Jeffrey Heine: Good morning again. We are continuing our new Sunday sermon series, studying the book of Ecclesiastes. This is our 3rd Sunday in this new study. Ecclesiastes is a book of the old testament. It's part of a section of, the bible that the the Israelites called the Ketuvim, the writings, in the Christian Bible in the Old Testament.
It's called the Wisdom Literature. That's where we find books like Proverbs, the Psalms, Job, and where we find ourselves today in Ecclesiastes. We began this study just 2 weeks ago, and we're gonna be picking up in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, beginning in verse 18. It's printed in your worship guide and kind of broken down into the different sections that we'll be making our way through today. If you wanna go ahead and find it in your bibles as well.
But I will, be starting here as we begin reading from chapter 2, beginning in verse 18 of Ecclesiastes. Let us listen carefully, for this is God's word. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool. And he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair, over all the toils of my labors under the sun. Because sometimes a person who is toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his works is a vexation.
Even in the night, his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God. For apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
For to the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner, he has given the business of gathering and collecting only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and striving after wind. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together.
Lord Almighty, you have looked upon your creation with compassion and given your children grace and mercy through Jesus. So today, would you again show us grace and mercy by meeting us in your word by your spirit? Would you move among us, Lord, and lead us to your truth. So would you speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen. The main character and speaker in Ecclesiastes, he first introduced himself in chapter 1 verse 12 with the name, Qoheleth. This Hebrew name is usually translated as the preacher or the teacher. This Hebrew word is actually what the book of Ecclesiastes is called in Hebrew. The book is entitled, Qoheleth.
And this central character, Qoheleth, is an old man, and he is speaking to an audience of people much younger than himself. And he wishes to share what he has seen, what he has done, and what he has learned in his long life. It might come across as irreverent, but I like to picture Coheleth as Sam Elliott. Now, I'm certain that an ancient Israelite looked nothing like and definitely sounded nothing like Sam Elliott, but I do think it helps to envision an older man with white hair and a voice turned rugged by time, and a handlebar mustache doesn't hurt. I imagine Koheleth gathering his eager young listeners together, choosing his words wisely and purposefully, choosing certain words, certain phrases to repeat throughout his monologue, like a persistent drumbeat.
As you may recall from when Joel introduced this study a few weeks ago, Quoheleth address it it this address begins with repeated words, central concepts that are gonna be returned to over and over again throughout Ecclesiastes. When he says, havel havelim, havel havelim, hokal havel, vapor of vapor. Vapor of vapor. All is vapor. If you've ever been interested in studying philosophy, and I understand if you haven't, But if you've ever been intrigued by what it's like to engage in philosophical inquiry, then the book of Ecclesiastes is a perfect picture.
It's the old sage, Quaheleth, speaking with his listeners about the most fundamental questions of life. And like any good philosopher, Quohelet has a focused point of inquiry. In other words, Quohelet has a question. When the philosopher begins with the right question, everything that follows, every subsequent concern, every argument, every answer is tethered to that central question. And for the philosopher of Ecclesiastes, Coheleth, he has a central question.
And he poses it in a lot of different ways throughout his monologue, but I do think it can be reduced down to this. What satisfies? This question, it will be expressed implicitly, explicitly throughout the book asking what is lasting? What can I keep? What is unwavering and permanent?
What is forever? The old philosopher Quohelet nearing the end of his life speaks to his gathering of listeners, and he offers what is like his final lecture. He presents his findings, his lifelong pursuit. What what has he found in this quest in asking the question, what satisfies? As we saw in the past 2 Sundays in chapters 1 and chapter 2, Coheleth begins to outline 3 of the top contenders for what might satisfy, 3 of the most commonly believed, commonly sought, and commonly expected sources of ultimate satisfaction, and they are knowledge, pleasure, and work.
And in chapters 1 and 2, Quohelet presents what he has determined about each of these possible answers for lasting satisfaction. So, a quick review of what Quohelet has said so far. To knowledge, he said this in chapter 1 verse 18, for in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases in knowledge increases in sorrow. Quohelet is saying that his increase in knowledge only increased his sorrow. It was the opposite of satisfaction.
Rather than the pursuit of knowledge bringing a sense of greater understanding of reality and existence, it has brought frustration and even sorrow. It wasn't enough. Perhaps that's because the more you begin to understand, the more aware you become of all that you don't know, and perhaps may never know. The more you know, the more you see what you don't know. And not only that, in a broken and fallen world, we see and hear and learn things that we would rather not know, things that we would rather not not know to be true in our world, things that we wish weren't so.
