WHAT IS THE WORLD TO ME!?!
ECCLESIASTES 1:2; 2:18-26 AUGUST 24, 2003
ECCLESIASTES 1:2; 2:18-26
1:2"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." …
2:18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
We sang in our first hymn(Christian Worship, Hymn 477) what is to be our theme today – what is the world to me?! If you look closely, that statement was made in the form of an exclamation. It speaks about believers who have Jesus as their treasure. If we were to look around us and take a poll and ask people around us what the world meant to them, very sadly, many in this world would probably say quite a bit. There are examples that abound. We look around us and we see what people spend on themselves. We see what people spend on their pets. It is said that in America people spend more on food and toys for their cats and dogs than what is given to church. “What is the world to me?” the Lord would have us ask that question of ourselves and ourselves as a nation.
We might feel we are pretty important in this world. The Lord reminds us that we, as human beings, as we look at the rest of the picture of the world, do not stand very long. The world has been here a lot longer and will last long after we are gone. Job says it this way, "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure"(JOB 14:1,2). The point is, even though the world would stand longer than you and I, you and I have a soul and the Lord is concerned about us because of our immortal souls. Today when you go home, you might want to take out your hymnal and re-read the words of that first hymn – ‘What is the World to Me?’ We use it as our theme.
WHAT IS THE WORLD TO ME!?!
I. Meaningless without Christ
II. Full of meaning with Christ
I. Meaningless without Christ
Ecclesiastes is accredited to Solomon who was the son of David. He gives us the general theme as he looks around him at life and everything else in verse 2 of chapter 1. 1:2"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Solomon in all of his wisdom and Solomon in all of his prosperity, as he looked at everything around him in this world concluded, ‘Everything is meaningless.’ As you read Ecclesiastes you hear that theme repeated over and over and over again. That is the general theme of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon goes into specifics in our text – he tells us what he means. 2:18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. Solomon had worked for quite a few things under the sun. He was the one who rebuilt the temple. When he rebuilt the temple he used much of the wealth that his father David had stored up. They covered the temple and it’s furnishings in gold and silver – we’re not just talking about ounces or pounds, we’re talking about tons – tons of silver and gold. Such was the wealth and prosperity of Solomon. When he got done with that, he built himself his own palace to live in. That palace was even bigger than the temple for God. As he looked around he said, ‘I hate all these things because I have to leave them to someone else.’
19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. He says the worst part about leaving behind all of this stuff is it may fall to a fool and not a wise man. So it is today. If you were to go to Israel today you would not find that splendor of Solomon’s temple. It was destroyed. You would find only remnants of his palace. It was destroyed because those who came after him did not take care of it. Those after him had to face God’s judgement.
Solomon knew that when all his work was left behind he would be filled with despair. He goes on (sounding almost depressed). 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. You get the picture of Solomon and the work that he did under the sun – the scorching heat that zaps men’s energy. He says, ‘I began to despair’ and explains why once again. 21For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. Once again, meaningless to leave all of that behind. Solomon was looking at all the things that he had amassed, all the things that God had blessed him with, and was so worried about leaving it all behind that he had to say everything was meaningless.
Solomon asks the question. 22What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? In other words, what good is life? He answers it. 23All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. There is only one conclusion here for Solomon – as he strives to build God’s temple, as he strives to amass wealth for himself, he’s not at peace. He’s not at rest. He calls it an anxious striving. He says at night his mind races – he cannot sleep. The same conclusion – ‘This too is meaningless.’
If we did not know these were words written by Solomon, we would say that they were words written yesterday or even today to describe our society. Our society has put a lot of emphasis on things. Our society has lots of stuff. We too, have many, many things beyond all comparison than any generation before. Sometimes they can lead us astray. We can become like Solomon and look at all the things we have and say, ‘Is that enough?’ We can look at all of our stuff and say, ‘What’s going to happen after I go? Will a wise man get it or a fool?’ The world without faith, without Christ, is worse off than you and I. They have no peace, they have no comfort. Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs"(1 TIMOTHY 6:10). We see it today don’t we? People are quick to stray from the path of righteousness down the path of destruction thinking that money is the answer. When we look at those who are wealthy and if we would ask them if they were happy, generally they would say, ‘No’. If we were to look at those who are wealthy, very often we find that just like God said, they have wandered from the faith.
