Are you ready for some Carolina Panther’s football? Our first preseason game was Thursday night. A lot of sports analysts are predicting Carolina to once again be the NFC Champs and go to the Super Bowl, this time to win. We have the MVP and number one rated player in the NLF on our team in the person of Cam Newton. We have Kelvin Benjamin healthy this year. All the stars seem to be lining up for us to repeat our trip to the Super Bowl. But let’s review what happened last year in their 24 -10 loss to Denver.
Carolina had 10 more 1st downs than Denver. They gained 315 yards to Denver’s 194. Time of possession was 5 minutes more. But the negatives outweighed the positives by much more.
Carolina committed 4 turnovers, one of which was a fumble by Cam Newton in the end zone. Cam was sacked 7 times and hit 13 times. Less than half of his passes were completed. His receivers dropped numerous balls that should have been caught. The team was plagued by numerous penalties. Frustration seemed to settle in before the game was out of hand, leading to a lack luster performance. In the end they did not finish well.
Unfortunately our Christian walk can be like this. We can be living a life filled with victories and celebrations then suddenly an occurrence takes place that throws us for a loop. Maybe it’s a major appliance or our vehicle stops running. Or it could be something more major; a loss job, a sudden illness, a death of a loved one. Suddenly we are losing yardage. We fumble at an improper tune time. We feel the winning ball in our hands only to feel it slip away and hit the ground. We become frustrated and our faith wavers. The goal line of success seems unreachable.
Our opponent however rejoices in our failures. His plan is not to try to outdo us. His plan is to be on the defense. He is ready to jump on the ball when we fail in our Christian walk. He recovers our fumbles, our mistakes, and then accuses us of being failures. He reminds us at every opportunity of every time we failed to cross the goal line. It may be a whisper in our ears or a verbal reminder from someone around us. His approach is to discourage and frustrate us so that we will not desire to run with the ball again.
Or we miss that catch. An opportunity for advancement or an easier life is on our fingertips but it slips through and hit’s the ground or is taken by someone else. And we stand there, hands on our heads, wishing for a do-over.
Enough fumbles, interceptions, and penalties in life will drive us to the bench. We try to soothe ourselves with material things that give us a sense of worth. Some try to find solace in their careers. Some seek it in relationships. Some try to find it at the bottom of a bottle or a needle in the arm. Some decide the ultimate relief will only come with the end of life itself.
Occasionally the opposing team will take a penalty for themselves to gain an advantage. Our enemy will do the same. If more money will lead a believer away from God, he may open a pathway for that to happen. If an unhealthy relationship will misplace a relationship with our Father, that door may open. We must guard against easy paths and open doors to be sure they are within God’s will for us. Not everything that seems a blessing to us is a blessing.
Some of the greatest names in football finished lacking something. Players like Deacon Jones, know as the inventor of the quarterback sack. Barry Sanders, who gained over 1100 rushing yards per game in his first ten seasons. Eric Dickerson, who had the most rushing yards in a single season. O. J. Simpson, who holds the record for rushing over 2000 yards in the first 14 games of a season. Dan Marino, who had 17 games of passing for 400 or more yards. They had stellar careers but they ended lacking something. That one something was a Super Bowl win. No one could feel that lack greater than Jim Kelly, who lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls. Even our own Kevin Greene, who just entered the NFL Hall of Fame, never won that elusive Super Bowl.
They are many more to name that finished short of the ultimate prize. And today we will look at a man who fell short of that ultimate prize in his life despite having, what most would think, everything. In fact our NFL players may have felt like joining in with him and saying, “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2).
Today we are going to revisit King Solomon. He had set all the records. He was the wisest man alive. He was the wealthiest man alive. He had the most possessions. He was the most feared. He had it all by worldly standards. However, something was missing. Now toward the end of his life he ponders his existence. He begins to examine his trophies and their true value.
He first looks at the “Trophy of Pleasure.”
Ecclesiastes 2:3 “After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.”
Solomon had become melancholy. He had it all but happiness. So he turned to the bottle.
Fifty seven percent of Americans are following suit by drinking at least monthly. Ten percent of American adults consume close to 74 drinks a week on average. Alcohol travels through the body easily. It can quickly reach many parts of your body, including your brain and other parts of your central nervous system. That can make it harder to talk, causing slurred speech, the telltale sign that someone who has had too much to drink. It can also affect coordination, interfering with balance and the ability to walk.
People become more outgoing and appear to lose all inhibitions as they continue to drink. A normally shy individual may be table dancing or a quiet person may be the center of attention.
One reason is that alcohol increases the amount of dopamine acting on receptors and enhances the normal feeling of pleasure associated with the dopamine system. Since dopamine is not broken down as efficiently when ethanol is present, it can act on the post-synaptic neuron for a longer period of time. The feeling of pleasure will be increased and the individual will want to keep drinking to maintain the sensation. Individuals want to continue to experience the feelings, or the high, caused by dopamine, so they continue to consume alcohol. Sometimes unconsciousness and memory loss can occur.
