Pursuing . . .
Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26
July 19, 2015
It’s hard to believe that it was only 15 days ago when we celebrated the 4th of July. We know the Declaration of Independence declared declares we are endowed by our Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For many people we take off on that journey, pursuing life, liberty and happiness. I wonder how well we’re doing on that. Are we really experiencing life, liberty and especially happiness? But let’s change happiness to joy.
I think the pursuit of happiness is in full swing, but I’m not sure it’s going to well.
After he won his third Super Bowl, local fan favorite, Tom Brady was interviewed by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. During the interview this is what Brady said —
“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, ‘God, it's got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.”
Steve Kroft then asked him: “What's the answer?”
Brady said, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find.” http://www.heaven4sure.com/MeandGodQuestions/LifeLessons/tabid/58/ctl/ArticleView/mid/387/articleId/436/2015-NFL-Patriots-Tom-Brady-I-Wish-I-Knew-I-Wish-I-Knew.aspx
It wasn’t a flippant response. The facial expressions and the tone of his voice underlined the deep desire for Brady to find the real purpose for his life – the answer that will bring him true and lasting fulfillment – not fleeting successes and thirst for something more.
A famous fashion model, Kylie Bisutti was interviewed after winning a contest with 10,000 other women to be the cover image for Victoria Secret. It made her rich and famous. A year later she said, "I finally achieved my biggest dream, the dream I always wanted. But when I finally got there, it wasn't all I thought it would be." What did she do? At the pinnacle of her fame, she quit! She is finding fulfillment as a Christ follower.
It's not just the rich and famous who aren't finding much satisfaction with all their money and fame. Average Americans appear to be equally inept at finding fulfillment.
Newly married couples were asked what they think their greatest joy in life will be and by an overwhelming margin they reply "raising our kids." Then they are surveyed 5 years later with one or two kids running around and they report pretty low levels of happiness. How often have we heard that and maybe even lived that?
We were told, if we worked more and got that next raise we'd be satisfied. But we weren't. Everyday we’re told if we buy that new product we will find fulfillment — so we buy it and then discover we're still unfulfilled. We think if we change jobs or move to another place in the country we'll find happiness. We disrupt our families and make those changes only to realize a year or two later that the new job is a lot like the old job and the weather is not as nice.
We are looking at the book of Ecclesiastes for the next 6 weeks and it’s not an overly optimistic piece of literature. On the surface, Solomon argued that, at least on the surface, life is kind of like those crazy roundabouts that are popping up all over the place. I don’t like them. They’re aesthically pleasing, but dangerous to navigate.
We can drive on them and realize we are driving around and around and around. The reality that life is like a roundabout didn't stop Solomon from trying to pursue happiness through external means.
We all want to find purpose in life, we need a reason to live, a reason to get up and keep going and that was true of this man who had it all. So Solomon picked 3 of the most common ways people use to find fulfillment and then he ran after them as hard as he could.
He tried Intellectualism. In Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, Solomon wrote ~
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Solomon tried to find fulfillment through his mind. Wisdom is learning about life, how it all works and fits together. He thought he would find fulfillment there but it too was "a chasing after the wind."
We're the most educated nation in human history; every year we graduate thousands with master's degrees, medical degrees, law degrees, and PhDs. As a society we pride ourselves on being smart and getting smarter all the time.
Being educated and becoming intellectually competent are good things. But if you think gaining more knowledge and leveraging your intellectual prowess are going to give you a lasting sense of fulfillment, think again. Our minds are the gift of God but they are limited. Relying too much on our intellect alone is not only fleeting and a chasing after the wind; sometimes it's downright dangerous.
I read about an article that was titled "178 Seconds to Live." It was an experiment conducted at the University of Illinois. 20 pilots who had exceptionally high IQs and a great deal of aviation experience were put in a flight simulator. They were not able to use many of their instruments. They then flew the planes into very dark clouds and stormy weather. The article stated that all 20 of these incredibly bright pilots crashed and killed themselves within an average of 178 seconds. It took these highly intelligent, seasoned pilots less than 3 minutes to destroy themselves once they lost their visual reference points.
