Scripture Ecclesiastes 1:9
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. NIV
These are the words of the Quester, David's son and king in Jerusalem: 2 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything — it's all smoke. 3 What's there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? 4 One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes — it's business as usual for old planet earth. 5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again — the same old round. 6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north. Around and around and around it blows, blowing this way, then that — the whirling, erratic wind. 7 All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up. The rivers keep flowing to the same old place, and then start all over and do it again. 8 Everything's boring, utterly boring — no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear. 9 What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing. MSG
Small Intro then say “I can’t get no satisfaction.” (Video of Rolling Stones)
Do you ever feel like “I am filled up with Christ and I am ready to take on the world?”
Do you ever feel like, “My tank is empty, nothing I do matters and nobody cares anyway, so why should I even try?”
Does life seem to be like a roller coaster with ups and downs, twists and turns?
Or maybe a series of Mountains and Valleys that never seem to send? (Gretchen and I in the South Hills – at each summit was another hill to climb)
If it is like that for you individually, isn’t more so for a church? Ashland used to have 500+ people a week in worship. Is that a sign of the times and we accept it could never be that again? Do the Cedar Creeks of the world have the only chance for that? Do we hope that God will work miracles or just try to make sure we meet budget and have a decent attendance?
If it is like that for individuals and churches, how much more so for a nation. Will the US and North Korean leaders meet or won’t they? Will shootings at schools, malls, churches and concerts ever stop or become more pervasive? Will we ever get the US out of debt? Will the US serve as a moral compass for the world? Will we be the most technologically advanced country in the world?
Ecc 1:8-9 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Bud Young – Art teacher at Judson College “It’s been done before”
Well, let’s look at this cheerful text of scripture and see what it has to do with our theme for the year.
Who wrote these word?
Ecc 1:1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem’
Of course that must be Solomon. Teacher – that could be anyone. Son of David, king in Jerusalem? That could be any of thousands of people descended from Solomon, even Jesus was known as a son of David. Very few believe Solomon wrote. Sometimes it is from the voice of a subject, not a king. It seems to be written at a later period than Solomon, but someone writing in such a way as to pick up some themes from Solomon himself.
What was this person writing about?
Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless!
Smoke, nothing but Smoke! There’s nothing to anything. It’s all smoke!
That version from the Message is a better translation than the NIV. The word used 38 times in Ecclesiastes more than the rest of the entire OT is translated meaningless – or smoke and is actually translated as breath. The Hebrew is hebel = breath. In other words, 5 generations from now no one will remember what you have done and few will even know you ever existed. You are only a mist, a breath that appears for a moment then vanishes with the wind. Life is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile, empty, worthless, pointless. If extended it could be saying your church or your country are insignificant, unimportant, inconsequential, trivial, and irrelevant.
“I love preaching so I can build people up.”
As many times as hebel is used by the author, there is a phrase connected to it used almost as often, that phrase is “under the sun” If earth were placed inside a bubble, away from heaven’s influence, separated from God’s presence, this is what life would look like.
The author says, consider your work –
the traditional wife/stay at home mom gets up, cleans, does laundry, chases the toddlers around and tries to make a creative healthy meal that everyone will want to devour.
The husband works and commutes 50+ hours per week, comes home to mow the lawn, take out the trash, watch some tv sleep and hate his alarm in the morning.
The single person works, tries to balance various friendships as well as their checkbook and wonders, who will I leave all my stuff to when I die? Everything is meaningless under the sun.
It is amazing, since there is this rhythm of life under the sun, that we work so hard to grab it and try to control it, when in reality we cannot. We seek self-importance by trying to elevate ourselves above others. It is all meaningless!
The author goes on to talk about trying to find meaning through pleasure – laughter, sex, alcohol, drugs, tranquility…all are meaningless; but a breath. Money doesn’t satisfy nor does poverty. The possession of things or the absence of material stuff does not provide meaning – it will all be given to someone else as people say their final farewells to you. Our nation has so many struggles with fighting from within and without. Thousands of churches close their doors every year compared to the few, in the US which are just starting – it appears we are losing ground-under the sun.
READY FOR GOOD NEWS?
We are not living only under the sun – we are living in the SON!
We do not need to invest our lives in the temporal matters of earth. We have a destination far greater than what we see and experience day to day under the sun.
Augustine referred to Ecclesiastes as, "Setting forth the vanity of this life, only that we may desire that life wherein, instead of vanity beneath the sun, there is truth and eternal joy under Him who made the sun!"
Phil 4:11-13 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Luke 12:22-31
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
"Paintings are valuable because the artist signs them. Imagine—what some museum would say you were worth if you could show them the signature of God upon you. That's what the Imago Dei means: God, the greatest Artist, has signed you and me. Our value is not based on what we have done, but in who made us.
Think about this – the entire premise of Ecclesiastes – Everything is meaningless under the son – separated from God – that is a pretelling of our story – and of the story of the prodigal son who took the life his Father gave him and he tried every activity under heaven to give his life meaning and nothing ever worked, till the day he went back home and was lovingly-eternally welcomed into his Father’s arms…and that changed EVERYTHING!
ILLUSTRATION: Portrait of his son – whoever buys it, gets it all!
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