Where Does It End?
GNLCC 5/6/2001 Eccesiastes 2:1-11 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
Before you decide to jump on a bus, a train, or a plane it is a good idea to know where the thing is going to stop. I had graduated from a school in a small town in upstate New York. There were no subways or city buses. I went to New York City with a college roommate from the Bronx in New York City. I had relatives in Manhattan. My friend took me from the Grey hound bus station to the stop on the train where my family lived. I told him I would come to see him at his house in the Bronx on the next day.
The next day I got on the subway headed for my friend’s house at 11 am. I stepped on the subway confidently heading uptown to the Bronx. But I did not know that all the trains going to the Bronx were not going to the same place. I got on with the greatest confidence, that I was going in the right direction. I rode in underground NYC for four hours. Stop after stop I sat hopelessly lost. I don’t know if I was too scared or too proud to ask for help. The train finally came to a stop and there was nobody on it but me. It was the end of the line so I had to get off. I finally went to find some police who showed me how to read a subway map to get to where I needed to go. Getting on the wrong train greatly delayed my arrival.
We are all traveling today on some particular path in this thing we call life. Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I going in the right direction.” Sometimes, just because it feels good, does not necessarily mean its right, even when others are cheering for us in the process. There was a professional football game played in the 70’s involving the Minnesota Viking’s played named Jim Marshall. He was an awesome player and was one of the Purple People Eaters.
In one game, the other team passed the ball, but Jim Marshall caught it and headed for the end zone. He ran that ball for almost 70 yards and was feeling good about it all the way. The crowds were going wild His own team was jumping up and down waving at him. Even though he was big lineman, nobody on the other team was able to catch him. The closer he got to the goal line, the better he felt inside.
Finally he crossed the goal line and scored. When he turned around to be congratulated, he noticed that only the other team was jumping up and down. His moment of triumph was turn into humiliation and embarrassment when he realized he had run to the wrong goal line and scored points for the other team. He ran a great run, but it did not help him in the end.
Most of us here are running trying to score a touchdown out their in the land of contentment or of happiness. We want to have need of nothing. We want to feel complete, sufficient and satisfied. We want to have enough to make us happy. Therefore, just like Jim Marshall, we are running with all the energy we can muster. We believe when we get there, oh what a feeling it’s going to be.
For some of us, we think that contentment in life comes when we are finally successful at whatever it is we do. When I get my degree, when I get that position, when I get married, when I get my kids through college, then I’m going to be content. When I finally build my new home, when I get that championship trophy, or when I get my business going then I’ll be content.
There was someone who could say , “been there and done that.” King Solomon looked for contentment in being successful. So he built beautiful homes for himself, he designed magnificent parks and gardens, and he was glad to be doing these awesome things. There was some joy in doing these activities while they were taking place, but then when the task was finished he realized his success had not delivered what he thought it would.
Our society builds up the super bowl in football as though it is the ultimate in the achievement in the athletic world. After winning two super bowls, a reporter asked the quarterback on the winning team, “How do you feel with two super bowl rings.” The quarterback responded, “is this all there is.” Success can look a lot more glamorous from the outside looking at it, then from the inside have experienced it. The journey can be a pleasure, but the destination may leave a sense of emptiness. If success is your main goal, you may find yourself disappointed at the goal line. Success can be absolutely wonderful until you get it. The success feeling is much more difficult to hold on to it, than it is to get it in the first place.
Success has to be looked at in the broader picture of life and death. Success cannot be measured until we are taking our final breath and looking back over our lives. Solomon who had more success than all of us can ever dream of having wrote in Eccles 2:11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
Another place people seek to find contentment is in fun, pleasure and having a good time. God gave us life in order to enjoy it. He has placed all kinds of things around us to have a good time. Yet there are limits if those good times are to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. The bible tells us that sin can be a lot of fun, but it will have its consequences. Why do you think we sin? It’s not so much that we want to disobey God, it’s just that it looked good and offered immediate pleasure.