He who increases in knowledge increases in sorrow. Knowledge does not satisfy, not fully, not in the way that is lasting, not eternally. Cohelet then turns his attention to pleasure. Joel and Dwight, preached on this last week, not together. Dwight preached at the 4 o'clock.
Although, I would like to see them preach together. If there I don't think we have a suggestion box, but if you wanna put that in there, that'd be great. Qu'oz turns his attention to pleasure, and he says this in chapter 2 verse 1. I said in my heart, come now. I will test you with pleasure.
Enjoy yourself. Coelho seeks every excess that he can dream of, food, drink, possessions, treasure, music, concubines, whatever his eye desires, he says, he goes after it. Whatever he desires, he he tries it, he consumes it, he he seeks to gain every aspect of pleasure he can out of it. And in the end, the old philosopher says in verse 11, I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it. And behold, all was vanity and striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
As Joel and Dwight noted, Coheleth does not deny that there were moments, times of actual enjoyment as he pursued pleasure. It's just that it didn't last. After every feast, the next day, at some point, he'd be hungry again. After every pursuit of pleasure, it was never enough. And he found that he was just chasing the wind.
So knowledge did not satisfy Quaheleth, neither did pleasure. Both left him even more dissatisfied and even more sorrowful than he was before. And now the 3rd contender of what might be able to truly satisfy, And this third option is probably the one that we spend the majority of our time throughout our lives trying to make satisfy us, and that is work. As we dig back into our passage for this morning, I want to set the scope of what is meant by work and toil here. When it says work, I certainly think it includes your vocation, your job, what you do for a living.
But I think that Quohelet means something even bigger than that. I think he means work as in all the things that require effort and energy in our lives, all the aspects of striving and toiling, maintaining friendship, our relationships with family, our relationships with neighbors, efforts in marriage, the work of parenting, keeping up a home, managing finances, even taking care of our own bodies, all of these things require effort, energy, toil. So while we definitely should hold in our minds our vocations, our jobs, when you hear work and toil, let's consider this bigger definition of all the striving and all the energy that we expend in our day to day lives. Quaheles begins this section with an honest and startling confession in verse 18 when he says, I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun. The old philosopher confesses to his listeners, I hated all my work.
I hated all my effort and all my toil. That's a bold place to begin. It is telling that even though he hates his work, he's still looking to it to satisfy his soul. This is important for us to keep in mind. It's not that our work always tempts us with evidence of fulfillment.
It often tempts us with the promise of fulfillment. And our sometimes hopeful, often desperate expectation is that work will come through for us. Work will fulfill its promise of providing purpose and significance in our lives. In Quaheleth's treatment of the topic of toil, he will give us 4 observations that we will walk through, 4 lessons that he has made in his long life about work. And he will conclude each one of these four observations with that drumbeat refrain of havel, of vapor of vanity.
So let's begin looking at these 4 observations in verse 18. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool. Yet he will be master of all of for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. Loheleth says that he hated all his toil, and then he gives his reasons for his hating his toil.
And it's it's helpful for us to see that his reasoning for why he hates his work has layers to it. His reasoning for hating his striving unfolds as he explains it. First, he says that he hates it because he must leave it. He's saying I can't hold on to any of it. I can't keep it.
I can't take it with me. Nothing I build or achieve or accrue can take. Can can I take it with me? I must leave it. And having to leave it makes me hate my toil.
My toil is vapor. It's breath. It's wind because I must leave everything behind. I cannot grasp it and hold on to it forever. And if I cannot keep it forever, then it cannot satisfy me forever.
Work is limited and finite just like me. Then the reason for his hatred unfolds even further. He says, I hate my toil and I hate my toil because I must leave it, and I have to leave it to another person. There's more than just a hint of jealousy here in this layer of his reasoning. Quoheleth is bitter that he must leave his possessions and all the work that he has accomplished.
And on top of the fact that he has to leave it, he has to give it to someone else, they will have it all instead of him. He hates his toil because he has to leave it, and he hates his toil because it will all become someone else's. Then he moves to that final layer. He hates his toil because the person that he has to leave it to, they might just be a fool. Someone else will be the master over all the things that he has worked for, And he might be a fool.
He won't know how to maintain all that I've done. He won't respect it or appreciate it. He might even lose it. So why should I work so hard to gain what I must leave just to give it to some fool who might waste it. Not only does the old philosopher lament that he cannot keep all that he's worked for, but even worse, he has to give it to someone else.