Also the frontal lobes of the brain become affected. These frontal lobes dictate our personalities. When a person is drinking they may become more aggressive and hostile. Many homicides are committed under the influence of alcohol.
So Solomon decided in his search for pleasure that it was only a brief experience. He also realized that, sadly for some, it was the only happiness they would find. He tried to find wisdom in pleasure and discovered only foolishness.
He next grabs the “Trophy of Material Possessions.”
Ecclesiastes 2:4-8 “I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!”
Solomon had a problem. Did you catch it? It is an “I” problem. I built. I made. I bought. I owned. I collected. I hired. But actually he forgot. He forgot that all he had was given to him by God because he asked for wisdom to rule the people.
The average American clearing $50,000 a year will spend $17,000 yearly on house payments while moving into other houses 11 times in their life. They outgrow them or become dissatisfied. They will spend $9000 on car payments and maintenance then trade their cars in for a newer model every ten years. $6,600 will be spent feeding themselves, dining out one third of the time. $5,500 is spent on insurance. $4,100 is spent on clothes and entertainment. $3,600 is spent on medical expenses. $1800 will be given to charities including tithes and giving to the church. $3,300 will be spent on other things.
So we become like Solomon who said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.” Even here we see him giving God no place for his possessions. It was all a reward for his hard labors.
But as he studies his trophy he comes to this conclusion.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
Beside it sits the ‘Trophy of Knowledge.”
Ecclesiastes 2:12-13 “So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?). I thought, ‘Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.’”
We are a nation who has been taught the importance of getting a college degree but this has become questionable.
College graduates have left school owing an average of $25,250 in student loans--the highest amount ever. Frustration with the economy and high unemployment rates is consistently shaping public opinion as college degrees, traditionally thought of as safeguards against unemployment, are no longer a guarantee for gainful positions. According to the College Board, going to college costs between three and four times as much as it did 20 years ago. About a year ago, the nation’s cumulative student debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time. While college-educated people do stand a better chance of landing a job than those who don’t go to secondary school, the time it takes to pay back the money laid out for a degree is growing, causing many to question the balance of attending college.
Money isn’t the only issue, though. Some experts argue that attending college has become less about learning actual skills and more about simply paying to have a degree. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, published by the University of Chicago Press, found that 36-percent of college students “did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning” during their college educations.
So it would seem that degrees are not about gaining wisdom but rather about having a degree to hopefully ensure a position with a company. In fact, your degree may not even relate to the type of business you are pursuing.
So what is Solomon’s conclusion on the matter?
Ecclesiastes 2:14-15 “‘For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.’ Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. Both will die. So I said to myself, ‘Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!’”
So, one trophy remains. It is the “Trophy of Work.”
Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 “I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!”
I am going to share something with you today that you may not understand. It’s very personal but very fitting to today’s teaching.
I use to be somebody. I use to be “The Legend.” In my 34 years delivering bread I earned that title. My customers adored me. I gave them better service than anyone ever had. My competitor did not stand a chance of encroaching into my territory. They feared me if I picked up an account that they were also servicing. I was the one who trained people. They would either come out the best of the best or quit, realizing that they could not handle the job. I was “The Legend.”
Then I retired. I became a househusband. I clean house and cook now. Every year my reputation fades. I caught myself the other day telling a bread man that I once too was a bread man. I realized that I had become that poor, sad old man who reflected on the past. That is where Solomon is.
All of his fine trophies, his pleasures, his possessions, his knowledge, and his hard works will go away when he’s gone. He sums it up in Ecclesiastes 3
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
What do people really get for all their hard work?
He is pointing out the fact, while we can contribute; God has a plan that is irrevocable. We are lock in between birth and death as well as happiness and sadness. And all the hard work does not change that fact.
So, as Solomon closes his trophy case, he turns from it with the realization that the answers were never there. Instead they are found within.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Solomon realized that what he should have been seeking is the eternity planted in his heart. That’s what we should be seeking also.
We get up every morning with an agenda for our day. We become agitated and angry if our agenda gets upset. We forget that it is God’s agenda that should matter and perhaps there is purpose to our plans being upset. Remember the apostle James described life as a vapor that soon vanishes. Instead he says to approach each day with a “if the Lord wills” attitude.
Let’s close with John 12:24 “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.”
While this verse speaks of the death of Jesus, it also applies to us. Look at what this scripture states. If a kernel of wheat does not die and is planted, it dies alone. It’s only in being planted and dying that new life can be born.
We must die to our own desires and be planted in the soil of obedience to his word. It is only there that we will find the new life promised to us. Otherwise we remain alone and apart from all that God has for us. And vulnerable to our opponent.
So the football season has started. Another chance for the Panthers to win the Super Bowl. And they will, if the Lord wills.