But after a while all sin gets old and loses it’s initial appeal. It simply takes us further and further into a mess we cannot get ourselves out of. Ask anybody whose addicted to drugs, to pornography, to alcohol, to sex or to anything else. Was it fun when you first did it and most will say yes it way. But keep in mind somebody else can help you think about it before your follow that path. You see again, there was somebody that was able to say, ‘been there, done that and it left me empty.”
Solomon had great potential for God, but he decided to experiment with pleasure. Solomon came up with new mixes of wines to stimulate his body and to get drunk. He mixed stuff together, making his own drugs to stimulate his mind. You talk about a player, when it came to women Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred other women he was taking care of financially. Who knows how many there were that were just one night stands. He declared any man would be happy with this, at least he thought
But again when he was looking at life with death approaching, he said in Eccles 2:10-11 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.11Yet 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. Running after fun and pleasure did not end where he thought it would. How many of you had a good time on the road to pleasure, but now regret where it took you. . Pleasure does not deliver all it promises.
The other road we run to find contentment is the road of wealth. If we just had more money then we would be happy. How many of us today are after more money. We are told we need to have things to be content. So what do we do. We go to get things. Only they keep coming up with more things we need to have in order for us to be happy.
The bible says in Eccl. 5:10-11 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 11As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
This verse is telling us, if we do not break the cycle of getting things, we will always be taken advantage of by advertisers. They will create products we never heard of, and then convince us we have to have them. Once we get them, all we can do is look at them because we cannot find the time to use them. How many of us have things we thought we needed, that we have not used in months? How many of us have duplicate of things, just sitting around doing nothing.
The pursuit after wealth is probably doing us more harm than we think, because it seems like such a good thing to do. But it is sending us further and further into debt. Credit cards make it easy for us to buy things we cannot afford. We have credit card debts of 5 to 8,000 and we have very little to show for it. That outfit we just had to have back in the 80’s is now out of style, but we are still paying on it. You see if you have one of those high interest credit cards, and you only make the minimum payment each month, it will take you up to 24 years to pay off a debt.
Those of you who got a card at a low teaser rate of 6%, you need to read the fine print. Once you are late on two payments, you rate can shoot up to 20% to 24 %. You may not even read the bottom where the numbers are because you are still looking at the minimum amount due. Yet you have greatly increased the amount of money you owe.
We are all told by advertisers, when you get my product, you will feel the ultimate in life, or you will have all kinds of wonderful things happen to you. Use my mouthwash, and you’ll get beautiful dates. Buy this car, and you will be a real man. Wear this label, and you will be somebody. Now you can use Mastercard to buy all those special moments that money cannot buy. What a difference it is going to make when we discover that money and things can not and do not provide us with contentment.
We all run to avoid poor people’s poverty. The bible never exalts poverty as the way to go in life. But we have simply traded poor people’s poverty for middle class poverty. What is middle class poverty? The same as poor people’s poverty. It’s being broke and not having enough money to pay our bills. We live in houses we cannot afford to live in. We lease cars because we cannot afford to buy them. We take trips and put it on the credit card. We dress to kill and ask the church to pay for it by sending our tithes to the designer stores and clothing stores.
Just because we can find away to make a payment, does not mean we can afford it. Sure you can take a second job to make the payment, but who is paying the price for it. It it your marriage, your relationship with your kids, your health, your future, or your work for the Lord. We make a big thing out of getting things but again, there are consequences. Every car not only has a price on the window, it has a price underneath the window. Like car insurance, maintenance, interest for borrowing it and repairs. Every house has a listing price, and a price underneath the listing like taxes, insurance, interests, repairs, remodeling and more. Ownership is not all that it is cracked up to be.
The newness of everything fades. You did not mind working an extra 20 hours a week to get it, but now its been two years and you are tired of going to work for that purchase. You see other things which would be a more enjoyable way to spend your time. But now you’re stuck with these payments. What you at first claimed was a blessing from God, now looks like a curse from the devil.
