WISE LIVING: NO REAL PROGRESS
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18
#wiseliving2022
READ ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 1 [person from congregation]
INTRODUCTION… Hollywood remakes (insider.com/most-remade-movies-of-all-time)
If you watch movies, you will notice that most stories or movies are remakes of previous stories and movies. Rarely are there new things that are done in Hollywood. Good stories are good stories and move makers all want their shot at telling good stories and putting their own spin on it. There is no real progress in movies. Hollywood remakes movies over and over. For example:
A Star is Born: 1937, 1954, 1976, 2018
Phantom of the Opera: 1943, 1962, 1989, 2004
Oliver Twist: 1922, 1933, 1948, 1968, 2005, 2007 (made 6 times)
Jungle Book: 1967, 1994, 1998, 2016, 2018 (made 5 times)
Jane Eyre: 1934, 1943, 1970, 1983, 1996, 2011 (made 6 times)
Robin Hood: 1922, 1938, 1991, 2018 (4 times, 5 if you add Robin Hood Men in Tights)
The Three Musketeers: 1921, 1935, 1939, 1948, 1961, 1973, 1993, 2011 (made 8 times)
Hunchback of Notre Dame: 1923, 1939, 1956, 1982, 1996, 1997 (made 6 times)
Bewsters Millions: 1914, 1921, 1926, 1935, 1945, 1961, 1985, 2018 (made 8 times)
The Christmas Carol: over 20 times
Dracula: over 60 times
I think my favorite remakes tend to be westerns like 3:10 to Yuma (2007), True Grit (2010), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). I also like the remakes of the Italian Job (2003) and Mr Deeds (2002).
As I was thinking about Hollywood movies, most movies are actually the same story over and over. Guy gets the girl. Good hero triumphs over evil villain. The long journey to discovery. A group of heroes protect a town. Robots destroy the earth. Also, those combine for the ever popular: group of heroes go on a long journey to triumph over the evil villain robot and the lead guy gets the girl. Those stories are told over and over just with different events or characters. No real progress in movies or stories.
I mention no progress in movies and remakes and that sort of thought because that is very much the central thought in Ecclesiastes chapter 1. The central thought of Ecclesiastes 1: There is No Real Progress in Life.
THE MOST USED WORD IN ECCLESIASTES
As we begin our series of sermons on Wise Living in the Book of Ecclesiastes, you and I will find a word that is used over and over and over again. It is used 39 times in the chapters. It is the word: vanity. Depending on your English translation it is the word: meaningless, pointless, futility, fleeting. The word primarily means ‘breath’ or ‘vapor’ which gives us the picture of a person’s breath on a cold winter day. It is like fog. This is why it is described as smoke or wind. The word is used poetically for things that are temporary or perishable or unsatisfying or mundane. Much of life is vanity. Much of life is temporary, perishable, unsatisfying, and mundane. What we will dig into in these weeks as we focus on the Book of Ecclesiastes is how to live wisely when life is pretty much unsatisfying.
NO PROGRESS IN NATURE (VERSES 4-7)
The writer of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon, looks at life and sees no real meaningful progress. He doesn’t see anything new or different but the same ‘ol same ‘ol. He looks at nature and lays out four examples that he sees that illustrate the futility of life. If he were to imagine life today, he might call it a carousel, an American political debate, a traffic roundabout, or even a movie remake. Stuff just happens over and over and never progresses.
First, in verse 4, he sees the progressions of generations. With the earth and the land as a backdrop, people are born and live and die and people are born and live and die. This happens over and over. The earth is still here. The land is still here. A mountain is still there. A river is still there. Houses are here and there. People come and go. This happens over and over and over again. One generation passes away as another one takes its place all the while the earth remains. Over and over.
King Solomon gets this idea from observing nature. His father King David noticed the same type of thing when he wrote some psalms:
READ Psalm 104:5 (ESV)
He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.
READ Psalm 119:90 (ESV)
Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You have established the earth, and it stands fast.
Second, in verse 5, he sees the rising and the setting of the sun. Solomon observes that the sun comes and goes and comes and goes and there is no real progress. It doesn’t actually get anywhere as it travels across the sky. The sun rises in the east where it did yesterday. The sun sets in the west as it will tomorrow.
Again, other Scripture from the Psalms from King David confirms this observation about the sun. The sun rises and everything us under the sun’s heat and this happens day after day.