As the Solomon said in 1:18: "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” One of the hazards we have as Christians is to hold onto the Bible in a manner which hurts more than helps. We do it when we become legalistic, we do it when we pick and choose passages which can be used to hurt others, while excluding others. We do it when we know the Bible, but never live the Bible.
Of course, I want you to know the Word of God. Read the Bible, read books! But you are not going to find your fulfillment in your knowledge and wisdom. There’s more!
When that didn’t work, Solomon then tried hedonism. Hedonism is “the pursuit of pleasure as the highest aim in life.” This is what Solomon wrote in 2:1-3 ~
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine — my heart still guiding me with wisdom — and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
Since intellectualism couldn't deliver, Solomon tried to live life with the only goal of bringing him the most pleasure possible. In the first part of 2:1 he wrote — “I thought in my heart, Come now, I will test you with pleasure, enjoy yourself.”
That sounds great! Let’s live it up! Let’s find every possible way to find pleasure in this lifetime.
How many times do we think if we could just live it up like the rich and famous, then we’d be happy. Of course, that’s why we love watching all of those reality programs, because we quickly learn their lives aren’t all they are cracked up to be. We find an absurd pleasure in knowing we are not alone, that money and possessions are not going to buy us our happiness and fulfillment.
Yet, in the end, actually at the beginning, we hear the conclusion of living the hedonistic lifestyle. Solomon ends verse 1 with the statement . . .
1 . . . But behold, this also was vanity.
You see, Solomon, the wisest man of his time, learned he was not going to be satisfied by seeking pleasure as a way of life. Even though he had all of the wealth and fame, there was no pleasure and happiness.
Intellectualism couldn't deliver and hedonism couldn't provide any lasting satisfaction. So he decided to pursue materialism.
Solomon said this about materialism ~
4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.
Solomon built more stuff and bought more stuff than anyone around. He was the guy who had more homes and cars and computers and toys and gadgets and vacation homes than anyone else. He even owned people, which in that time, the slaves were considered property. He added to the hedonism by having 100's of wives and concubines.
He had it all — and even more — but it wasn't enough to satisfy his heart. What man wouldn’t be happy having his own man cave, having any woman he wants, having whatever toys and gadgets and cars he wants?
Many would trade places with Solomon, yet he concluded ~
"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was fleeting, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
The reality is that consuming material stuff is like drinking a cup of strong Starbucks coffee; it gives you a jolt of joy . . . but after a few hours, it all wears off. That's why advertisers are so successful at getting us to buy something new. They know we want the kick that comes from consuming.
What Solomon learned is that when we take the good gifts of God — everything he tried — and we make them the goal of life — in the end we don't find fulfillment but a whole lot of disappointment and frustration.
But the good news is that he points us to a better place. He wraps up this section of Ecclesiastes by pointing us in a different direction. Solomon wrote ~
24 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,
25 for apart from Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
26 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 a striving after wind. – Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
Having run so hard after all these other things, Solomon comes home to God. As he learned, without God there is no enjoyment of the good things of life because God’s the One who gives us happiness.
The solution is to put God at the center because what we put at the center of our lives determines how all the spokes on the wheel work. If Jesus is at the center, He'll give us His grace and as we receive His grace, we can enjoy all the good gifts He's provided for us. That's the point of the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes. You can be rich, you can be smart, you can be super talented, you can have all of the toys available, you can have it all. . .
But unless Jesus is at the center of your life — even a spouse, or more money, more education, more stuff is never going to satisfy you. They may stimulate you, but in the end they can't give you the fulfillment and joy you desired.
But if you do as Jesus says, over time you will find it. He puts it this way: Seek first the kingdom of God [his rule and his reign in your life] and its righteousness and then all these things shall be given to you.
You don't need to get straight A's, earn a PhD, or invent a new software to be significant; you need to know and experience God's grace. You don't need more money or more stuff; you need to trust in the promise that Jesus will never fail you nor will He forsake you.
Jesus loves you, He has redeemed and He wants to give you more of Himself and a great life. As great as Solomon was, Jesus is far greater and He is calling you to put Him at the center of your life. So, put Him there. Call on Jesus, and He will be there for you.