And this, Coheleth says, is vanity, hevel. And the reality of all of his work being vapor leads him to despair. Again, we can call to mind when Joel blew out that candle and the smoke began to rise. That is all of Qoheles' work, all that he has been striving for, all of his wisdom, all of his skill, all that he has built, all that he has possessed, it just goes up in smoke. This is the second observation that he offers us in verse 20.
Let's look together. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun. Because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. Is also as vanity and a great evil. Again, the reasoning for his despair is that sometimes a person who has toiled greatly, who is driven with wisdom and knowledge and skill, the hardest and the wisest worker still has to leave everything behind for someone else to enjoy, someone who didn't work for it.
He's surmising that working hard and gaining much doesn't result in getting to keep everything. Making more money, building great buildings, and gaining great possessions, it doesn't make keeping those things any more possible. That's not reality. As Kohelet said a few verses back, you can be great and wise and wealthy, and you'll still die. There's no difference, he says, between the wise person and the foolish person when it comes to death.
And even further, Koheleth observes that when it comes to death, there's not even a difference between a person and an animal. They both have the same end. That's a stark realization for a sunshiny Sunday morning, that the wisest of people and the dumbest of beasts have the same end. They both die. That is the world that we live in.
Regardless of wisdom, regardless of all that toil, the end is the same. Whatever you learned, whatever insights you've gained, whatever you've worked for or built or bought, in the end, you must leave it, all of it behind. And Quaheleth says it's all vapor. Quaheleth then offers his 3rd observation, and this time he does it in the form of a question in verses 22 and 23. Let's look together.
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation. Even in the night, his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. Quaheleth asks, so what is really gained from all of this striving and toil?
What do we really get for all this work that we do under the sun? And he lists 3 things, sorrow, frustration, and exhaustion. That's what we get. We often think that working hard will get us all the things that will satisfy our souls, possessions, respect, notoriety. But Quaheleth says that the rewards that we actually get are sorrow, frustration and exhaustion.
We get a heart that does not even rest at night. I remember a number of years ago, sitting with a church member at a restaurant eating tacos, because that's what ministry is, And we were talking about work. The church member was like a much younger version of Coheleth. He was vexed by his work. He was sharing that he no longer liked his job because he no longer found meaning, and purpose, significance in his work.
He wanted so much more. And as as he was talking, I finished my tacos. It must have been a while since I'd spoken because I was finished and he was not. But, as I sat there, with my meal over, a gentleman who worked at the restaurant came over and he cleared my empty taco basket from the table. And the church member paused as the worker cleared my side of the table, and sensing a break in this monologue, I jumped in with a question.
As the man who worked at the restaurant walked away, I leaned into my friend and I asked quietly, do you think this gentleman is finding his purpose right now? I meant, do you think that this man who just helped clean up is finding his ultimate purpose in life through his work right now? My friend answered, no. I didn't think so either. I think that the man was at work, and his work was valuable and noble.
And not only that, he did it with kindness. But he wasn't there for meaning. He was there to earn money, to take care of himself and his family. He was paying his bills and providing for the people that he cared about most in this world. I don't think he was asking for this taco place to give him significance and meaning for his life.
And yet, for so many of us, we believe in the false promises that work will bring us ultimate purpose and fulfillment. Finally, Quohelet offers his last and perhaps most significant observation on work. Here, he makes a turn. He moves from all that work is not able to achieve, and he offers his best perspective that he has found. Let's look at verse 24.
There is nothing better for a person that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God. For apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner, he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God.
This also is vanity and a striving after wind. Koheleth began by saying he hated his toil, And when he expect when he expected that that work, that toil would satisfy him, that it would tend to the deepest longings of his heart, his work failed him, and he began to despair of life itself. But here, Quohelet introduces a new refrain, a new phrase that's actually going to happen 3 more times in in the book of Ecclesiastes. So 4 times total, Kohelet will state that he has seen, he's perceived a truth, that God has allowed him to see something in his quest for ultimate satisfaction. And this is what he has seen.
This is his principle. There's nothing better than receiving the gifts of God with joy. Here for the first time in the book of Ecclesiastes, Quaheleth mentions God. And it's significant for us to see that this first reference of God is in conjunction with the first positive reference to joy. The great reformer Martin Luther said that these verses, verses 24 and 25, explain everything preceding and following it.
He called it the principal conclusion. In fact, the point of the whole book. Quaheleth says, apart from God, who can eat or have enjoyment? From the hand of God, he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy. So now we're getting closer to what the old philosopher has learned, closer to what he has understood about what satisfies.
It isn't knowledge, it isn't pleasure, and it certainly isn't work. Those things cannot satisfy and will never satisfy us, but that doesn't mean that they are useless or that they should cause us to despair. Quohelet has been showing us the bottomless pit of our need, our desperate need for eternal lasting satisfaction. And knowledge and pleasure and work are just handfuls of dirt that are being cast into that pit. They cannot fill it up.
