"all Is Vanity"

Now, I want to start today by asking you all some questions. I won't go on for too long, but I just want to make sure everyone is awake because I know what it is like to sit down for chapel in the morning. I will, however, ask that you please spare me your attention for these next few moments as we hear what God has for us. This is the problem of meaning. Please open to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 where we will start our session this morning.

"Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit." (Ecc 2:15-17)

Here we have a heavy text. We find this being written by who we believe to be King Solomon. If you skip your eyes to the beginning of chapter one, you will read, "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Then he opens immediately after with this statement: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities: all is vanities. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?"

Later in the chapter in verse starting in verse thirteen, we read that he gave his heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven, and that he has seen all the works that are done under the sun. His conclusion: all is vanity and vexation of spirit meaning a cause of distress to the soul. He says, "And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

This doesn't sound like a happy guy. In fact, we believe this book was written later in the life of Solomon after his hundreds of wives had led him astray from the Lord. If the Proverbs were Solomon's magnum opus, then Ecclesiastes is his testamentum vanitatis (his testimony of emptiness). This is a man who dedicated the larger portion of his life to finding joy, meaning, and purpose in literally everything under the sun. Yet here, where we expect to find an old man with no regrets having lived his life to its fullest we find a hollow, depressed, and sad man who literally hates his own life. Considering this, I want to jump back into our text.

How many of you have ever wondered, "What is the point of school?" or "Why do we have to learn things that we probably will never have to directly use in our lives?" Don't lie; I have to sit in class with the majority of you.

"How many of you have ever wondered, 'What’s the point of waking up early every day just to repeat the same routine?'"

"Or asked yourself, 'Does any of this really matter in the long run — grades, sports, college, jobs?'"

"Maybe you've thought, 'If we’re all just going to die one day, why does it matter how we live now?'"

"Have you ever felt like you were just going through the motions — wondering if there’s any real meaning behind it all?"

"Be honest — have you ever thought, 'If I disappeared tomorrow, would it really make a difference in the world?'"

Today I want to grapple with this question of meaning. We all have to answer this question. It takes a few forms like why am I here, what is my purpose, what is God's will for my life, etc... But I want to stick with this idea of how do I make my life count, or does any of this really matter?

I think we all have this desire to make our lives count, to make some sort of difference, or to achieve this certain goal. For some of us, it's getting a lot of money, for others, it's becoming a pro athlete. No matter what it is, we all have something that wakes us up in the morning. But here is something I want to point out. What if I told you all that maybe you aren't wrong for wondering if all this matters? What if I told you that it's possible that many parts if not all of what you live for is vain?