Solomon tested life and concluded it is meaningless.
He continues…
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. (Ecclesiastes 2:12-14)
He recognized his wisdom, and he surely appreciated it. Who wants to be a fool?
Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:15-17)
Solomon hated life, despite having everything it offers.
The thing about life—even the greatest of lives—is death follows. For those who say, “He who dies with the most toys wins” there is another message:
You can’t take it with you.
The house you build will someday be in ruins.
The retirement account will eventually be drained.
Your buff body you’ve spent hours in the gym to shape will be buried.
The French humanist Voltaire said, “I hate life and yet I am afraid to die!” Solomon would agree.
Before you become completely depressed, let me remind of what we said last week: Solomon is speaking of life under the sun. Life without God. Life over the sun—with God—is an entirely different proposition.
Solomon said he hated life, it was grievous, it was meaningless.
But Jesus said he came to bring us abundant life, life with meaning and purpose. When we seek first God’s Kingdom, His will, His glory, we will understand the reason we were created, the purpose of life, true joy.
But back to Solomon, a man who pursued God in his youth and later became distracted by…everything he did and acquired.
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19)
At any moment, any of us can leave this life, and all of our stuff will end up…in a garage sale? A dumpster? In the hands of our kids who may be wise or foolish?
This is a good moment to ask, “Do you have a will? Are your affairs in order??
Solomon hated his life, but he also hated his wealth. He realized some universal truths about wealth.
1. We can’t keep our stuff.
One Wall Street Journal writer called money “an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”
Billy Graham said he never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse.
I challenge you to invest temporal resources into eternal things.
2. We can’t protect our stuff.
Not only will somebody get our stuff someday, they may waste it!
3. We can’t fully enjoy our stuff.
That’s the message of the next passage.
When asked, “How much is enough,” one billionaire replied, “Just a little bit more.”
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:20-23)
We work for stuff we have to give away to people who did nothing to deserve it.
We work so hard we can’t rest. We are filled with anxiety, grief and pain.
Fortunately, Solomon ends the chapter with some hope, some encouragement, some God!
Finally, Solomon accepted life, recognizing the Giver of every good gift.
He wrote,
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person 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. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
There’s nothing wrong with stuff. God provides, but we must always be grateful and not entitled. We must remember we are stewards, not owners. Every good and perfect gift is from God. Solomon says even the enjoyment of the gifts is a blessing. We must use all of our gifts for God’s glory. It’s not ours to keep. We are to seek to please God and trust Him to meet our every need.
We must never let our possessions possess us. We need wisdom to be good managers of our time, talents, and treasures. We can enjoy the gifts, but must never forget the Giver.
So What?
Without God, we can never experience true enjoyment of blessings or enrichment of life. It’s good to have things money can buy, but we must never lose the things that money can’t buy…character, integrity, love, relationships, peace, and most of all Jesus.
Warren Wiersbe wrote,
When you start living for the world instead of for the will of God, you begin to look at life from the wrong perspective: “under the sun” and not “above the sun.” Instead of seeking “those things which are above” (Col. 3:1ff.), you start majoring on the things that are below. This wrong vision soon causes you to adopt wrong values, and you stop living for the eternal. The result is disappointment and defeat; the only remedy is repentance and confession of sin (1 John 1:9).
Here’s the thing: you will never find meaning and purpose in pleasure, position, power, or even people. It can only be found in God. He loves you. Jesus died to prove his love for you. He’s the most incredible, kind, and generous Father you can possibly imagine. When we receive His invitation to be adopted into His family, when we trust Jesus as both Savior and LORD, when we make Him the leader of our lives, we can experience true joy, true peace, true meaning, true satisfaction.
If you’ve never experienced God’s love, I’d love to talk with you. Any of our leaders would love to introduce you to the Source of satisfaction.