We forget that the bible teaches us that sometimes less can be better, because there is always a trade off. It says in Eccle. 4:6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. It is better to learn to be happy content with what you have, than to destroy what’s important to get more of that which really is not going to matter.
Do you know why the bible tells us, naked we came into this world, and naked we go out. First, to remind us that we are going to die. It’s a certainty. The thing about life is that it gets over a lot sooner than we had thought it would. I am 44 years old, and somehow I got here a lot quicker than I thought I would. Once you hit 30, you step on a life accelerator that make life seem as though it is speeding up and you keep asking, where did the time go.
The second reason the verse is in the bible is to point out, we really do not get to own anything. If we did, when we die, we’d take it with us. Now we all know the value of taking things with us when we move to a new place or to send things ahead so they will be waiting for us when we get there. But the reason we cannot take things with us is that God did not make us owners, instead he made us property managers. The bible clearly teaches the earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it. Yes that means all your tommies belong to the Lord, all your gold necklaces, all your lexus, all your fords, it all belongs to God. God only gives it to us to see what we are going to do with it.
Anyone who thinks the Lord is only concerned about how we spend 10% of our income is in for a shock. God will ask for an accounting for all 100%. Everything we purchase is a spiritual decision. It may determine for years to come if we can certain things for God’s kingdom or not. Choosing between different houses or cars will determine, if we can be a blessing to the kingdom of God or if we will only bless ourselves for the next few years.
If we allow ourselves to be addicted to pursuit of things, we are going to have a hard time justifying how we used God’s property. God always blesses us, for us to be a blessing to others. We are blessed when we have food, clothing and shelter We are rich when the quality of our food, clothing, and shelter exceeds that of others. How rich we are is not determined by looking at those who have more than us, but by looking at those with less. In our New Testament reading, everybody who is rich was commanded to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. This is the way to send treasure ahead for the future, and to take of the life that is truly life. How many of us know we could afford to be a greater blessing others, but choose not to do so out of some selfishness on our part.
The only road which leads to real contentment is godliness. Only God can provide us with a complete feeling of being satisfied and being fulfilled. Only He can give us the feeling, “I have all I need, how can I be a blessing to someone in need.” Even though success, pleasure and money pass themselves off as being life, they are all a deception. We can spend a life time getting them and enjoy it along the way, but remember that football player Jim Marshall. He ran a long way to end up with an empty feeling inside.
Jesus put it this way, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Your spouse does not need a bigger car as much as he or she needs you to be loving, kind, and faithful. Buying a bigger home in the suburbs will not make your marriage stronger, especially if it means working more to make the payments. Dressing yourself or your kids in designer clothes will not do much for your character or theirs. Getting a promotion or bigger job may not be what’s best for your family. The things that are important in life are not bought with master card but with a relationship with Jesus Christ.
When we live how Jesus seeks to live in and through us, when we look back over our lives we find that it was worthwhile. Solomon, who kept telling us he had been there and done that came to the conclusion the best thing you can do in life is start living for God as early as possible, to keep his commandments, and to remember we will give an account before God for all that we have done. My friend if you continue on with where you are going, where does it end..