We’re not exempt though are we? Who among us would say we have plenty of room in our house or we have plenty of room in our sheds and in our barns or are they stuffed full with all kinds of things? Who of us always has to build on because there are more and more things that we gather? Long past is a saying, which is full of meaning – if we had food, and clothing, we are to be content with that. You and I don’t even stop to think about food and clothing anymore because the Lord has provided for us so abundantly. We go beyond, to all of the other things past food and clothing. As we look around us in this world, there are still hundreds of thousands who don’t always have food and clothing. How fortunate, how abundantly blessed we are!
The Lord wants us to ask ourselves honestly, ‘What is the world to me? Where do we put our treasure? Where do we concentrate day after day? Is it on Christ or is it without Christ? In Matthew, the Lord warns us by saying, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal"(MATTHEW 6:19). He says where your treasure is, there your heart is also. These treasures on earth – which can easily be destroyed by moth and rust, can be stolen by thieves – do not amount to much. They are, as Solomon says, meaningless. After all, once we are gone, they are left to someone else who may not put any value on them at all. Without Christ, life is meaningless.
The apostle Paul, as he began his missionary journeys and as churches sprung up, still had to fight with the meaninglessness of earthliness. In the early church there was a big push by those who were not believers who said that Christ had not risen from the dead. From time to time that teaching even crept into congregations. The congregation at Corinth had to be reminded by Paul that if Christ had not been raised from the dead, their faith was futile, empty, and worthless. If Christ had not come back to life, they had no reason to keep on living themselves. He said without Christ, life is meaningless. He sums it up by saying, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men"(1 CORINTHIANS 15:19). If we only live for this life, we are to be pitied. There is more to life – there is eternal life.
It is good for us to ask ourselves day after day, ‘what is the world to me?’ We should remind ourselves that without Christ life is meaningless but
II. It is full of meaning with Christ
In these verses, Solomon was trying to wake himself up to realize that yes, he had built the most glorious temple that the Lord would be worshipped in. He had built for himself one of the biggest and best palaces ever. He reminded himself as he looked at it that it was all meaningless because it’s all tied to this world. So much and yet so little comfort. He came to realize that as he worried about the future and fretted about what might happen to his things, the things God had given him, he needed to concentrate on the present. 24A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. We learned that in our first lesson(Exodus 24:3-11). The children of Israel grumbled and complained against the Lord. The Lord said, ‘I’ll give you manna – ‘what is it?’ And He did. They would live day by day gathering their food. He warned them not to gather more than a day’s food. What happened? Some of them did and the next morning the extra was full of maggots and spoiled. Day by day – Solomon says if we eat and drink, we can enjoy life. He tells us why. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.
As Solomon looked and took account of all the things God had blessed him with, he realized that in all the wealth and wisdom God had given him, it came from God. It wasn’t by his own hand. Then he asked a very easy question -- 25for without him, (God) who can eat or find enjoyment? Solomon was saying without Christ, life is meaningless. It’s a great misfortune as he adds. With Christ, life is full of meaning. 26To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness. Solomon knew about wisdom didn’t he? When he was young and just becoming king (he was going to take over David’s spot) the Lord came to him and said, ‘Solomon, what do you want?’ Imagine that -- the Lord giving Solomon his hearts’ desire! What do we see Solomon asking for? He says, ‘Lord, I’m just a young man in understanding – give me wisdom to lead your people.’ The Lord said, ‘You will have wisdom. You’ll be the wisest man that ever lived. Because you did not ask for the destruction of your enemies or some other foolish thing, you will be the richest man that ever lived.’ He still is to this day – none will surpass him in wealth, none will surpass him in wisdom. What did Solomon realize? Solomon realized, this too, is from the hand of God. This is what God gives His believers. Solomon realized that he hadn’t done anything. Solomon became king, not because he went out and tried to get that office, but simply because he was the son of David, God gave him that throne. God gave him his wisdom.