So rather than looking to wisdom and pleasure and work to satisfy, what if these things were occasions for joy in the Lord? Quaheleth says that he has seen that there is nothing better, nothing better in life than for there to be joy in our few brief days under the sun. Within the properly ordered life with God, that is our seeking him and pleasing Him with our obedience, from there, we can find joy in our work, joy in eating and drinking. There can be joy in the days that God has given us to live. When knowledge and pleasure and toil are ordered rightly in our hearts and our minds, when they are not sought for ultimate satisfaction, these become contexts, places, occasions for joy.
When we do not look to them to satisfy our souls, then they are liberated to be engaged in joyfully. We can find joy in knowledge and wisdom, not sorrow and vexation. Joy in the pleasures of feasting and of music and celebration, and we can experience joy in our work and our toil. I think all of this is very helpful, and very hopeful. While it is hopeful and helpful, I still feel like there's a sense of yearning.
Because Coheleth is saying, because this is the best I've found. I've lived a long life. I've I've tried lots of things. There's nothing better than this. And when it comes to the brokenness of this world, this is the best I've seen, order your life under the commands of God.
Receive his gifts. Find joy in the brief vapor of your days. In a sense, it's a call to accept the broken limitations of our world. Now this is surely positive. It's a hopeful assessment.
It's hopeful in its call to submission to the Lord and receiving his gifts, but it's still so limited because it doesn't answer that central question from Cohelet, what satisfies eternally? In other words, Koheleth is offering a finite answer to an infinite question. It's as good as it gets, he says. Some biblical scholars think that Quaheleth is a gloomy pessimist. Others say that he is subversively optimistic, calling us like Job to behold the unsearchable grandeur of God.
And both of those views have their merit and benefit. But I believe that Quaheleth is a realist. I believe he's offering us a realistic view of our broken world, a post Eden toil cursed world where knowledge, pleasure, and work are corrupted by sin and ultimately death. The book of Genesis echoes throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. Dwight mentioned this in his sermon last week.
Early in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, we can hear the echo of the Genesis creation poem in Quaheles' words when he says, I made great works. I built houses, planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks. And like God, He created all of these things, and yet when He steps back and looks at it all, instead of saying, and it was good, Coelas steps back and says, it's all vapor. Later in Ecclesiastes, Quoheles will say that God has put eternity into the hearts of humanity.
That is why we long for satisfaction that is eternal. That's why we we go to things like wisdom, pleasure, and work, and they are simply insufficient to bring the satisfaction that our souls crave. They aren't eternal. They cannot bring that fullness that we long for. God has put eternity into our hearts.
That is the basis for our longing, our longing for what is more, the longing for what is eternal, and yet we are surrounded by all that is perishing. If you've ever longed for more, it's not just because you're a grumpy pessimist failing to live in the moment. Well, maybe you are. But not always. Not ultimately.
Ultimately, it's because God put eternity into your heart to long for more. Quohelet isn't being a pessimist. He's describing the broken and toil cursed world around him. So if you have ever felt emptiness after pleasure, if you've ever felt sorrow over what over what you have come to see, and to learn, and to know, if you've ever felt frustrated that even though you worked really hard, and even if that thing was successful, it still wasn't enough for you, then you are confirming exactly what Quoheleth has observed. And even more importantly, you are experiencing the world that Jesus left his throne in glory to take on flesh and death and rescue you.
Qu'aheleth seeks ultimate satisfaction. He says, it's not found in anything that he can grasp. Even his possessions, even the things that he has built, he cannot hold on to them. He must leave it. He wants the thing he doesn't have to let go of.
And in Philippians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul writes about Jesus. He says this, though he, Jesus, was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, held onto, but He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. We are chasing vapor, that elusive satisfaction of our souls, that which we cannot grab and keep hold of. And yet Jesus, in his divine perfection, let go of everything and emptied himself to come for you. In light of this, how do we understand these observations of Quohelet?
Are we supposed to derive principles for a better vocational perspective? Are we supposed to fashion it into 12 steps to a better work life balance? You could. Many have. But all of that is managing the symptoms and not addressing what is really the problem.
I think more than a prescription, a short term remedy, Quohelet is describing the true situation that we find ourselves in, the restless and desperate state of our eternal need. I I don't simply need a better outlook on work. I don't simply need a more positive framework for vocational longevity. That might yield some positive benefits, but it's managing the symptoms. I need eternity.
