LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
TEXT- ECCLESIASTES, CHAPTER 1&2
INTRODUCTION.
Believe it or not we are all in search of either happiness or fulfillment in life. If we look around us and see what is really going on, we’ll see some facts emerge that perhaps many people haven’t considered. I believe the answer can be found in the things read and watched each day. We see it in our literature and the culture we live in.
· I see a culture that is attempting to define human existence.
· I see a culture that asks, “Does my life have any meaning?”
· I see a culture afraid to ask the tough questions about life.
· I see a culture that is afraid of “nothingness”.
· I see a culture that is afraid to be honest about itself.
· I see a culture that desperately needs answers to the really tough questions of, “What is true happiness?”, and “What is the purpose of life?”
When we read Chapter 2 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, we find King Solomon searched for those same answers generations ago. He was wise, he was rich, and he had plenty of time on his hands. This yearning for purpose is nothing new. Even in the ancient times people realized that something was missing in their lives.
This problem is what led the Greeks to write the mythological tale of Sisyphus. As the story goes, Sisyphus was punished for giving life secrets to mere mortal men. His punishment for his crime was to roll a massive stone to the top of a hill, watch it roll down and then push it back up the hill and watch it roll down again. He repeated this exercise over and over again. His life was a life consigned to meaningless FUTILITY.
How many times have people thought, or felt, like this described their life. A National Survey ask a question of many people, and it ask if you were given the right to ask GOD one question and you knew that you would receive an answer, what would it be? The results was that 4 of the top 5 questions would relate to the meaning or purpose of life. Even in the 21st century we still hunger for a meaningful LIFE.
Now, I don’t know how many of you have seen the movie called Forrest Gump, but I would imagine that most of you have. Even if you are one that hasn’t, I think you will get the meaning. If Forrest Gump’s Mother , she would answer that question by saying, “Life is like a box of Chocolate.”
See, you never know what you are going to get. Many of us would agree, because life can be SWEET like chocolate. It can also get STICKY like chocolate. Sometimes we would say that it has a lot of NUTS like chocolate!
Oh! By the way, there is a website that will help you look for the meaning of life. If you access it, it will ask you to click here for the meaning of life. When you click there will be another screen that pops up that says the meaning of life. When you click on it, it recycles again once more ands ays, “This will LINK you to the meaning of life.” When you click there it sends you back to the original screen, which says, and you’ve got it don’t you, it says, “click here for the Meaning of life.” We end up in some sort of cyber-circle. Well to some that is what life is like: a meaningless and endless cycle that seems to take us nowhere.
We keep trying to find purpose. In fact, if we follow that great internet highway to fulfillment we might try shopping, parting, and pursuing pleasure as the answer.
Unfortunately, like a box of chocolates from Forrest Gump, we find pleasure tastes good for a moment BUT ultimately it melts away. Others seek excitement for purpose and so they become adrenaline junkies, always looking for the next HIGH, but thanks to the law of diminishing returns, these people are never satisfied.
Some pursue purpose through success in some area. They pure themselves into careers and get all kinds of positive reinforcement and that sparks a cycle of working harder and harder…for more stuff. But true fulfillment-Lasting fulfillment-always seems just past their grasp.
A few years ago, Life Magazine published an entire book on how individuals have coped with this for purpose. They interviewed people from all walks of life….from philosophers to drug addicts…from painters to plumbers to cab drivers.
I love the comments of a New York Cab driver named Jose Martinez. He said , “We are here to die..just live and die. I live driving a cab, and I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay my taxes, do a little reading, then a few decades later, I get ready to drop dead. Life is a fake! You’re rich or you’re poor. You here, you’re gone. You are like the wind. Life is nothing!”
Have we ever felt like Jose’? Life seems to be like a wild goose chase with no GOOSE.
SERMON
Solomon was the son of King David and Bethsheba . He ruled Israel for 40 years, and it was the greatest time of it’s history. They were the nation of the world. Later in his life he wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, and I want you to read with me in Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
-2- “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
-3- “What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
-4- A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth remains for forever.
-5- Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
-6- Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.
-7- All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
-8- All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
-9- That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done
Is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
-10- Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new?”
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.
-11- There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.
In 1st Kings Solomon’s wealth is recorded. Now listen towhatallthis guy had to enjoy life.
· 1-palaces, houses, vinards,orchards, water pools
· 2-700wives,300 concubines
· 3-550 officials
· 4-120 talents of gold from Hiram, 420 from Ophar, 120 from Queen Sheba
· 5- Treachery of spices and fine stones
· 6-food for one day included 30 cores of flour and 60 cores of meal, 10 fat oxen, 20 grade A cattle, 100 sheep, harts, gazelles, chickens, ducks, and some birds.
Well, when we read this we say to ourself, “How could this guy need anything else.” Well, he need something and it was called, “PURPOSE.”
Chapter2:10-16.Ecclesiastes 2:10-17
-10- All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.
-11- Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.
-12- So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?
-13- And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
-14- The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.
-15- Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”
-16- For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!
-17- So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after the wind.
You Know I think, Solomon’ comments sounds a lot like that Cab Driver form NY. What does a man gain from all His labor under the sun? In other words, what is left when all is said and done?