Solomon says, 26To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. For the believers who understand all these things, they can enjoy life and find satisfaction. To those who want to worry and fret – they can do that. They worry about gathering all this stuff and handing it over to the next generation. They worry as sinners do. Without Christ, their life is meaningless. He sums it up by saying, ‘This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.’
We can look at our lives and say, ‘We’re like Solomon a lot in that we worry about what the future holds.’ Our society impresses that upon us. We have to work hard enough in order to have enough set aside for retirement, enough funds set aside for college, etc. We forget to live day by day. We worry about storing up and gathering all that wealth like every other sinner in this world -- or, we can be like Solomon and realize that the Lord provides. In either case, we face life with Christ on our side, so that our life is full of meaning. It doesn’t mean that it’s not full of everything else –heartache and sorrow, grief and suffering – the Lord tells us that that is part of living. "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away"(PSALM 90:10). Again, in comparison to everything else, our life span if it’s eighty (or these days, one hundred years) is short in comparison to the history of the world. It’s full of trouble and sorrow. Sometimes, we may even spend restless nights thinking about trouble and sorrow that is going to come – if it is going to come. The Lord reminds us to live day by day; to eat and drink and find satisfaction in the work that we did this day. This too, is from the hand of God.
As we look ahead to the future, we do not know what it will be like. We do not know if it will be full of more trouble, sorrow and heartache or less! We do know that we are in the hand of God. We do know that our life is full of meaning because Christ has given us His own life for our sins. Paul writes, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"(ROMANS 8:18). When we start to feel sorry for ourselves, the Lord says, ‘Look ahead to heaven. Look ahead to the glory that is to be revealed in each one of you. Nothing on this earth is worth comparing to that glory which is yet to be revealed.’
Certainly the Lord does bless us doesn’t He? He blesses us just like Solomon with wisdom. Solomon needed wisdom in order to lead God’s people and decide what is right and just. You and I aren’t put in those positions, but you and I need wisdom to know about the mystery of salvation. Thankfully, the Lord by His grace, has worked faith in each of our hearts. In our gospel lesson(John 6:24-35), what did we hear? They asked, ‘What do we have to do to do the work of God?’ Remember Jesus’ answer? What do we need to have our life full of meaning? He says, ‘Believe.’ We can be thankful that God, in His grace, makes us believe. Our life is full of meaning because of this wisdom. From James we read a passage about what this wisdom means. "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere"(JAMES 3:17). It’s more than just knowledge. It’s wisdom and understanding. It’s merciful and compassionate, full of good fruit, peace-loving, sincere, considerate and submissive. That’s a full life. When you live your life as that, with the wisdom of the knowledge of salvation, knowing that eternity is yours, all of these other things will flow from that wisdom. This, too, is not meaningless, is it?
As we become wrapped up in our day to day living and sometimes wring our hands and wonder what is going to happen tomorrow, or if we’re going to have enough for our own retirement, or live very sumptuously, then we ought to ask ourselves, ‘What is the world to me?’ We realize that we and all believers have a great blessing in knowing that the world is nothing, but it is full of meaning because Christ is alive in our hearts and in our lives. Be thankful because there are so many in this world who live their lives without Christ and don’t have peace and don’t find satisfaction. They say day after day, after coming home from work, ‘This too, is meaningless.’ Or they look at the future and say, ‘This too, is meaningless.’ You and I look ahead, realizing with Christ, life is full of meaning. Isaiah puts it this way, "The LORD will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure"(ISAIAH 33:6). Our treasure is knowing the Lord. When we say, ‘What is the world to me?’ we realize that without Christ, the world is meaningless but with Christ, it is meaningful. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