READ Psalm 19:6 (ESV)
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Third (of four examples), in verse 6, King Solomon notes the wind as an example of purposeless activity. The wind blows north and then south and then circles and then does what? Does it all again. Whee! The wind appears to be free blowing, but in the end really does nothing. The wind blows north. The wind blows south. Do you know what the wind will do tomorrow? It will blow north and then south. It is a circular thing with no progress. We know this about wind which is why when a person who is called a ‘blow hard’ means they bluster and boast and really don’t accomplish anything.
I cannot help but think of Jesus’ words in the New Testament when He is speaking to Nicodemus where He says something similar about the free nature of the wind. Jesus is attempting to teach Nicodemus about spiritual things and uses the wind as a mysterious blowing example explaining spiritual things. The thought is different in terms of spiritual things, but the nature of the wind is the same.
READ John 3:8 (ESV)
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
Fourth, in verse 7, we have an observation of the water cycle that we all learn about in science class. The waters of rivers flow into the sea and the sea evaporates and rains and then the rivers flow back to the sea. It is an endless cycle, not in the scientific way we normally think about it, but Solomon notes that no matter how much water flows into the sea that it never fills up. The cycle of water just goes on and on and on. It rains on everyone. Water falls. Then rain stops and pretty soon it rains again, but Solomon notes the ground is never satisfied or the ocean is not filled up.
The Bible talks about rain and how it pretty much falls on everybody. That’s what rain does. The Old Testament says this as does the New Testament:
READ Job 36:28 (ESV)
… the skies pour down; and drop on mankind abundantly.
READ Matthew 5:45 (ESV)
For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
ILLUSTRATION… Something I think goes on with no real progress (p)
I was thinking about Solomon’s examples and I was trying to think of something that in my opinion just goes on and on with no progress. If I am thinking personally, I would have to say my weight. Last year I lost pounds and it seems by the end of the year I found them all again. I work out but it really doesn’t seem to do much. I either watch what I eat and don’t exercise or exercise and don’t watch what I eat. I would also add that when I watch what I eat and exercise I also don’t see any progress, but that might just be pessimistic. It is all a cycle that hasn’t changed since my mom had to buy me ‘husky jeans’ when I was a kid.
I also was thinking about politics in the United States. Danger! Preaching and politics! It seems in the two-party system we have in our country that one political party gets elected and does their agenda and then the other party gets elected and undoes everything the other party just did and then presses their agenda. It is a cycle that doesn’t seem to end or progress much and is a pendulum that swings back and forth and depending on your political views you think the country is going in the right direction or the wrong direction. Back and forth. Back and forth. No progress.
I also laughingly thought of Soap Operas on TV. My mom watched General Hospital growing up and I think Kelly watched it when we first got married. I am pretty sure the same characters were doing the same thing when I saw episodes as a kid and when I was married. Same characters doing the same things with no progress. I guess that is sort of the point of Soap Operas on TV… all our bold and beautiful young and restless children living the days of their lives. No point.
SUMMARY
King Solomon, looks at life and sees no real meaningful progress. He sees purposelessness and ceaseless movement in the world that amounts to nothing in his estimation. He sees it all. He can’t really, at this point in Ecclesiastes, explain why there is no much fruitlessness and futility in the world. The meaninglessness that he sees in several parts of nature he also sees in life for human beings. Human life parallels what he sees in nature.
NO PROGRESS IN LIFE (VERSES 9-11)
The writer of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon, looks at life and sees no real meaningful progress. He doesn’t see anything new or different but the same ‘ol same ‘ol and sees that observable truth in nature (verses 4-7), but also sees it true in verses 9-11 which he relates to human life. The same thing is true for people! Human history goes on and on from one generation to the next and the landscape of human mistakes are the same. Life and families and jobs and anything else you want to look at seem to be circular. History tends to repeat itself. Fads return. People claim to change. Problems seem to change, but really it is the same old pig, just with different lipstick.
Solomon says that from time to time something appears to be new, but in the end, nope… it’s just a Shakespearean play refashioned with animation and some songs. Nothing is new under the sun. We are presented with the same issues as our parents and grandparents and we strive for answers. People don’t learn lessons, but repeat the mistakes of the past. People do what they’ve always done and try to live in the same ways.
He says humans have short memories and we forget the lessons that humanity has already learned. I don’t know if you think that is true, but I think that’s true most of the time. That seems true with the causes of wars, racism, violence in families, alcoholism, and so many other family issues and social ills. We think we are different and more advanced and have better tools and evolved worldviews, but we still deal with the same ‘ol prollems.
TRANSITION
Well, aren’t I just a bunch of roses and sunshine spilling out of every pore?!