If you have experienced the meaning of life through a relationship with your Creator, how’s it going? If you’re like me, you find yourself seeking purpose in stuff, in experiences, in things which will never truly satisfy. Most of us don’t worship idols in the form of statues that we kneel before, but we’re tempted to make gods out of the approval of others, the consumption of products, the pursuit of power, and the thrill of adventures. These are all empty pursuits.
Solomon had everything, yet that was his conclusion when he assessed the meaning of life was simply this:
Fear God and keep his commandments.
His wisdom is worth heeding.
Credits: some ideas from the writings of Warren Wiersbe
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series—The Meaning of Life
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Series Big Idea: The human heart is wired to pursue meaning in life…and the meaning of life itself only truly understood through our Creator.
Big Idea: This world is filled with empty pursuits which will never fill the God-shaped hole in all of our hearts.
There’s an old expression I’ve seen on bumper stickers: he who dies with the most toys wins.
There have been knock-offs such as she who dies with the most memories wins.
We’re blasted daily with thousands of messages that promise satisfaction if we only spend our money on their products, in their restaurant, at their store, on their website. We need more stuff, more experiences, more pleasure.
Today we continue our series called, “The Meaning of Life.” We’re looking at several passages from the ancient book of Ecclesiastes, a book likely written by Solomon, the great king we saw two weeks ago as having been given one wish or request from God.
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (1 Kings 3:5)
David’s son Solomon asked for a heart of understanding…for wisdom. God granted his wish…and gave him so much more. Solomon had everything this world could possibly offer. He had the most toys, the most memories, the most pleasure. Today we’ll see how that worked out for him.
We began looking at the beginning of Ecclesiastes:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4)
This is not terribly encouraging. But surely chapter two is more satisfying.
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3)
Pleasure, laughter and wine were not ultimately satisfying. Sure, they brought temporary happiness, but this is the man who wrote,
Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief. (Proverbs 14:13)
What a downer! He indulges in pleasures and, like Mick Jagger, “can’t get no satisfaction.”
What’s wrong with pleasure? Nothing, so long as it’s not selfish. Pleasure-seeking is usually about our desires, and selfishness destroys true joy. Even if your pursuit of pleasure doesn’t exploit others, it can lonely. There’s something called the point of diminishing returns which means the more you engage with something, often more is needed next time.
Holding hands used to be a thrill, but that led to kissing which led to…
One or two drinks used to be enough, but now it takes several to feel that good.
One hit of that drug used to be enough to get high, but now you need so much more.
When the center of your life is pleasure, you’ll always become disappointed.
Entertainment has a place, but it’s only temporary. Enjoyment and true pleasure build character by enriching the whole person, and that usually includes others.
Pleasure was unsatisfactory, so Solomon gets busy with work.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6)
He was busy! He was accomplished. He achieved. He was a carpenter and gardener. I wish he could come over to my house for a few weeks!
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. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. (Ecclesiastes 2:7-8)
This guy’s got everything! Money, sex, power, …the American Dream!
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:9)
Okay, he’s got everything, including his mind, his wisdom. What more could he want?
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. (Ecclesiastes 2:10)
There’s nothing like that feeling of completion after a job well-done. Solomon had arrived! His dreams had come true!
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 2:11)
Oops! He had wealth and wisdom and skills and success, yet something was missing. Sure, he found temporary delight, but he wanted more. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “Success is full of promises until men get it, and then it is a last-year’s nest from which the birds have flown.”
Work is a blessing from God. It was assigned to Adam in the garden before he sinned. But it cannot fill every part of our soul. So many become workaholics hoping to validate themselves, some literally working themselves to death…or at least destroying their families in the process. Those that make it to retirement are often so unfulfilled that they die from lack of meaningful activity.
Solomon tested life and concluded it is meaningless.
He continues…
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. (Ecclesiastes 2:12-14)
He recognized his wisdom, and he surely appreciated it. Who wants to be a fool?
Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:15-17)
Solomon hated life, despite having everything it offers.
The thing about life—even the greatest of lives—is death follows. For those who say, “He who dies with the most toys wins” there is another message:
You can’t take it with you.
The house you build will someday be in ruins.
