[Read Ecclesiastes 1:1-11]
We are living in a time when many of us find ourselves asking the question, “Why?” We have been watching school shootings increase exponentially over the past decade and wonder, “Why?” We have watched the suicide rates increase and find ourselves asking, “Why?” Right now, we’ve been watching unjust killings and rioting spread across our country and find ourselves asking, “Why?”
We’re in the process of experiencing one of Jesus’ parables. He said, ““Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”” (Matthew 7:24–27, NIV). Or, to connect with the Old Testament, we are experiencing the book of Judges: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.” (Judges 2:10–12, NIV).
We have been teaching the last few generations that there is no God. We have been teaching the last few generations they are the result of random chaos over time. We have been teaching the last few generations that order comes out of chaos. We have been teaching the last few generations that there is no absolute truth or morality—because there is no standard or creator. When we are laying foundations of sand, we should not be surprised when everything begins to fall with a great crash.
This is what the book of Ecclesiastes is all about. It was written at a point in history very much like our own. There was wealth and prosperity and comfort and a rejection of God. They thought things were good. They thought they were happy. They thought they were at the epitome of history and progress. So, the author decides to step into their world and look around. He decides to show them the result of their worldview. He shows them the outworking of their beliefs.
What does he determine? It’s all meaningless. He says, ““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?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3, NIV). When you see the phrase “under the sun,” it’s a reminder that the author is talking about a worldview that rejects God. The world “under the sun,” is the worldview that refuses to acknowledge anything outside of the created world. When the author dives into that world—the world that has rejected God—all he sees is meaninglessness. It’s pointless.
That’s the reason we are where we are in our culture. We’ve raised the last few generations with this worldview. We’ve raised the last few generations in a worldview that removes any sense of meaning and purpose from life. Their life has no meaning or purpose and the lives of the people around them have no meaning or purpose. That’s why suicide rates are up. That’s why school shootings are up. That’s why unjust deaths and rioting is up. In their worldview, it’s all meaninglessness.
In this worldview, we’re just another part of nature. We’re really no better than the plants and trees and animals. We’re all made of the same stuff. Yet, we’re more fragile. “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.” (Ecclesiastes 1:4, NIV). We simply come and go like a mist. The earth has some firmness to it. It lasts a long time. There are trees that are centuries old, but we’re lucky to even make it to a century. What’s the point if we’re just going to pass away?
In their worldview, the sun shows the meaningless of life. “The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” (Ecclesiastes 1:5, NIV). The sun is stuck in this pattern of rising and setting, only to do it again the next day. It’s monotonous. It seems pointless. Have you ever felt that way about your job? You go to work in the morning only to come home, go to bed, and do it again the next day? What’s the point of it all?
The wind has a little more freedom. “The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.” (Ecclesiastes 1:6, NIV). Yet, the freedom of the wind, ends up becoming its own rut. It just pointlessly blows around and around and around. It’s freedom becomes its own rut. It’s like the person who has all the freedom in the world, but finds themself wandering around aimlessly. What’s the point of it all?
At least the rivers look productive. They are always on the move—always doing something. Yet, “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.” (Ecclesiastes 1:7, NIV). They LOOK productive but accomplish nothing. They never fill up the sea and they keep flowing in the same places. It’s like the assembly line worker, who is always busy working but the job never ends and they never seem to make progress. They keep doing the same thing over and over and over again but see no progress.
The author concludes, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8, NIV). He points back to the question he asks at the beginning, “What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3, NIV). What’s the point of it all? What are we actually gaining from all this work? It all seems pointless and meaningless.
And the world recognizes this is not good. Deep down inside, we know that we need meaning and purpose. So, when our worldview removes these things, we try to create our own meaning and purpose.