The key for Solomon’s thought is that he is correct about life! But only to a point! Wise King Solomon is not wrong that life is circular and many times fruitless and futile and progresses to a whole lot of nothing. Life is most definitely meaningless, pointless, futility, fleeting, a brief breath and a quick vapor. He is correct in this conversation up to the point at which we say… “but God.”
WISE LIVING: ECCLESIASTES 12:13
At the end of Solomon’s deliberations about life in the Book of Ecclesiastes, he arrives in chapter 12 with a thought to end all thoughts. I am giving you his concluding thoughts even though we are at the beginning of Ecclesiastes.
READ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
You see life is absolutely meaningless, pointless, futility, fleeting, a brief breath and a quick vapor unless you and I have a God-given perspective about life. The end of the matter for the wisest person who ever lived was that the whole duty of a human being is to live in a proper right relationship with God.
It is the right relationship with God that brings meaning and makes everything make sense.
It is in following the commands of God that purpose and identity is given.
It is when we seek after God and His Kingdom that all the pieces of our lives fall into place.
How does Ecclesiastes 12:13 apply to chapter 1?
First, Solomon sees the progressions of generations and concludes that people are born and live and die and this happens over and over with no progress. But God! There is progress if we take on the mission of God each generation to share the Gospel with those who do not know Him. Sharing the Gospel message is never meaningless. Having a spiritual conversation with our son or daughter is not pointless. Bringing your family to church is not futile. Investing in Bible study so that you know what and why you believe what you do so you can pass that Truth along to the next generation is not fleeting. That is God-given, Jesus-approved, Holy Spirit-inspired living.
READ Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV)
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Second, he sees the rising and the setting of the sun and it comes and goes and there is no real progress. But God! Every day is not the same when we take our relationship with God seriously. Scripture and worship and Bible study and prayer are deep and wide and we can spend a whole lifetime getting to know God and barley scratch the surface. Of the writing of Christian books worthy of your time there is no end. Each new day as the sun travels overhead brings the opportunity to strive and dig into our relationship with God and to grow deep and wide and strong in faith. That is not futile. That is righteousness and sanctification! That is God-centered living.
READ Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Third (of four examples), King Solomon notes the wind as an example of purposeless activity that circles and circles and makes no progress. I thought of this one a little differently because as I was writing my sermon the wind was blowing quite a bit. Branches fell. Wind can be destructive. There is progress with wind, but it is destruction and hardship and fear of a tree crashing through the roof. But God! When the winds of life come, and they absolutely will, faith in God gives us a framework of thinking, a worldview to live out, and an identity to rest in. We have a way of living based not on ourselves, but on His strength. That is not fleeting. Faith in God is permanent and holds us fast in the midst of life’s storms. Jesus says the very same thing!
READ Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Fourth, Solomon observes the water cycle of rivers flowing into the sea and then the sea evaporates and then it rains and then the rivers flow back to the sea. Nothing is ever filled. Nothing is ever done. But God! I think of all the times in life when we might feel empty and not filled. The Bible over and over promises that when we take our relationship with God seriously and we follow after Him that we are filled and filled and filled to overflowing. God is the filler. Abiding in Christ and being active in your faith in God and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit is never futile, but soul-filling. A relationship with God is filling because God is the author of life and we were meant to have a relationship with Him. He fills up all emptiness.
READ Acts 13:52 (ESV)
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
READ Ephesians 3:19 (ESV)
to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
READ 1 Peter 1:8 (ESV)
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
FURTHER APPLICATION
Ecclesiastes 1 starts off with King Solomon observing that much of life is temporary, perishable, unsatisfying, and mundane. Life at times is pretty much a movie remake that makes us yawn and bored. Life can feel empty and unsettled and like we are just a hamster spinning on a wheel to nowhere and it is pointless.
When we have these feelings, our faith and wise God-centered living calls us to Ecclesiastes 12 to King Solomon’s thought to end all thoughts.
RE-READ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Meaningless fades when we look to God, the Creator of Life, for meaning in life.
Pointlessness doesn’t hurt us when God gives us our identity and we rest in that.
Futility lessens when we realize God gives us purpose in each relationship and for each day.
Unsatisfying feelings dry up when we are satisfied in Christ and He fills us.
When you and I deal with such feelings, we need to know that life without God is absolutely futile. We need to focus on higher values. We need God’s perspective about life to become our perspective about life.
RE-READ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
CLOSE WITH PRAYER
INVITATION
If you are here today and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it could be that you feel like something is missing. It could be with your life purpose or your identity or perhaps feeling unsettled about decisions you have made in life. That unsettled purposeless feeling is your heart longing for the belonging and forgiveness and identity found in God through Jesus Christ. I’d love to chat with you about Jesus and pray with you.