When you turn the lights out at the end of the day, are you satisfied? As you climb higher and higher on that corporate ladder of success, do you begin to wonder if you have leaned that ladder against the wrong wall? When it is curtains for life if you keep living the way you are will you think you have made a meaningful difference? When we come to the end of life will we be happy with what we have gained?
Did you know that success and fulfillment are two different things? You see, success is getting what you want. But fulfillment is wanting what you get. Solomon wondered do I want what I got? And the answer was NO. Even though he had all that life under the sun could provide, he came up wanting more. He was still hungry for something else.
Well, what about you? Do you ever question the meaning of your life? Have you ever experienced a feeling of emptiness? Has your life been more like living on treadmill? If you answered, YES to any of these questions, please listen because I think God’s Word has an answer for you and I. The scripture teaches that Solomon was looking for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places.
In Chapter 2 verse 11 Solomon said there was nothing to be gained UNDER the sun. I really believe that God included this cynical statement to teach there is nothing to be gained UNDER the sun but the answer is ABOVE the sun.. Solomon’s search led him to concluded on earth you come up empty because purpose lies in the realm of the eternal afterlife.
You might look at it this way, Everything Solomon had was VISIBLE and he found no pleasure in them, because the purpose and meaning in life lies in the things which are INVISIBLE. Do you get where I’m going with this? I’m saying that the purpose and meaning in life for any human being is found in KNOWING GOD. The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:17, that only GOD is eternal, immortal, and invisible.
KNOWING GOD
Did you know we long for our Creator? We yearn for the eternal. In Romans 1:18-19 Paul writes
18- “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
19- “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
What that means is God created a spot in us that only can be filled with God. And no person will ever be satisfied in this life unless that spot within us is FILLED with God. That is why everything on this planet doesn’t really satisfy.
You might think about it like this, because the empty space in many people that should be filled with God is loneliness. When we are separated from our families, or maybe a soldier serving overseas, are very lonely and have a feeling of emptiness. They feel like they are not complete without there family and friends.
Do you remember the parable of the Prodigal son who left and went away to a life of human pleasure, and he longed to go home. He longed to be re-united with his Father. We all need to be united with our Heavenly Father or their will always be a hole in our hearts. This inner feeling is what inspired the Psalmist to write
“As a deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God.” (Psalms 42:1)
“My soul thirst for You God….in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalms 63:1)
Now this what is mean in John 17:3 when it says, “Now this is life that they may KNOW You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’
John 1:1,”In Him was life and that life was the light of men.”
Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, He made it possible for us to have a relationship with God that we so desperately need. As He says in John 10:10, “Jesus came so that we might have life more abundantly.” That is life in all of its fullness!
On the cross, He removed the sin barrier that separates us from God so that we could have this type of life. Read Ephesians 2:19-22
19- “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.
20- ‘having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner Stone,”
21- “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”
22- “in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
So, the only way off that treadmill of meaninglessness is to be in a personal relationship with God made possible by Jesus Christ.
Paul discovered that when we give our lives to Christ and enter into a love relationship with God then life looks different. It is fuller, better, more beautiful.
There is a old movie that was on the other night and I’m sure many of you have seen it. It is titled “The Music Man.” In the movie Professor Harold Hill is a con artist that goes from town to town swindling people out of their money. But then he goes to Iowa and meets a lovely young woman who causes him to develop a whole new appreciation for life. The professor sees beauty in the world that he had never noticed before. After the change he sang the following song:
“There were bells on the hill, but I never heard them ringing.”
No, I never heard them at all, till I met you.”
“There were stars in the sky, but I never saw them shining.”
“No, I never saw them at all, till There was you.”
When we get closer to God it will change our lives also. We will discover a level of joy that we have never experienced before. A beautiful lands escape is more than just nature; it is God’s creation for all of us to enjoy. Your relationship with your family, and other people you meet, will change, because now you will see them as a chance to impact lives for eternity. Your work becomes much more than a paycheck; it is God’s calling for your life. Even the trails and tribulations of life will change, because now you will see them as other chances for God to demonstrate is power before you.
And this leads to other things that brings our life meaning, because when we KNOW GOD, we see the importance of making Him KNOWN.
CONCLUSION
There is a true story concerning Steve Jobs who is the owner and creator of Apple Computer. He had gotten to the point in his company where he needed a great businessman. to guide Apple Computer. He decided that John Sculley, a high level executive of Pepsi Cola was that man. The problem was that John Sculley was not convinced that he should leave his great job at Pepsi Cola to run Apple Computer.
Steve Jobs did everything he could think of to sell,\ him on taking the job. He did what you call wine and dined him, but he knew he had not convinced him yet.
In a last ditch effort to convince Sculley, Steve took him to the roof of a large apartment complex over looking Central Park. in New York. He talked to him and when he knew he had not convinced him, Jobs got frustrated and looked him in the eye and said, “ John do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water, or do you want to change the world?” Sculley said this statement knocked the wind out him, and he decided to run Apple Computer.
Well, I know that as important as computers are they will never change the world like one person that decides to become a Christian and live life in a different way. If, they win one soul it is worth more that all OF the world. Like Paul said in Ephesians 2, we are God’s workmanship, created to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
INVITATION