The retirement account will eventually be drained.
Your buff body you’ve spent hours in the gym to shape will be buried.
The French humanist Voltaire said, “I hate life and yet I am afraid to die!” Solomon would agree.
Before you become completely depressed, let me remind of what we said last week: Solomon is speaking of life under the sun. Life without God. Life over the sun—with God—is an entirely different proposition.
Solomon said he hated life, it was grievous, it was meaningless.
But Jesus said he came to bring us abundant life, life with meaning and purpose. When we seek first God’s Kingdom, His will, His glory, we will understand the reason we were created, the purpose of life, true joy.
But back to Solomon, a man who pursued God in his youth and later became distracted by…everything he did and acquired.
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19)
At any moment, any of us can leave this life, and all of our stuff will end up…in a garage sale? A dumpster? In the hands of our kids who may be wise or foolish?
This is a good moment to ask, “Do you have a will? Are your affairs in order??
Solomon hated his life, but he also hated his wealth. He realized some universal truths about wealth.
1. We can’t keep our stuff.
One Wall Street Journal writer called money “an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”
Billy Graham said he never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse.
I challenge you to invest temporal resources into eternal things.
2. We can’t protect our stuff.
Not only will somebody get our stuff someday, they may waste it!
3. We can’t fully enjoy our stuff.
That’s the message of the next passage.
When asked, “How much is enough,” one billionaire replied, “Just a little bit more.”
So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:20-23)
We work for stuff we have to give away to people who did nothing to deserve it.
We work so hard we can’t rest. We are filled with anxiety, grief and pain.
Fortunately, Solomon ends the chapter with some hope, some encouragement, some God!
Finally, Solomon accepted life, recognizing the Giver of every good gift.
He wrote,
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person 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. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
There’s nothing wrong with stuff. God provides, but we must always be grateful and not entitled. We must remember we are stewards, not owners. Every good and perfect gift is from God. Solomon says even the enjoyment of the gifts is a blessing. We must use all of our gifts for God’s glory. It’s not ours to keep. We are to seek to please God and trust Him to meet our every need.
We must never let our possessions possess us. We need wisdom to be good managers of our time, talents, and treasures. We can enjoy the gifts, but must never forget the Giver.
So What?
Without God, we can never experience true enjoyment of blessings or enrichment of life. It’s good to have things money can buy, but we must never lose the things that money can’t buy…character, integrity, love, relationships, peace, and most of all Jesus.
Warren Wiersbe wrote,
When you start living for the world instead of for the will of God, you begin to look at life from the wrong perspective: “under the sun” and not “above the sun.” Instead of seeking “those things which are above” (Col. 3:1ff.), you start majoring on the things that are below. This wrong vision soon causes you to adopt wrong values, and you stop living for the eternal. The result is disappointment and defeat; the only remedy is repentance and confession of sin (1 John 1:9).
Here’s the thing: you will never find meaning and purpose in pleasure, position, power, or even people. It can only be found in God. He loves you. Jesus died to prove his love for you. He’s the most incredible, kind, and generous Father you can possibly imagine. When we receive His invitation to be adopted into His family, when we trust Jesus as both Savior and LORD, when we make Him the leader of our lives, we can experience true joy, true peace, true meaning, true satisfaction.
If you’ve never experienced God’s love, I’d love to talk with you. Any of our leaders would love to introduce you to the Source of satisfaction.
If you have experienced the meaning of life through a relationship with your Creator, how’s it going? If you’re like me, you find yourself seeking purpose in stuff, in experiences, in things which will never truly satisfy. Most of us don’t worship idols in the form of statues that we kneel before, but we’re tempted to make gods out of the approval of others, the consumption of products, the pursuit of power, and the thrill of adventures. These are all empty pursuits.
Solomon had everything, yet that was his conclusion when he assessed the meaning of life was simply this:
Fear God and keep his commandments.
His wisdom is worth heeding.
Credits: some ideas from the writings of Warren Wiersbe
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.