Over the years, many of people have come up with metaphors to try and describe what life is like. Perhaps you are familiar with a few of these.
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
• Forrest Gump
Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still.
• Lou Erickso
Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.
• Thomas L. Holdcroft
Life is like riding a bicycle. You don’t fall off unless you plan to stop peddling.
• Claude Pepper
Life... is like a grapefruit. It’s orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.
• Douglas Adams
Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you’re really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back.
• John Mayer
Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we’re all of us looking for the key.
• Alan Bennett
Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
• Carl Sandburg
If the author of Ecclesiastes was to boil the book down into a metaphor, perhaps he would have described life like this:
Life is like a sandcastle.
At least that’s a pretty good summary of the passage that we’ll be looking at this morning. If you’ve ever been to the beach and built a sandcastle you know what I mean. You spend hours building the perfect sandcastle – maybe not quite as exquisite as some of the ones you seen on the screen [pictures of sandcastles on PowerPoint] – but a masterpiece nonetheless. But eventually the tide comes in and the waves destroy your sandcastle. And if you go back the next day there is absolutely no evidence that your sandcastle ever even existed.
Let’s go ahead and read our passage for this morning:
2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 3 What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 (NKJV)
This passage will give us an opportunity to review several of the important principles that we looked at briefly last week as well as to move a little deeper in our understanding of Ecclesiastes.
WHY LIFE IS LIKE A SANDCASTLE
1. Life “under the sun” is vapor
In verses 2 and 3, we find two of the key principles that we talked about last week. The first this is that we’re reminded of the perspective from which Qoheleth is writing – “under the sun”. As we saw last week, that is a reference to the visible world in which we live.
We’re also reminded that life, when viewed from that perspective, is “vanity”. As we saw last week, that is the translation of the Hebrew word “hebel”, which literally means “vapor” or “breath”. It is not, as we saw, “meaningless” as the NIV translates that word, but rather temporary and fleeting.
This is such an important principle that Qoheleth repeats the word five times here in verse 2 and then brings his book to a close by repeating this verse almost word for word in chapter 12:
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 12:8 (NKJV)
You’ll notice the phrase “vanity of vanities” is used in both those verses. This is the Hebrew way of giving emphasis to the concept, in much the same way that the most holy place in the Tabernacle and Temple was called the “holy of holies”. That phrase is even translated “the most holy place” in some translations. So we could very accurately translate the phrase “vanity of vanities” like this: “the merest of vapors”.
James picks up this same concept in the New Testament:
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James 4:14 (NIV)
That sounds a lot like a sandcastle to me – it appears for a while and then vanishes. And when viewed from “under the sun” that is exactly what life is like.
2. Man should not expect a “profit” from his efforts
In verse 3, “Qoheleth” asks a very important question:
What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?
The word “profit” that is used here is unique to the book of Ecclesiastes within the Bible. It is a commercial term that indicates a surplus that is generated when raw material is invested in, manipulated and shaped in order to market and sell it as a profit. It is also translated “advantage” in some other translations.
Although he doesn’t answer his question explicitly at this point, Qoheleth does answer it implicitly with his reflection on the nature of God’s creation that begins in verse 4:
• Three examples from nature
Perhaps some of you will remember these lyrics from Disney’s 1994 movie “The Lion King”:
From the day we arrive on the planet
And, blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round
It’s the Circle of Life
Although the movie itself certainly contained some New Age ideas, this particular song pretty well describes the kind of circle of life that Qoheleth describes beginning in verse 4. He provides us with three examples of the circular nature of life:
o The sun
Although we know that the sun appears to proceed in a circular pattern around the earth because of the earth’s rotation, when viewed from “under the sun” the sun appears to be in a continuous journey around the earth. It rises in the east each morning and sets in the west every evening. And in this process, the sun never generates a profit or advantage. As it goes through this circular pattern, the sun is not changed by the process and it doesn’t influence the process.
o The wind
Qoheleth describes the wind as going in a circular pattern from north to south and then completes the circuit by heading back north again. You’ll notice that the north-south direction balances out the east-west direction of the sun in the previous verse.
