Sermon Preached at Grace Community Church (EPC)
Sun City Grand, Surprise, AZ
Sunday, August 19, 2001
by the Reverend Cooper McWhirter
An Age of Nonsense: “The Futility of Labor”
Ecclesiastes 2:18-26
Many competitive sports are designed for the individual athlete [e.g., snow skiing, golf, tennis, and track and field]. But there’s one track and field event that requires both an individual and a team effort and that is running the relays. Each runner is focused on beating the other runners in his leg of the race, but usually the most crucial part of any relay is handing off the baton to the next runner. Precious seconds can be lost if the transfer is not done smoothly. And so while an individual’s speed is crucial; teamwork is absolutely essential if you are going to win the race. But, in today’s passage, we are not talking about an athletic event. Solomon is talking about the race of life; a race that we are all compelled to run.
In this third of a five-part sermon series from the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is speaking about “passing the baton.” These past two weeks we have talked about the futility of man’s wisdom and the futility of hoarding wealth. Well, today, we catch a glimpse of Solomon’s frustration and his bitter disappointment in himself for in assessing a lifetime of work and achievement, he concludes that his labors were meaningless.
Passing the baton can be one of life’s bitter disappointments. To give up something that one loves to do is difficult enough. But then to see some incompetent person botch a program, a project, or an assignment that you had poured your life into can lead to resentment and serious depression. Your instinct is to shake your fist and yell out loud, “Hey, fella, that’s a part of me you’re tampering with!” Towards the end of his life, Solomon became disgusted in his works and he concluded that all of man’s labor “under the sun” is futile.
When we read Ecclesiastes, we meet up with Qoheleth, “the Preacher,” who is desperately searching for answers. He is searching for the meaning to life and death, to work and wealth, to wisdom and folly, to pleasure and pain. Here was a man who had it all! And yet it seemed that the more he owned, the emptier he felt. And so, he began “grasping for the wind” [1:17].
Solomon admits, “I denied myself nothing ... I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet, when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” [2:10-12].
It’s not as if all of his labors were done for personal gain or even personal recognition. He had built vineyards, gardens, parks and palaces. He constructed reservoirs and planted forests. Many of these projects were built for the benefit of the people of Israel for generations to come. That was well and good. The crux of the problem for Solomon was that he did not want to relinquish oversight of these projects that he himself had conceived. Part of Solomon’s frustration was in having to give up control of or perhaps a better way of saying it was giving over control to someone else.
Now, I am not a “control freak,” but to put matters in perspective one of the most difficult things for me to relinquish is the remote control device to our television set. I have very definite ideas as to what channels are worthy of viewing. Apparently, so does my wife. I prefer the History Channel. History is important to me. I believe we have a window to the future through the eyes of the past. Sammie, for some unknown reason, prefers listening to shows, like Larry King Live, where guests are up front and personal. Yes, remote controls are a wonderful gadget, but in the hands of the wrong person, there can be dire consequences!
Giving up control. No longer having “a say” in how things are done brought Solomon to a point of utter despair. But it goes much deeper than that. It’s coming to grips with the inevitability of one’s own death. Man’s mortality is a key theme in this passage. And so, it’s important to understand the differences between our laboring in vain and meaningful labor.
After a lifetime of pursuing excellence, Solomon concludes: WE LABOR IN VAIN IF OUR MOTIVES ARE WRONG.
In verses 18-20, Solomon uses the first person singular pronoun “I,” “my” or “me” ten times. The casual reader would very likely view Solomon as being prideful and arrogant. But, after numerous readings, I am convinced that this is a deliberate form of self-denunciation. But, even if he was being boastful, we must remember that kings, queens and heads of state from other nations, had heralded Solomon’s achievements. In point of fact, many of these ingenious projects would never have been envisioned let alone initiated and built without Solomon’s keen intellect. He possessed wisdom, knowledge and skill far above those who would be the overseers of these work projects.
He studied, he read, he wrote, he built, he acquired, he indulged … yes, often times to great excess, but it was always in pursuit of excellence. He was most assuredly not slothful or lazy. Repeatedly in scripture, especially in the book of Proverbs, a strong work ethic is something to be admired whereas a sluggard is someone to be reviled. And yet, towards the end of his life, Solomon was repulsed by his achievements. Why? He realized that no matter how grand his labors, his motives for laboring had been wrong. And he surmised that if one’s motives are wrong, then one’s labors are, therefore, nullified. In other words, his efforts were self-initiated. They were self-serving. Solomon resigns himself to the fact that he had been chasing after self-gratification, which is, of course, a form of vanity.
