Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Main Idea: The only way to be ultimately satisfied in life is to find your worth and purpose in Jesus.

Text:

So we’ve been reading and studying the book of Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings since the beginning of the year, and now that we’re about halfway through, I wanted to do a quick recap of what we’ve been talking about so far. So as I was thinking about how to do that, I found the perfect video clip that summarizes pretty much everything we’ve seen so far in Ecclesiastes.

[Jim Carrey’s Golden Globe speech]

As he was about to present an award for the Golden Globes in 2016, Jim Carrey humorously said the same things that we’ve been reading about for the last several months. While pointing out his accomplishments, he confessed that his accomplishments were never enough. He always wanted more. He felt like he needed more. He felt like he was on a search for meaning, and he sought to find meaning in his achievements, but no matter how much he achieved, it didn’t satisfy his search.

As we’ve been reading through the book of Ecclesiastes, we’ve read about several things in life that we sometimes want to make life all about. These can be things like money or fame, or even good things like family and reputation. But whether good things or bad things, we’ve been reminded that ultimately the greatest meaning in life has less to do with what we do, and everything to do with what God has done.

Ecclesiastes 6.

Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity: God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy. A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place? All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied. What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for mankind? For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:1-12)

Father, there are often so many things that pull for our attention, and so many things that tempt us to pursue. Help us to see through all of the meaningless pursuits in this life, and help us to be satisfied in Jesus. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

[Picture of Howard Hughes]

Howard Hughes was an immensely successful investor, pilot, and filmmaker. He’s probably best known for holding the record at one point for flying around the world in a record-breaking time. He also founded the Hughes Aircraft Company, which became a major player in the aerospace industry, and also the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which is one of the largest privately funded organizations for biological and medical research in the United States.

But despite his accomplishments, Hughes struggled with mental health issues and became increasingly reclusive as he got older. He became obsessed with hygiene and cleanliness, often staying in hotel rooms for extended periods and demanding strict protocols from his staff, even while his own personal hygiene began to decline. His self-alienation and drug use made him practically unrecognizable when he died at the age of 70.

[Picture of Old Howard Hughes]

His hair, beard, fingernails, and toenails were all extremely long, and even though he was 6 feet 4 inches tall, he weighed only 90 pounds, and the FBI had to use fingerprints to conclusively identify his body.

His story serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences of unchecked ambition and the importance of finding fulfillment beyond material success.

Just as Jim Carrey recognized that his Golden Globes were not that important, and as the story Howard Hughes illustrates that accomplishments do not lead to a fulfilled life, the Teacher in Ecclesiastes, probably King Solomon, preached the meaninglessness of much of what people seek to find meaning in when it comes to life. And as we’ve been reading Ecclesiastes, we’ve seen many of them. Our Scripture passage today, Ecclesiastes 6, is a type of summary and analysis of much of what we’ve read up to this point in the book. So rather than rehashing a lot of what we’ve talked about before, I encourage you to listen to previous messages if there are aspects this morning you feel like you need to dwell on a bit more. So as we walk through the Scripture this morning, I’ll mention which sermon you can listen to for more information about that topic.

Verse 1.

Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity: God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy. (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)

So we’ve talked before about how seeking wealth is ultimately pointless in the sermon from February 12th titled, “Collecting Stuff to Give Away.” But I want you to notice a couple things that the Teacher says about it in our verses this morning. First, he says that this injustice weighs heavily on humanity, and second, he calls it a sickening tragedy.

It seems like we all know that it’s terribly unjust how money works in the world. It does weigh heavily on us. When we hear, for example, that the wealthiest 10% of people in the United States actually hold 70% of the nation’s wealth, and the top 1% holds 32%, that seems unbalanced and unjust when we remember that there are people living on the streets and begging for food just to stay alive. And yet, most people also seem to know that it would be unjust simply to take from the rich to give to the poor. We know that there are no easy solutions, but we all know it’s a problem. The Teacher calls it a sickening tragedy.

If you’re not sickened by how unjust money works in the world, you’ve either bought into the lies of one worldly economic theory or another, or else you’ve become calloused to the needs of others. And what’s truly mind-boggling about the way that Solomon writes about this issue is that he writes about it in this passage not in the sense that we should feel sorry for the poor, but that we should feel sorry for the rich because they can’t eternally enjoy all the stuff they collected in their lifetimes! It’s unjust that the rich don’t get to keep their stuff even after they die, but it passes to others against his will.

And yet, even though that’s unjust, it’s God’s heart to freely give to us out of His abundance. He doesn’t do it out of compulsion, but simply because He wants to. Out of God’s great love for you, He gave you Jesus.

Verse 3.