Once again the process of the wind does not generate any kind of surplus. The wind neither changes the circular process nor is itself influenced by that process.
o The water cycle
This third example is perhaps the clearest example of the point the author is attempting to make. The water cycle is one of the best examples in nature of an essentially closed system. Even though the rivers are supplied by springs and by rain and continually flow into the seas, that process never changes the level of the sea. There is never a surplus of water generated during that process that would cause the seas to overflow. And, at the same time, even during periods of drought the seas don’t get emptied out either.
In verse 8 Qoheleth presents a threefold human response to this threefold example from nature:
All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
Unfortunately, many Bible versions translate the first phrase of this passage “All things are wearisome…” but the Hebrew word, which is used only two other places in the Bible, refers to hard work that causes weariness, rather than weariness itself. It seems quite clear that when Qoheleth writes that all things are full of labor, he is referring to these natural cycles that he has just described. And when we view the majesty and wonder of creation from our vantage point “under the sun”, it is certainly true that man is completely unable to comprehend these great wonders. So there are no words to describe it {man cannot express it] and as we look [the eye is not satisfied with seeing] and listen [nor the ear filled with hearing] to it, we are unable to totally comprehend it.
The author’s intent here seems quite obvious at this point. If even these cycles of nature, which are completely beyond the comprehension of man, don’t generate a profit, or surplus, how can puny little man expect to do that through his labor and toil? If God’s creation is content to go on with its tasks day after day in a manner consistent with its nature, with no expectation of profit, why should we expect that our lives under the sun could possible produce any advantage or gain?
3. Man’s efforts have no lasting value
Based on what we’ve seen so far, we shouldn’t be surprised that Qoheleth wraps up this section by pointing out the logical result that all of man’s efforts under the sun have no lasting value. It is in this section that we find the well-known phrase which is often taken out of context:
And there is nothing new under the sun.
As humans, we are a whole lot more impressed with our own accomplishments than God is. It is true that technology changes and that man is continually coming up with new inventions. But from God’s perspective, the old French proverb is certainly true:
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
We’ve been to the moon, but the spacecraft that got us there was really just a new form of transportation. Even our most advanced computers are only completing the very same tasks that man has been doing throughout history – writing, calculating, communicating and organizing.
And even if those computers complete those tasks more efficiently, they are still dependent upon man providing the correct input and the right programming.
So Qoheleth ends this section by making it clear that even the greatest of man’s accomplishments will eventually be forgotten. They have absolutely no lasting value.
We can certainly see this in our own culture. Let me demonstrate. Let’s see how many of you can identify any of the following people:
Jim Verraros, Charles Grigsby, Mathew Rogers, Nadia Turner. How are we doing? Anyone know who they are? Let me continue with the list: Lisa Tucker, Brandon Rogers, David Hernandez.
Every one of these people was a finalist on the most popular show in America the last seven years – “American Idol”. And yet even some of the most recent of these contestants are long forgotten. Mark Twain was right when he observed, “The world will lament you for an hour and forget you forever.”
When we view life from under the sun, it certainly is like a sandcastle – here today, completely gone tomorrow. I’m convinced that even most unbelievers understand, at least deep down inside, the fleeting and transient nature of our life here on earth. Unfortunately, that reality leads to widespread hopelessness. But it doesn’t need to be that way. We get some hints from Qoheleth about how we need to respond to that reality in order to have hope and fortunately the Bible as a whole gives us even more information about how we can have hope. So let’s close by addressing:
HOW TO RESPOND TO LIFE THAT IS LIKE A SANDCASTLE
1. Embrace the journey
This morning we’ve looked at three realities about life “under the sun” that Qoheleth describes in this passage:
• Life is a vapor
• Man’s efforts produce no “profit”
• Man’s efforts have no lasting value
We’re going to see this more as we progress in our journey through Ecclesiastes, but I’m convinced that the reason Qoheleth presents these realities right up front is that much of the frustration and hopelessness in life is a direct result of trying to avoid or to overcome these realities. And unfortunately, that seems to be just as common among followers of Jesus as it is in the world in general.
One of the reasons that the author presents the three examples from nature is that he is showing just how futile it is for man to try to somehow manipulate God’s creation for our own benefit and enjoyment. No matter how hard we work, there is no way that man can interrupt these cycles that God has put into place in nature.
