The Purpose Of Life Series

• The Teacher is not the only one in the Bible to say things like this:

o 1 Peter 1:24: All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall. (Isaiah 40:6-8)

o James 4:14: Why, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

• Several years ago the band Kansas sang a song with this very idea: “Dust in the Wind.”

- This theme is bolstered by the words of verses 3-11.

o From a human perspective, there is a cyclical and tedious monotony to life.

• “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King:

• From the day we arrive on the planet, and blinking, step into the sun, There’s more to be seen than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done ... There’s far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found; But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky Keeps great and small on the endless round, In the circle of life.

• Generations, 1:4

• Days, 1:5

• Weather, 1:6

• Water, 1:7

• History, 1:9

- What we see here is that in life on this planet, there is constant change – things are always moving – but underlying that is a basic consistency, a basic sameness to life – verse 4 says it – the earth remains forever, and verse 9 says it – there is nothing new under the sun.

- From a human perspective, there is a cyclical and tedious monotony to life.

- Don’t you feel it? Don’t you know it?

o Work: Lunch Box, Timecard, Customer Service, Exam Graded, Product Produced

o Home: Laundry Basket, Diaper, Dishes, House Cleaning, Bills Paid, Lawn Mower, Email

- Volkswagen had a commercial last year that seemed to come right from the pages of Ecclesiastes. It was named “Bubble,” and it featured the song “Mr. Blue Sky.” A young man went through his daily routine, over and over. The tedious monotony was only stopped when he paused at a window one day and saw a VW Beetle Convertible, as if it could break the great cycle the Teacher here describes.

- Once we realize that this is human reality, we can respond in various ways.

- Consider these Alternatives to the Fleetingness of Life:

o “It’s fleeting. I give up.”

• Marriage

• Work

• Toys

o “It’s fleeting. I don’t care.”

• Apathy and Escapism

• Numbing Ourselves with drugs, alcohol, the internet, television

o “It’s fleeting. I will try to find the purpose.”

• One commentator has written this, “With the word [meaningless the Teacher] refers to the fragile and fleeting nature of existence, which should cause us to seize the moment and live well in it for God, while at the same time leading us to spurn the desire for any control of life and to disdain the insane grasping after [mere monetary profit], which so often characterizes human activity,” 57.

• Poet Robert Herrick in the 1600s: Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles today To-morrow will be dying.

- If we take the third alternative, and try to find the purpose in life, then our Response to Life’s Fleetingness needs to be one of seeking.