Ask yourself this question. Did I choose the profession to which I toiled under the sun? I hope not. I hope that you sensed a calling to a particular field of endeavor. God bestows upon His children certain gifts and talents. These should be used as a means to an end and not an end in itself. We have all known successful people who started businesses from the ground up. They worked hard and they provided well for their family, but then it came time to pass it on to someone else. As in my case, it was a third-generation family business. It was not something I had wished to do. It was something that was expected of me and so I did not wish to disappoint.
Don’t you see? Solomon is warning us. He warning us that if we insist on pursuing selfish goals, then disappointment is inevitable and ruin will be our sole benefactor. For because of man’s mortality there can be no constancy. There can be no sense of permanence. Our goals, our aspirations, they die with us. That is what Solomon means by the term “under the sun.” He uses this phrase throughout this book and he uses it here in this passage three times in verses 18, 19 and 22. It’s a phrase that clearly delineates between man’s perspective, our so-called “tunnel vision” and God’s providence.
Solomon is asking himself and he’s asking you and me this simple, but profound question. A question, which was put to lyrics and sung by Peggy Lee where she says, “Is that all there is?” Is there nothing more to life than to work? And that once you have toiled under the sun, you must then pass on the fruits of your labor to someone else. Someone who may never appreciate what sacrifices you had made. Solomon sees this kind of thinking as not only vanity, but a great evil [verse 21]. We are not granted any guarantees as to the person who will come after us.
It’s quite possible that Solomon may have been expressing doubts concerning his own son, Rehoboam, and his ability to succeed him as king of Israel. History would later prove that Rehoaboam was not up to the task. The so-called “Golden Age” of Israel came to an end with the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided and much bloodshed ensued. His son was a fool who failed to learn from his father’s mistakes and failed to take advantage of his father’s wisdom in ruling the people of Israel.
When I entered the family business in 1970 I had just completed a two-year tour of duty. I would have preferred to have stayed in the military at least for a while longer. And although I enjoyed outside sales years later as the business was passed on to me, I failed miserably as an owner. I was a young man in my early thirties. I had not struggled as my grandfather and my father had before me. As I look back I can see clearly that I was not up to the task of running a business. I look back at those years and I can now see in what areas I was deficient.
Now, some would argue that in this book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon has a “fatalistic” view of life in which he believes that “all is worthless” and that “we should simply fold up our tents and quit work.” At first glance, it would appear to some that Solomon is also endorsing unbridled hedonism by saying such things as, “let’s eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” But upon closer examination that is not what Solomon is saying.
Solomon is telling us in very plain language don’t make the same mistakes that I have made. He tells us that: OUR WORK CAN BE MEANINGFUL IF OUR MOTIVES ARE RIGHT.
We must realize that our labor, whether it is skilled or unskilled, professional or the mundane, has spiritual and heavenly ramifications. We are not simply working for our daily sustenance. If we fail to see the “higher” the “loftier” values in what we do, then disappointment and bitterness will follow us all the days of our life.
Solomon tells us that we are to view our work as being a gift from God and that whatever happens after us is none of our concern. It is God alone who superintends all things. Consequently, the outcome is ultimately not our concern at all. It is better by far to leave things in God’s care and keeping for He alone views things from a kingdom perspective.
If we are to believe that honest labor is a gift from God, then we must conclude that the only legacy is that which belongs to God. In other words, we are not leaving anything behind. To be brutally honest, we are the ones being left behind. Therefore, we should find satisfaction in our work and while we work we should perform to the best of our capabilities. And when we do, we should enjoy the fruits of our labor while we can for this, too, is a gift from God [3:13; 5:18; 8:15]. “For without God, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Solomon tells us, that only those who please God are able to enjoy the fullness of life.
God has allowed me, through my failures, to better understand who I am in Christ. I have had the distinct privilege of serving both my earthly father as well as now laboring under my heavenly Father. I desire nothing more than to do His will as He reveals Himself to me. This is His church; you are His people. I can do nothing of my own accord nor should I!
Six times in this book Solomon uses the phrase “there is nothing better” [2:24; 3:12-13; 3:22; 5:18-19; 8:15; 9:7-9]. Solomon implores us to be satisfied with what God has given to you and me – time, talent, wealth, giftedness – all of these things we are held to account. Take advantage of them; don’t take them for granted. Live life to the fullest and regard each day as a gift. Make use of your time. Use it wisely for soon enough we, too, must pass the baton on to someone else.
Let us pray…