3. We Are Not Owners—Property Managers
4. Try Taking It—God Owns All
5. All Of Our Trinkets Belong To God
6. Account Not For 10% But 100%
7. All Purchases Are Spiritual Decision
8. How To Purchase House, Car. Etc.
9. Addiction To Things Cause Trouble Before That Great Day.
K. The Difference Between Blessing & Rich
1. Food—Shelter—Clothing—
2. Quality Exceeds Others –Rick
3. Rich Determined By Looking Below Me
4. New Testament—Generous Willing To Share
5. Could Afford To Be A Blessing—But Rather Be Selfish
L. The Road To Contentment Is Godliness
1. Only God—“I Have All I Need, How Can I Be A Blessing To Others”
2. Success, Pleasure & Money—Deceptions
3. Great Feeling While They Happen—Jim Marshall—But Going Wrong Way
M. Jesus—I Have Come That You Might Have Life
1. Spouse –New Car—Loving Kind Faithful
2. Bigger Home—Stronger Marriage—2 Jobs
3. Dressing In Designer—You—Kids—Character
4. Promotion New Job—Is It Best
5. Relationship With Jesus Christ—Not Mastercard
6. Solomon—Start Early, Obey, Remember
7. Where Does It End
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 5/6/2001
Where Does It All End? Ecc 2:1-11 1 Tim. 6:6-19
A. Before You Get On—Check Where It Ends
1. Bus, Train , Plane
2. Adventure From Manhattan To Bronx
3. Confidence Not Enough—Hopelessly Lost
4. Fear, Pride, Police, Arrival
B. We Are all Traveling On A Path
1. Am I Going In The Right Direction
2. Feels Good, Cheers Of Others, Is It Right
3. Minnesota Vikings-Jim Marshall- Purple People
4. Interception-Feel Good—No Stopping—Crowd
5. He Scored—Embarrassment- Disappointment
6. Great Run—But
C. We Are Running To Score Touchdown
1. Land Of Contentment Or Happiness
Complete, Sufficient, Satisfied, Happy
2. Running With Energy Like Jim—Oh What A
Feeling
3. When Will Contentment Arrive For Us
D. Will Success Bring It To Us
1. Degree, New Position, Marriage, School
2. Build Home, Championship Trophy Business
3. Been There And Done That-King Solomon
4. Homes, Gardens, Splendid Parks
5. Joy On The Way—But Not What Expected
6. The Thrill Of The SuperBowl---Two Rings
7. Reporter—Quarterback “Is This All There Is”
8. Success—Better Out—Looking In
9. Success-Great Till You Get It—Try Keeping It
10. Can Be Disappointment At Goal Line
11. Success And The Broader Picture Of Life
12. Best Measured Looking Back Before Final
13. Solomon in Eccles 2:11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
E. Can We Find Contentment In Pleasure
1. Let’s Have A Good Time—God Gives Life
2. All Good Things Have A Limit To Help
3. Sin Can Be Fun, But It Has Its Consequences
4. Why Do We Sin---Fun-- Not God Opposed
5. All Sin—Loses Its Appeal—Drugs, Porn, Sex,
Alcohol—Much More Fun To Start Leaves—
F. Solomon On His Own Trip To Pleasure
1. New Wines, New Drugs
2. Player—700 Wives—300 Concubines
3. You Should Really Be Happy With All Of This
Eccles 2:10-11 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.11Yet 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.
4. Pleasure Do Not Bring Him Where He Thought
5. Bad Experiences With Pleasure
G. Will Wealth Give Us What We Truly Want
1. If We Just had More Money For More Things
2. The Cycle Of New Products—New Needs
Eccl. 5:10-11 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 11As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
3. Break The Cycle Or Get Ripped Off
4. New Needs- Have Not Use For Months
5. Pursuit of Wealth Looks Good—But
6. Dangers Of Credit Card—Still Paying 80’s Dress With Minimum Rate
7. Teasers From 2 to 6% to 20% to 24%
H. Lies To Get Us To Buy
1. Mouthwash, Car, Designer Label
2. Mastercard For What Money Can’t Buy
3. Liberation—Money Won’t Buy Contentment
4. Poor People’s Poverty—Nobody Wants It
5. Middle Class Poverty—Eager To Get It
6. Broke & Not Having Enough To Pay
7. Houses, Lease Cars, Trips On The Card
8. Dress To Kill—Church Gets The Tab
I. Stopping & Considering The Madness
1. Making The Payment—Not Equal To Afford
2. What’s Hidden Cost In Relationships & Walk
With The Lord
3. Car Sticker On Top—Sticker Underneath
4. House Sticker On Top & Underneath
5. All New Fades Away—Hours & Payments Do Not
6. Claimed A Blessing—Now Devil’s Curse
7. Less Can Be Better Eccle. 4:6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
J. Why Teach-Naked We Came Into This…
1. Reminder We Shall Die—Life Moves Quickly
