Optimist Vs. Pessimist

Let me ask you a question: it’s an embarrassing question but here in the church is the place we can say anything... Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Maybe the person who sit closest to you, and who know you the best, can answer the best. None of us like to be labeled as pessimist, right?

And yet I discovered both, optimist and pessimist are necessary to make the world that we live in, a better place, both of them. The optimist invents the airplane ( I can fly, you’ll see!…), and the pessimist invents the parachute… You know, these things are together, I don’t want one without other.

The optimist said: “My cup runs over, what a blessing!” The pessimist said “My cup runs over: what a mess!” We need both… And you know: most times the pessimist and the optimist are right. Both of them are right.

The difference is that the optimist tries to say: is a lot more enjoyment in life with less pain. That seems to be the basic message of Ecclesiastis. Eccles-what?: what is that? Some of young people over here don’t know… Is another social network like Facebook? It’s the name of a town in Europe somewhere? Or a book in the Bible? Is a, b, or c? Yes, is a book in the middle of the Bible. I would like to encourage you to open this book.

What the book is! When you read Ecclesiastes, you can very easily come to the conclusion at so many other people come to: it is the most pessimistic gloomy book in the Bible. And this why most church people don’t read it.

Maybe once in the lifetime, gladly not again. Only some verses for the sake of proving the state of the dead doctrine. So let go to the beginning and see what we talking about.

Ec.1:1 READ. Meaningless 3 times! Sounds like someone is very depressed and needs a psychiatrist. Everything is meaningless. It’s a pretty negative statement. Pessimistic. Sounds so bad.

I mean you cannot find many book in the Bible and book anywhere like Ecclesiastes. That’s can be pessimistic fellows, and hope to get some lift out of that.

And the basic concept of the word “meaningless” (not vanity in other versions) as use by Solomon in this book is the statement that everything in life is an illusion. Everything is a fake. Nothing is real, nothing making sense, and everything that to touch value to, is a delusion.

That is talking about when it’s said “everything is meaningless”. So who on earth is going to enjoy life when they come to the conclusion that everything in life is meaningless? Does no make sense!

Life is nothing that one big fake. How is possible to enjoy life like that? That will make earth nothing more than a Mud Ville. And it’s no joy in Mud Ville.

Is that what God try to tell us in this book, Ecclesiastes? In the middle of His Holy Word? That’s the impression that you get? Is that the message of God trough this book?

The idea of meaninglessness, of vanity, is not statues once in this book. The author starts of that way and goes on and he says many-many times getting right down to chapter 12:8, almost the end of the book. He states again, word for word… all the way trough and several times, making this point: life is meaningless. That’s what he says.

And wasn’t Solomon anointing to be a wise king? So, let’s look at it: in the beginning, in the middle, at the end of the book: everything in life is meaningless. And not just life but I tell you what I mean by that. And Solomon emphasis this idea: wisdom is meaningless. Ecc.1.17 READ.

Deep… “Chasing after the wind” (remember Bob Dylan, blowing in the wind). Well, how many of you believe that? If it was not in the Bible, you might not be willing to believe that. Wisdom is meaningless. So wisdom is meaningless.

And he doesn’t stop here. He goes on and said: “Pleasure is meaningless”. You want to follow this in the Bible? Ch. 2:4-11 READ. Projects = pleasure, flocks = Cadillacs. Oho, blasphemy! Solomon said without any shame, with serenity: “I had everything a man (sinful man!) could desire”! But… meaningless.

Solomon said: wisdom is meaningless, pleasure is meaningless, what is left? A career is meaningless. Ecc.2.17-18 READ. And so, the less work you will do, the better you are.. Because all the work you do, everything you built up, sweat for, labor for, is meaningless. Poor guy, can you help him a little bit?

So wisdom is meaningless, pleasure is meaningless, career is meaningless, everything, even reaches and wealth is meaningless. Read that, chapter 5:10 READ.