A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place? (Ecclesiastes 6:3-6)

We’ve talked before about how seeking to make a name for ourselves is ultimately meaningless in the sermon from January 29th titled, “It’s All for Nothing.” In our passage today, the Teacher focuses more on the idea that a person who lives a long life and a person who doesn’t even get a chance to live, a stillborn child, or we might say an aborted child, both of them go to the same place. And in context, he’s not talking about heaven. He’s talking about the grave. We will all die and be forgotten. And, in fact, Solomon says that the stillborn or aborted child is better off, because they didn’t have to see all of the injustice that took place under the sun, and they didn’t have to live through all of the unjust things that could happen to them in their lives.

This life has a way of making us discontent when we seek to be content merely in the things pertaining to this life. Life is a gift, but it doesn’t always seem like a gift when you think about all the struggles and all the uncertainties that we may experience. It’s so incredibly easy to get caught up in the challenges and hardships, feeling overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

However, in the midst of life’s difficulties, there is an unchanging source of hope and contentment that we can have throughout every circumstance. It’s in Jesus that we find true satisfaction. Jesus said in John 4:14:

But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life. (John 4:14)

As much as we need food and water to live, we need Jesus and more.

Verse 7.

All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied. What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. For when there are many words, they increase futility. (Ecclesiastes 6:7-11a)

We’ve talked before several times about how seeking meaning in life through gaining possessions or wisdom is ultimately futile, most recently last week in the sermon titled, “You Can’t Take It With You,” and in one of the first sermons in this series, from January 8th, titled, “The More You Know.”

But today, the Teacher talks about these things in a slightly different way, in proverbs. He writes, “All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet his appetite is never satisfied.” And he’s not just talking about food. He’s talking about all our desires. We work for all kinds of stuff, but it doesn’t satisfy us. So he writes, “Better what the eyes see than wandering desire.” In other words, don’t worry about all the things that you think you might want. All your wandering desires. Just be thankful for what you already have. For what you can already see. And even that is futile, because life is not about our stuff. So then the Teacher says this really strange proverb: “Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. For when there are many words, they increase futility.” What in the world is he talking about? So let’s break it down.

“Whatever exists was given its name long ago.” Well, that’s true, right? Adam named all the animals on the earth. And by naming things, we’re in a way showing our mastery over those things. It’s like we’re saying, “I understand this, because I have the ability to describe it and name it.” Keep reading in verse 10.

“And it is known what mankind is.” Well, that’s true, too. We’re made in the image of God. We were given dominion over the earth, and we were given the command to fill the earth. God has given us, who are made in His image, power and authority over all the creatures of the earth. We’re like little gods. So keep reading.

“But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he.” Who is that? Well, that’s God, right? God is the One stronger than man. Mankind is the strongest, most dominant creature on the face of the earth, but God is stronger, and wiser, and more knowledgeable, and in order to claim to know anything at all, we must recognize who we are in relation to God.

So the Teacher concludes the parable by writing, “For when there are many words, they increase futility.” There are so many things we don’t know. We don’t know why God gives riches to some, and poverty to others. We don’t know why some people live long lives, and others lives seem to be cut short. We don’t know why there seems to be so much injustice in the world, whether on a personal level or on a global scale. So the Teacher summarizes much of what we’ve read with the question at the end of verse 11:

What is the advantage for mankind? (Ecclesiastes 6:11b)

In other words, why did God create us at all? And is there any advantage to us one way or the other when looking at all the different ways that we could live? Why seek to be rich instead of poor? Why seek to live long instead of short? Why seek to be wise instead of foolish? Because when we consider any of these things from a purely earthly standpoint, none of them even matter!

You see, outside of the meaning that God gives us, there is no meaning to anything. If we are just products of random chance, then there’s no such thing as moral absolutes, and there’s no such thing as what should be, because everything we do ultimately comes down to personal preference and a pursuit of the wind, which you can never ever catch.

So the Teacher asks another two questions in verse 12:

For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:12)

I don’t know about you, but I’ve sometimes gone down a rabbit hole of trying to figure out how to live and what to do. Do I not care who I offend as I share Jesus according to Luke 21:17, or do I seek to live a quiet and peaceful life according to 1 Thessalonians 4:11? Do I seek to do justice according to Micah 6:8, or do I show mercy according to the very same verse? Or do we somehow try to do all of these things, because life is like a paradox that we can’t fully understand? Because who knows what is truly good in life? And if we choose one course of action or the other, who can tell anyone what will happen as a result under the sun?

But the answer to these questions, of course, is Jesus, and anyone to whom He reveals Himself.

Only Jesus, who is God, can tell us what is good, because only God is good. Anything that we call good apart from God’s judgment of what is good is just a preference. I might call it good, but someone else might call it evil, and both of these are equally valid judgments apart from God’s absolute judgment.

The only way to be ultimately satisfied in life is to find your worth and purpose in Jesus.