The Meaning Of Life

The Meaning of Life

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, Matthew 21:18-27

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

“Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Little is known about her early life, but at a young age, she felt a calling to be a nun and serve through helping the poor. At the age of 18, she was given permission to join a group of nuns in Ireland. After a few months of training, with the Sisters of Loreto, she was then given permission to travel to India. On her arrival in India, she began by working as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of Calcutta made a deep impression on her, and this led to her starting a new order called “The Missionaries of Charity”. The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Mother Teresa felt that serving others was a fundamental principle of the teachings of Jesus Christ. She often mentioned the saying of Jesus, “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.”

She experienced two particularly traumatic periods in Calcutta. The first was the Bengal famine of 1943 and the second was the Hindu/Muslim violence in 1946, before the partition of India. In 1948, she left the convent to live full-time among the poorest of Calcutta. She chose to wear a white Indian sari, with a blue border, out of respect for the traditional Indian dress. For many years, Mother Teresa and a small band of fellow nuns survived on minimal income and food, often having to beg for funds. But, slowly her efforts with the poorest were noted and appreciated by the local community and Indian politicians.

In 1952, she opened her first home for the dying, which allowed people to die with dignity. Mother Teresa often spent time with those who were dying. Some have criticized the lack of proper medical attention, and their refusal to give painkillers. Others say that it afforded many neglected people the opportunity to die knowing that someone cared. Her work spread around the world. By 2013, there were 700 missions operating in over 130 countries. The scope of their work also expanded to include orphanages and hospices for those with terminal illnesses.

Mother Teresa became known as a great saint and received the following awards: The first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. (1971), Kennedy Prize (1971), The Nehru Prize –“for the promotion of international peace and understanding”(1972), Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975), The Nobel Peace Prize (1979), the States Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985), Congressional Gold Medal (1994), U Thant Peace Award (1994) and Honorary citizenship of the United States (November 16, 1996).”

The Desire to Have one’s Life Matter

Does hearing of someone who started out with nothing and yet accomplishing so much inspire you to work even harder so that your life might have “meaning”? That of course depends on how one defines the “meaning” of life! Even if our hard work would lead to becoming the richest, most famous and powerful of the land would our lives have any significance? After all, when the sun raises and sets from one generation to the next can anyone truly say they have made any lasting difference? While the next generation might remember the modern successes stories of Arianna Huffington, Bill Gates, George Steinbrenner, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and Milton Hershey; how long before someone comes up with a newer and more glamorous invention that relegates their accomplishments to mere footnotes in history? So, if our “success treasures” are here today and gone tomorrow, does this mean that searching for any meaning in life is pure vanity? To answer this question, I will start out by examining Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 and conclude that all things under the sun are truly vanity. The second part of this sermon is going to examine Matthew 21:18-22 and conclude the meaning of life is found above the sun, bearing fruit for God who lives in heaven.

Everything Under the Sun is Meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)

For most people meaning in life is derived from earthly accomplishments. We tend to see those who are the best badminton, football, soccer, tennis players or the best looking, most rich or famous as having lived a “valuable” or “meaningful” life. Being the best is not just a buzzword for our society but the core and essence of much of our motivation. Since 1955 the Guinness World Records books have sold over 141 million copies in over 20 languages. Every year countless people attempt to set new records in hopes of their name being written in this book and will do anything to retain their standing. For example, in 1967 Donald Campbell died while trying to get his speed boat to travel more than 300 mph in order to break his own world record! While many are not motivated to break a world record, most are willing to put in countless hours to be ranked in the upper echelon of society so that they might see their life as having meaning. Let’s turn to the Bible and see what God says about deriving the meaning of life from temporal accomplishments.