So, some have tried to create meaning and purpose in their work by talking about progress. We find meaning and purpose in our work by knowing that we are furthering culture and furthering the human race. To that the author says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9–10, NIV). Whenever you think you’ve created something new, you will find that someone else already thought of it. Even this pandemic that is causing so much struggle and frustration is nothing new. It’s happened over and over and over again throughout history. So, the idea of “progress” won’t help you find meaning in your work.
So, then people try to create meaning in their work by creating a legacy. This week I heard a Christian homeschool advertisement that said something like, “On their deathbed, nobody wishes they had spent more time at work making money. They wish they had created a legacy.” Yet our author says, “No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.” (Ecclesiastes 1:11, NIV). Legacies easily disappear. There’s no meaning there. Think about the “legacy” of Christopher Columbus. How’s that working out for him? A generation has risen up that is removing his legacy. Every day buildings and statues are torn down and people’s legacies removed. So, the idea of “legacy” won’t help you find meaning in your work.
So, then people try to find meaning in their work through pleasure. I’ve heard people say work is all about earning money so that they can spend that money on pleasurable things. They don’t want to work, but in order to do what they want to do, they need money. So, they work. Yet, the more things you buy, the more money it takes to keep them going. Everything is passing away. Everything is slowly breaking. It becomes the same rabbit hole. You are no longer caught in an endless cycle of doing a seemingly endless task, but you are now caught in an endless cycle of funding your pleasure—never having enough to meet your needs, never fully having the time nor the money to do what you want to do.
How do you feel right now? Do you feel uplifted and encouraged? Probably not. That’s the point of this book. The author of this book is taking a machete to the idols of our day. He’s not messing around. He’s not looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. He’s getting up in our face and telling us the cold, hard truth. He’s preaching a truth that is repeated throughout the Old Testament: “This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” (Jeremiah 2:5, NIV). The word “worthless” in this passage is the same word as “meaninglessness” in our passage. They rejected God, pursued meaningless pursuits, and became meaningless themselves.
To keep driving the point home, I think this pandemic is teaching us the same thing. As we see so many things taken away from us—so many things threatened—people are feeling lost, confused, and a sense of meaninglessness. What’s the point of all this if it can be taken away by a virus? As each idol is toppled by this virus, we increasingly become uncomfortable—things we trusted in and found meaning in are gone. Even Christians are beginning to realize they were following worthless—meaningless—idols.
If we reject God—or allow ourselves to follow those who reject God—we are left with a meaningless, purposeless life because there’s nothing beyond this life: “This is all we have and all we have is vanishing.”
Yet, the goal is not to wallow in our meaninglessness. Deep down inside us, we KNOW that there is purpose and meaning in life. So, once our meaningless idols have been destroyed, we need to search for true meaning and purpose. That meaning and purpose can only come from the God who created the heavens and the earth—who created you.
There’s a beautiful passage about this in the 1 Corinthians. Paul writes, “ “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:54–58, NIV). IN THE LORD your labor—your work, and toil—is not meaningless. There’s purpose and meaning. Under the sun—apart from the Lord—everything is meaningless. Yet, above the sun—in the heavens, in the Lord—there is meaning and purpose.
That meaning and purpose is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lived and died and rose again from the dead so that we could be free from sin and death. Through faith in him, we’ve been freed from any notion of earning our salvation—working for our salvation. Now, we rest in him and trust him. Now, we no longer work for ourselves, trying to prove/earn something, but we work for the Lord. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23–24, NIV). The resurrection of Jesus Christ points us beyond the “rewards” of this life—life under the sun—to eternal rewards in heaven.
In Christ, then, we live each day finding meaning and purpose in serving our Savior. We work hard—not because we’re trying to earn something—but because we love someone—Jesus. We work hard—not seeking and earthly reward, but trusting in the heavenly reward to come. None of these can be taken away from us because they are eternal in heaven with Christ.
Apart from Christ we are forced to cry out, ““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?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3, NIV). But in Christ, we are freed to cry out, “Meaning! Purpose! Everything has purpose! None of our work is meaningless when we work and toil IN CHRIST!