Qoheleth, even though he may not use these terms, forces us to deal right here with three related, but very distinct concepts:
• God’s sovereignty
Qoheleth is a witness to God’s sovereignty when he describes how the cycles of the sun, wind and water function exactly as God ordained them to be as the supreme ruler and authority whose divine purpose is always accomplished. Job was also a witness to that same nature of God:
Then Job replied to the LORD: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:1, 2 (NIV)
As Qoheleth clearly demonstrates, the universe operates according to the will of God in accordance with His purposes, plans and ways.
• Man’s free will
In the secular world, the concept of man’s free will is frequently a synonym for another concept we’ll look at in just a moment – man’s volition. But in the Bible, we clearly find that these are two completely different and separate ideas.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language actually provides us with a definition of free will that is helpful to us in distinguishing free will from volition:
The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.
Qoheleth, without even using the phrase itself, makes it quite clear that man does not have free will. No matter how hard we work at it, no matter how hard we try, we cannot change these cycles that God has ordained. We can’t even manipulate them in a manner that will provide us with an advantage or a profit. In other words, our choices are clearly constrained by God’s will and therefore we do not have free will.
• Man’s volition
Man does, however, have volition. Once again the dictionary definition is helpful:
The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision.
Even though we can’t change the realities – that would be free will – we do have the ability to choose how to respond to those realities. We can either fight against those realities, which, as we have clearly seen, is fruitless and frustrating, or we can accept them and embrace them and adjust our lives to live in harmony with those realities. We can either keep on building those sandcastles day after day, hoping against hope that one of them will last some day, or we can accept the fact that all of our sandcastles are going to be wiped out, but just experience the joy that is found in building the sandcastle in the first place.
In his book A Table in the Midst, Jeffrey Meyers shares this helpful insight:
In all of man’s work and labor, he changes nothing, he controls nothing, he successfully manipulates nothing that matters. Everything goes on the same as it has because everything is outside our control! Unbelievers do not accept this fact, but faithful Christians who have acquired wisdom know that it is true. And they trust God and enjoy life just the same.
2. Avoid the pursuit of “profit”
Jesus very clearly spoke to His followers about the pursuit of profit:
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:36 (NIV)
Qoheleth makes it quite clear that there is no profit “under the sun”. So for us to pursue such profit is really pointless. And, as Jesus points out, even if there was some way for us to obtain a profit here on earth, it would be completely worthless if that meant forfeiting that which does have lasting value – our soul.
Unfortunately, we as followers of Jesus are often indistinguishable from the rest of the world when it comes to the pursuit of profit. Iain Provan makes this very accurate observation:
This brand of religious secularism is also why so many people in the modern world who take the name “Christian” are in many respects indistinguishable…from their non-Christian counterparts, for they have largely bought into the secular dream. While talking a good Christian talk, they are in fact pursuing with all their might precisely the same goals as everyone else. They are looking for happiness and fulfillment in this life…they are looking to make their mark…they are looking to manipulate the world so as to achieve their own personal and family goals. [NIV Application Commentary, p. 63]
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a long way to go in this area. But my commitment to God is that I’ll strive to lay up treasures in heaven rather than pursue a profit here under the sun.
3. Find my “newness” in Jesus
While it is true that there is nothing new “under the sun”, Jesus came to this earth to provide us with something that is truly new and different. In fact, everything in the Bible that is really new is connected to Jesus:
• Creation itself
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Colossians 1:16 (NIV)
• My new life as a follower of Jesus
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
• The new heaven and new earth that will be my permanent home
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2 (NIV)
Our lives here on earth are certainly like a sandcastle. But that does not mean that they are without meaning or that they can’t be enjoyed. Even though I know it is only temporary, I still enjoy building a sandcastle. The process of digging and molding and shaping brings a degree of satisfaction and joy. The same thing is true of our lives here “under the sun.” Even though they are fleeting and transient, we can still enjoy the journey. But in order to do that we need to make sure we’re not pursuing the same non-existent profit the world is after, but rather that we’re pursuing Jesus.