I need that which satisfies the soul for more than an hour, more than a day, more than a lifetime. I need eternal satisfaction. The gospel is not a framework for a better worldview. It isn't a tool for becoming a better person or a harder worker. The gospel is the news that Cohelet was right.
There is nothing new under the sun. There's nothing that you can point to and say, there, that's new. Nothing new. And yet, God himself, through Jesus, has broken into the world of our brokenness and declared, behold, I am making all things new. That is the reordering of our chaos.
That is the breaking of the curse. That is the hope of eternity in and through Jesus. And in him, our path for ultimate and lasting joy is found because that kind of joy, that never stopping, never ceasing, forever joy is found only in the presence of Jesus. Quohelet described the extent to which he could see, the extent to which he could understand. And from his vantage point, he saw as good as it gets living in a broken and passing world.
A world of vapor. And I believe that Coheleth offers us an accurate and honest picture of the plight of humanity in rebellion against God. And what he describes is not simply a world without Jesus. He's describing the very world that Jesus entered into to bring redemption and renewal and restoration. Christ entering our brokenness changes wisdom.
It transforms pleasure, and he reorders the very purpose of our work and our toil. The eternity that God has placed in your heart finds rest and joy in Christ alone. Koheleth says that the toil of sinners is nothing more than to gather and to collect. That's the life of work detached from the eternity in Christ and His kingdom. It's just gathering and collecting what you will bequeath to someone else who might not care about it at all.
And even if they do, even if they keep it, they're gonna have to give it up. They must give it up. This is what we are called into. Coachella describes the extent to which we can see, the extent to which he could understand. It's just this gathering and collecting.
But this means that when we are in Christ and the eternity of our hearts is restored in him and reordered by his kingdom, then all of our work can be a place for joy because we are no longer looking to these lesser gifts to satisfy our soul. When we are truly and eternally satisfied in Jesus alone, the purpose of all of these things is transformed and reordered under his kingship. The toil of education, of vocation, of friendship, of marriage, of parenting, all the toil of life is redefined and reordered under the lordship of Jesus. And when these things are no longer being sought after for ultimate satisfaction, they can be enjoyed in the persistent joy of Christ. Koheleth looked and he saw nothing better.
But what he could not yet see and what he did not yet know was that something better was coming. In fact, everything better was coming in Christ. Coheleth was right. There wasn't anything new under the sun, not until the son of God appeared and is in his appearing, he has come to make our hearts and all things new. And he eternally satisfies us in our souls with his steadfast love.
Let's go to him in prayer. O Lord, would you be near to us as we seek to turn our attention to Jesus alone? That spirit, you would enable us in this time as we meditate on your truth, or that we would trust you more deeply. We would love you more deeply, and we would obey you from our hearts. We pray these things in the name of Christ our King.
Amen. God in His kindness knows that we are a forgetful people. We are easily distracted, easily discouraged, quick to forget. And one of the chief ways that he has given us to remember is through this table, through just common bread and common cup of wine. He's given us these things so that we will remember that Jesus has broken into the brokenness of our world and even our hearts that he has entered in.
And so there are there are multiple layers to what we do at this time. For 1, you coming from your seat to the front. It's kind of a threefold confession. You're confessing to yourself that I'm a person in need. You're confessing to all those who will see you.
Go from your spot to this table to receive. You're declaring, confessing, I cannot save myself. I am in need. And we also receive. We receive a nourishment for our souls.
We we get a foretaste, a taste of heaven, a taste of that eternity that satisfies our souls. And lastly, we declare We declare because as the Apostle Paul said, as often as we eat of this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim Christ's death until He comes again. We are shouting back at the vapor of life. We are shouting back and declaring that Christ has come and Christ will come again. So on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and He broke it.
He said, This is my body that's given for you. Likewise, he took the cup and after giving a blessing, he said, this is the cup of the new covenant that is established in my blood. So now now when we come forward to receive this common bread and this common cup, we ask that the Lord would meet us by His Spirit, nourish our souls, and give us a taste of eternity. So let's pray. Oh Lord God, would you use these common things to do extraordinary work inside of our hearts?
Lord, we trust that you will meet us because you are good and you are kind to your children. So use this time. Move, spirit. Tend to our hearts. I I pray particularly for those who when they hear these things, they they say to themselves, I am unworthy to go to that table.
And by your spirit, would you tell them, of course, they are unworthy. This is a table for those who are unworthy, but made worthy by the work of Jesus. Made worthy to come to the table of the king. Made worthy by his blood and his body. So Lord, would you move in this time and lead us as our hearts seek to worship our king?
We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.